It was evening.
Chen Jianguo came home from work.
Liu Xiuying had also finished stewing a large pot of braised beef, and the whole house was filled with its savory aroma.
After dinner.
The sky had completely darkened.
Liu Xiuying cleared the dinner table, washed her hands, and walked into Chen Zhuo’s bedroom.
She took down the new, deep red, hard-shell combination-lock suitcase from the top of the wardrobe.
Liu Xiuying placed the suitcase flat in the center of the living room and unlocked the combination lock.
Chen Jianguo sat on the sofa with a toothpick dangling from his mouth, flipping through channels with the remote control in his hand.
Chen Zhuo also came out of his room and sat watching on a small stool nearby.
Liu Xiuying started taking out clothes.
A stack of short-sleeved shirts, a few pairs of athletic shorts, and two long-sleeved shirts for autumn.
She stacked these lighter clothes neatly on the left side of the suitcase, pressing them down firmly with her hand.
"These T-shirts are for you to wear when you get there. Learn to wash them yourself when they get dirty. Don’t just pile them up until they start to stink."
Liu Xiuying muttered as she folded.
Chen Zhuo answered while watching TV.
After folding the lighter clothes, Liu Xiuying turned and went back into the bedroom.
When she came out again, she was holding a large object in her arms.
It was a thick, black piece of clothing.
The material was very thick, with a fur-trimmed collar. It looked hot just to look at.
Liu Xiuying stuffed the thick garment into the right side of the suitcase, and the once-empty case was instantly more than half full.
Chen Jianguo, watching from the side, finally couldn’t hold back anymore.
He took the toothpick out of his mouth.
"I’m just saying, it’s only the end of August, and it’s over thirty degrees outside. Why are you packing such a thick padded jacket for him? It’s taking up more than half the space."
"What do you know?"
Liu Xiuying retorted without even looking up.
"I heard it’s even colder in Huizhou than here. The winters are damp and frigid, the kind of cold that seeps into your bones. Xiaozhuo is going away for a whole semester and won’t be back until the New Year. If he doesn’t bring this jacket, what’s he going to wear when it snows in November or December?"
Chen Jianguo frowned.
"Then why not just buy one there when winter comes? This big suitcase is going to be so heavy to lug around."
"Does buying one there not cost money?" Liu Xiuying shot him a glare.
"We have a perfectly good jacket at home, so why waste money? Besides, he’s just a kid. What does he know about buying clothes? What if he buys one that’s too thin and catches a cold? There’ll be no one around to even pour him a glass of water."
Silenced by his wife’s rapid-fire barrage of words, Chen Jianguo gave up, shut his mouth, and went back to watching TV.
Chen Zhuo sat to the side, not daring to say a word.
’Although he really wanted to say that, in a purely physical sense, the thick jacket was completely unnecessary.’
Liu Xiuying painstakingly rolled up the jacket and used all her strength to flatten it.
Then she pulled the elastic strap inside the suitcase over it, fastening it tightly.
"There."
Liu Xiuying let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She then went to get the other odds and ends.
Two new towels, a plastic case with a bar of Safeguard soap, a new toothbrush, and thick socks.
Like filling cracks with cement, Liu Xiuying stuffed these items into the gaps around the edges of the clothes, bit by bit.
Not a single inch of space was wasted.
"We won’t pack a washbasin or a thermos. Those things take up space and break easily. When you get to the school’s registration, the logistics department will surely hand them out," Liu Xiuying instructed.
What could Chen Zhuo say? He just nodded obediently.
The clothes were packed.
Liu Xiuying stood up, went to the kitchen to wash her hands, and dried them on a clean towel.
She walked to the window.
CLACK.
Liu Xiuying shut the living room window tightly.
Next, she reached out, grabbed the curtains on both sides, and yanked them shut so forcefully that the gap in the middle closed completely, letting no light escape.
Seeing this, Chen Jianguo silently turned the TV volume down a few notches.
Liu Xiuying walked into her own bedroom.
A moment later, she came out.
She was clutching a small pouch sewn from white cotton, its opening tied shut with a thin red string.
She walked over to the coffee table and pulled up a small stool to sit on.
"Xiaozhuo, come here." Liu Xiuying beckoned.
Chen Zhuo got up and walked over to the coffee table.
Liu Xiuying untied the red string and emptied the pouch’s contents onto the glass coffee table.
A stack of cash and an ICBC bank card.
"On this card is your prize money from the exam—eighteen thousand yuan. The PIN is your birthday, six digits."
Liu Xiuying pointed at the green card and lowered her voice.
"Your father and I haven’t touched a single cent of this. It’s all for you to take with you."
She then picked up the stack of cash.
She wet her thumb on her lip and began to count the money.
She counted it once. Two thousand yuan, not a cent missing.
"Take this two thousand yuan in cash for emergencies. It’s better to be ’poor at home, rich on the road.’ Once you’re in a new place, you’ll find there are many things you need money for."
Liu Xiuying looked at Chen Zhuo, her eyes filled with earnest instructions.
"Even though your juvenile class has waived tuition and accommodation fees, there will always be other things you need to spend money on."
"When you get there, buy whatever you want to eat. Don’t skimp on food. Plan how you’ll spend the money on this card."
Chen Zhuo looked at the money and the card on the coffee table.
"I understand," Chen Zhuo said.
Liu Xiuying straightened the two thousand yuan and stacked it with the bank card.
She put them back into the white cloth pouch.
She wound the red string around it again and again, tying it in a tight knot.
She turned and pulled the combination-lock suitcase over.
The left side of the suitcase had a gray nylon lining held in place by a zipper.
Liu Xiuying unzipped it, revealing the hard inner shell of the suitcase and the tracks for the metal pull handle.
She found a pair of scissors and a sewing kit in the drawer under the coffee table.
Using the scissors, she carefully picked open a small slit in the seam of the nylon lining, right near the bottom.
It was about the width of her palm.
Then, she stuffed the white pouch full of money and the card through the opening.
She pushed it deep inside, all the way to the farthest bottom corner of the suitcase.
She felt the outside of the lining with her hand. It was perfectly flat; you couldn’t feel a thing.
Liu Xiuying opened the sewing kit.
She took out a thick black thread, threaded it through the eye of a needle, and tied a knot at the end.
She squatted on the floor and, by the light of the living room lamp, began to sew the slit shut.
She sewed with great care.
The needle pierced the nylon fabric, pulling the black thread tight. She sewed one stitch right after another, her stitches dense and close-packed.
Chen Jianguo sat on the sofa without a word, quietly watching his wife work.
This method of hiding money and taking precautions seems clumsy and redundant in the later era where a single cellphone was all you needed to get by.
But in 2002, this was the best precaution one could take for a long journey.
A little while later.
Liu Xiuying finished the last stitch.
She bit off the end of the thread and tugged hard at the seam. It was very sturdy; you couldn’t even tell it had been tampered with.
"Done."
Liu Xiuying stood up and dusted off her hands.
She zipped the nylon lining closed again.
She lifted her head, her eyes fixed on Chen Zhuo.
Her tone was more serious than ever before.
"Xiaozhuo, listen carefully."
"Sewn into the bottom of this suitcase is a very large sum of our family’s money. It’s also the foundation for your school years."
"When we’re on the road tomorrow, you cannot let this suitcase out of your hands, no matter what."
Liu Xiuying pointed at the red hard-shell suitcase.
"When we’re in the car, the suitcase will be in the trunk. When we get to a rest stop and someone needs to use the restroom, we’ll take turns. Two of us must be watching the car at all times."
"When we get to Huizhou and get out of the car, you have to pull this suitcase yourself. Don’t let anyone help you carry it, no matter who offers."
"Not until you’re inside your dorm room with the door closed."
Liu Xiuying’s speech slowed.
"You find a pair of scissors yourself, pick open the thread at the bottom, take out the money and the card, and keep them on your person. Do you understand?"
"Understood. The money and card are at the bottom of the suitcase. The suitcase never leaves my side," Chen Zhuo repeated.
Only then did Liu Xiuying let out a sigh of relief.
She knelt down and closed the two halves of the suitcase.
Because the thick winter coat was stuffed inside, the suitcase wouldn’t quite close.
Liu Xiuying used her knee to press down on the lid, forcing it shut.
Chen Jianguo came over to lend a hand, helping to align the latches on both sides.
CLICK.
CLICK.
Two crisp sounds.
The combination locks snapped shut.
Liu Xiuying then casually scrambled the numbers on the combination dials.
"Whew..."
Liu Xiuying stood up, rubbing her aching back.
"Everything’s all packed. Go wash up and get to bed. We’re getting up at five-thirty tomorrow morning and leaving at six sharp."
Chen Jianguo went and reopened the window a crack to let some air in.
Chen Zhuo returned to his small bedroom.
He tidied the pen holder on his desk and pushed his chair in.
He turned off the light.
And lay down on his single bed.
The night breeze drifted in through the window, rustling the curtains.
Chen Zhuo closed his eyes.
The red suitcase sat by the living room door.
In the hidden compartment at the bottom of the suitcase lay cash from this era and a bank card with a birthday for a PIN.
Tomorrow, when the sun rises, he would depart.

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