Back to the golden age

Coming out of Zhang's aunt's house, Song Yuanchao came to No. 23 next door, which was his home.

The houses in the alleys are all old-fashioned Shikumen in Shanghai. This kind of house has a long history, and the earliest ones existed in the Qing Dynasty.

Pushing open the wooden door with peeling varnish, Song Yuanchao stepped in, and upon entering the door was the kitchen room on the first floor, also known as the Zao Phi Room.

Shikumen kitchens are all like this, usually at the entrance. This kind of Shikumen house used to be lived in by a family, so the kitchen area on the first floor is enough for use.

But because of historical reasons, there are usually several families living in this kind of house, so the kitchen on the first floor is shared, and the cupboards, stoves, and faucets of each family are here, plus some other sundries. Pack the first floor to the brim.

Although he has been away for eight years, looking around, everything is the same as when Song Yuanchao left. Song Yuanchao stood there and looked at this familiar place with complicated emotions. After a while, he raised his hand and walked through the kitchen on the first floor. The stairs go up to the third floor.

Song Yuanchao's family lives in the bedroom on the third floor, which is the best location in Shikumen No. 23.

Usually, Shikumen has one or two bedrooms plus a living room (living room), a pavilion room, a stove draped room, a second-story pavilion (or a third-story pavilion), and so on.

Generally speaking, the master bedroom on the second or third floor is the best.If you don’t know the structure of Shikumen, you can watch the old movie "The Crow and the Sparrow", in which the Chief Hou lived in the bedroom, and the peddler couple lived in the front living room on the first floor, and in the pavilion between the first and second floors. It was Mr. Hua's family, and Kong Youwen, the original owner of the house, was driven to the back living room....

As for the second-floor or third-floor pavilions, this is where the attic is located. It used to be used to store sundries, and now it is naturally full of people.

The Song family has lived here for three generations. The house was built by Song Yuanchao’s grandfather earlier with three large yellow croakers. Both Song Guangzeng and Song Yuanchao were the only sons. After the old man passed away, the house naturally belonged to Song Guangzeng, Song Guangzeng and Wang Sufen. Song Yuanchao was born and raised here when he got married here.

Standing in front of the door, Song Yuanchao stared blankly at the closed door for a long time, then took out the key given to him by Aunt Zhang and inserted it into the lock.

Turn the key, the door lock is unlocked, and the heavy door is pushed open, and there is a rattling sound of old hinges.

Walking into the room, compared with the dimness of the stairs, the room looks much brighter.Today's weather is fine, the sun is pouring on the floor through the south glass windows.

The room is very tidy, there is not much dust in sight, Zhang's mother helped to clean it very clean, but it has not been lived in for a long time, and there is inevitably a faint musty smell in the room.

Song Yuanchao put down his luggage, and once again looked at his home from his childhood to his youth. The scenes at home coincided with those that had been forgotten deep in his memory. Unknowingly, Song Yuanchao's face was covered with tears. In front of the dressing table by the window, a group photo of the three of them was placed on it.

In the group photo, Song Yuanchao, who is still a teenager, is on the right, and his mother Wang Sufen is on the left. Wang Sufen has neat short and medium hair. This hairstyle is also called revolutionary hairstyle, which was the most popular hairstyle among women back then.

Sitting in the middle is his father, Song Guangzeng. Song Guangzeng graduated from St. John's University. He is an extremely gentle and elegant scholar. He wears black-rimmed glasses, combs his hair neatly, and wears a neat Chinese tunic suit.

The three wore chairman badges on their chests, their expressions were a little serious, and at the same time there was a smile on the corner of their mouths looking at the camera. Song Yuanchao remembered that this photo was taken by his father taking him and his mother to the Red Star Photo Studio before he went to the countryside, but he did not Thinking that this is the last group photo of my family of three, after the world was separated back then, now is the day when Yin and Yang will never see each other again.

Picking up the photo frame tremblingly, Song Yuanchao couldn't hold back his emotions anymore and began to cry...

After a long time, Song Yuanchao wiped away his tears and tidied up the room. It was already afternoon when he finished packing the room and luggage.

In the afternoon, Song Yuanchao went to a nearby bathhouse to take a bath.

In this era, except for summer, it is basically impossible to take a bath at home, so usually you have to go to the bathhouse to take a bath.

There are many bathhouses in Shanghai, and the most famous ones are of course the big bathhouses like Xiaoyaochi that existed before liberation. Song Yuanchao naturally wouldn't travel so far to take a bath, the places are far away and expensive.

The bathhouse he went to is not far from the alley. The name of this bathhouse is also very contemporary. It is called "People's Bath". Five cents to ten cents or so.

After soaking in the pool for a full half an hour, he rubbed his back and wiped off all the dirt on his body.After washing, Song Yuanchao had his hair cut and face shaved in the bathhouse.

After finishing all this, Song Yuanchao felt a burst of relief all over his body, and after changing into the clean clothes he brought, he was no different from an ordinary Shanghainese, except that his face looked a little dark.

After returning home from the bathhouse, just after sitting down for a while, there was a knock on the door.

"Uncle Jianguo?"

At the beginning, a familiar face appeared in front of Song Yuanchao. The man in his 30s, wearing a blue work jacket, standing at the door was the son of the Zhang family's aunt, Zhang Jianguo whom Song Yuanchao called his uncle since he was a child.

"Yanchao, Nong is finally back!" Zhang Jianguo smiled and looked at Song Yuanchao who hadn't seen him for many years. The kid who followed him back then has now grown into an adult. Zhang Jianguo didn't recognize Song Yuanchao either.

"You are darker and thinner, but you are taller, stronger, and more energetic!" Zhang Jianguo raised the lunch box in his hand: "Mother knows that you have just come back, and it is probably too late to start a fire, so I simply made some food. Let me bring them here. Look, roast pork with venetian leaves, hairtail fish, and egg dumplings made during the Chinese New Year are all your favorites."

Zhang Jianguo entered the door, put the three lunch boxes in his hand on the table and opened them one by one, and a burst of aroma came out, making Song Yuanchao swallowed involuntarily.

That's right, these are Song Yuanchao's favorite food since he was a child, but even in this era of poor supplies, they can only be eaten during the big days of the new year and festivals.

But today, Auntie Zhang made such delicious food for Song Yuanchao, which moved Song Yuanchao deeply.

"Hehe, don't be stupid, eat it, eat it while it's hot, you've suffered a lot in the northwest, you're skinny, come back and make up for it." Looking at Song Yuanchao's expression, Zhang Jianguo patted him on the shoulder with a smile, Song Yuanchao I was moved in my heart, but with the relationship between the two families, there is no need to say thank you at this time. Song Yuanchao will keep the Zhang family's kindness towards me in my heart, and I will definitely repay it in the future.

"Uncle, sit down first and smoke." Song Yuanchao turned around and poured Zhang Jianguo a glass of water before taking out Bao Baocheng from the drawer. The cigarettes he brought back from the countryside were not as famous as those in Shanghai. , but it is considered good locally.

"This cigarette looks festive. I haven't smoked it before. Is it from the northwest?" Zhang Jianguo took a look at it first, and asked casually. Put it under your nose and smell it, then nodded slightly, picked up the match on the table and lit it.

After taking a long puff, Zhang Jianguo exhaled a white smoke ring enjoying himself, and nodded: "The taste is not bad, but a bit strong, but I'm addicted to cigarettes, and this smoke is just right."

As he spoke, Zhang Jianguo laughed and pointed at the opened lunch box, signaling Song Yuanchao to eat quickly.

Song Yuanchao was also polite, found a pair of chopsticks and sat down to eat.

The food was still the taste in memory, Song Yuanchao ate very deliciously, and after ten minutes, the food was swept away by Song Yuanchao.

When Song Yuanchao was about to pack his lunch box after eating, Zhang Jianguo signaled him not to be too busy, but to sit and chat first.

"Before I got off work, I heard that you were back, so I went to the police station." Zhang Jianguo said to Song Yuanchao, "I know the old uncle Wang at the police station, and I said hello to him. When you go there tomorrow, go directly to him and get the documents or something." Just leave it to him, he will handle the household registration as soon as possible, and if there is no problem, it will take ten days and a half months at most."

"Thank you uncle, I remember, look for Uncle Wang." Song Yuanchao nodded and said, it was the same in the previous life. The household registration that police officer Wang helped to implement, although the country has policies, but the registration procedures are cumbersome. This era is not like the later generations. Internet-connected, at present the archives and materials must be retrieved from other places and then manually filled in and declared.

If you don't have any acquaintances, how can the household registration be settled so quickly? It would be great if it can be done in two or three months. Zhang Jianguo asked Police Officer Wang to help, which saved a lot of time.

In this day and age, household registration is an extremely important thing.

If a person does not have a registered permanent residence, not to mention his identity and job, he will even have problems surviving.You must know that every household depends on tickets for all the necessities of life that you can think of, whether it is grain, non-staple food, meat and eggs, oil, cloth, tobacco... all kinds of things.

The account is the basis for ticket issuance. Only with an account can there be a ticket. Without a account, there is no ticket. Without a ticket, people simply cannot survive.

"You take this first." Zhang Jianguo took out an envelope from his pocket and pushed it over: "Just after you came back, your parents are gone, and your household registration has not yet been confirmed, but you still have to live this day."

"No, no, uncle, you have old and young, and your family is not well-off. I also earn work points in the northwest, and I have money." Song Yuanchao quickly refused,

Zhang Jianguo's job is pretty good. He works as a driver in the trolley squad of a large state-owned factory. Driver is a very popular job in this era, not to mention he is still the driver of the trolley squad.

Zhang Jianguo's basic salary is 36 yuan, and the bonus and car allowance on weekdays are about 15 yuan, which adds up to more than 50 yuan.

In addition to wages, the benefits of the factory are also very good. Not only do they distribute clothes, soap, and toilet paper every season, but also fish, meat, chicken, and ducks during the holidays.

Zhang Jianguo’s wife, Sun Xia, is an employee of a street factory. The street factory is a collective factory, and the salary is naturally not as good as that of a large state-owned enterprise. Around 21 yuan.

The combined monthly income of the husband and wife is more than 70 yuan. If it is an ordinary young couple, it is considered acceptable, but you must know that Zhang Jianguo and his wife also support the elderly and children. Zhang’s mother is a housewife without a pension. He passed away a few years ago, and with the addition of two children, a boy and a girl, the monthly expenses can only be considered barely.