Back to the golden age

The afternoon sun poured in through the glass of the balcony window, making it a bit warm.

Near the balcony, there is an old wicker chair that is quite old. Song Yuanchao is sitting in the chair. To his left, on a square wooden stool that serves as a coffee table is a thermos cup. The yellowing strong tea was steaming, the TV in the room was on, and news reports came intermittently.

This is an ordinary community located in the outer ring of the southern part of Shanghai. Such communities can be found everywhere in this international metropolis, and most of them are resettlement houses built successively in the late 90s. After the demolition of the old house in the center, I got two houses, one for rent and one for self-occupation. I have lived here for nearly 30 years.

Time flies, and Song Yuanchao, who moved here as a middle-aged man, is now nearly seventy years old. He has retired for many years and lives alone without children.

Song Yuanchao was married when he was young, but this reluctant marriage only lasted less than three years before breaking up.

After the divorce, Song Yuanchao had no idea of ​​getting married again, and lived alone until now.

As he gets older, his body is not as good as before. Especially after he accidentally fell down the stairs last year, Song Yuanchao's health has deteriorated. Coupled with the epidemic that has lasted for several years, Song Yuanchao has been out of the house this year. The time is getting less and less, and more time is like now sitting quietly in the sun and recalling the past.

Life is short, and life also has a lot of helplessness. Many past events seem to be within reach when you close your eyes, but they are so far away.

Before retiring, Song Yuanchao had the habit of keeping a diary. In his diary, he recorded his life in various periods of youth, youth, and middle age. Several thick diaries with rough edges can be said to represent Song Yuanchao's life. .

When he was young, Song Yuanchao also had a bookish spirit, scolding Fang Qiu, pointing out the country, encouraging writing, and also had a girl he secretly admired, and also had a beautiful dream for the future...

But all of this vanished like smoke, and what was left to Song Yuanchao in life was nothing but feathers and deep helplessness. Now that he has gradually reached the last stage of his life, there is no chance for those regrets to be redeemed.

Standing up slowly, Song Yuanchao got up and went to the bookshelf beside him, and took out a photo album.

Opening the photo album, there are some old photos in it. In the photos, Song Yuanchao is so young and smiles so brightly.

Slightly trembling and boring fingers touched the yellowed photos one by one. This was not touching the photos, but touching his own faded youthful memory. After an unknown period of time, Song Yuanchao sighed and closed the album...

When he was about to put the photo album back to its original position, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if a pair of invisible hands had stopped his heart.

With a muffled snort, Song Yuanchao's face turned pale, sweat dripped from his forehead, and the photo album in his hand fell to the ground. He tried hard to take out the first aid medicine from his chest pocket, but after a few times he couldn't control it. I can't get my hands out.

With a muffled thump, Song Yuanchao fell powerlessly to the ground. At this time, the numbness of his whole body had replaced the severe pain just now, and his consciousness began to fade away. When he finally fell into darkness, his eyes stayed on the open book on the ground. On the photo album, this is a group photo of four people. There are two men and two women in the group photo. Song Yuanchao is standing in the second position from the right. On his right is a man about his age, who is putting his arms together affectionately. on his shoulders.

And on his left, there are two young girls, one of them is a green girl with braids. The girl is holding hands with her female partner with short hair and smiling at the camera. All the people in this group photo Everyone is wearing that kind of old blue-gray coarse cloth clothes, the trousers are rolled up high, and the feet are wearing Jiefang shoes. From the back, you can vaguely see a crop field that has just been harvested...

Song Yuanchao smiled, and soon his expression gradually solidified... At this moment, a song came faintly from nowhere.

"All the honors of yesterday have become distant memories.

Half my life has been spent in hard work, and tonight it has entered the wind and rain again.

I can't go up and down with the waves, for my loved ones.

No matter how hard it is, you must be strong, just for those expecting eyes.

If the heart is in the dream, there is true love between heaven and earth

Looking at success or failure, life is heroic, but it’s just starting all over again

All the honors of yesterday have become distant memories.

Half my life has been spent in hard work, and tonight it has entered the wind and rain again.

I can't go up and down with the waves, for my loved ones.

No matter how hard it is, you must be strong, just for those expecting eyes.

If the heart is in the dream, there is true love between heaven and earth

Looking at success or failure, life is heroic, but it is just starting all over again...  "

"Comrade! Hey! Comrade, wake up!"

Urgent shouts continued to ring in Song Yuanchao's ears, and at the same time someone was pushing him hard, and when he opened his eyes dimly, Song Yuanchao couldn't help feeling a little dazed.

"Hello! Comrade!" A man in a blue Chinese tunic suit had a distant look on his face, and his tone was obviously impatience.

"Ah... oh...."

Song Yuanchao opened his mouth and gave two meaningless answers, turned his slightly stiff head, and suddenly realized that he was actually sitting on a train chair. This was a familiar yet unfamiliar old green leather train, and the carriage was full of people. Smoke, sweat, wine, sour, fishy...all kinds of mixed smells.

Such old green leather trains have been eliminated as early as the 21st century, replaced by high-speed, clean trains, and high-speed rails. Even if there are similar green leather trains on the few remaining lines, they are only similar in appearance. The interior has also been substantially updated.

"What's going on? This...?" Song Yuanchao looked around in a daze, unable to react for a while.

Isn't he dead?Died at home from a heart attack?

How come you are on the train when you open your eyes?And it's still such an old green leather car?What happened to those people around?One by one wearing gray, blue, black, patched clothes and trousers from decades ago?What's going on with all this?

"I said, comrade, you have to sleep and wait until you get off the bus to find a place to sleep on your own. It's already the stop, how can you not let me go out?" Song Yuanchao tried hard to understand what's going on, the man in the Chinese tunic suit said impatiently It rang again, and only then did Song Yuanchao come to his senses. It turned out that he was sitting next to the end of the corridor, and his whole body plus a huge package blocked the narrow space leading to the corridor tightly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Song Yuanchao hastily and subconsciously apologized to the man in Mandarin, got up and lifted his luggage to make way for the passage.

"I met a red guy today... a country boy!"

The man in the Chinese tunic suit stepped over Song Yuanchao's side with a dark face, holding a black artificial leather bag. On the lower right corner of the bag, the word "Shanghai" was printed in artistic style, and there was a line of pinyin of the same artistic style on the bottom. .

The man in the tunic suit walked towards the car door, and muttered something in Shanghai dialect. Song Yuanchao was taken aback for a moment, and was about to refute, when he raised his eyes and saw that the figure of the man had disappeared from the car door.

Ten minutes later, Song Yuanchao, carrying his luggage, stood blankly at the exit of the Old North Station.

Old North Station, also known as Old Shanghai Station, was built in 1950. Because it is located in the north of Shanghai City, it is called North Station. In addition, it looks a bit dilapidated after a long service life, so Shanghai people also call it "Old North Station".

In the late 80s, after the new Shanghai Railway Station was built, the old North Railway Station was discontinued, and the new railway station was also called Xinzhan. After that, Shanghai built two railway stations in the southern and western suburbs respectively. So far, Shanghai has a total of There are three major railway stations, namely Xinzhan Station, Nanjiao Station and Xijiao Station.

The current Old North Railway Station is not a place that has been depressed for a long time in memory. The small square outside the station is very lively, with all kinds of era slogans painted on the outside walls, and the old dragon buses that have been eliminated long ago come and go at the square station. .

It took Song Yuanchao a long time to come back to his senses. Now he is no longer an old man, but a 24-year-old young man.

Today is February 1979, 2, which is Valentine's Day in the West.Of course, in this day and age, few Chinese would know what Valentine's Day is.

The Spring Festival in 1979 was on January 1, and today is only three days away from the Lantern Festival. The streets of Shanghai still have the atmosphere of the festival just after the festival.

Song Yuanchao is from Shanghai. It has been eight years since he left Shanghai. Eight years ago, Song Yuanchao, who had just turned 16, went to the northwest to go to the mountains and countryside before graduating from high school. He spent eight whole winters and summers on the Loess Plateau. .

Originally, Song Yuanchao thought that he would stay in the Northwest for the rest of his life, but who would have thought that last year would lead to a turning point.

In 1977, the national policy changed. First, the college entrance examination was resumed. However, Song Yuanchao was unable to take the college entrance examination at that time due to some reasons.

On October 1978, [-], the national policy for educated youth returning to their hometowns was officially introduced, and there was a violent wave of educated youths returning to their hometowns all over the country. Song Yuanchao was no exception. The brigade struggled, and then walked tens of miles of mountain roads to the commune revolutionary committee, where they struggled for several days relying on a few buns, and finally got a certificate of returning home with a big red seal.

Originally, Song Yuanchao could return to Shanghai before the Spring Festival, but because it proved that the Spring Festival was approaching, a few good educated youths decided to spend the Spring Festival together before leaving after discussion.

After all, this time back, everyone is in different places, and we don't know when we will meet again next time.

On the night of New Year's Eve, Song Yuanchao and these few partners who had shared joys and sorrows in the Yellow Land for many years were all drunk, and everyone, regardless of gender, hugged their heads together and cried happily.

After the sixth day of the lunar new year, everyone gradually left the place where their youth had been buried, and embarked on the journey back home without hesitation.

From the mountains to the commune, and then from the commune to the place, first on foot, then by ox cart, then by tractor, car, and train... Song Yuanchao finally set foot on the land of Shanghai again after ten days and ten nights. .

At this moment, Song Yuanchao burst into tears.

Song Yuanchao never imagined that God could let him go back to this era again, this era that made him worry about countless times in his dreams, and yearn for and miss him so much.

Song Yuanchao's home is located in the northwest area of ​​downtown Shanghai, and he needs to change two buses from Laobei Station to his home.

At this time, the bus is still charged based on the distance between stops, and the fuel bus charges are five cents, ten cents, and ten cents and five cents.Trolley bus fares are four cents, seven cents, one cent, and one cent three cents.

Originally, there was another kind of bus in Shanghai, the oldest tram bus, which was cheaper, but now the tram bus has been completely replaced by the new trolleybus bus with two braids.

According to some vague memories, Song Yuanchao took the bus first at Laobei Station and then changed to the trolleybus. It cost nine cents and took nearly an hour and a half to get there.

After getting off the bus, Song Yuanchao looked towards an alley not far from the station, where his home was located.

Song Yuanchao was still a big boy when he left home, but now he is a grown-up man full of vicissitudes when he comes back.

Song Yuanchao's father, Song Guangzeng, was a Chinese teacher in a key middle school in the region, and his mother, Wang Sufen, was a worker in the No. [-] Textile Factory.

In the past, such a dual-career family was very enviable, but because of the times, Song Yuanchao's father was beaten into a stinky old nine by a respected teacher overnight, and he fell into serious trouble in the endless sports. root cause.

In the second year when Song Yuanchao went to the countryside, his father died of illness. His father's death made his weak mother unable to bear the excitement, and she shed tears all day long. One year later, her mother also passed away with her father, and when she learned that her parents passed away one after another When the news came, Song Yuanchao, who was in the northwest, knelt down on the yellow earth holding the letter, crying heartbreakingly towards his hometown.

The distant memory, which had already become blurred, suddenly became so clear at this moment.