At around nine o'clock in the morning, the adults in the alley had already gone to work, and the older children were all at school. Those at home were mostly unemployed elderly people or children who were not yet at school age.

Song Yuanchao carried his luggage and crossed the road towards the alley. When he reached the alley, a warning voice rang out.

"Who are you? What do you do? Who are you looking for here?"

When I heard the sound, I saw a very familiar old lady with small feet wearing a gray cotton-padded jacket looking at me warily. There was a little girl of three or four years old beside her. The old lady protected the child behind her and looked closely at her.

Staring at Song Yuanchao.

"Auntie from the Zhang family?" Song Yuanchao recognized the old lady at a glance. Isn't she the aunt from the Zhang family who lives next door to him? Auntie from the Zhang family is from Mingzhou and came to Shanghai before liberation.

Song Yuanchao also doesn’t know the surname of Zhang’s aunt, because her husband’s surname is Zhang, so Song Yuanchao always called her that when she was a child.

"Hey, who are you? Do you recognize me?" Zhang family's mother-in-law was stunned for a moment and looked at Song Yuanchao up and down, but after looking at him for a long time, she just felt that he smelled of sweat, was dressed slovenly, and had long hair.

, the country boy with dark skin, carrying a big bag on his shoulders, and a bundle in his hand looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember who Song Yuanchao was.

"Auntie, I am the Yuan Chao of the Song family on the 23rd! Song Yuan Chao! Do you still remember me? When I was a child, I often went to the Nong family to see the Prime Minister..."

"Aiding the Chao? Ah! Are you aiding the Chao?" Zhang's eyes suddenly widened. She looked at Song Yuanchao carefully, and soon the suspicion in her expression faded, replaced by surprise.

"Oh, you really helped Korea! The little giant (little ghost head) is finally back! Good to come back, good to come back. I remember that I was only sixteen years old when I left? It has been eight years since I left. Eight years

Ah! The beatings are over, but I finally came around..."

As she said this, Zhang's mother couldn't help but shed tears. She took out her handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes and asked, "How could I have become so skinny and black when I came to aid Korea? I have suffered so much in the northwest? I'm still walking around this time when I come back."

?”

"If you don't leave, the country will implement its policies and you won't leave when you come back."

"It's better if you don't leave, just don't leave." Zhang's aunt nodded repeatedly: "It'll be good if you come back! Have you had breakfast? Have you just gotten off the train? Let's go, let's go, I still have rice in the house, so go inside first

Have something to eat."

As he said that, he took Song Yuanchao's hand and was about to leave. At this time, the little girl next to him stared at the person he had never met before with her big eyes. She tugged on Zhang's mother's clothes and asked abruptly:

"Grandma, who is this?"

"I almost forgot, Pingping, this girl needs to be called Uncle Yi, hurry up and call someone, Pingping." The mother-in-law of the Zhang family touched the little girl's head and said.

"Ah... Uncle, hello..." The little girl was a little scared when she saw the stranger, and half-hidden behind her mother and called out.

"It's not good to call me uncle, I want to call you brother." Song Yuanchao corrected with a smile. Zhang Jianguo, the son of the Zhang family's aunt, was more than ten years older than Song Yuanchao. Song Yuanchao had called Zhang Jianguo uncle since he was a child.

Zhang Jianguo has two children. His eldest son, Zhang Qiang, should be nine years old this year. When he left, Zhang Qiang was still a suckling baby. Now he should be in the second grade of elementary school.

This little girl is Zhang Qiang's youngest daughter Zhang Pingping. When this place was demolished in the early 1990s in the previous life of Song Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Pingping was already an older girl who was about to take the college entrance examination. Although the old neighbors separated after the demolition, they still kept in touch with each other. In 1999

Zhang Pingping got married, and Song Yuanchao also attended her wedding.

Song Yuanchao knew that his current appearance was not very good. He tried his best to say in a gentle tone that Pingping was so good for fear of scaring the child. After thinking for a while, he took out a package of things from his luggage, squatted down and opened the oil paper. There were a few persimmons inside.

.

Persimmons are a specialty of rural areas. Song Yuanchao brought some before he came back. He handed the persimmons to Pingping and motioned for her to take it. Pingping, who was timid and fearful, did not dare to take it and looked back timidly with big eyes.

My grandma was holding the Zhang family's aunt's clothes tightly with her two little hands.

"Brother Yuan Chao is not from outside. Take it. This is a persimmon. It's delicious." Zhang's mother smiled and said to her granddaughter. Then Xiao Pingping carefully reached out her hand to take the persimmon and put it in her mouth.

Bian Xiao took a bite.

After one bite, the sweetness of the persimmon suddenly made the little girl's eyes light up.

"Grandma, sweet."

"Well, it's sweet, Pingping is good, it's delicious." Zhang's aunt said to the child, and then asked Song Yuanchao to go home with her. Song Yuanchao picked up his luggage and walked to the alley with Zhang's aunt and Xiao Pingping.

Go, getting closer and closer to home.

"Auntie, are there relatives coming to the countryside again?"

"Where in the countryside is this relative from?"

Walking into the depths of the alley, from time to time I would meet neighbors saying hello and asking who this country boy who followed Zhang's aunt was. At this time, Zhang's aunt would explain to them that this was not her relative, but lived at No. 23.

The Song family, that is, Song Yuanchao, the son of former Teacher Song, is back.

The neighbors in the alley are all old neighbors who have lived there for a long time. This era is different from later generations. Unlike the neighbors in the community in the future, they have never been in contact with each other for a long time. Even the neighbors who have lived across the door for more than ten years do not know each other.

In this era, people have more affection between each other. As the saying goes, distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors.

We all live in the same alley. Many people have known each other since their ancestors. Many of the adults have grown up together since they were children. The relationship between them is very harmonious.

On weekdays, the Zhang family, the Li family, and the Wang family live in the same building. They don't even close the door during the day. If they have something to do at home, they just say hello to the neighbors, and the neighbors are willing to help look after them.

Just like when Song Yuanchao was a child, he would often go from his employer’s house to his west’s house to play. When it was time to eat, he would run around with a bowl in his hands. When he saw what delicious food that restaurant was cooking, he would come over to have a look. The adults were not annoyed either.

, usually scold him a few times, such as "little red guy" and "greedy guy", and then give him a taste with a pair of chopsticks with a smile.

Most of these neighbors knew Song Yuanchao originally, but Song Yuanchao had been away for many years, and their memories had long been blurred.

In addition, Song Yuanchao was much taller than when he left. He was dark and thin over the years in the northwest, and his face was stained with dust. He was wearing an old patched military coat and blue cotton trousers with two holes on the back of the buttocks.

Telescope (big patch), Jiefang shoes with holes on his feet, messy greasy curly hair, carrying luggage, and an obvious country bumpkin accent, how could anyone recognize who he is at a glance?

?

When they knew that this person was actually Song Yuanchao, everyone was surprised. No one expected that the Song family's only son (Du Miao), who had been away for eight years, would actually come back.

"Is this aid to Korea?" No. 11's grandma from the Li family looked at it in surprise.

The aunt of the Chen family on the 30th recognized it first, patted her thigh and exclaimed: "Oh, hey, this is really Mr. Song's son! How could the young man who was fair and tender when he left back then come back with such a horrible look?

Already?"

Uncle Liu, who was smoking next to him, flicked the ashes of his cigarette and laughed and scolded: "I'm sorry, Song Yuanchao went to jump in the queue to settle down. Did you think he was a leading cadre going to a nursing home? In the queue to settle down, you have to farm, damn Wang Jiamu

My son went to Huangshan for three years and came back as black as briquettes, not to mention that Song Yuan had been away for eight years."

A fat woman with a familiar face but who could no longer remember the household interjected and asked: "Yuan Chao, remember that I went to the Northwest to jump in and settle down, right? What is the Northwest like? Are there any good-looking people?"

The grandma of the Li family looked disgusted when she heard this: "I'm so angry, what can a poor place like the Northwest be like? Is that possible? I want to see it? I also signed up to jump in and settle down. You'll know after you go there."

.”

The fat woman was a little embarrassed, and immediately retorted: "It's thirteen o'clock, Nong, what's the point of asking, Grandma had too much breakfast today and deliberately stabbed me?"

The old man of the Qian family shook his head and sighed: "Hey... I finally came back from aiding Korea, but it's a pity that Mr. and Mrs. Song... think about how young this family is (poor)..."

All the old men, old ladies and aunts who were relaxing at home in the alley suddenly heard that Song Yuanchao was back on the 23rd. In the blink of an eye, they all came out with cheers and cheers. They could not help but look at Song Yuanchao on the three floors inside and outside.

Talking in a hurry.

"Okay, okay, are you watching the hozen do tricks? Go away, go away!" Seeing more and more people, Zhang's mother raised her voice and shouted in displeasure.

Some of these people are fine, but some of them are getting more and more outrageous the more they say it. Besides, who in the alley doesn’t know about the Song family’s affairs? It happened that Song Yuanchao mentioned this just after he came back. Wasn’t it intentional to poke Song Yuanchao’s heart?

"Everyone, go back to your own house. Yuan Chao just came back and you haven't had breakfast yet. Yuan Chao, go back to have dinner with my mother-in-law and let's relax..."

As she spoke, Zhang's aunt held Song Yuanchao's hand and walked quickly towards her home.

The Zhang family's mother-in-law still has some prestige in the alley, not to mention what she said just now makes sense. They are all old neighbors. It's really a bit outrageous to have such a crowd of people just after Song Yuanchao came back. Everyone moved out of the way and watched Song Yuanchao go.
Chapter completed!