Waiting in the Alley for the Return Journey of the Children Who Were Supported by Youth in 1979

In the autumn of 1979, the wave of the times pushed the first batch of educated youth back to Shanghai. Seven-year-old Lin Xiaotang followed her educated youth parents Lin Aming and Su Peizhen, her ten-year-old sister Lin Xiaoyan, and her five-year-old brother Lin Xiaoyang on their way home from the Xinjiang Corps. A hastily approved return notice did not allow them to inform their grandparents in Shanghai in advance. The five members of the family packed canvas bags stuffed with lavender, old clothes and dolls and boarded the bumpy green leather train. Along the way, they were looking forward to the pan-fried buns in the alley and the White Rabbit toffee hidden by grandma. They were also worried about whether the ten-square-meter attic of grandpa's house could accommodate the whole family. They were greedy for the vast memory of the Xinjiang Gobi, but they were also uneasy with the humid water vapor in Shanghai and the unfamiliar soft words of Wu Nong. From the stranger's reminder on the train that "relatives may not be welcome" to the complicated eyes of uncle and aunt when they arrive in the alley, a family of five uses the purity of children and the tenacity of adults to touch upon the weight, warmth and anxiety behind the word "go home" a little bit in the changing times.