"Is this a phone?"

Lin Li caught a glimpse of a dark, square device in the corner of the counter—a rotary dial with numbers printed on it and a handset hanging on the side, swaying back and forth.

The salesperson smiled and said, "You've come to the right place! This is the latest HA-1 push-button telephone, it just arrived last month!"

He then lifted the glass cover, and the plastic buttons made a crisp click. "If you apply for installation now, you can get priority in the queue!"

Finally, she can install a telephone. Then she can have telephones installed in both Shenzhen and the courtyard house, so Wang Jianguo and Dr. Yu can call her directly if they need anything.

This is so much more convenient!

She also set up a reminder function in the space so that she would be alerted whenever the phone rang outside, so that she wouldn't be delayed!

"Can you tell me how to install this phone?" Lin Li asked casually as she stuffed the TV warranty card into her canvas bag.

The sales clerk immediately perked up, pulling out a stack of mimeographed flyers from a drawer: "To apply now, you need to go to the post office to fill out an application form, and you'll need to prepare your work certificate and household registration booklet. The installation fee is a bit expensive, but having a telephone is so convenient! Look, every household in Hong Kong has a telephone, and Shenzhen will definitely be the same in the future!"

Lin Li took the flyer; the smell of ink mixed with a faint musty odor.

The flyer was printed with the words "The telephone is a symbol of modern life" in red, accompanied by a picture of a fashionable woman in bell-bottoms and permed hair, holding a telephone and smiling with her eyes crinkled.

"If it's installed, how long will it take to use it?"

The salesperson scratched his head: "If it's fast, it'll take half a month; if it's slow... it depends on when the line can be installed at your home."

"Okay, then I'll go to the post office and ask!"

After paying for the television, Lin Li walked out of the supermarket carrying the brown paper.

Then, after many twists and turns, he arrived at a secluded spot, threw the television directly into his spatial dimension, and headed towards the post office.

The post office building was still gray and dusty, with the walls covered in the marks of time, and yellowed business notices pasted in the glass windows, swaying gently in the breeze.

Lin Li pushed open the glass door of the post office.

A musty smell, a mixture of ink, paper and damp wood, hit the air. The hall was bustling with people, their voices rising and falling in a cacophony.

The old-fashioned wall clock showed 3:15. A long queue had already formed in front of the service window, with people clutching various forms and their faces filled with anxiety and anticipation.

Lin Li stood at the end of the line, looking at the winding crowd ahead, and felt a strange excitement in her heart.

"Little sister, are you here to install a telephone too?" A gentle voice came from behind.

Lin Li turned around and saw a middle-aged man wearing dark blue overalls with a kind smile on his face.

“Yes, big brother,” Lin Li replied politely. “I’ve been waiting in line for almost half an hour, and this line is moving so slowly.”

The man shook his head helplessly, "But there's nothing I can do. There are just too many people installing phones these days. It's good enough if I can even get a turn."

Lin Li nodded and looked at the materials in his hand: a certificate issued by his employer, a photocopy of his household registration book, and the application form, each of which he held tightly in his hand.

"Do we need to prepare all the necessary documents before we can install the telephone?"

"Yes! After preparing the documents and passing the review, we can wait for the post office to notify us before we can install the telephone!"

This is so complicated. Lin Li looked at the slowly moving queue ahead and asked, "Brother, where do we pick up these application forms?"

"Go to that counter over there!"

The man pointed to the counter next to him, where there were significantly fewer people in line than here!

"Okay, I'll go get the application form over there!"

After saying that, Lin Li left the line and walked towards the counter where she could pick up the application form.

After waiting in line for another half hour, I finally received two phone application forms.

The hotel was about to enter its busiest time, so Lin Li rushed back to the hotel and handed the phone application form to Wang Jianguo, asking him to apply for phone numbers for the hotel and her home!

Wang Jianguo took the application form and said he would definitely handle the matter as soon as possible!

After arranging things, Lin Li returned to her home in Shenzhen at almost six o'clock in the evening!

I roughly calculated the time, and Lin Laosan should be back in his hometown by now!

He returned to his hometown through the space, and when he opened the bedroom door, he saw Lin Laosan preparing food in the kitchen.

"Third brother, haven't you eaten yet?"

"mom?"

Lin Laosan looked at Lin Li standing outside the kitchen and his face lit up with surprise.

"You're back?"

"Yes, I came over after I finished my work in Shenzhen!"

"Then I'll make a few more dishes, wait for me a moment!"

"Okay, call me when you're done!"

Seeing Lin Laosan busy at work, Lin Li turned around and went to the main room. She took the Kaige brand television set she had bought from Baijia Supermarket from her spatial storage and placed it on the mottled wooden table.

The dark gray exterior gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen in the dim light.

I took out the installation instructions and user manual from the cardboard box and began to study them carefully!

"Mom, you bought a TV?"

After Lin Laosan finished preparing dinner and put it on the table, he saw Lin Li studying the installation instructions carefully.

"Yes, I'll buy it so everyone can watch the Spring Festival Gala!"

After Lin Laosan put the food down, he walked up to Lin Li and took the instruction manual from her hand.

"I'll do it, this is my major!"

"Oh right! That's what you studied."

Lin Li patted his hand and said, "Eat first, then we'll deal with it."

Lin Laosan put down the instruction manual with great delight, walked to the table, and quickly started shoveling rice into his mouth.

"Eat slowly, what's the rush? The TV's not going to move!"

Seeing him wolfing down his food, Lin Li was so angry that she hit him with her chopsticks!

"Hehehe! I just want to get the TV fixed quickly!" Lin Laosan slowed down his eating pace, but his eyes kept glancing towards the TV.

"Has anything happened in the village while you've been back?"

Lin Li hit him again and then changed the subject!

When she came over just now, she saw that Lin Laosan's face still showed a hint of anger while he was cooking.

Upon hearing Lin Li's question, Lin Laosan stopped watching the television and lowered his head, hesitating about how to tell Lin Li about the recent events.

"Just tell me, don't hide it from me!"

After a long silence, Lin Laosan put down the bowl in his hand. "Mom, there's something I need to tell you!"

After a pause, Lin Laosan continued, "Wasn't Lin Laoer locked up? His wife has already filed for divorce. Isn't Lin Laoer's child being raised at his maternal grandmother's house? But when I came back this time, I saw him collecting scraps and begging for food in town..."

Lin Li immediately pictured Lin Lao Er's child throwing a tantrum at home last year.

"Then what?"

"When I saw it, I was about to give him some money, but he refused and ran away!"