Chapter 31: The Neighbor, the Hu Family
The "Yuanyuan" and "Hu Hao" mentioned by Zhu Yanli both shared the surname Hu. Hu Yuanyuan was their neighbor, living directly across to the left. Her family ran a noodle production shop. It was said that Hu Sen, Yuanyuan’s father, had previously worked as a laborer at a mechanical arsenal. However, after her health deteriorated to the point where she could no longer withstand the physical demands, she left the factory and was reassigned to work at a grain station. Drawing on her experience from the machinery plant, she had designed and built a manual noodle-making machine, setting up a small noodle workshop at home. Every afternoon, the family would make noodles. When Zhu Yanyi had free time, she would often go over to watch them knead the flour into dough and eventually shape it into noodles. Occasionally, she would even help them dry the flat noodles. Naturally, seeing how well-behaved Zhu Yanyi was, Zheng Xiangju would always give her some broken noodles to take home after finishing their work.
The Hu family’s living conditions were undoubtedly good. With their material wealth came higher spiritual and cultural demands, one aspect of which was their collection of lianhuanhua (comic strip books). They possessed complete sets of classics like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin, and essentially had all four Great Classical Novels covered. They also owned several war-themed series. Because they had so many books, Hu Sen had specially crafted a cabinet dedicated to storing her children’s comic strips. Whenever Zhu Yanyi and Zhu Yanli had free time, they would go over to the Hu house to read them.
The Hu Hao mentioned by Zhu Yanyi was the true owner of these comic strips. It was said that she spent all her New Year’s money on them, so she cherished them dearly. She was especially protective of the new ones, forbidding anyone from touching them—even her own younger sister, Hu Yuanyuan.
In a world where childhood entertainment options were virtually non-existent, a single comic strip book was a precious treasure. Therefore, no matter how strict Hu Hao’s rules were or how many conditions he set, the sisters were still drawn to go over and read them.
After finishing her homework first, Zhu Yanli informed Xie Xinlian and then took Zhu Yanyi over to the Hu house.
"Ah Ni is back," Zheng Xiangju called out with a smile as soon as she saw the two girls entering the Hu residence.
"Hello, Auntie Hu," Zhu Yanli and Zhu Yanyi greeted in unison.
"Good, so well-behaved." Zheng Xiangju smiled warmly. "Your mother told me that Ah Ni fell into the water. Is your body fully recovered now?"
"Yes, I’m completely better," Zhu Yanyi nodded obediently.
Zhu Yanli added, "Is Brother Hu Hao home? We want to read comic strips."
"He’s here. Go on in; he’s listening to the radio. It’s the storytelling segment right now, featuring Journey to the West. You can listen in too." Zheng Xiangju wasn’t surprised by the sisters’ visit. As neighbors who had watched the girls grow up since birth, the two families shared a good relationship.
"Okay." Zhu Yanli nodded, pulling Zhu Yanyi inside. "Brother Hu Hao, we’re here to read comic strips."
Hu Hao was twelve years old, two years older than Zhu Yanli. Seeing the two girls enter, she smiled and said, "Wait a moment, I’ll go get them for you." Hu Hao cherished her comic strips greatly. Because the Zhu sisters were well-behaved and never damaged her books when reading, she agreed to let them look. She generally refused requests from anyone else.
Zhu Yanyi didn’t say anything else, merely calling out "Brother Hu Hao," leaving the rest to her sister. After all, her only interest in comic strips was the knowledge that many complete sets from the future were quite valuable. Since she had no money, she couldn’t collect complete sets herself. She remembered that in her previous life, Hu Hao had eventually bought several houses, despite her job not paying that high an income. She suspected that the money likely came from selling off some of her comic strips.