Chapter 162

In front of the mirror.

Lu Fangying raised her hand and put the last black hairpin behind her ear.

After her hair was done, she turned her head in front of the mirror and looked left and right.

It still looks more comfortable to dye all the hair black.

Lin Bingwei was getting impatient waiting in the living room and called out to her, "Have you packed yet?"

Lu Fangying responded, came out, picked up her cloth bag, and went out with Lin Bingwei.

They are not going out to set up stalls and do business today.

After Lu Fangying packed up all this, she went to visit Lin Haobo with Lin Bingwei.

Five years passed after Lin Bingwei was laid off.

During the past five years, in addition to setting up stalls every day to earn a living, the couple also set aside one day every month to visit Lin Haobo in prison regularly.

Today the two went to the prison and it was the same as before.

He talked to Lin Haobo through the iron railings and glass wall, encouraged him to participate in the transformation, and also brought him some basic daily necessities and clothes.

Every visit to the prison is an ordeal and torture.

Especially Lu Fangying, her heart bleeds every time she sees Lin Haobo.

But she wouldn't show it on her face, she remained normal and only talked about light-hearted and happy topics.

Lin Bingwei spoke relatively less.

Even when he spoke to Lin Haobo, he was always very serious.

He wanted him to sincerely repent and accept reformation.

Each visit lasts only thirty minutes, so not much can be said.

After coming out of the prison after the visit, the couple looked lost and empty from the looks on their faces to their hearts. It took them a while to recover from this state.

Although it was Lin Haobo who was in jail.

But aren't they also being tortured together?

Sitting in a taxi going home.

Passing by a villa area on the road, Lu Fangying stretched her head and looked carefully for a while.

As he looked at them, he said, "Are all the people living here rich?"

Lin Bingwei, who was sitting next to her, didn't say anything. The driver in front of her said, "That's right. Those who can live here are all rich. I heard that they have cars when they go out and servants when they come in. If they buy a handbag or a watch, it's enough for an ordinary family to live on for half a year or a year."

Lu Fangying added: "Isn't this just a return to the feudal society?"

The driver laughed and said, "That's different. It's not easy to work as a driver or a servant in these people's homes. The salary is much higher than doing other jobs outside, and it's more comfortable."

Lu Fangying withdrew her gaze and looked at Lin Bingwei.

Seeing that Lin Bingwei leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, she didn't say anything else.

I heard that the Tang family also moved into the villa.

Come to think of it, his family should be living this kind of life now.

It's a life that is beyond imagination.

The taxi passed by.

A car came out of the gate of the villa area.

After the car got on the road, it slowly moved forward and headed straight for Tianxianan Hutong.

The car stopped outside Courtyard No. 8.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei got out of the car and greeted their neighbors with a smile.

Nowadays, most of the young people in this alley have been allocated houses or bought houses. Those who have the means have tried their best to move out. Most of those who remain are older people, or those who really couldn't get a house or couldn't afford to buy one.

The house that Chuxia bought was big enough, so Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei naturally moved out with them. But they are still used to living in the hutong, so they come here every day.

In the twenty years since the reform, the outside world has developed rapidly, but Tianxian'an Hutong has not changed much.

The old houses in the alley are the same as before, and the restaurant run by the Tang family is also the same as before.

Even the food in the restaurant has not changed in taste over the years.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei had nothing else to do when they came to the alley except to check out the restaurant business. The rest of the time they spent playing chess and cards with their old neighbors, with whom they had lived for decades, and enjoying their old age.

Of course, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei don't look that old. Although they are both in their sixties, judging from their mental state, they could be in their fifties.

Compared with Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei, Han Qingtian and Wang Cuiying look very old both in real age and in appearance.

They are considered to be long-lived, both of them are in their seventies.

Because of his old age and inability to keep up with the pace, Han Qingtian would just watch from the side when others were playing chess or cards, occasionally saying a few words, just as if he was participating.

Wang Cuiying's eyes were blurry, but she still twisted the thread from time to time and tried hard to thread the needle.

In early autumn, the heat is still quite strong at noon.

After lunch, Tang Haikuan took a short break with his eyes closed, then picked up his fan and went out to the alley to find his chess friends. Under the shade of an old locust tree, which provided a cool breeze, he sat down at the chess table and watched the game.

After watching for a while, people gave him the seat to play, so he played two more games.

Tang Haikuan has always been slow at playing chess, and now the pieces on the board are not moving, as if he is pondering some big strategy. The others are not in a hurry either, and just wait patiently for him to make his move.

Before he could make up his mind, someone beside him suddenly said, "Move the horse forward one step to the left."

When Tang Haikuan heard this, he didn't consider whether it was a good idea to leave like this, but subconsciously looked up.

It was subconscious and unintentional.

But when he saw the person talking next to him, he was stunned.

Seeing him stunned, the others also looked curious and turned to look at the people next to them.

When they saw this, everyone else was stunned.

The person in front of them seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, making them subconsciously want to recognize him but not dare to.

No one sitting at the chess table said a word.

The man standing there smiled and greeted them one by one: "Uncle Haikuan, Uncle Qin, Uncle Zhou..."

Only after he finished greeting did Tang Haikuan come back to his senses.

He looked up at the person in front of him and asked in a very uncertain tone: "Who are you..."

The person standing smiled and replied, "Uncle Haikuan, I am Han Ting."

Hearing this, everyone around the chess table was stunned.

Although I made the connection when I saw it just now, and although I heard the definite answer, I still couldn't believe it at all.

Then, before they could react, Han Ting greeted them again and continued walking into the alley.

Watching Han Ting's back as he walked into the alley, the people around the chess table withdrew their gazes, looking at each other, with an expression as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

After a moment, he came back to his senses and whispered:

"Is it really Han Ting?"

"Yes, they look so similar, didn't he say so himself?"

"Didn't he die outside a long time ago?"

"It's just other people's guess. No one has seen it."

"If I remember correctly, he hasn't been back for fifteen years?"

"It's not that he didn't come back, it's that there's no news at all."

"What are you doing out there? Why don't you contact your family?"

"Who knows?"

…

***

Courtyard No. 8.

Han Qingtian felt tired today and did not go out to join in the fun in the alley.

He and Wang Cuiying were watching TV at home, watching Peking Opera on the opera channel.

Wang Cuiying was doing needlework nearby, and he was smoking.

Just as I was exhaling a large puff of smoke and squinting my eyes, I suddenly heard a voice from outside the door: "Dad, Mom."

Thinking that Han Lei had come back for something, Han Qingtian and Wang Cuiying turned to look at the door. When they saw that it was not Han Lei, they immediately turned their eyes back to the TV.

Han Qingtian continued to smoke and said, "You've got the wrong house, haven't you? This is Courtyard No. 8."

Han Ting stood at the door and stopped talking.

Han Qingtian and Wang Cuiying watched TV together for a while and discussed it for a while.

Seeing that the person at the door had not left, Han Qingtian looked at him and said, "You've got the wrong house. This is Courtyard No. 8."

Han Qingtian and Wang Cuiying are too old.

Han Ting's eyes had already turned red.

Han Qingtian stared at him for a while, and suddenly saw a familiar shadow in his body and eyes.

He couldn't believe it at all. His hands couldn't help shaking. It took him a while to squeeze out two words from his throat: "San'er?"

When Wang Cuiying heard this, she was stunned.

She slowly raised her head again and looked at Han Ting, her eyes full of expectation, but she seemed to be afraid to expect it. She asked in a trembling voice: "Is it... San'er?"

Han Ting was speechless.

He walked straight into the house and knelt in front of Han Qingtian and Wang Cuiying.

He knelt on the ground and said after a long pause: "Dad, Mom, San'er is sorry..."

The cloth and needle and thread in Wang Cuiying's hands fell to the ground.

Her eyes were wide open and tears were falling like strings of water beads.

***

Wang Cuiying's crying broke out in the east room.

She cried and shouted: "Where have you been all these years? Why didn't you write to your family? Why didn't you come back? Do you know how your father and I have been living all these years..."

The crying sound reached the north room.

The four people at the mahjong table looked at each other, then stretched their heads to look outside.

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Wu Xuemei was the first to get up and go out.

The other three people followed her out and just in time saw Tang Haikuan and a few others coming in from the second door.

The two groups walked to the middle of the yard and stood, looking towards the east room.

Wu Xuemei asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

Tang Haikuan replied: "Han Ting is back."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xuemei and the other three widened their eyes.

One of them said in surprise: "Han Ting? Didn't he die outside a long time ago?"

Tang Haikuan hurriedly hushed and gestured to the east room.

It turned out that Han Qingtian and Wang Cuiying didn't like to hear this and would curse whoever said it. Now that Han Ting has returned, they can't stand it anymore.

The person who was speaking quickly shut up.

No one spoke again, just looked towards the east room for a while.

***

The shocking news that Han Ting had suddenly returned spread throughout the alley in less than half a day.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei returned home in the evening. As soon as they sat down at the dining table, before they even picked up their chopsticks, they told Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, "Something big happened in the alley today."

No matter how big the matter is in the alley, it is just some trivial matter.

Chu Xia casually asked, "What's the big deal?"

Wu Xuemei said: "Han Ting came back suddenly."

I haven't heard this name for a long time. Chu Xia was stunned subconsciously and looked at Lin Xiaohan.

Lin Xiaohan had the same reaction and looked at Chu Xia in a daze.

Yi Yi had never met Han Ting. When Han Ting went to the south, Chu Xia was not yet pregnant with him.

But Yiyi had heard about Han Ting. He seemed to be more interested in this matter than Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan, and quickly asked, "Is it the legendary third son of Grandpa Han's family in the east room? The one who went to the south to work when he was young and then lost contact with him?"

Tang Haikuan nodded at him, "Yes, that's him."

Yi Yi continued, "Do you think he was captured by aliens and then released? A few days ago, the news said that someone saw a UFO."

“…”