Back to the golden age

The morning in Shanghai starts with the smoke of coal stoves and the noise of collecting night incense.

In the alley where Song Yuanchao’s house is located, not every household uses gas, and there are still many households limited to raw coal stoves. In addition, the same is true for toilets. Many people still use toilets, so the last thing people do when they wake up every morning The two important things are raw coal stove and night incense.

Song Yuanchao didn't need to do this. His house was the best house on No. 23. The third floor and the three-story pavilion above belonged to his house, and it also had an independent bathroom.

In the kitchen downstairs, Grandpa Song Yuanchao connected to the gas when he built the house. This gas has also benefited all the residents of Building 23. They belong to the very few residents in the entire alley who have gas.

After seven o'clock, at this time, adults go out to work one after another, children go to school, and the noise outside gradually subsides.

Song Yuanchao took the two steamed buns he bought yesterday on the way back from the bathhouse for breakfast. Originally, the steamed stuffed buns were intended for yesterday's dinner, but Zhang Jianguo specially sent the food over and kept it until now.

After eating the buns with plain water, Song Yuanchao washed his face and changed his clothes.

The clothes did not belong to Song Yuanchao. In the northwest, the living conditions were difficult, let alone new clothes. Song Yuanchao lived in the northwest for eight years, and there were only three sets of clothes plus a worn-out military overcoat.One of these three sets of clothes is for winter, and the other two are for spring and autumn, and these clothes and pants are all patched and patched, so they are no longer suitable for wearing.

Shanghai is the largest and most developed city in China.

People in Shanghai have been in contact with the West since the end of Qing Dynasty. Coupled with the existence of the concession, Chinese and Western cultures collide in this place, thus nourishing the unique Shanghai style culture.

People in Shanghai have always been known for their delicacy. No matter how poor the family is, they must be clean and tidy when they go out. This is called respectability in the north and accent in Shanghai.

In the eyes of Shanghainese, the kind of unkempt and sloppy person is synonymous with country people, and is collectively despised by Shanghainese.

Song Yuanchao was only 16 years old when he left home. He has grown taller these years. Naturally, he can no longer wear the old clothes he used to wear at home. The navy blue Chinese tunic suit that Song Yuanchao is wearing now is still left by Song Guangzeng. Song Guangzeng is a high-level intellectual. He is a teacher, and he paid great attention to appearance during his lifetime, so there are several sets of Chinese tunic suits made of exquisite materials at home.

When Song Guangzeng passed away, Wang Sufen only took one of the sets to accompany Song Guangzeng in his cremation, and put the rest neatly at the bottom of the box.

When sorting out yesterday, Song Yuanchao found these clothes. Although he is a little taller than Song Guangzeng now, since Song Yuanchao is thin, his father's clothes fit him well. Naturally, he should dress formally and decently if he is going out for business today. So Song Yuanchao ironed the clothes in advance and hung them in the closet, and now he is wearing them.

The same is true for shoes. For a pair of black leather shoes left by his father, Song Yuanchao found a box of congealed shoe polish in the cabinet, put them on the fire to soften them, and then brushed them again with a brush. They looked brand new.

Putting on the Chinese tunic suit and black leather shoes, and standing in front of the closet mirror, Song Yuanchao was no longer the embarrassed look he had when he just came back yesterday. He nodded with satisfaction, took out the materials he had prepared earlier, closed the door and went downstairs, and walked towards the nearby away from the police station.

More than ten minutes later, Song Yuanchao came to the police station, asked people and found Officer Wang.

Police officers in this era are far more friendly and easy-going than later generations, and there are not so many rules. Besides, Police Officer Wang and Zhang Jianguo knew each other. Zhang Jianguo came to say hello again yesterday and warmly entertained Song Yuanchao.

Police officer Wang carefully reviewed the information brought by Song Yuanchao, and directly told Song Yuanchao that there was no problem with the household registration.

The country has a special policy on the return of educated youths to their hometowns. This work is currently the most important work of the police station. As long as all the documents and procedures are in compliance, the household registration problem can be resolved quickly.

In this regard, Police Officer Wang quietly told Song Yuanchao that it would take a month at a time, or half a month at a time, and he should just go back and wait for the notification, and he can go directly to the police station to pick up his account after he has registered.

Song Yuanchao is very grateful to Police Officer Wang. He brought a few packs of cigarettes when he came, but in the end, Police Officer Wang directly rejected the cigarettes that Song Yuanchao secretly stuffed over, and told Song Yuanchao earnestly that it was not easy for young people like them to come back. I came back, but now I have no work and life difficulties. As a people's policeman, it is my duty to do these things for them.

After leaving the police station, seeing that it was still early, Song Yuanchao took the bus directly to the No. [-] Middle School where his father was.

The No. [-] middle school where Song Guangzeng taught was not too far from where he lived. It took half an hour to get there by bus. This is a key middle school in the district with a junior high school and a high school. After graduating from school, coupled with the fact that there was no possibility of going to college that year, I went to the Northwest.

Standing at the gate of the school, Song Yuanchao recalled bits and pieces of that year. Compared with when he was studying, the appearance of the school has not changed much. It has more of the original atmosphere of the school.

Now it is the time for class, the big iron gate of the school is closed tightly, and there is a small door on the left side of the big iron gate. Inside the small door is the guard's room. The guard, Uncle Liu, is sitting inside and reading the newspaper.

"Uncle Liu!" Song Yuan stepped forward and tapped on the window glass lightly.

"Comrade, who are you looking for? Which unit are you from?" The doorman Uncle Liu opened a small window, tilted his head and looked up and down at Song Yuanchao. Seeing that Song Yuanchao was dressed like a cadre, his tone was somewhat polite.

"Uncle Liu, I haven't seen you for a long time. You always smoke." Song Yuanchao smiled and handed over a cigarette. Uncle Liu hesitated to take the cigarette but remained silent, as if he was waiting for Song Yuanchao to report himself.

"I'm Song Yuanchao, the son of Mr. Song Guangzeng Song. I was also a student here before. Uncle Liu, do you still remember me?" Song Yuanchao said with a smile. How many years has the concierge been, anyway, in his memory, Uncle Liu has always been the concierge, but the appearance of Uncle Liu now is much older than Song Yuanchao's memory.

"Song Guangzeng, Teacher Song's son?" Uncle Liu looked at Song Yuanchao, and after a while, Uncle Liu suddenly smiled on his serious face.

"Song Yuanchao! I remember you kid. You used to get into trouble in school back then. Teacher Song wiped your ass a lot. You've become an adult in a blink of an eye. Come in, come in."

With that said, Uncle Liu opened the small door and called Song Yuanchao to enter.Song Yuanchao thanked him and walked into the concierge.

"Sit down, drink water, freshly brewed tea." Uncle Liu put a tea mug in front of Song Yuanchao, and pulled him to sit down.

Song Yuanchao thanked him, and didn't dislike that it was Uncle Liu's tea mug and took a sip. When he put down the tea mug, Uncle Liu had already lit a cigarette and looked at Song Yuanchao with a smile.

"You haven't come back to see it for a long time, kid? I remember that you didn't graduate in this year, and many of you went to the mountains and the countryside. What about you?"

"Yes, I went too, to the northwest side."

"When did you come back?"

"I just came back yesterday." Hearing what Song Yuanchao said, Uncle Liu sighed: "Look at you, you are dark and thin, I guess you are the same. But now it's all over, the national policy has changed, it's good to be back!"

Speaking of this, a trace of regret flashed across Uncle Liu's eyes, as if he thought of something. Although he is not a teacher but a teaching staff, he has worked in this school for more than 20 years. He and Song Guangzeng were very familiar with each other back then. Zhan Zhan Yeye's teacher was very impressive.

It's a pity that due to the times, Song Guangzeng passed away early, and Uncle Liu was powerless at that time. Before the big trend, Uncle Liu, who was a gatekeeper, could only have enough energy to spare.

Thinking of what happened to Song Guangzeng, Uncle Liu shook his head and sighed, but he didn't mention Song Guangzeng. The reason for this was that he didn't want Song Yuanchao to recall the sad past.

Chatting with Song Yuanchao about jumping in the queue and settling down in the northwest, he felt a lot about those difficult days, and then Uncle Liu asked about Song Yuanchao's plan when he came back.

"I just went to the police station today to solve the household registration problem first. The comrades at the police station asked me to wait for news patiently at home." Song Yuanchao told the truth.

"That's right, household registration is the most important thing. Move back as soon as the policy hasn't changed. It will be hard to say after a long time." Uncle Liu agreed with this, and pointed out Song Yuanchao as someone who had experienced it.

"Uncle Liu, is the current principal still Principal Zhou?" Song Yuanchao asked.

"That's right, it's still Principal Zhou." Uncle Liu nodded and said, "Principal Zhou is not easy. He has been sent down for several years and came back, and now his body is not as good as before. Last year, he was allowed to continue as the principal. It’s been hard work.”