Chapter 10 Gap
"When did you come back?"
The two hugged each other for a long time before letting go. People around them were not surprised by this. In recent years, there were many relatives and friends who were separated for some reasons, so it was inevitable that they would be excited to meet again.
"I just came back yesterday. How about you?" Song Yuanchao smiled brightly and looked Li Daqi up and down. He could see that Li Daqi was not living much better than himself. He was thin and dark, and his clothes looked old and patched.
"I came back two months earlier than you , before the New Year." Li Daqi said with a smile, and took a look at the last two Shengjian that Song Yuanchao had not finished eating. He unceremoniously picked up one and put it into his mouth, chewing it and saying, "Come on, come on, come to my house. We haven't seen each other for so many years. Fortunately, I recognized you at a glance just now, otherwise I would have missed you today."
Song Yuanchao smiled and nodded. Like Li Daqi, he picked up the last pan-fried dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he picked up the egg skin soup and drank it all. After finishing it, he put the bowl on the table and wiped his mouth. Then, the two of them left the state-owned restaurant arm in arm, just like they did when they were in school.
Li Daqi's new home is not far from the state-owned hotel. After passing the front intersection and turning into the second alley, there is a large area of gundilong (urban village) houses.
As they walked, Song Yuanchao curiously asked Li Daqi why his family moved here. He remembered that his family was not here before.
"The house we lived in before belonged to my grandfather's unit. After my grandfather passed away, the unit took the house away. This is the house of my mother's relatives. They moved here a few years ago." Li Daqi said lightly, but Song Yuanchao heard a hint of helplessness in his few short words.
Li Daqi's family used to live in a very nice place, in a small Western-style building. The whole building was home to Li Daqi's grandfather, parents, and his sister Li Xiaoyun, a family of five.
But now, he had moved directly from a small Western-style building with an excellent environment to a place like this. This was something Song Yuanchao had never expected. No wonder he couldn't find where Li Daqi lived in his previous life.
After wandering around in the dragon's den for a while, they finally arrived at a very low bungalow. Li Daqi took out the key, opened the door and invited Song Yuanchao to come in.
When I walked in, I saw that the room was only about 20 square meters. There was a small kitchen next to the door, and there was no living room or bedroom inside. There were only old furniture and a double bed.
At the back of the room, behind a curtain, there was a three-foot single bed. The sheets on the bed looked like those for girls. Li Daqi told Song Yuanchao that this was his sister Li Xiaoyun's bed.
Song Yuanchao asked him curiously where he slept. Li Daqi smiled and pointed upwards. Song Yuanchao then noticed that there was a attic in the room. The attic was where Li Daqi slept.
"Sit down and drink some water first."
He pulled two chairs for Song Yuanchao to sit on. Li Daqi found a cup and poured him a glass of water. He then took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Song Yuanchao first, then he took one in his own mouth and lit it with a match.
"I went to look for you after I came back." Li Daqi took a puff of his cigarette and said, "But I asked your neighbors and they all said they had no news of you. Your parents... I'm sorry, I said the wrong thing."
"It's all over, it's okay." Song Yuanchao waved his hand and asked, "Have you been okay these years?"
"Haha, what good can there be in being an educated youth? We are all the same." Li Daqi flicked the ash from his cigarette and sighed, "We just endured it day by day. When I was in Liaodong, I felt that these hard days would never end. To be honest, I can't even believe how I managed to survive these years."
Song Yuanchao said nothing, his expression silent. He looked at the cigarette butt in his hand, staring blankly at the smoke rising.
Yes, for eight years, neither I nor Li Daqi knew how we managed to get through it. There were many times when we even felt that we couldn’t go on any longer. It was only with the passion of young people and mutual encouragement that we managed to persevere.
Looking back now, they are still lucky, because there are many educated youth like them who even left their lives on that land and could never return to their beloved hometown.
The two were speechless for a moment, and the only sound in the room was the puffing of cigarettes.
After a long while, Li Daqi took a final deep puff, took out another cigarette, put the almost burnt cigarette butt on the cigarette and continued smoking.
"Smoke less. I remember you didn't smoke before."
Song Yuanchao smoked little and had no addiction to smoking. Seeing that Li Daqi was smoking so heavily, he kindly advised him. Later, Li Daqi died of advanced lung cancer when he was less than 60 years old, which was probably related to his heavy smoking.
"A bad habit I developed in Liaodong." Li Daqi picked up the cigarette and was about to take another puff, but put it down with a smile: "The winter in that damn place in Liaodong is so cold that the locals hibernate for half a year, but we educated youth have to work as usual. We can't concentrate if we don't smoke when we are tired from work. Sometimes we don't have money to buy cigarettes, so we just smoke some hay. As a result, my addiction to smoking becomes stronger and stronger..."
Song Yuanchao expressed his understanding. In fact, the climate in the northwest is similar to that in Liaodong. In the places where they went to the countryside, there were almost no educated youth who did not smoke.
"By the way, why are you there today? I remember your home is not in the direction of the state-owned hotel." Li Daqi suddenly thought of this and couldn't help asking.
"I'm going to the school to do something about my dad's business." Song Yuanchao replied. Although Li Daqi was his childhood friend, the matter he and Principal Zhou requested to set up a factory in the school had not yet been fully implemented. There was no point in bringing this up at this time, so Song Yuanchao did not say anything.
Li Daqi understood immediately and nodded, "Uncle Song's matter does need to be handled. Now that the policy has changed, the school will definitely give instructions. Is the matter going smoothly?"
"It's OK. Principal Zhou told me the same thing. He said the information has been submitted and asked me to wait patiently for news."
"That's good." Li Daqi smiled. He had heard about the Song family's affairs from his neighbors when he went to see Song Yuanchao before. Since things went smoothly, he was happy for Song Yuanchao.
"Daqi, what happened today?" Song Yuanchao didn't want to talk more about his father's affairs, so he turned to ask about Li Daqi.
Looking at the way Li Daqi is dressed and hanging out outside in the middle of the day, I'm afraid he still hasn't worked.
"I've been staying at home since I came back. I was bored at home this morning so I went out for a walk. Who would have thought that I would run into you? Do you think this is God's will?"
Li Daqi replied with a smile, and his hearty laughter echoed in the room. Song Yuanchao was also amused when he heard it and laughed at the same time.
"You've been back for so many days. Have you transferred your household registration? What about your work? What are your plans?" Song Yuanchao asked.
Li Daqi took a puff of cigarette and shook his head, "It will take some time for the household registration to be processed. As for work... you have seen the current situation of my family. My father is working in the electronics factory, and my mother is still working in the textile factory."
"That's not right. I remember Uncle Li was an engineer before. Why is he going to the workshop now?" Song Yuanchao asked with a frown.
"It's hard to explain." Li Daqi sighed, "After my grandfather passed away, my father was transferred to the workshop. It's true that when people leave, they are forgotten. If my mother's relatives didn't have a house here to help, my family might have to sleep on the street."
Frowning, Song Yuanchao asked Li Daqi why he didn't go to the factory leaders to report the situation since he could solve this problem according to the policy?
But Li Daqi smiled bitterly and told Song Yuanchao that the family that occupied their house was the current factory leader, so what would it matter if they found him? Could the other party vacate the place and give it to their family?
In addition, Li Daqi had no job this time when he came back, and Uncle Li was planning to ask the factory leaders to give Li Daqi a job. If he offended someone because of this matter at this time, then Li Daqi would have no hope of getting a job.
"Isn't this bullying?" After listening to Li Daqi's explanation, Song Yuanchao was suddenly filled with anger. How could there be such bullying in the world?
"It's okay, Yuanchao. This kind of thing is not just for us. Just let it go." Facing Song Yuanchao's resentment, Li Daqi comforted him instead.
