From the History of the Republic of China to Raising Children in the 1970s

69

He opened the door quietly. It was dark inside. A faint breathing sound came from the bed by the window, telling Li Chengye that the person inside was sleeping soundly and had not woken up.

Li Chengye did not turn on the light either, and closed the door carefully. It was still three or four hours before dawn. They were visiting the steel plant at nine in the morning, so he could still have a good rest. Lying back on the bed in the dark, Li Chengye sighed, then slowly closed his eyes and let sleepiness spread. Tomorrow they would be notified to leave, and Master Qian would also wake him up, so there was no need to worry.

Maybe because he suddenly met someone he used to know, Li Chengye couldn't sleep well while lying on the bed. As soon as he closed his eyes, the things that happened in the past appeared in front of him bit by bit, giving him a splitting headache. Those pictures included those of him in Country M and those of him still living in City S, happy and unhappy, all mixed together.

So Li Chengye got up before dawn and looked at his watch. It was only 6:55 and they were not going to leave until 8:30. He sat on the bed. Master Qian's bed was empty on the side. He didn't know when he went out. Maybe because he was tormented enough by the dream, he didn't hear anything.

He got up from the bed with difficulty, and then went to the bathroom to wash up, and also used cold water to sober himself up. After all, his body was still young. When Li Chengye came out of the bathroom, he had recovered and looked energetic. It was hard to tell that he had been tossing around for the first half of the night and had a nightmare in the second half.

"Hey, you're awake! Hurry up and have breakfast." Li Chengye wiped the water off his face with a towel. When he came out, he saw Master Qian pushing the door in from outside, holding a tray full of food.

Li Chengye was a little surprised, "You went down to get the food by yourself?" You know, Master Qian always followed him every time, this was his first time to act alone, right?

Master Qian put the tray on the small round table in the room, then quickly shook his head and denied, "How is it possible? I don't understand what people are saying here. I just got up and walked around in the corridor. It happened that a few people next door were going to have breakfast, so I followed them."

Master Qian got up earlier than Li Chengye today, and seeing that Li Chengye was still sleeping, he was afraid of disturbing him, so he went out.

Li Chengye nodded, and then walked to the table to sit down. Since Master Qian had prepared breakfast, it was better not to waste it.

Master Qian brought back traditional D country breakfast, sausage, bread, poached eggs, mushroom soup, and a cup of coffee. Master Qian was not used to drinking coffee, so he only brought back one cup.

While eating the food on the table, Master Qian suddenly asked casually, "Secretary Li, did you go to bed very late last night?"

Li Chengye stopped what he was doing, looked over, and didn't mean to say anything.

Master Qian seemed not to notice and continued: "You used to get up earlier than me. It's a rare day that I get up earlier than you!"

Li Chengye retracted his gaze and continued to eat, but he smiled, "I did sleep very late yesterday, and I got up late today."

Master Qian said with some emotion: "You young people just don't take care of your body. I know you are young, but you still need to rest, and you don't have to rush to read those documents..."

He started to talk like an ordinary elder, and Li Chengye just smiled and listened, nodding from time to time. Knowing that this was a sincere concern, he naturally would not refuse.