Two days later, the sky was clear and blue.
Zhao Honghui and Xie Yuyao carried the gifts and took a car to Sun's house.
Just last night, Mr. Sun's eldest son personally went to the Peace Hotel to invite them to visit his home when they had time.
Since checking in, Zhao Honghui and Xie Yuyao had not left the Peace Hotel. Since the Sun family had extended such a warm invitation, they decided to visit them the next day.
In Shanghai that year, housing was in unprecedented shortage. The narrow alleyways were like the city's blood vessels, and the houses were packed with people.
It's common for several generations to live together in a small room of 20 or 30 square meters. Some children's beds are folding beds, which are only placed in the middle of the aisle after dinner and the dining table has been put away. It's not uncommon for a son to get married and still share a room with his unmarried daughter.
These people's biggest wish is to have a more spacious house, but this wish is hard to fulfill: they have to wait for their work unit to allocate the house, and the welfare housing provided by the work unit is in short supply, so they don't know when they will be able to get one.
However, some people consider a type of large house a hot potato: a small villa located in a certain district.
Mr. Sun's home is in this villa area.
The sycamore trees in the neighborhood have donned a new look, their leaves now a vibrant golden yellow, densely packed and layered, completely obscuring the road. A gust of autumn wind blows, and the fallen leaves drift down slowly, like a flock of golden butterflies dancing in the air.
The house next to the sycamore tree was Old Sun's home. After knocking on the iron gate, a voice came from inside: "Coming!"
Old Sun's eldest son came out, opened the rusty iron gate, and invited the two inside.
This is a small European-style villa with various flowers planted in the yard, and traces of weeding in the flower field.
Old Sun stood at the villa's main entrance, smiling as he waited for them.
Xie Yuyao noticed that Old Sun was exceptionally happy today, bringing over a dozen members of his family across three generations to acknowledge their benefactor. Faced with everyone's gratitude, Xie Yuyao and Zhao Honghui repeatedly expressed their shame and remorse.
Old Sun said they were being modest, and told his children and grandchildren, "If it weren't for the two of them, this old man might not have been able to come back."
"How could that be? With your strong will and healthy body, even the greatest storms can't harm you, Elder Sun," Xie Yuyao said with a smile, offering her compliment.
Old Sun laughed heartily: "You still know how to talk a good game. Let me tell you, don't underestimate Yao Yao just because she's young. She's incredibly capable. Since she came to Qingshan Village, the place has changed dramatically every year. Now it's the richest production brigade in the surrounding area."
"To be honest, it's all thanks to you, Elder Sun! If it weren't for your generous guidance, we wouldn't have been able to make it in the medicinal herb business." Xie Yuyao didn't dare to take credit and kept declining.
Old Master Sun and Xie Yuyao complimented each other, much like the mutual flattery in business in later generations, leaving Xie Yuyao both amused and exasperated.
During the meal, Xie Yuyao learned that Sun Lao's eldest son was a professor at Shanghai Medical University. He had just been exonerated and reinstated. Through various connections, he learned about the situation at higher levels and asked Xie Yuyao if she wanted to apply to the university where he worked.
Xie Yuyao said that she and her best friend had made plans to take the entrance exam for schools in Beijing.
"Then you need to get ready quickly. Once the college entrance examination resumes, there will inevitably be a huge number of people registering to take the exam," Professor Sun said seriously.
"This is no problem for Yao Yao. She heard the news long ago and led the educated youth of Qingshan Village to start reviewing early." Old Sun recalled the time when Zhao Jianbin came to the cowshed to ask Old Feng for advice. Perhaps she had a premonition at that time.
Xie Yuyao smiled, and she didn't use any more modesty, which was indeed partly due to her influence.
Xie Yuyao and Zhao Honghui enjoyed a delicious meal at Grandpa Sun's house. Looking at the Sun family gathered together, Xie Yuyao was very happy and hoped that Grandpa Sun's bad luck would turn around and that he would have peace and good fortune.
After the meal, the two sat and drank a cup of tea. Seeing that Mr. Sun was a little tired, they got up to say goodbye.
Several of Grandpa Sun's younger relatives lived elsewhere and went out with Xie Yuyao and the others.
As we walked under the sycamore trees, someone pointed to another house not far away: "Have you heard? Their family has also been exonerated, but they want to sell the house and go back to their ancestral home."
"Not only his family, but several other families also want to sell."
“This villa area was previously seized and has only recently returned to its owner. Now everyone is afraid of being convicted again, and they treat the houses like a hot potato, eager to get rid of them as soon as possible.”
Hearing their discussion, Xie Yuyao's heart stirred, and she looked at Zhao Honghui.
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