It takes more than two hours to take the train from this city to Linhai City. The process of taking the train is very boring, especially since the train does not have opposite seats, so it is not very convenient for everyone to get together to chat or play cards. The whole carriage is very crowded along the way.
Quiet.
Haichao took out a big MP4 and was watching a short movie. I turned on the music on my phone and put on headphones to listen to music. Maybe because I was bored, I took out the small notepad in my bag and wanted to read it.
Is there anything that has happened recently?
It was while looking through this small notepad that I accidentally came across the two addresses copied from the anonymous email that day.
Looking at the address located in a famous old neighborhood in Linhai City, I was thoughtful. I thought to myself that if I could find some time during this trip, I could visit the owner of this address and see what he had done.
What secret is hidden behind it?
This trip was quite enjoyable. I traveled with my good friend Hai Chao. I didn’t have any psychological pressure and was very relaxed.
Linhai City is close to the sea and is a famous tourist city. This trip was mainly to relax, so the travel route was more casual and not so planned. In addition, Linhai City is not too far away from the city where we live. Some famous
We have visited the scenic spots with our families before, so this time we stayed away from the popular attractions.
On the first day, we went to the beach, looked at the sea, and took some photos. I fulfilled my promise to my daughter and picked up some beautiful shells of different shapes for her and her good friend Ranran at the beach.
I bought some trinkets decorated with seafood. In the next two days, Haichao and I walked around several famous commercial streets and bought some clothes and gadgets for our two children.
On the fourth day, Wei Haichao suddenly received a call from her friend. This friend was a good friend who lived in a dormitory in her university. After graduation, she went to study abroad. She has been wandering abroad these years and often returns to China due to work.
, but the opportunities to meet Hai Chao are few and far between.
Now, her friend was on a business trip in a city not far from Linhai City. She heard that Haichao was relaxing here, so she wanted to come over and meet her to catch up on old times.
Haichao asked me to go with her to meet this friend, but I think that when two good friends who haven’t seen each other for many years meet again, they must have countless things to say to each other. It’s really nothing for me, an outsider, to be present without embarrassment.
It was necessary, so I said to Haichao: "You go and meet your classmates. It just so happens that I am going to visit a friend's mentor in a community in Linhai City. Let's meet up in the evening."
After hearing what I said, Haichao thought for a while and agreed, "That's fine," and then told me, "Call me if you need anything."
I smiled and responded. Just like that, Haichao and I broke up in the morning. She went to the airport to pick up her classmate whom she hadn't seen for many years. I followed the address on the notepad and inquired all the way to the place where old man Du Fanghua once lived.
address.
This is an old community, a courtyard with a small single-family villa. This villa should have been built before liberation, but it was later repaired, so there are still some traces of modern painting besides the old masonry and concrete.
The courtyard walls and gates are very old, especially the big black iron gate that has peeled off its paint. There are some lush plants surrounding the courtyard, but in the cold seasons of autumn and winter, the fresh green has faded and looks a bit depressed.
I stood outside the courtyard door and looked around for a long time, and finally rang the doorbell.
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged woman. She looked at me and asked hesitantly: "Who are you looking for?"
I compared the address with the house number, and then asked her softly: "Is this the original address of Du Fanghua?"
Hearing my question, the middle-aged woman was stunned. She asked me doubtfully: "Who is Du Fanghua?"
I was shocked. I thought that even if Du Fanghua had passed away, the place where she once lived should be her descendants or relatives related to her. How could they not know who she was?
I hesitated, then made up a lie, and said to the middle-aged woman with a smile: "Oh, I am a relative and friend of a student she once taught. I came to visit Teacher Du's descendants on his behalf to thank her for her support back then."
Thanks to the professor.”
Hearing what I said, the middle-aged woman became even more suspicious. She looked me up and down, pondered for a moment, and then said to me as if she suddenly realized: "Oh, you are talking about the old lady who used to live here, right? I'm not sure about this.
, because this house belongs to my cousin's family. I only know that they rented it to an old lady many years ago, but the family moved away long ago. I don't know the specific details. You'd better go find somewhere else.
Bar."
After the middle-aged woman finished speaking, she looked like she was about to close the door and thank the guests. When I saw this scene, I thought that this time could not be in vain, so I blocked the door and said to her with a forced smile: "Excuse me
, is your cousin at home? Can I ask about some information related to this old man Du Fanghua? Because this is very important to us. My relatives and friends were deeply benefited by her back then. Now I want to express my gratitude and hope to see her.
Descendants."
The woman started to frown when she saw me pestering me. Seeing this, I thought about it and quickly took out my wallet from my bag, took out two RMB and handed it to the woman.
From her dress, I guessed that this middle-aged woman was a servant or helper in this household, so if she wanted her to deliver a message to the master, it was necessary to explain it appropriately.
This trick worked as expected. The middle-aged lady immediately turned her anger into a smile and said to me with a smile: "Then you come in with me. My cousin is not in good health. She is in the living room. Ask her about the specific situation.
Bar."
I smiled and nodded, followed the middle-aged woman in, and entered the living room. I saw an old woman with half-white hair sitting in a wheelchair in front of the window. The middle-aged woman came to her and whispered a few words,
Then he turned around and waved to me, and I slowly walked up to the old woman.
The woman seemed to have quite an elegant temperament. She smiled at me kindly, and then asked me: "You want to know something about the death of old man Du Fanghua, right?"
I smiled and nodded at her, and then murmured in reply: "Yes, a relative and friend of mine was grateful for her teachings back then, and specifically asked me to inquire about some of the circumstances behind her death."
Hearing what I said, the old lady nodded slowly, and then said to me: "Old man Du Fanghua passed away ten years ago."
I nodded lightly and replied softly: "I have learned about this in the newspaper. I just want to know some specific circumstances of her here." Then I looked around the house and asked softly, "This house is where she used to be."
Rented?”
The old lady nodded slowly at me and replied: "Yes, after Du Fanghua returned to China, she rented our house for a long time and seemed to have opened a school. Then she suddenly fell ill, and the school was opened."
If we can’t go down anymore, we will take back this house.”
I nodded slowly and asked further: "Then do you know who will take care of her after she gets sick? Can you tell me the specific situation?"
The old lady took off her reading glasses and looked me up and down. Maybe she didn't dare to confirm my identity, so I repeated the nonsense I just made up about my relatives and friends who had been favored by Teacher Du many years ago and now wanted to express their gratitude to her descendants.
Read it again.
Maybe because I looked like a frail and clean person, and I didn't look like a bad person with ulterior motives, the old lady calmly said to me slowly: "Mrs. Du suddenly suffered a stroke back then and didn't know what happened to her.
She had no children, so she had no one to take care of her at the time. However, because she had a special status as a returned overseas Chinese, the government went to the countryside to find the daughter of her half-brother and asked her to take care of her.
Mrs. Du who was seriously ill, in return, Mrs. Du may have had a small house in her name at that time. After her death, this house will be owned by the niece who took care of her in her dying years."
I nodded slowly and quickly asked, "Then how much do you know about the school founded by Du Fanghua?"
The old lady shook her head and slowly replied to me: "This house was left by our ancestors. It was confiscated during the Cultural Revolution and returned to our home after the Cultural Revolution. Du Fanghua rented this house from us shortly after returning to China.
We only know about the house that she seemed to have opened a school, but we don’t know the details. Later, she became seriously ill and all the people she hired left, so we took back the house."
I was a little disappointed, but still asked without giving up: "So where can I get some specific information about the school built by Du Fanghua?"
The old lady thought for a while and replied to me: "If you find the niece who took care of her in her later years, you may get more information, because after Mrs. Du passed away, all her personal belongings were left to her niece."
I prayed to this kind old lady: "Can you provide me with the current address of Du Fanghua's niece?"
The old lady looked at me and said thoughtfully: "Back then, before Du Fanghua rented our house, he registered some of her address information." Then she directed the middle-aged woman to take something out from a grid on the top of the cupboard.
I opened a big old account book with my thin and trembling fingers, and finally turned to a page and pointed it out to me, "Here, this is the address. Write it down. If you have any questions, ask Du
She must be the old lady’s niece.”
I quickly expressed my gratitude to her gratefully, and then wrote down the address.
***
I searched all the way according to the address provided by the old lady, and finally found the current address of Du Fanghua's niece.
It was an old community built in the 1980s. When I found the house number, I rang the doorbell for a long time, but no one answered.
I had no choice but to walk downstairs slowly, and then asked around downstairs. When I told me Du Fanghua’s name and the specific situation of her niece, a kind-hearted man downstairs who was familiar with the situation told me: "That
Xiao Du, she runs a small supermarket on the street at the entrance of the community. The supermarket is called Zhenzhen Supermarket, so go find her over there."
I thanked him hurriedly and walked to the small supermarket.