Chapter 1

Since 1978, the spring breeze of reform has swept across the land of China.

The Republic, with the joy of having just escaped its shackles, basked in the glory of the new era.

However, despite the overall environment of society continuously improving,

Not everyone's life could be immediately turned around, heading towards the broad path of happiness.

As a famous saying goes, all happy people are alike, but each unhappy person is unhappy in their own way.

Don't forget, even the five fingers are not all the same length.

There are always a few people in this world who are exceptionally unlucky.

Despite not doing anything wrong, their lives are immersed in bitter water, showing no signs of improvement.

This cannot help but evoke sympathy.

But even such pitiful people are not the worst off.

Because more pitiful than one such person is two such pitiful people meeting each other.

And between these two pitiful people, there is a fundamental conflict of interest concerning survival.

To put it bluntly, it's like the "misery contest" segment in the movie "The Story of Jiaotou," where fate truly plays a cruel hand!

This is not just idle talk; such things really happen in real life.

Without mentioning other places, let's talk about the old and young in No. 2 Fan'er Alley, Coal Market Street, Beijing.

They belong to the category of two unlucky people who meet head-on.

The old man is named Kang Shude.

Born in 1918, his ancestral home is in Jinghai, Tianjin.

As a teenager, he fled to Beijing due to famine and later made a living by "beating the small drum."

In those old days, there were only two profitable trades in Beijing.

One was the tile-eaters, and the other was the antiques trade.

Kang Shude not only married a wife in Beijing but also bought a house.

In fact, No. 2 Fan'er Alley was his property.

However, the changing times made it difficult to control the direction of life.

After the liberation, Kang Shude's entire family returned to their hometown.

After more than ten years of changes, he was left alone.

In 1979, his house in the hometown collapsed due to rain, so he returned to Beijing.

When he met the old tenants in the courtyard again, they all felt sympathy for him.

Because his destitute appearance was not much different from when he begged his way into Beijing.

Thus, with the help of several tenants, and after approval from the street and housing management departments,

Kang Shude moved back into the two small north rooms he had previously lived in, for temporary shelter.

Since the household registration process takes time, Kang Shude's temporary food ration book provided him with oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, which he temporarily relied on the help of his neighbors for.

His economic source was only to make a living by pasting paper boxes for the Tong Ren Tang pharmacy, which had been renamed "Beijing Chinese Medicine Store" during the movement.

Such a situation, for a man of his age, is pitiful, isn't it?

But don't think he is the most pitiful; there is someone even more pitiful.

Strangely enough, just as Kang Shude barely settled down,

Another person who had the right to live in these two small rooms also returned to Beijing in the winter of 1979.

This was the returning educated youth, Ning Weimin.

Speaking of this young man, he was even more pitiful.

Ning Weimin was born in 1961, and his father, Ning Changyou, was a tricycle driver at the Dazhalan Crane Cooperative.

When Ning Weimin was two years old, his father died of cerebral hemorrhage due to excessive smoking and drinking.

The Ning family had no relatives or friends.

So this child, who lost his father at a young age, never had a good day.

He was raised by his widowed mother, who worked at a street sewing cooperative.

As for their move to No. 2 Fan'er Alley, it happened after Kang Shude's family moved out.

Mainly, the street officials specially arranged it, sympathizing with the widowed mother's unemployment.

They thought that if they moved here, it would be closer to her workplace.

After moving here, why did the Ning family let these two small rooms remain vacant?

It can only be said that fate played a cruel hand.

It turns out that after Ning Weimin graduated from junior high school, he went to Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing, to work as a farm laborer.

In 1977, while visiting him, his mother was involved in a traffic accident and passed away.

Ning Weimin did not have the sewing skills to take over his mother's job, so it took him two years to get his household registration back according to policy.

But Ning Weimin did not expect this.

When he finally returned to Beijing, he found that he had no place to stay.

His home was occupied by a strange old man.

How frustrating was this?

As people say, when one is down, even drinking cold water can cause a toothache, and farting can hit one's own heel.

In short, both of these two people, who were at the end of their ropes, were counting on these two small rooms to live the rest of their lives, and the situation became complicated.

Both Kang Shude and Ning Weimin wanted the other to leave.

For this, they not only asked the neighbors in the courtyard to mediate but also had a fierce dispute, which quickly escalated to the street officials.

However, in reality, the street officials and neighbors were also at a loss, finding it difficult to make a judgment.

Everyone deserved sympathy and help.

Everyone had legitimate reasons to assert their rights.

So it was difficult! How to solve this problem was truly a headache!

Not to mention the two unfortunate people themselves, who felt troubled and distressed.

Even the people around them shook their heads and sighed, feeling helpless.

Thus, after much deliberation and discussion, the street officials finally came up with a solution that was the only option—divide the rooms equally!

Since neither could move out,

The two small rooms would be divided, one for each.

But to be honest, neither Kang Shude nor Ning Weimin was satisfied with this outcome.

Because this is not like sharing fruit in a kindergarten.

First, the rooms have an inner and outer part, which is a problem.

These two small rooms are actually the two easternmost rooms of the five north rooms in the courtyard.

It is like a suite with one door inside and one outside.

Temporarily breaking a door is not practical.

Regardless of the cost, for warmth, it would be better to wait until spring to make any changes.

Who gets the inner room?

Both wanted to live in the inner room, knowing that living outside would be more disturbed.

For this, they had to fight first.

Kang Shude's seniority played a role.

He said he was old and could not withstand the wind.

Thus, he temporarily won and moved into the inner room.

But after a few days, he voluntarily moved out of the inner room.

Not for any other reason, but because Ning Weimin hung his parents' portraits on the west wall of the outer room.

Kang Shude had to face the dead every time he went in and out.

Over time, he could not bear it.

He preferred to let his old bones endure the wind rather than have Ning Weimin's parents stare at him with their eyes.

And this was just the beginning; more disputes followed.

For example, Ning Weimin hated Kang Shude's snoring.

Kang Shude, on the other hand, found Ning Weimin's lack of manners and politeness annoying.

Ning Weimin complained that Kang Shude filled the outer room with paper boxes, and the smell of glue could not dissipate.

Kang Shude, in turn, refused to let Ning Weimin smoke in his room, fearing that he would set the paper boxes on fire.

He also criticized Ning Weimin for not washing his feet before going to bed, saying the smell was worse than the glue.

Moreover, Ning Weimin, with no income, had to eat and drink.

He unhesitatingly used Kang Shude's rice, flour, and coal.

Kang Shude, of course, was not willing to be taken advantage of.

He had to hold back, unwilling to be a fool.

But Ning Weimin argued that the furniture, stove, and kitchenware in the room belonged to his family.

If he did not get food and drink, he would not use them.

Thus, the two argued until the neighbors were involved, and under their persuasion and witness, they negotiated another solution.

Ning Weimin had to paste a certain number of paper boxes daily and share his food ration book with Kang Shude.

Only then would Kang Shude provide free food and coal.

In short, from the beginning, the two had a bad impression of each other.

With personal emotions and such different living habits, they naturally could not get along.

For them, anything could become a source of conflict, and it was already good that they did not come to blows.

This also posed a problem for the entire courtyard.

The neighbors were frustrated; whenever they talked about mediating between the two, they all got headaches.

The difficulty was that favoring one side was not right, and favoring the other was also not right; any action would be wrong.

But surprisingly, just as everyone thought Kang Shude and Ning Weimin would continue to harm each other,

Fate arranged a very surprising turn of events, turning the situation from bad to good.

It was around the Spring Festival of 1980.

These two, who were like enemies from past lives and opponents in this life, not only resolved all their past conflicts but also became as close as family.

What exactly happened?

The answer is simple, just five words: adversity reveals true feelings!

This transformation began on the 28th day of the 12th lunar month.

Old people sleep less and wake up early.

That day, Kang Shude woke up and noticed something wrong with the coal smell in the room.

Wearing a coat, he followed the smell to Ning Weimin's door.

He knocked and called, but there was no response inside.

The old man immediately panicked, knowing something was wrong.

He decisively used a stool to break the inner room window and saved Ning Weimin's life.

Then, after the New Year, it was Kang Shude's turn to have an accident.

One workday afternoon, Ning Weimin returned home for lunch.

He did not see any food but found the old man with a paper box in his hand, passed out on the table.

No matter how he called, the old man did not wake up.

Feeling his forehead, it was burning hot.

Ning Weimin did not hesitate; he quickly carried Kang Shude on his back.

He also called the neighbors—Old Mr. Bian, a retired man, and Old Mrs. Bian, the neighborhood committee chair.

Together, they took the old man to Friendship Hospital.

Unexpectedly, the situation was not optimistic; he needed an IV and had to be observed for two days.

The problem was that Kang Shude had to pay for his medical expenses, and who would pay for it?

While Old Mrs. Bian was negotiating with the hospital, asking if the neighborhood committee could guarantee the payment,

No one expected Ning Weimin to leave for a while.

Half an hour later, he returned, as if by magic, and immediately paid 60 yuan.

More surprisingly, after paying the money,

Before Old Mrs. Bian and Old Mr. Bian could ask, Ning Weimin fainted.

The scene was chaotic.

Old Mr. and Mrs. Bian were frightened and quickly called a passing doctor to check.

The mystery was finally revealed.

Where did the money come from?

It turns out that Ning Weimin, in a moment of desperation, went to the blood donation room.

The receipt in his pocket clearly stated that 300CC of blood was drawn from him, in exchange for the money.

Moreover, don't forget, it was already late.

Ning Weimin had not eaten all day.

He carried the old man to the hospital, hungry, and without drinking water, how could he not faint?

Imagine, when Kang Shude was saved and learned about what happened, what would he feel?

Human hearts are made of flesh; no matter how many conflicts there are in daily life, they cannot compare to the bond of life and death.

Neither of them expected that the other would do such a thing in a critical moment.

Thus, after this ordeal, they both felt that the other could be relied upon in times of hardship.

Thinking of each other's kindness, they naturally became more harmonious.

From then on, things were different.

The mutual harm turned into mutual sympathy, Ning Weimin respected the elderly, and Kang Shude loved the young.

Even if they had any conflicts, they could tolerate each other.

They no longer spoke with anger but often chatted and joked with each other.

Those who did not know thought they were originally a family.

Thus, the street officials finally felt relieved and even thought of merging the two households to make them a real family.

The neighbors in Fan'er Alley were also delighted, considering this a model of "true feelings in the world," and talked about it endlessly.

But here, a word must be said.

This seemingly perfect outcome is not the end of the story, but the beginning.

Because the twists and turns of fate are beyond people's imagination.

No one could have noticed that the Ning Weimin they saw was no longer the old Ning Weimin.

His body had been replaced by a new soul...

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