Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 179: Visiting Beijing

Jingyan smiled and nodded, then led Zhizhi out: "Grandma, you get a good night's sleep. Zhizhi will sleep with us tonight and with you tomorrow night."

Grandma waved her hand, and Jingyan left, closing the door behind her. Sister Wang also wanted to take a shower, so she took Zhizhi with her. Jingyan didn't refuse. She left An'an with He Chaoli and He Ci'en, letting the three of them shower together, before following He Zhijun back to her room.

After a good shower, feeling refreshed, He Zhijun went to the front desk to ask for the location of the dining room. When he came back, he started knocking on each room door. After calling everyone except his grandmother's room, he locked the door and they all went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.

The dishes in Beijing are quite different from those in Shanghai. Beijing's dishes tend to be saltier, while those in Shanghai tend to be sweeter. However, because of Jingyan's taste, the dishes she often eats at home are quite diverse, including sweet, salty, fresh, and spicy. Therefore, she was not so careful when ordering at the Wanshou Hotel restaurant.

The children were the most excited, chattering away as they asked the waiter which dishes were local specialties. Before they knew it, they had ordered almost everything: shredded pork with sweet bean sauce, stir-fried mixed vegetables, Peking duck, four-happiness meatballs, braised cuttlefish, and stewed pork offal with baked wheat cakes. After ordering six dishes, He Zhijun handed the menu to Jingyan, who showed it to Sister Wang. Sister Wang shook her head and said, "We don't know if this is enough. Let's eat first, and if we're still hungry, we can order more. It would be a shame to leave any uneaten food."

Jingyan glanced at the dishes she had ordered and said, "Four more bowls of Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste)."

That was enough for the meal. Before leaving, Jingyan thought for a moment and packed up some Buddha's Hand Pastry to take back to her grandmother's room. Seeing that her grandmother was sleeping soundly, Jingyan didn't disturb her. She left quietly, locked the door, and then took the key back to her own room.

I had a wonderful night's sleep, truly wonderful. Although I could sleep on the train, it wasn't as comfortable as sleeping at home. This hotel may not have many other features, but the bed was really comfortable, with a mattress that was just the right firmness, and the blanket was also very soft.

Getting up early, Jingyan, armed with the meal tickets the front desk had given her after checking into the hotel the day before, began checking each room. Grandma was already up and seemed to be in good spirits, but the snacks on the table remained untouched. After everyone gathered, they went to the dining room together.

The receptionist wasn't lying. They had douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), tofu pudding, white rice porridge, millet porridge, eight-treasure porridge, boiled eggs, fried eggs, steamed sweet potatoes, steamed corn, and several cold side dishes. Hmm, they even had noodles and snacks—a wide variety of options.

The children were like little mice that had fallen into a rice jar, darting around with their plates. They returned soon with plates full, each taking a bite and offering their opinions. Sister Wang, on the other hand, tasted a little of everything, whispering to Jingyan, "I can almost make this, but I couldn't taste some of the flavors in this one..."

For those who love to study cooking, delicacies from all over the world are their favorites. After only two meals, Sister Wang felt that the trip was already worthwhile.

After a day of rest, everyone felt much better. For the next three days, we explored Beijing, watched the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square, and visited the Forbidden City to appreciate the solemnity of history. We had originally planned to climb the Great Wall, but Grandma said it would be too tiring. It was also the day for He Ci'en to register at school.

Grandma and Sister Wang stayed at the hotel to rest, while He Zhijun and his wife took their three children to take He Ci'en to school. University was indeed different; the gates were large, and the campus was huge. Fortunately, there were upperclassmen holding banners at the gate to welcome the new students.

While other new students are accompanied by one or two parents, a family like Jing Yan's, with a string of children of all ages, is quite a sight, attracting the attention of many people.

The children were carefree, too busy marveling at the size of the campus to keep up, jumping and skipping around happily. He Ci'en kept smiling, responding to her younger siblings' chatter while also looking around curiously. He Zhijun led Jingyan behind the children, while the older student leading the way looked a little embarrassed.

"Um, does your house live very close to here? Why are you bringing so many kids with you when you drop them off?"

Jing Yan smiled and said, "It's not close. Our whole family is just here for a trip and we're taking Ci'en to school. We brought the kids here so they could experience university life in advance and be motivated to study hard. Otherwise, they're always very reluctant to study."

The senior student smiled and took them to the academic affairs office. He accompanied them to pay their tuition fees, get their dormitory keys, and helped them put their things in the dormitory. The family stayed in the dormitory to unpack, while he took He Ci'en to the main living areas such as the canteen, water room, library, and sports hall to familiarize them with the way.

When the senior student brought her back, He Ci'en's dormitory bed and cabinets had been cleaned up. The bed was made, and the clothes and shoes were put in the cabinets. However, there were no basins or thermos flasks prepared, and she would have to buy them herself at the school store later.

When Jingyan saw He Ci'en enter, she smiled and asked him, "Have you gotten to know all the places?" He Ci'en nodded, "I know the way to the places I frequent. I'll figure out the rest on my own as I explore."

The senior student smiled and said goodbye to everyone: "I've finished guiding the juniors, so I'll be going now. I still need to guide the next freshman. You all go ahead with your work." Jing Yan quickly took out a can of yellow peaches from her luggage and handed it to the senior student who had helped guide them: "Thank you for your help, this is for you."

The senior student was really embarrassed to accept it. After some refusals and tugs, he finally left with the canned food. Jing Yan pulled He Ci'en and said, "Let's go to the convenience store to buy some daily necessities."

He Ci'en nodded: "Okay, thank you, Auntie."

Jing Yan turned to He Zhijun and said, "Zhijun, let's find a bank on campus first and open a savings account for Ci'en. We can deposit his living expenses for this semester into the account. Just leave him fifty yuan to top up his meal card. Don't keep too much cash on him. We can buy him daily necessities later."

He Zhijun nodded, and Jing Yan turned to look at the three children: "What do you three say? Are you coming with us or waiting in your brother's dormitory?"

The three children looked at each other, and Zhizhi said, "Mom, I want to sleep in Ci'en's bed for a while. I'm a little sleepy."

He Chaoli looked at Zhizhi's eyes, which were barely open, and then looked up at Jingyan: "Auntie, An'an and I will stay here to look after my sister. Don't worry, we won't run around or leave her here alone."

Jingyan looked at them again and had no choice but to let them stay. After the adults left, Zhizhi rubbed her eyes, lay down on He Ci'en's bed, and fell asleep in no time. An'an looked at Zhizhi's sleeping face and also started to feel sleepy. He Chaoli said helplessly, "An'an, you should lie down next to Zhizhi and sleep. I'll stay here with you two."

An'an tucked Zhizhi to the inside of the bed and lay down as well. Soon, their breathing became even. Well, these two fell asleep really fast. But the quiet space didn't last long before a new older brother came in. Even though people were walking around and talking, the two children's sleep on the bed was not disturbed.

On the contrary, the newcomers were momentarily bewildered upon seeing the room full of children. Who would have thought there would be little kids in a university dormitory, let alone three of them? Fortunately, Ho Chiu-lai was quite reliable and quickly explained that they were someone's younger siblings.

The parents who came to drop off their child all thought that these parents were really careless. Even though the school was relatively safe, it was still something only a human would do to leave their child here like that. Of course, the two adults who were busy looking for the bank and the convenience store had no idea about any of this.

That's the good thing about university; you can live your life on campus without leaving the campus. There really is a bank on campus, a post office savings bank. Three hundred yuan was deposited into the savings account opened for He Ci'en. He Ci'en held the savings account and was a little conflicted: "Auntie, didn't you say you would give me three hundred yuan for living expenses for a semester? But you also paid my tuition today, and there are other things too. This amount of money is too much."

Jingyan patted him: "It's okay. It's better to be frugal than to be poor. Just focus on your studies at school. You can't worry about living expenses. As for the money your parents need to give you, I won't worry about that. Once you find out their address, contact them. Having money on hand will put your mind at ease, okay?"

He Ci'en nodded obediently, and the three of them found the convenience store again. They bought two washbasins, one for washing their face and one for washing their feet. They also bought two towels of different colors, two thermos flasks, soap, laundry detergent, bar soap, toothpaste, toothbrush... and even bought He Ci'en a bottle of baby cream.

When the three of them returned to the dormitory with their bags, almost all six of their roommates had already arrived. With the addition of the parents who came to see them off, the room was almost full of people. The three children sat obediently in a row on He Ci'en's bed, watching everyone bustling around with curiosity, and even having time to whisper to each other.

Seeing Jingyan and the others return, Zhizhi's little voice rang out: "Mommy, Daddy, Brother, you're back! Zhizhi is hungry."

Okay, it's definitely past noon. They must be hungry after not eating for so long. The three of them packed up the things they had just bought, and Jingyan pulled He Ci'en: "Let's go find something to eat outside the school. At this time, the school cafeteria should be past lunchtime."

He Ci'en nodded obediently, hid the savings book in the lining of her pillow, then took the dormitory key, said goodbye to the other dormitory members, and the family left. With the six of them gone, the room suddenly felt much more spacious.

“Ci’en, your school is quite big. I don’t know how far the teaching building is from where you live after school starts. You can’t just walk there all the time. How about I buy you a bicycle to get around?” He Zhijun said.

Jingyan also thought it was a good idea: "After we finish eating, let's check the nearby shopping malls or supply and marketing cooperatives. If they sell them, we can buy one. But do we still need a ticket for bicycles these days?"

He Zhijun shook his head: "We don't need tickets anymore, just pay the money."

They found a small restaurant where the stir-fried dishes were surprisingly delicious, and the portions were quite generous. After eating and drinking their fill, they asked the owner for directions before heading to the mall. And sure enough, there was a section specifically for selling bicycles.

He Zhijun thought the Phoenix brand bicycle, which cost 170 yuan and had a front crossbar, was quite good. In addition to the original lock, he also provided an extra lock specifically for locking the wheels. In this way, He Ci'en's means of transportation was solved.

Jingyan found the bus stop and saw that there were buses back to the hotel. She told He Ci'en to ride his bike back to school while they waited for the bus to go directly back to the hotel. Before He Ci'en left, He Zhijun slipped him fifty yuan in cash: "Put it on your meal card when you get back. If you get tired of the food at school, come out and have a treat. Don't be stingy with your food."

Watching He Ci'en ride away on his bicycle, He Zhijun sighed, "The child has grown up so fast. When he first came here, he was just a little boy, and now he's a young man."

Back at the hotel, I met Grandma and told her about the school. Grandma listened with great interest: "Before we leave, I'll go and see their school. I've never been to a university campus before. By the way, after you left, I discussed it with your sister Wang and we cancelled a double room. Tonight, Zhizhi will sleep with me, An'an will sleep with you two, and Xiaoli will sleep in a standard room with Sister Wang."

Jingyan nodded, indicating that she understood. Her grandmother hesitated for a moment before saying, "Jingyan, it's too expensive for us to stay here. Even with a 20% discount, it's still 40 or 50 yuan a day. Why don't we find a cheaper guesthouse to stay in?"

Jingyan thought for a moment and said, "Grandma, when we were looking for a restaurant near Ci'en School today, we saw some houses about three or four miles from the school. The houses looked quite new. I was thinking of going to take a look with Zhijun tomorrow. If we can buy a house, we can move in now, and if Ci'en doesn't want to live at school in the future, we'll have a place to stay. What do you think?"

Grandma nodded: "You mentioned this idea at home before, and I have no objection. But you need to take a closer look at the price and location of the house. How about this, you and your husband go look for one tomorrow, and your sister Wang and I will stay at the hotel to take care of the child. The sooner we find one, the sooner we can move out. The hotel is nice, but it's too expensive."

Jingyan agreed. The next morning, after having the free breakfast at the hotel, the young couple took a bus straight to the neighborhood near Ci'en School. Once there, they went directly to the local street office to inquire. Sure enough, the neighborhood was relatively new and they did have houses for sale, but the prices were genuinely high.

Jingyan and her friends bought a shop on Changxing Island a few years ago for only ten yuan per square meter, but the price here is six hundred yuan per square meter. The price has risen too fast, and there is not much decoration inside. The only good thing is that there is a toilet in the room, so they don't have to run outside to squeeze into a public toilet early in the morning.

He Zhijun and Jing Yan looked at each other, and He Zhijun was having second thoughts: "It's too expensive. Maybe we shouldn't buy it. A house costs about 50,000 yuan, which is too expensive."

Jingyan patted him on the shoulder: "Our family has enough money. House prices have already gone up this much, and this place is close to the university. Prices might even skyrocket in the future. Consider it an investment." She knew that house prices would be high in the future, but in her previous life, she only lived in that small area of ​​Northeast China, and she remembered that the house prices there were less than three thousand yuan per square meter.

This is Beijing, so it should be even more expensive. Buying here wouldn't be a loss, but I really don't have that much money. Besides, I don't know if my child will stay here in the future. There's no need to buy too many houses, and I don't have enough money available right now. Buying one would be a stretch. Oh well, one shouldn't be too greedy.