"Han-ge! Can you help make arrangements for the car usage tomorrow?"

"There's a 'heavy air pollution warning' for tomorrow. There will be number plate restrictions, our workplace doesn't have enough cars to go around…"

"Ah, then what should we do? Please think of something, quick!"

"This… Ai."

"Han-ge, help me, the paper is stuck in the printer again!"

"Please wait a moment…"

"It's urgent!"

"...I'll be right there."

"Dongsheng, people like us who sit in the office may have no other skills but we have to at least be able to write. Look at this, I asked you to write a letter but… this typo… and this phrase, this phrase isn't suitable. The chief doesn't like to use this phrase, I've told you this before…"

"Hey, Xiao-Han… Wow, why are the words on your screen so large! You're not even forty yet and your eyes are blurring, isn't it a bit too early? Buy some of that fish oil and eat it, it protects your liver and also your eyes at the same time."

When Han Dongsheng rushed out of his workplace, it was already past six o' clock. Originally, he stayed at his father-in-law's house and could take the bus to work. Other than not being punctual and frequently getting caught in traffic, the bus was good. Now that he had moved, he switched to taking the subway. It was a lot more punctual but it made him understand what was meant by the "dark underground world."

Six o' clock was smack in the middle of the evening rush hour. On top of that, due to the number plate restriction on private vehicles, there were exceptionally more people in the subway today.

The more people there were, the more there was a need to slow down the flow of people for security checks, hence there were long stretches of "noodle strands." Han Dongsheng craned his neck but couldn't see the end of the line, and he immediately started sweating.

Right then, his phone buzzed. "Zhou-Zhou's Class Teacher" was again sending a message to ask: Hello, Zhou-Zhou's father. I have already been waiting for you for one hour. May I know how long will it be before you reach?

That was right, Little Friend Han Zhou was held back after school today and his parents had been asked to see the teacher.

Han Dongsheng gritted his teeth. He wanted to go back to the surface to get a cab but when he turned back, in just that short time, more than twenty people had lined up behind him like a long, heavy tail and he was squeezed in the middle.

On the surface, the roads were also congested and it was even harder to be sure of the commute time. Furthermore… when it was congested, cabs were expensive. Han Dongsheng would spend a long while even while debating whether or not to take public transport, and now, after hesitating for a long while he dropped the idea. He tried patting the person in front of him and explained in a low voice, "Excuse me, I have something urgent and am rushing for time. Can you let me go first, I'm really sorry…"

"Are other people not in a hurry? Everyone's in a hurry."

"If you're in a rush then why don't you take a cab? Why are you taking the subway…"

"Aiyo, stop pushing!"

"Like I said, the population in the city is already so large, why don't these people understand that they should lose weight! Don't they have any morals!"

Fortunately, most of the office workers in the morning and evening rush hours were more bark than bite. As long as the other person didn't argue back or if they just said sorry a few more times, at most they would only curse a bit. No one would hold on to their spot for dear life and insist on not letting other people jump the queue.

The heated air blew on the people with a whoosh, mingling with the dense crowd and making it rather hard to breathe.

Fighting his way out of the security check, Han Dongsheng felt that he was close to melting. He didn't have time to gasp for breath; the train was arriving at the platform and he rushed forward with the crowd.

The roughly two meters wide train door was like a black hole. It seemed as though no matter how matter people rushed in, it could open its mouth and swallow them all. Inside, a solid wall of human flesh was building up. The beeping sound signalling that the doors were closing soon was like a ticking time bomb, making everyone feel agitated. At the very last second, Han Dongsheng forcefully stuck himself onto the human wall, wishing nothing more than to fold himself down one dimension.

However, he was not a paper man after all. The beeping train doors pressed in on his broad back, then stopped and bounced open again.

The station employee at the platform shouted, "Wait for the next train, stop crowding! Please wait for the next train!"

Han Dongsheng again tried his best to curve his body inwards. He took a deep breath and let out a long, winding fart, freeing some space in his stomach and forcefully contracted his belly.

Amidst the hissing of displeasure from the people around him, the train doors finally closed. With a thunk, the train started moving. All the numb and weary bodies were shaken a few times, colliding against each other without rule or order. In here, even a young lady's body turned into something detestable.

The smell of perfume, sweat, body odour, unwashed hair, garlic… they all mingled together, inseparable. Fortified by the warm air from the air-conditioning, they were stirred into a pot of congee.

The old man speaking in the television series that was being played out loud and the little girl that was crying seemed to be competing to see who was louder. First the old overpowered the young, then the young overpowered the old. It was an extremely spirited fight.

During Yanning's morning and evening rush hour, on the busy subway routes, if a person had the audacity to bear their dignity on their chest and get on a train, their dignity would unfortunately very likely be squeezed until it burst.

What was even more unfortunate was that the subway would occasionally encounter incidents—for example, halfway through, all the lights in the train would go off, the train would also come to a stop and there would be an announcement about a breakdown… Situations like this always happened only when the passengers were in a rush.

By the time Han Dongsheng arrived at his destination, it was forty minutes later.

He dragged his feeble legs and rushed out of the subway station, took a large gulp of the northwest wind, and only then felt his flattened body puff up again. He took a look at the time and quickly apologised to the teacher but even after sending a few messages in a row to Zhou-Zhou's class teacher, the other person did not reply. When he rushed to the school, he saw that the lights in the school building had already been switched off.

The teacher didn't wait for him. His child should have already gone home too.

Han Dongsheng stared blankly for a while. His tense mental state relaxed and he finally moved his legs and slowly walked home.

As though he had gotten a taste for the northwest wind, he wished that this walk could be a little longer.

The old and small neighbourhoods nearby all had the problem of not enough parking spaces. A lot of private vehicle owners were not picky and just parked at the roadside. His reflection appeared on the car windows; Han Dongsheng took one look and twisted his head away. He felt that his reflection was the very definition of "a sack for drink and food"—in other words, useless.

As he crossed the threshold of No. 110 Courtyard, even before he entered the building, he saw an old lady who was playing cards with other people at the reception office poke her head out and say to him, "Xiao-Han has just come back from work? Your old father-in-law was brought back by the police today!"

Han Dongsheng stopped walking. After a while, he finally forced out a thank you. There was a light sheen of sweat on the palms of his hands, as though his blood sugar levels were low.

As he expected, the moment he entered his home, a cushion flew out aggressively.

Han Dongsheng caught it. Already very experienced with this situation, he quickly closed the door behind him, afraid that the noise in the house would leak out.

A second later, his wife Zhou Beibei roared, "So you still know to come home!"

"The teacher called you in the afternoon and texted you, then waited for you after school until it was time for the evening news. Even the stray cats in the school had left and only your son was still there doing his homework! Did you die somewhere out there?!"

"I really couldn't leave my workplace today…"

"Fine, you're busy! You have so many things to do! So when are you going to be promoted, Leader Han? Your wife and child are waiting to bask in your limelight! Pah!" When Zhou Beibei heard him dare to talk back, she lost her temper. "How old are you now and you're still a junior who serves tea. You can't even become an deputy leader, what important business can you have that you can't step away from? Your son isn't your own flesh and blood, but was a free gift from topping up your phone credit, is that it?"

The woman's shouting was like thunder. Han Dongsheng was yelled at until his fingers went numb. He didn't dare say a word.

The door to the small bedroom opened a sliver. From the crack of the door, Old Mr. Zhou cut in. "Ai, isn't it just a small thing? It's not worth all this fuss. Don't argue anymore. Beibei, what are we having for dinner?"

"Eat your immortality eggs! Saute it, boil it, fry it, eat it and you can ascend to Heaven straight away and can even save the effort of training!" When Zhou Beibei heard him, her anger immediately locked onto her old father. "3,000 for a medical apparatus and it was just a fucking LED tube, 1,600 for a plastic foot-washing tub that even scrap collectors would reject! Give you two eggs and you're delighted, did a rooster lay the eggs?"

Old Mr. Zhou had a good temper. "Don't be angry, anger cuts short your life. Losing your temper once is equivalent to smoking a few cigarettes."

"Let it be cut short, there's no meaning to living anyway! My husband is good for nothing, it's not enough that we barely earn anything, all our money is even spent on rubbish! I don't even dare dream of branded bags and makeup but you can't let me still have to rent a place to stay when I'm already over forty!"

This was all reality. Han Dongsheng couldn't lift his head.

"In the daytime, just for the sake of a few orders, I have to smile at everyone everywhere, bow down to everyone I meet, and listen to all the shit they give me. I make ten calls and nine of them hang up on me. When I come home, before I can even take a breath, the teacher calls me to the school to pick up the little demon that I must have owed a debt to in my past life. Han Zhou! The whole family is doing all we can just to let you attend a good school, so that you won't lose out right at the starting line. But you, you don't pay attention in class and fold paper cranes instead! Why are you going to school for? Don't go tomorrow, go open a stall at the subway entrance!"

Han Zhou shrank back in a corner and pretended that he was a mushroom.

"I had just entered the courtyard when some busybody hurried to inform me like she was afraid I wouldn't know—Hey, Xiao-Zhou, the police brought your father back, what happened?—How was I supposed to answer? Hm? Dad, you tell me, what should I have said? For the sake of earning money, I have no choice but to be shameless. But when I'm home, can you not embarrass me so much?" As Zhou Beibei spoke, she ran out of anger and sorrow started to well up in her heart. Standing in the middle of the living room, she suddenly covered her face and started crying.

The three male family members surrounded her, silent and yielding. If hit, they would not fight back; if scolded, they would not argue back. This made her feel as though she was being very unreasonable, a fishwife.

"Fishwife" wasn't a nice word, everyone knew that. Unless they were bullied by life to a certain extent, who wouldn't want to be more dignified?

Old Mr. Zhou came out of his bedroom. He wanted to pat his daughter on the head, like when she was young, but Zhou Beibei suddenly looked up with reddened eyes. "I feel that the luckiest part of Mum's life was that she died early."

Old Mr. Zhou stared blankly. The hand he had raised up froze in midair. The age spots on the back of his hand were like fragmentary spots of mold.

Zhou Beibei drew in a sharp breath, then turned to go into her own room.

Han Dongsheng felt apologetic and said, "Dad, it's my fault. Her words were aimed at me, not at you."

Old Mr. Zhou blinked a couple of times, then waved his hand. He asked slowly, "What are we having for dinner?"

That night, the two men and one boy ate fried rice together in the kitchen. Zhou Beibei shut her door and ignored them, so Old Mr. Zhou kept a portion for her that had more eggs, and covered the bowl with cling film.

When he got up the next morning, the fried rice was still untouched. The rice grains under the cling film were already dried out and a layer of overnight condensation clung to the plastic film. Han Dongsheng's large body was curled up on the sofa, his tired snores loud enough to shake the ceiling.

Old Mr. Zhou got up at half past five. He didn't dare wake up his children and grandchild. Quietly, he closed the kitchen door and made breakfast.

The old man felt that everyone had to have a good breakfast; only then could they go out and brave the chill of the coldest days of the year, and have energy for the day.

But the younger people obviously did not feel the same way. At seven o' clock, all the alarms in the house finally started ringing one after another. A battle had just happened in the house yesterday evening, the atmosphere was tense and heavy, and everyone carried with them a heavy sleepiness.

There was only one bathroom in the house. Han Dongsheng and Han Zhou didn't dare fight Zhou Beibei for it. One adult and one child sat on the sofa, yawning one after another, their heads nodding like they were kowtow-ing.

Wherever Zhou Beibei went, there would be banging and clanging sounds. Perhaps she was in a hurry, or perhaps she was venting her anger.

"Beibei, your father made steamed bean buns and meat buns today. Which one do you want… Ai, you don't want any? Then, have a bowl of congee before you go. Congee will make your stomach feel comfortable…"

Zhou Beibei didn't wait for him to finish speaking before picking up her bag and slamming the door behind her as she left.

"Dongsheng, have breakfast before you go."

Han Dongsheng was the last to use the bathroom. When he came out, he looked at the time and saw that he was running late, and said quickly, "I don't think I will, Dad. Please have breakfast yourself first, Zhou-Zhou is going to be late for school… Zhou-Zhou, hurry up, stop dawdling!"

Han Zhou stuffed the last mouthful of meat bun into his mouth and ate a mouthful of congee, but scalded himself until he was sticking his tongue out. Because of that, he didn't want to eat the rest of it. He grumbled to Old Mr. Zhou, "Grandpa, your cooking is too salty."

An old man of over seventy years of age no longer had a sensitive palate. Old Mr. Zhou asked in surprise, "Really? Did Grandpa make the filling too salty again?"

But his grandson didn't have the time to answer him. The father and son who were both running late ran out like a gust of wind. The sumptuous breakfast covering the entire table seemed to turn cold in an instant. Old Mr. Zhou sat alone for a while, then poured the remaining half of the congee in Han Zhou's bowl into his own bowl and started to eat slowly.

He didn't taste any saltiness. In his mouth, the taste was very bland.

Taking out the household trash was a chore handled by Zhou Beibei every day. Today, she had left in a rush and didn't have the time to do it. After they had all left, Old Mr. Zhou slowly tidied up. Suddenly, he paused. In the trash bin was a box of water-soluble motherwort granules that had been thrown away unopened. Beibei always said that she had stomach pains and everyone said that this was an effective remedy. Old Mr. Zhou knew that his daughter was unwilling to believe the experts and blindly believed in the so-called "official and regulated," which was why he had purposely bought this box of water-soluble medicine granules at a "high price" from a pharmacy.

Zhou Beibei probably hadn't taken a close look, or perhaps… she had taken a close look but didn't dare believe that her father could buy anything normal.

Shackled to this family that disappointed her again and again, after a long time, she was used to not believing in anything.

Old Mr. Zhou fished out the box of motherwort granules and tore off the dirtied outer packaging. He put it beside the drinking water dispenser, then went back to his room and changed his clothes. From under his bed, he took out a cloth backpack, put on a cap and sunglasses and packed a few steamed buns into a bag. He mingled with the crowd of office workers and left through the front gate.

Yanning was submerged in a hustle and bustle for the whole morning. Hence, this time, no one noticed him.

Old Mr. Zhou walked all the way to the transport hub. A medium-sized bus had been waiting since early that morning. A young man in his twenties got down from the bus. His appearance was lively and spirited, and he had thick, black eyebrows that had quite a touch of feminine beauty to them. He smiled before speaking, "Uncle Zhou, we were waiting for you!"

The young man's name was Xu Shaowen. He was Professor Xu's student and assistant. Apparently, he had a PhD. He was usually the one conducting the lectures on healthy living that they attended.

Doctor Xu asked, "You have informed your family, right? The cost of this trip is a little high."

Old Mr. Zhou brushed him off with a yeah, then took out the envelope he had prepared and passed it to him. "Cash, you can check it."

Doctor Xu did not open it. He took it casually and as before, exhorted repeatedly, "You must make sure to inform your family. Otherwise, your children will panic. I am responsible for you so I have to confirm this with you."

Old Mr. Zhou was rather touched. He felt that Doctor Xu was genuinely concerned about him, so he gave him the bag containing the steamed buns and said, "Don't worry about that. I steamed this at home. Have a taste if you don't mind."

"How did you know that I haven't eaten yet?" The young and handsome Doctor Xu was not the least bit hesitant. He opened the bag for a look and started eating while still standing at the door of the bus. His face happy and relaxed, he said, "Delicious! There's no salt in the filling and a homemade sauce is used instead, am I right?"

"You can tell?"

"The water used to mix the filling had been used to soak the dried mushrooms!"

"Yes! Yes! Is it salty?"

"It's not. I like strong flavours… Your family members are really lucky. I want to be your son!"

As he watched Doctor Xu wolf down the food, a smile blossomed on Old Mr. Zhou's face like a flower and he got on the bus happily.

The driver was having a smoke break. When he saw that the old man had gone in, he came over and asked Doctor Xu in a whisper, "Protector, there won't be any problems, right? What are we gonna do if these old fools' family members come and make a fuss?"

"Don't worry." "Doctor" Xu's voice was kept low in the gaps of his teeth. "No one in this bus has said anything to their family. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to come… Urgh, this is so salty. Did the old man kill the salt seller and take all the salt? Pass me a bottle of water."

The medium-sized bus was fully occupied by elderly people. Doctor Xu gave each one a thermal mug filled with wolfberries and jujubes steeped in hot water. He also knew who had car sickness and who had heart conditions, and had prepared medicine for each of them.

All of them had the feeling that they were being taken care of very attentively and was in a happy mood as the bus left Yanning.

Liu Zhongqi left in a hurry this morning. When he got home after the evening self-study session, he realised that he had forgotten his keys. He called his brother but the line was constantly busy; Yu Lanchuan was probably busy to no end again. Liu Zhongqi paced in front of the door for a while. Coincidentally, their neighbour, Grandma Zhang Meizhen, was leaving the house. When she saw him, she let him into her home and asked him to do his homework at her place for the time being.

Not long after Zhang Meizhen left, Gan Qing came back. She had gotten two portions of supper from Boss Meng; she had probably received a call from Zhang Meizhen.

Liu Zhongqi was fidgeting restlessly as he did his English homework which he had put off until the very end. Once he saw Gan Qing, for some reason he recalled the "complete the blanks" incident from the last time and subconsciously reached out to cover the questions he was doing.

"Why are you covering them?" Gan Qing chuckled and went to the kitchen to heat up some milk. "The first question is already wrong."

Liu Zhongqi said, "...How do you know that it's wrong?"

"Have you not learned the subjunctive mood?" Gan Qing asked from the kitchen. "There's someone outside, go open the door."

Liu Zhongqi stared blankly. "No one's there, I didn't hear..."

He muttered to himself as he opened the door. To his surprise, there was indeed someone outside the door.

Little Friend Han Zhou with a bowl cut had been standing there with his head bowed and the door suddenly opening gave him a shock. He rubbed his eyes, his face looking a little petulant.