Chapter 2

In the early part of 1926, Tianjin was relatively peaceful overall. Although people's lives were difficult, at least most citizens could manage to have enough to eat and wear.

The Lantern Festival had just passed a little over ten days ago, and many households still had Spring Festival couplets and the character for "blessing" posted on their doors.

Walking down the street, Zhou Hexuan vividly felt a sense of time rewinding: old houses, narrow streets, and occasionally, telegraph poles standing by the roadside. In the distance, the majestic Drum Tower could be seen.

The Drum Tower had been damaged during the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance and was later repaired a few years ago. It was eventually demolished due to traffic development after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Zhou Hexuan had only seen it in old photographs.

The street was lined with tracks, and a trolley car, trailing its electrical poles, slowly approached. Hu Laosan walked briskly ahead and called out, "Sir, that house is a bit far. Let's take the trolley car!"

Zhou Hexuan immediately followed and quickly boarded the trolley car.

There weren't many people on the car. Ordinary people couldn't afford to ride this "foreign contraption," and most of the passengers were office workers and young students. In fact, the fare wasn't expensive, only two copper coins, which amounted to about half a cent.

A few male students were wearing modified Zhongshan suits, looking particularly spirited, though their hairstyles seemed rather silly, with center parts and side parts being the norm. Female students mostly had short hair, though some wore long braids. Unfortunately, the weather was cold, so it was hard to see the beautiful student skirts and cheongsams; they were all wearing thick cotton jackets.

"Qi Jun, have you read the newspaper? Yesterday, Japanese warships entered Dagu and bombarded the Nationalist Army, causing over ten casualties."

"Such a big event, how could I not know? This vast China is constantly subjected to the bullying of foreign powers, while the warlords only know how to fight each other, with no end to the civil wars. I don't know when it will all end."

"If Mr. Sun Yat-sen were still alive, it would be better. What a good opportunity two years ago. Cao Kun was expelled, and the Beiyang warlords were leaderless and wary of each other. With Mr. Sun's prestige, he could certainly have resolved the conflicts and formed a true national government. Unfortunately, he passed away at the most critical moment!"

"Alas..."

The students' resentment turned into a sigh. They were the most passionate young people of the time, but they could only feel helpless in the face of the chaotic situation.

Zhou Hexuan, however, did not share their sense of frustration. He felt like an outsider, and this era always seemed to be shrouded in a veil, still lingering in the pages of history books.

Listening to the students' conversation and considering the current year, Zhou Hexuan suddenly remembered a major event—the March 18th Massacre was about to happen!

"Sir, we're here." Hu Laosan's voice interrupted Zhou Hexuan's thoughts.

After getting off the trolley car, they walked for a few more minutes and finally arrived at a hutong entrance. They soon entered a siheyuan (quadrangle courtyard).

The siheyuan was not as elegant and quiet as Zhou Hexuan had imagined. The courtyard was filled with clothes drying, still dripping wet. As soon as they entered, they could smell a foul odor, probably from someone's chamber pot that hadn't been emptied.

Two young children were chasing and playing. The one in front bumped into Zhou Hexuan's leg. He seemed a bit shy, looked up, and then turned to run away, hiding in the house and not daring to come out.

The landlord's surname was Shan, and his name was Shan Chengfu, an elderly man of about 60 years old. He was wearing a jacket and a melon-shaped hat, with both hands tucked into his sleeves, a typical old man from the Republic of China era.

His son had gone south, leaving only his wife, daughter-in-law, and grandson in Tianjin. The main house of the siheyuan was occupied by the landlord himself, the west wing was rented to a large family, and several rooms in the east wing were still vacant.

"Sir, are you planning to stay in Tianjin for a long time after returning from abroad?" the landlord Shan Chengfu inquired.

Zhou Hexuan casually replied, "Yes, I plan to stay long-term. I'll start looking for a job tomorrow."

At that time, returnees from abroad were still highly valued. Shan Chengfu had no doubt about Zhou Hexuan's ability to earn money. He nodded and said, "That's good. If you're interested, you can choose a room in the east wing. The rent is five yuan per month."

Zhou Hexuan, who had been traveling around the world for years, was already accustomed to bargaining. "Five yuan is too expensive. Can you make it a bit cheaper?"

"It's not expensive at all. My house is in a good location. I'm only charging you five yuan because you're a scholar." Shan Chengfu paused and then said, "How about this: four and a half yuan, with one month's deposit and three months' rent in advance. If you're willing to rent, you can; if not, I won't force you."

Seeing that the old man didn't seem to be faking it, Zhou Hexuan nodded. "Alright, I'll move in today."

He paid 18 yuan for the deposit and three months' rent, and gave Hu Laosan 25 cents as a commission. Finally, Zhou Hexuan had a place to stay in this era.

Shan Chengfu was quite热心. Upon learning that Zhou Hexuan had no luggage, he had his wife bring over two old cotton quilts to ensure that Zhou Hexuan wouldn't freeze at night.

He then introduced Zhou Hexuan to the neighbors, knocking on the door of the west wing. A middle-aged woman in her forties came out. Shan Chengfu introduced her: "This is Mrs. Zhou Jiayi, from Chongqing, Sichuan. Her three sons will return in the evening."

"Hello, Aunt Zhou," Zhou Hexuan greeted.

Shan Chengfu smiled and said, "Mrs. Zhou, this is Zhou Hexuan, the tenant of the east wing. He has just returned from studying abroad. We are actually from the same clan."

Mrs. Zhou was a bit overweight, dressed neatly though not extravagantly. She seemed educated and nodded in greeting. "Hello, which country did you study in, Mr. Zhou?"

"Europe, I traveled through several countries," Zhou Hexuan replied truthfully, as he had indeed traveled through Europe.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries and then parted ways, as they had just met and neither was particularly talkative.

Zhou Hexuan returned to his room, tidied up a bit, and sat on the bed, feeling bored and pondering how he would survive in the future.

With the current turmoil, he couldn't continue traveling. He needed to find a proper job to solve his basic needs. The 60 yuan he had earned from selling his watch left him with only about 30 yuan after paying the rent, which wouldn't last long.

Zhou Hexuan had no grand ambitions as a time traveler, nor did he think about saving the country and the people or achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. He was just an ordinary person, a history major who hadn't even graduated, with no knowledge of politics, economics, science, or military affairs.

If there was one strength Zhou Hexuan had, it was his language skills. He had learned English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian during his travels, with English and French being his strongest, allowing him to write essays and poetry. The other languages were only good for daily conversation.

With his language skills alone, Zhou Hexuan could find a good job in this era, such as a translator.

During his travels, Zhou Hexuan's favorite activity was reading, especially literature and history. He was very familiar with the history and classics of various countries, making it easy for him to plagiarize and copy a few works.

After walking so much in the morning, Zhou Hexuan felt a bit tired. After a bout of random thoughts, he simply wrapped himself in the quilt and fell asleep.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

After an unknown amount of time, a knock on the door woke him up.

Zhou Hexuan opened the door to see a short, chubby teenager standing outside. He quickly realized and asked, "Are you Mrs. Zhou's son?"

"Yes, my surname is Li," the chubby boy said. "My mother saw that you haven't started a fire in your room and asked you to come over for dinner."

"Dinner?" Zhou Hexuan then noticed that it was already getting dark outside.

Having been a backpacker for years, Zhou Hexuan didn't know what it meant to be polite. When someone invited him to eat, he simply went. He followed the chubby boy to the west wing.

In that room, a large family was gathered, all of them slightly overweight.

Mrs. Zhou introduced her eldest son, saying, "This is my son, Shan Ji, who changed his name to Li Shoumin."

Zhou Hexuan felt he had heard the name Li Shoumin somewhere before but couldn't quite remember. He shook hands and said, "Hello, Brother Shoumin, I'm Zhou Hexuan."

"Hello, Brother Hexuan," Li Shoumin replied in Mandarin with a Sichuan accent.