Chapter 44: Dragon Boat Festival Date
1955 6 Month 24 Day.

Dragon Boat Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival at that time had not yet been designated as a legal holiday, so people still had to go to work or school as usual.

When he arrived at the Workers' Hospital, Wang Mengde began to treat patients as usual. What was different from usual was that at noon in the cafeteria, each person could spend an extra four cents to buy a red date rice dumpling.

After a busy day, I went straight back to Yuer Hutong.

Entering the yard, you will see mugwort inserted and calamus hung on both sides of the doors of every household.

In the living room, his parents and two younger brothers were already sitting at the dining table. Seeing him coming back, Wang Weiguo hurriedly said, "Brother, wash your hands and eat quickly. We still have to go out to play later."

"Yes, brother, we're waiting for you." Wang Yuanchao also urged.

"Okay, I'll be right there." Wang Mengde said with a smile.

On Sunday, he told the two little ones that he would take them to Shichahai Beach to play and introduce his sister-in-law to them.

At the dinner table, he drank three cups of realgar wine with his father, ate two rice dumplings, and two steamed buns stuffed with roses. Just as he was about to put down his bowl, Ran Xiaomei handed him another cake: "Little Pig, this is the Five Poison Cake, you haven't eaten it yet."

The Five Poisons Cake is made by stamping a red seal with the images of the five poisonous creatures on a specially made puff pastry. It is said that eating it can enhance immunity, kill insects and avoid disasters.

Another high-end delicacy in Beijing is the rose cake, but it is considered a delicate pastry and is expensive, costing more than two yuan per pound. Most people cannot afford it, so the most ordinary families can do is to steam rose-filled buns or sweet rolls to suit the occasion.

After finishing the Five Poison Cakes, Wang Mengde burped, then took a water bottle and a bag, and went out with his two younger brothers who had been waiting nearby.

Soon, the three of them arrived at Shichahai. From afar, they saw He Shengnan standing there waiting for him, with her sister He Yanan beside her.

The two of them made an appointment a few days ago and planned to meet here this evening.

When they got there, without waiting for Wang Mengde's instructions, the two brothers shouted at her in unison with great insight:
"Hello, sister-in-law."

"Oh, hello." He Shengnan was at a loss for words. She had never expected that their first meeting would turn out to be like this.

"Brother-in-law." He Yanan also called out sweetly to Wang Mengde.

She and Wang Mengde had met several times and were very familiar with each other.

"Yanan, your brother-in-law brought you some delicious food." As he said that, Wang Mengde opened the bag and carefully took out the packaged cherries, black mulberries and peeled water chestnuts (water chestnuts) from it.

"Wow! So many delicious foods, thank you brother-in-law."

When the He sisters saw the delicious food, their eyes couldn't move away. Although they had already eaten dinner, they still felt that they could eat a little more.

After a few people had some snacks, He Shengnan remembered that she had also prepared a gift.

"Aid Korea, Defend the Country, come here quickly, there are gifts for you."

"Sister-in-law, what's the gift?" When the two little guys heard that there was a gift, they hurriedly came up to her, holding up their little heads with anticipation.

"These are them. Do you like them?"

He Shengnan stretched out her hand from behind, holding two colorful rice dumplings, two little tigers and a bracelet made of cherries, mulberries, eggplants, beans, celery, peppers, pears, persimmons and oranges.

The colorful rice dumplings are made of cardboard and wrapped with colorful silk threads. The little tigers are made of silk.

"I like it, I like it, thank you sister-in-law." Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo's eyes lit up and they reached out to take the gifts.

Seeing that she had five gifts in her hand, Wang Mengde thought to himself that something was wrong, and hurried forward to take the bracelet first, saying with a smile: "This bracelet must be for me."

Seeing their brother taking the bracelet away, the two little guys didn’t care. They thought it was really a gift from their sister-in-law to their brother. Their attention was attracted by the colorful rice dumplings and the little tiger.

It just so happened that everyone had the same one, and He Shengnan had very good needlework skills, so the ones she made were basically the same, which prevented a "war".

After distributing the gifts, the three children became familiar with each other, and then they jumped and skipped in front together. Wang Mengde and He Shengnan followed behind. He took the opportunity to talk about the situation of his two younger brothers, focusing on the history of the two men fighting over things.

"So that's how it is. It seems that having twins in the family is really interesting." He Shengnan smiled and covered her mouth after hearing this.

"Hehe, it's interesting indeed, but it's also troublesome. We can't have twins in the future." Wang Mengde said with a lingering fear on his face.

As soon as these words came out, He Shengnan's face instantly turned red, but she did not refute, but whispered: "My parents said that August 8th is okay."

If it weren't for his sharp ears, he might not have been able to hear it clearly.

In front, He Yanan stretched out her arms and showed off her longevity locks to her two companions, which made the brothers Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo envious.

Unfortunately, this longevity lock is usually worn by little girls, and Ran Xiaomei did not prepare it for them.

Looking at the three children chattering happily, Wang Mengde and He Shengnan smiled at each other.

Walking slowly along the winding river, the breeze blew, and the cool breeze made everyone feel a lot better.

Arriving at a slightly open place, they stopped and the three children started playing the game of "Fighting with Hundred Herbs" again.

At this time, the sun had completely set. Seeing that He Yanan lost more than she won in the "Hundred Herbs Game", Wang Mengde pulled He Shengnan behind a big tree, ready to find some strong grass for his sister.

After a long while, he came out from behind the big tree with a piece of grass in his hand, followed by He Shengnan, who had a ruddy face.

It took him a long time to select this grass, and it actually won in the end.

When it got dark, the five people were reluctant to go home.

Wang Mengde first sent the He sisters to Caochang Hutong, and then sent his two younger brothers to Yuer Hutong before slowly walking towards his own home.

In the middle courtyard, many neighbors gathered together, enjoying the cool air and chatting.

In the crowd, a man with a big belly sticking out of his bangs was waving his arms and saying with spit flying everywhere:

"As a government official, we must always pay attention to politics. A few days ago, the country issued a policy called 'Directives on the Household Registration System.' Do you know about this?"

Without waiting for anyone to speak, he continued to answer his own question: "To put it simply, this policy means that in the future, if anyone wants to relocate their household registration, it will not be allowed. They must report to the county government and obtain a relocation certificate before they are allowed to relocate."

Most of the neighbors were just listening for fun, after all, this household registration policy had nothing to do with them. But Qin Huairu, after hearing it, felt a pang in her heart and had a premonition that something bad was going to happen.

Wang Mengde just opened the door and was about to enter the room. He also heard what Liu Haizhong said and knew that this system was prepared for the issuance of tickets in a few months.

There was a difference between urban and rural hukou before, but it was not big. It was not until this system came out and food coupons were issued that the difference became huge.

In a few months, the Jia family will have no tears left to cry.

(End of this chapter)