After almost one week, my jet lag is no longer bothering me. I could feel sleepy after 8, could wake up at 5 or 6, and would not need to take a nap more than 2 hours. Downpours of rain have pushed the heat away. It's still hot, at 80 degrees. But this is what my hometown and childhood used to feel, and they felt strange and familiar at the same time. Yesterday I ventured out on a bike, after 25 years of never touching it. I had some difficulty in holding the bar steady and threading through the bustling streets, but I did come back unscratched.

Hometown streets are full of pedestrians, cars, tricycles, bicycles, and carts. Car and motorcycle horns pierced the air incessantly. Moving machines and men seemed to be bumping into each other, but miraculously passed each other in safety. Merchants and traders co-exist peacefully alongside the street curbs, without designated spots, but stay in the same spot almost everyday. Looks like everyone can find a spot and sell something for a living. And living in my hometown is not costly. Four water chestnuts cost about $0.3. One pound of dragon-eye is about $1. Those with pension have the equivalent of about two, three, four, or more US dollars a month. In the alley where my family home is, most houses，if not empty, have only one resident. Young people have moved out to better houses in better places.

I saw the white bust of Mao Tse-tung in a local elementary school. He is still being worshipped, is he? If he is still in reign, our streets and marketing places will again be empty of goods and produces. To buy pork, for instance, you would again have to go early and present a ration coupon. Of course, no one would again be free to buy and sell. Everything and everyone would be state-owned. Like it？

The local Christian church, now without Mao, is thriving. Mama says the congregation has all walks of life, from the town and beyond. They hold two services per Sunday, and meet in the main sanctuary as well as the annex downstairs via video feed. The current deacons turned out to be the off-spring of the older generations, whose names I remembered, and whose faces I recalled.

So, with Mao long gone, my hometown is now in a better shape than ever before. True, the roads are crowded and need repair, the water and electricity supply are not sufficient, and the Internet is still slow and unsteady. But people here, shirtless or not, driving or on foot, are all working very hard, just like my mom. At 95, my mom has thin hair, is hard on hearing, and is stoop. But she insists on walking 1500 paces each day, on visiting the marketing place and visiting relatives every day, and on worrying about our well beings and those of our off-spring all the time. And yes, she also goes to church. Not to sing because her voice is now coarse, but to sit in and listen. Resilient is the word, for my mom and for all my townsfolk.

Perhaps, one day, the broken pavements will be fixed. Perhaps, one day, the Internet here will have high speed, and will not be censored, as it is now, 24/7.

我的时差已经克服了。晚间过八点就爱睡，早上五六点才醒，午睡也不会超过两小时了。一天一夜的大雨终于把气温压了下来。还是热。但这就是记忆中的故国，记忆中的童年。熟悉中夹杂着陌生。昨天我骑自行车上街（25年没这么做了）。车把摇摇晃晃，却也一路全身而还。

石码的街道，人多车多喇叭声多，眼看要相撞了，又各自闪开。街路旁的各色各样摊点，每天几乎摆在同一个路面（我现在天天陪妈妈上街买菜）。没有标志，没有归属，却也没见过为争摊位吵架的（也没有见过城管）。人人可以摆摊，随地可以挣份饭吃。市民的收入，少的有一千多，多的有四五千（或更多）。四粒荸荠两块钱（合美元三角），一斤龙眼六块钱（合美元一磅一块），都没人嫌贵了。我们那条巷子，大多数房子只住一个人。有的根本就空着。年轻人都买新房去了，留下老人守祖屋。

在一个小学里看到老毛的塑像，还缠一条红领巾。假设他还万岁，街上就没有各色各样的摊点了，也不会有十几个猪肉摊。是新鲜肉，还不必“肉票”。精神上也宽松多了。石码街的基督教教堂会众有上百人。星期天的礼拜上午下午各一场，每场楼上楼下分开坐，用视频连接。有趣的是，现在的执事们，他们的长辈也都是做过执事的。妈妈跟我介绍他们时，我记得他们长辈的名字，甚至脸容也是熟识的。

总之，后老毛时代，石码小镇是欣欣向荣了。虽然道路仍残破，虽然水压仍太低，虽然网络仍很不稳定。弟弟他们营业的地方是一座高层建筑。他们把顶楼划作公司的办公室和员工生活区，而且养鸡种瓜。我跟他们说，在美国我们那个城市，养鸡要办证，每户只能养四头，还不能有公鸡。鸡舍离邻居至少得有六英尺远（近两米）。在美国，大概也没有人赤膊上街的。但在石码，这些都可以。勤劳而坚韧的石码和四乡的民众正在努力地谋生，努力地挣钱，努力地改善自己的生活环境。正如妈妈。她九十五岁，背驼、耳重，头发稀疏，仍坚持上街，坚持买菜，坚持上教堂，坚持替子孙操心。啊，妈妈。

总有一天，道路上的破洞也会被填补起来。总有一天，这里的网速也可以达到60兆，而且没有网控。

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(will switch to part 4 of China Trip in 20 minutes; 二十分钟后自动转到 燕南故国行第四集)