“Mr. Bolton, look at Brian Carter, he seems to have suddenly changed. The way he looks at people is off—do you think something’s about to happen again?” Watching the children play was the very same Mr. Long who had been hit by Brian Carter with a chair and then scolded by Brian Carter’s grandfather. She had developed a bit of a problem since then, always consciously or unconsciously keeping an eye on Brian Carter, probably afraid he might go crazy again at any moment.

“It’s nothing. I talked to his father last time. The kid isn’t bad, it’s just that his parents are never around and he’s gotten a bit wild. His father gave him a beating last time, but it’s been over a year now and nothing’s happened, right?” Another, slightly older teacher didn’t take it seriously, casually comforted Mr. Long, and then went off to resolve a dispute between two other children.

“A college teacher can raise a kid like this? Freak!” Just as Mr. Long was about to relax, she suddenly saw that kid Brian Carter looking at her. That look in his eyes was nothing like a child’s, and there was even a strange smile at the corner of his mouth. Mr. Long wanted to call another teacher over to take a look, but Brian Carter just grinned at her and turned his head away. She hesitated for a moment and didn’t move, only cursing quietly to herself.

When the first parent appeared at the kindergarten gate, Brian Carter knew it was time for school to end. The kindergarten didn’t provide dinner, so every child here was waiting for their parents to show up, wave goodbye to their friends and teachers, and go home with their family. At this time, you wouldn’t see the bustling scenes of later years at the kindergarten gate. Every child’s parent came to pick them up at different times. Families with grandparents would come earlier, while those with both parents working and no grandparents would come a bit later.

As long as it was past 4:30, parents could enter the kindergarten at any time, say a word to the teacher, and then take their eagerly waiting child home. Of course, you could only take your own child—no one would ever think of taking someone else’s, and no one had any such intentions. In this era, children were the least valuable thing.

Most families had more than one child, so there wasn’t much demand. Even if you stole a child, where would you sell them? Besides, all daily necessities were rationed, and the household registration system was extremely strict. If you couldn’t register the child, you couldn’t even buy food for them. You couldn’t cripple a child and send them out to beg either—begging was not allowed in this era. Nor could you perform in the subway, or sell corneas or kidneys for money—there simply wasn’t a market for it. Only the grandparents at home would occasionally shout: “Just play in the alley! Don’t run off! If you go too far, the old monkey will catch you!”

And in this era, there was no need to worry about traffic accidents. There were no cars in the alleys, and even if you went to East or West Chang’an Avenue, you wouldn’t see many cars. The biggest, most impressive vehicle you’d see in the alleys was a kind of three-wheeled motorcycle used to haul coal or vegetables. It looked like a car but was actually a tricycle. These vehicles moved slowly and were very noisy—you could hear them coming from far away. So, in this era, most people simply didn’t have any awareness of child safety issues.

The person who came to pick up Brian Carter was never fixed. Sometimes, if his mother was back in the city, she might pick him up as early as 3 p.m. Sometimes, if his grandmother was feeling lazy, she’d send his uncle or aunt instead. When Brian Carter’s Uncle Carter appeared at the classroom door, Brian Carter didn’t even need to look at the calendar on the wall to know it was Saturday. That’s because only on Saturday afternoons did Uncle Carter, who worked at the military surveying compound in Beitaipingzhuang, return to his grandmother’s house, staying until Sunday and then heading back on Monday morning.

Brian Carter’s grandmother’s family name was Hu. Uncle Carter was called Henry Brooks, the second child, with an older sister above him—Brian Carter’s Aunt Long, who was already married. Her husband was a Manchu, working at the housing authority, and their family lived in the suburbs of Beijing, in a place called Gaoliangqiao. This place was just outside the north wall of the Beijing Zoo, west of Xizhimen, and a little west of Jiaotong University.

In later years, this would be the city center, but in the 1970s, it was the suburbs. At that time, Beijing’s urban area wasn’t large. The northern part of the city was basically bounded by what is now the Second Ring Road—beyond that was all farmland or wild graveyards. If you took a bus, it would be one with a number starting with 3XX, which meant it was a suburban line. The south was the same—past Yongdingmen to the south, you were out of the city. Places like Fangzhuang and Dahongmen were all green fields back then.

Below Uncle Carter were two younger sisters and a younger brother. Brian Carter’s mother was Big Sister, the other Aunt Bennett was Second Sister, and Little Uncle Carter was the youngest son in the grandmother’s family, ranking second in affection—apart from Brian Carter, he was the most doted on by the grandfather.

Chapter 4: Native Beijingers

At this time in Beijing, a “native” family usually meant a large extended family. “Native” meant people born and raised in Beijing, not those who moved in with government departments or the military after the national liberation. These native families generally still retained some of the “Four Olds” that hadn’t been completely eradicated: old ideas, old habits, old customs, and old culture. In Brian Carter’s grandfather, this was manifested as the patriarchal system and male chauvinism!