Chapter 3 Key
A bowl of steaming rice porridge and a small dish of fermented bean curd with some sugar sprinkled on it and a few drops of sesame oil.
This is the most common breakfast for Shanghai people. In later generations, such breakfast would probably no longer be seen in Shanghai families, but now Song Yuanchao eats it with special relish.
In his memory, how many years had it been since he had eaten this kind of rice in soaked rice? He took a bite of the rice in soaked rice with chopsticks, and then used the tip of the chopsticks to pick up some fermented bean curd and put it in his mouth. The taste made Song Yuanchao's eyes moisten. He sniffed hard and continued to eat.
Mother Zhang brought the rice porridge over and watched Song Yuanchao eat for a while before going back into the house. Song Yuanchao was someone she had taken care of since he was a child, and the relationship between the two families was very good.
Now, Song Yuanchao was back. The way he ate the wolfberry so voraciously made her want to cry. To avoid embarrassment, Zhang's mother took the well-behaved little Pingping away.
A few minutes later, Song Yuanchao had finished all the rice porridge and fermented bean curd. He licked his lips with some satisfaction, then picked up the dishes and walked to the sink to wash them.
Just after washing, Zhang's mother came out of the house after hearing the noise. Seeing Song Yuanchao washing dishes, she complained to him that he could just leave them there after eating. Song Yuanchao smiled and said nothing. He washed the dishes, drained the water and put them back in the cupboard that belonged to Zhang's mother.
"Yuanchao, please sit down. Mother has something to tell you." Mother Zhang invited Song Yuanchao to sit down. After he sat down, Mother Zhang took out a key from her pocket.
"This is the key to Nong's room." Zhang's mother sighed and said, "Nong's mother gave me this key and asked me to keep it for you. Now that Nong is finally back, it's time to return it to its original owner."
Looking at the key, Song Yuanchao's eyes suddenly turned red.
After Song Yuanchao went to the countryside, his parents who stayed in Shanghai passed away one after another. Song Yuanchao was not around when they left, and the relatives from the Song and Wang families didn't care about this matter at all. Although they were afraid to avoid it due to historical reasons with Song Guangzeng, as relatives, such behavior was really heartbreaking.
Especially when Wang Sufen passed away, the funeral was handled with the help of colleagues from the unit and old neighbors such as Zhang Jia A Niang. Song Yuanchao only found out about this later.
In addition to this incident, there was another thing that Song Yuanchao in his previous life did not know until many years later, on the day when he attended the memorial service for Zhang Jia's mother's death.
Just after Wang Sufen's funeral, several relatives who had previously cut off contact with their family suddenly showed up again. Their purpose was to take the house left by Song Yuanchao's parents.
According to these relatives, Song Guangzeng and his wife passed away, and Song Yuanchao went to the northwest to settle down, and it is impossible for him to come back in this life. As relatives, they naturally have the right to dispose of this house, so it is better to let them move in instead of leaving it empty.
Song Yuanchao had never seen such a shameless person. When Song Guangzeng and his wife were doing well, Song Guangzeng and Wang Sufen helped these relatives a lot.
Song Guangzeng and his wife helped a lot with Song Yuanchao's cousins' enrollment and various matters in his aunt and uncle's family without any compensation, and even did a lot of favors.
But who would have thought that when something happened to Song Guangzeng and his wife, these relatives who had been so close to Song Yuanchao's family in the past all stayed away from them farther away than anyone else, and when Wang Sufen died, they even set their sights on this house. Several families directly tore their faces apart and came to quarrel, all intending to take the house for themselves.
In the end, Zhang's mother couldn't stand it anymore , so she asked some of Song Guangzeng's old colleagues from school and the union chairman of Wang Sufen's unit to step in and resolve the matter.
Although Song Guangzeng and his wife are gone, Song Yuanchao is still alive. Even if Song Yuanchao is not in Shanghai, this house can only belong to Song Yuanchao no matter what, and no one can take it away like this.
In his previous life, Song Yuanchao had just returned to Shanghai and was not aware of this matter. Especially as the person involved, Zhang A Niang never mentioned a word to Song Yuanchao. This made Song Yuanchao, who only found out about it later, feel grateful and guilty towards Zhang A Niang for the rest of his life.
"I cleaned your room whenever I had time. It's still the same as it was when your mom left. Now you're finally back. Thank you! I'm returning this key to you today. If your mom and dad knew you were back today, they would definitely be very happy."
As she spoke, Zhang's mother's tears fell again. Song Yuanchao took the key that Zhang's mother gave him. Although it was just an ordinary door key, its weight made Song Yuanchao feel extremely heavy.
Song Yuanchao stood up, without saying anything, he knelt down and kowtowed three times to Zhang's mother.
Zhang's mother didn't expect Song Yuanchao to do this. She hurried to help him but it was too late. After Song Yuanchao kowtowed, he raised his sleeve to wipe his wet eyes and promised Zhang's mother: "Mother, I, Song Yuanchao, will remember your kindness to me all my life! I will definitely repay you!"
"Don't be like this, don't be like this... Yuan Chaonong, hurry up and get up, get up!"
Zhang's mother was at a loss. Song Yuanchao stood up and helped Zhang's mother sit down.
After a while, my mood gradually calmed down.
Zhang's mother asked Song Yuanchao what his plans were after returning. Song Yuanchao thought about it and told Zhang's mother that he would first solve the household registration problem. The certificate for returning home had already been issued, and he would go to the police station tomorrow to apply for the household registration transfer. After the household registration issue was settled, he would talk about other things.
"Well, household registration is a big deal, we need to get it done as soon as possible." Zhang's mother agreed, and then said, "Once your household registration is done, you and your uncle Jianguo will help you go to the Revolutionary Committee (neighborhood committee) to ask and find a way to get through. You also need to solve the problem of work. People need to eat, and they won't come here without a job. Once you have a job, you will have to pay attention to the Korean Peninsula! You understand, this is the most important thing in your life."
"Mother, I know! Don't worry, mother." Song Yuanchao nodded vigorously.
This was the case in his previous life. Song Yuanchao spent half a month to solve the household registration problem, and then Zhang Jianguo asked someone to help Song Yuanchao find a temporary job in a branch of the district telephone bureau.
This job was considered very good at the time. You have to know that working in the telephone bureau, even if you were just a temporary worker, there would be many people who would be envious of you.
More importantly, from the end of 1978 to 1980, these two years were the peak period of the return of educated youth to the city. It was very difficult for countless educated youth who returned from all over the country to find jobs, and only a few of them were able to find jobs. It was very difficult for Song Yuanchao to get such a job at that time.
In his previous life, Song Yuanchao worked as a temporary worker in the telephone bureau for five years. His job mainly involved climbing telephone poles to inspect and repair telephone lines. This position was also called "line maintenance," and together with the "machine maintenance" who sat in the machine room, they were the two front-line positions in the telephone bureau.
It was not until 1984 that Song Yuanchao had the opportunity to be converted from a temporary worker to a formal worker of the telephone bureau. In 1990, Song Yuanchao was transferred to the district bureau as a line maintenance team leader and was responsible for line maintenance work.
Later, the telephone bureau was restructured into two parts: fixed-line and mobile. Song Yuanchao stayed in the fixed-line department until his retirement. Before his retirement, Song Yuanchao was already a middle-level cadre in the district telephone bureau.
But now, Song Yuanchao doesn't want to go down this path anymore. Living a new life, Song Yuanchao wants to do something that he really wants to do.
