Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space

Inside the train carriage, Mr. Zhang leaned back and leisurely drank tea from his thermos, watching his grandchildren whispering and pointing outside. Hearing his wife’s words, he shook his head and smiled.

If he guessed right, his youngest son was planning to take them beach camping. Before, back home, his youngest son had mentioned finding a quiet place to stay for a couple of days.

Sitting at the front of the carriage, Zhang Guofu and the driver exchanged knowing smiles.

"We’re almost there, is your brother not planning to tell your mom?"

Zhang Guofu laughed, "He’ll definitely say it now; he’s afraid Mom will grumble at him."

Sure enough, Zhang Guoqing’s voice came through, "Mom, our whole family is going to visit my Uncle Wang’s. The weather is nice now, perfect for catching the sea. It’s been years since we’ve seen him, and I wonder how he’s doing?"

"Oh... oh, going to your Uncle Wang’s, huh? Why didn’t you say earlier, so I could prepare something? Yes, we haven’t visited relatives in so many years, we should make a trip."

Zhang Guofu shook his head with a smile. His Xiao Wu has been shrewd since childhood, and he tells lies almost as if they’re true. But his mom is always clever and knows how to play along.

In the train carriage, Zhang Guoqing gave his mom a thumbs up. Truly worthy of being his mom! So smart!

Mother Zhang gave him a proud smile.

Seeing this scene, Mr. Zhang was instantly choked by the tea in his mouth. He thought, for such an honest farmer himself, how did he raise such a cunning son? Must have taken after the mom.

"Grandpa, we don’t drink tea, popsicles also quench thirst," Ping’an quickly patted Mr. Zhang’s back, softly advising.

Why pat gently? Ever since watching a big black bear battle a wild boar, he had been itching to try patting people. But this was his grandpa, if he got heavy-handed, what then?

Ping’an thought it wasn’t easy for him. He was a figure more formidable than the soldier Zhang Ga, but born at the wrong time. If there were little devils now, he could easily become a hero!

He might even end up as a little general like his grandpa, enjoying special supplies, having a car, and several uncles handling chores.

Mr. Zhang shook his head repeatedly with a smile, covering his mouth.

"Then take a rest. I’ll tell you a story to pass the time, okay?" Ping’an glanced at the long pipe beside him, "Grandpa, smoking is bad for health; let’s not smoke. If you really can’t resist, chew some candy."

Beside him, Zhang Ziwen teased, "Our Ping’an is really filial. Just don’t tell stories from those children’s books; Grandpa has heard those, no fun."

Ping’an listened and smiled indifferently; these small matters wouldn’t stump him.

Now, apart from "Little Horn," the three-tiered radio station has "Serial Novel Broadcast" and "Comic Relay" at noon 12:30 and evening 17:30.

The stories he knows are countless! Only his mom had explained that tales of emperors, generals, talented scholars, and beautiful ladies weren’t suitable for him to spread, so to avoid trouble, he pretended to be unaware.

Little Ping’an sat upright and cleared his throat, clapping his hands: "Today, I’ll give everyone a rendition of ’Jungle of Sea and Snow’; let’s get some applause first, okay?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Beside him, Mother Zhang was so pleased that she couldn’t continue her conversation with the youngest son, immediately clapping and shouting, "Why stand there dumb? Clap quickly!"

As soon as the words fell, the whole carriage erupted into laughter, accompanied by waves of enthusiastic applause. The commotion even surprised Zhou Jiao and others in the carriage behind, stretching their necks out to see.

"Speaking of our Northeast..."

The childish, clear voice from the carriage, after the opening, gradually silenced the noise, with even the coachman following closely.

"...Yang Zirong, disguised as the dead Hu Biao. This Hu Biao was an assistant horse officer of another bandit gang managed by Xu Dama Bang... and then took advantage of the situation to send out the reconnaissance information..."

Mr. Zhang proudly watched his grandson. Compared to the broadcasts he often listened to, his grandson was more impressive. From the beginning until now, it had been about an hour, and not a single stumble, still able to add a few jokes.

When telling stories, he’d raise his voice when necessary, and even mimic facial expressions of the characters. So adept that even his wife was listening enthralled. If it weren’t for the baby tone in his voice, who’d guess this was a five-year-old?

It wasn’t Mr. Zhang bragging—just self-praising. Even Zhang Guoqing beside him was suppressing laughter, watching his son eyes overflowing with admiration.

The little one speaks clearly, intonation and expression, rendering the "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" thrilling, characters vivid, even he alone might not tell so well.

Ping’an finished his tale, and the carriage reached the destination fishing village.

Zhang Guoqing saw the children gather around Ping’an asking, worried he might say too much, quickly said, "Quickly pick up your things, next destination—the beach!"

Ping’an promptly shouted, "Brothers, remember to bring tents and buckets."

Xi Zi ruffled his hair, "Little thing."

"Sir, you go straight, at the next junction walk towards the mountain about a hundred meters, and you’re there."

The driver responded loudly and continued forward.

After about ten minutes, as they approached the Wang Family, Zhang Guoqing told the carriage to stop, and he got off first to find Uncle Wang. Not having seen each other since the commune was established, who knows how the Wang Family was now?

Fortunately, Aunt Wang still recalled the tall, handsome, generous young man. After all, back then, the young man and his entourage had packed away several household stockpiles, even emptying their crab pool, hard to forget!

"Auntie, where’s my uncle?"

"Come in and sit. Haven’t seen you all in years; did you know we stopped farming crabs? Your uncle became a fisherman and will return tomorrow morning from the sea."

Zhang Guoqing could fairly guess the situation. Private farms were naturally unsustainable, so he wasn’t overly disappointed. As long as there’s a fishing boat to sea, even if they must hand everything over, fishermen’s homes have missed catches, enough to satisfy his big family.

"Looking to buy dried goods? Each household catches enough from the sea." Aunt Wang glanced ahead, "Such a crowd with you?"

Zhang Guoqing nodded with a smile, "My parents, brothers, and family plan to stay here for a couple of days."

Aunt Wang understood instantly, she quickly said, "Then I’ll go greet the team leader, tell him my family came over."

"Thank you, Auntie."

"What for, I’ll get my son to accompany you. He remembers you." Aunt Wang finished, calling her son from inside to host the guests, she hurriedly headed to the team leader’s house.

Though camping on the beach for a couple of days, meals and such must trouble the Wang Family, so the ox cart Zhou Jiao rode on was loaded with flour and cornmeal, as well as some wild game.

Given this large family visiting the Wang’s, Zhou Jiao certainly wouldn’t have them at a loss, hence, besides extra rations, she brought quite a few gifts.

Wang Laoyao’s face lit up with joy upon seeing Zhang Guoqing. The last visit from this big brother earned his family a sum, allowing him to continue schooling, and this time, no worries about his siblings’ tuition either.

Zhang Guoqing and his brother moved two bags outside the house, seeing the crowd, straightforwardly letting Wang Laoyao lead them to the beach for camping.