The Daily Life of a Stepmother in the 1980s
Xu Tao took Zhao Linan out and hailed a small tricycle. She told the driver that she wanted to go to a bookstore. The driver replied, "I know a bigger bookstore, but it's quite far from here, over on Baiyun Road. Do you want to go there? There's also a closer bookstore, but it's small."
"Let's go to the bigger one." Xu Tao thought for a moment and then instructed the driver to head toward Baiyun Road.
"It's far, so the fare will be one yuan." The driver, hoping to earn more by going a longer distance, mentioned the price upfront, worried that Xu Tao might think it was too expensive.
"That's fine."
"Alright, hold on tight." The honest tricycle driver immediately started the engine, and the vehicle began to hum steadily as it weaved through the streets of Yangcheng.
Yangcheng was quite chaotic during this era, but chaos often precedes development. People from all walks of life—legitimate or otherwise—came here to make their mark.
Xu Tao held Zhao Linan as the tricycle moved along, observing how the surroundings changed. Compared to later times, Yangcheng wasn’t as developed yet, but it was already significantly better in terms of environment and transportation than many other places.
"Mommy, blow blow, whoosh whoosh..." Zhao Linan, sitting on Xu Tao's lap, felt the wind on his face. The little one adorably puckered his lips, imitating the wind while stretching out his small hands to play.
"Feels good?" Xu Tao gently asked while pinching the little one’s ear.
The weather was scorching, but sitting in the tricycle with the breeze blowing felt very comfortable.
"Mm-hmm." Zhao Linan turned to Xu Tao with a smile. He wasn't upset about having his ear pinched and continued puckering his lips, making "whoosh" sounds. Xu Tao didn’t stop him, allowing him to enjoy his innocent playfulness.
Soon, the tricycle arrived at the bookstore on Baiyun Road.
This bookstore was a fairly large Xinhua Bookstore. It was bustling with people, creating a lively atmosphere. Xu Tao held Zhao Linan's hand and started browsing the shelves. In the dusty corners, she spotted some rare books that would later become valuable collector's items.
Books that would be highly sought after in the future were still sold in complete sets, though they weren’t cheap. There weren’t many children's educational books, but even those were surprisingly expensive.
Xu Tao picked out two simple books for Zhao Linan as introductory reading materials. She also wandered over to the bestsellers section, which had a variety of genres—martial arts novels, literary works, and even classics like the Four Books and Five Classics. Among the most popular were The Generals of the Yang Family and The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
These two books were bestsellers largely thanks to the popularity of their TV adaptations, sparking a craze for martial arts fiction.
Xu Tao flipped through some books and checked the publishers and their contact addresses on the back covers. After buying the children's books and some stationery for Zhao Linan, she also jotted down the names and addresses of several well-known publishers.
"Let's go home!" Xu Tao had accomplished her goal for the trip, though it pained her to have spent dozens of yuan.
"Okay!" Zhao Linan, knowing the books were for him, happily bounced along while holding Xu Tao's hand.
After returning home, Xu Tao had bought pencils for Zhao Linan and splurged 15 yuan on a fountain pen and ink for herself.
Xu Tao didn’t jump straight into writing. She tidied up their things and then went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. She also steamed a few large sweet potatoes, planning to make some snacks to visit the neighbors.
As the saying goes, "Distant relatives aren’t as helpful as close neighbors." Neighbors were important during this time. Xu Tao wasn’t antisocial—she thought it would be good for Zhao Linan, who spent most of his time at home, to meet some local kids.
She had noticed earlier that children in Old Eight Alley often played outside. Zhao Linan, being younger and new to the area, seemed eager to join in but was too shy.
"Come on, Xiao Nan, let’s have some noodles." Since Zhao Weiguo wasn’t home and she still needed to make snacks later, Xu Tao made a simple noodle dish for lunch.
While Xu Tao was cooking, Zhao Linan stood by the courtyard gate, longingly watching the other kids play with stones. Only when Xu Tao called him did the little boy trot back inside.
"Does it taste good?"
"Yes!"
"Good, then eat more." Xu Tao smiled and patted his little head.
After lunch, Xu Tao cleaned up and returned to the kitchen to quickly fry some snacks. As the delicious aroma filled the air, a few older boys from the alley surrounded Zhao Linan, who had been standing by the gate.
"Hey, little brother, what’s your mommy cooking? It smells so good!"
These days, food is scarce, and snacks are even more precious. It’s rare for anyone to make homemade treats. Yesterday, when Xu Tao was making snacks, the sweet aroma filled the alley all afternoon. The children had been curious and tempted by the smell.
Today, as Xu Tao made snacks again, the neighborhood kids became even more restless. The bolder ones started asking Zhao Linan.
“Snacks,” Zhao Linan replied. He had always been clever. Though the little boy didn’t speak much, his words were always clear.
“Snacks!?” A seven or eight-year-old boy repeated Zhao Linan’s words with a drooling expression. “They must be delicious! They smell so good.”
Standing on the steps of the courtyard, Zhao Linan leaned against the gate, looking down at the children. When he heard the boy say they must taste good, he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, they’re delicious.”
“Well… my name is Shitou. If I play with you, can you let me taste some of your family’s snacks?” The boy clutched a few smooth little stones in his hand, which were as dusty as his small, playful hands.
“I’ll ask my mom.” Zhao Linan thought for a moment, his eyes shifting, then ran into the kitchen on his short little legs.
Xu Tao was in the kitchen dividing the snacks into many portions, planning to deliver five pieces to each household.
The snacks were small in size, but they were made from sweet potatoes, flour, and sugar, and had to be pan-fried in oil. Just making these snacks over the past two days had used up half a pound of oil. Naturally, these snacks counted as generous gifts when visiting others.
“Mom.” Zhao Linan tugged at Xu Tao’s clothes as he entered the kitchen.
“Yes? What is it?” Xu Tao lowered her head to look at the little one, her hands still busy.
“Brother Shitou outside said if I give him some snacks, he’ll play stones with me!” Zhao Linan explained clearly, though the names and the game sounded a bit tangled. Still, Xu Tao understood.
“Do you want to play with them?” Xu Tao squatted down with a smile.
Of course, Zhao Linan wanted to. Children naturally have the instinct to play together. What child is naturally withdrawn? Moreover, Zhao Linan wasn’t shy. “Mm.”
“Then tell Mom how many kids are outside!” Xu Tao naturally didn’t want to stop Zhao Linan from joining the neighborhood kids.
Though Xu Tao worried that Zhao Linan might end up as tanned and messy as those playful alley kids, she couldn’t let her slight obsession with cleanliness stop him from having friends and a normal childhood.
“...” Zhao Linan started counting on his fingers but couldn’t say exactly how many.
“Alright! So there are several kids, right?” Since Zhao Linan couldn’t count, Xu Tao didn’t press further. She grabbed a bowl, placed five snacks in it, and handed it to him. “One piece for each. If it’s not enough, come back for more, okay?”
“Okay.” Zhao Linan carefully held the bowl and nodded before leaving the kitchen, stepping toward the courtyard gate.
Xu Tao quietly observed him from the kitchen and noticed the curious little heads peeking at the gate. The children’s faces lit up when they saw Zhao Linan carrying the bowl.
“My mom said one piece each,” Zhao Linan announced while holding the bowl.
“There are five of us, so there’s one extra. I’m the oldest, so I get two pieces.” Shitou, the oldest and most mischievous at seven years old, was about to start first grade. Knowing how to count, he looked into the bowl and arranged the distribution while sneakily claiming extra for himself.
“Okay.” The other three kids—two boys and a girl—had no objections to this arrangement.
Zhao Linan didn’t argue. In fact, he was the youngest among them. When he saw Shitou handing out the snacks and noticed one piece left in the bowl, Shitou reached for a second piece. But Zhao Linan quickly moved the bowl away. “Mine!”
“...” Shitou froze, his hand hanging in the air. He stared at Zhao Linan in disbelief. “Hey, little brother, you still have more at home. Let me have that one, okay? These snacks smell so good.” Shitou had already tasted it, and most of his piece was gone.
“No. Mom said one piece each.” Zhao Linan firmly shook his head, holding the bowl in one hand and eating his snack with the other.
Seeing that Zhao Linan truly had no intention of sharing with him, Shitou didn't act too domineering. He just felt a bit regretful and began to take small bites of the snack in his hand.
"Brother Shitou, it smells so good!" The little girl with two braids happily nibbled on the snack with a delighted expression.
"Yeah! It really does smell good." Shitou nodded. After finishing his snack, he quietly watched Zhao Linan, wishing he could snatch the snack from the little guy's hand.
However, he didn't actually make a move. Once he finished eating, he called out to the others, "Since you gave us snacks, we're all friends now. We'll take you to play stone kicking with us."
"Okay!" Zhao Linan quickly ran back home holding the bowl, returned it to Xu Tao, and then happily dashed out to join the group of children playing in the alley.
When Xu Tao went out to deliver snacks to the neighbors, Zhao Linan was already playing happily with the other kids. The scene looked quite harmonious, so Xu Tao didn't call him back and simply went on to deliver the snacks one by one.
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