A few days later, in the early morning, a green train arrived with its whistle blaring and thick smoke billowing from its engine, before slowly pulling up at the Capital Railway Station.
As the train pulled into the station, Sun Dajiang sat by the window and looked out through the glass. The familiar scene outside made him fall into deep thought.
At this moment, the accompanying leader stood up, picked up a large tin megaphone, and started shouting.
"Attention comrades! This is Beijing. Those who need to get off the bus, please pack your luggage and prepare to disembark. Our comrades will be outside to receive you."
"Comrades, please note! This is Beijing, ..."
The team leader's voice echoed throughout the entire carriage through the loudspeaker.
After being called twice, Sun Dajiang finally snapped out of his daze.
He realized this wasn't the time to be daydreaming, so he quickly got up, took his two large bags from the luggage rack, and walked towards the car door.
There were quite a few people returning together this time, but Sun Dajiang didn't rush to push forward. Instead, he followed the flow of people and slowly walked out of the carriage.
On the platform, the staff who were waiting there saw Sun Dajiang and his group get off the bus and quickly went up to guide them to the two large trucks that had been prepared in advance.
"Comrades, my name is Qian Bojun. I am here to welcome you all on orders from my superiors. Please get on the bus first, and we will arrange your return later."
Seeing this man named Qian Bojun, dressed in military uniform, gives one a very reassuring feeling.
Without any hesitation, everyone climbed onto the bus, eagerly anticipating their return home.
Once everyone was on board, the truck started moving and drove away from the train station…
Twenty minutes later, two trucks drove into a yard.
Sun Dajiang didn't know what kind of organization this was. He only knew that it was not far from his home.
After getting off the bus, I immediately registered, and then they reissued several years' worth of wages, tickets, honorary medals, letters of introduction, and other similar items—a whole bunch of things.
Another hour passed after all these things were done.
At this moment, Qian Bojun stood up again, clapped his hands, and signaled everyone to be quiet.
"I know everyone is homesick, and I don't want to take up too much time, so I'll just say a few words."
"First, please keep the principle of confidentiality in mind. You must keep all your experiences from the past few years to yourself and not mention them to any irrelevant people. Otherwise, you will be treated as an espionage offender."
"Secondly, you can rest for seven days after returning home, and then report to your unit on your own. The organization has already given instructions on the specific arrangements."
"Finally, if any difficulties arise during this period, report them to the local subdistrict office immediately. I believe they will handle them properly."
After explaining all this, Qian Bojun called over the staff and began to allocate vehicles to transport people according to the distance of their journeys.
However, due to the large number of people and the shortage of cars, some people who lived nearby were unwilling to wait any longer.
People like Sun Dajiang, who live close to home, all chose to walk home.
Seeing this, Qian Bojun did not insist, but simply told him to be careful on the road.
After all, these people are carrying a lot of money, so they can't afford to be careless!
Immediately, Sun Dajiang packed his things, grabbed his bag, and left the yard…
At the entrance of the courtyard house, Second Aunt, as usual, brought her two children and chatted with the older women in the courtyard.
Wang Aifang is resting at home because she is about to give birth, so she has nothing to do and is sitting at the door listening to several middle-aged women gossiping.
"Hey! Did you know? The Xu family in the backyard has started brewing medicine again recently. They want to have a child."
"What a waste of time. Didn't they say it was cured before? It seems like they've admitted it themselves."
Hearing the conversation between the two women, Aunt Chen seemed to be deep in thought, and then she remembered what Xu Lianxiang had said a few days ago.
"Gentlemen, this is uncertain. A few days ago, I heard Xu Lianxiang say that the medicine prescribed this time is different. She said that just one course of treatment costs one hundred yuan, and that it is guaranteed to cure the disease."
"Hey! Aunt Chen, that's just their story, I don't believe it."
"I don't believe it either. It's all lies and nonsense. I don't know what Qin Jingru is after. Why does she insist on marrying into the Xu family?"
What exactly is Qin Jingru after? Everyone present knows perfectly well, but no one is willing to say it out loud.
This is just like those young girls in later generations who marry a man of their grandfather's generation and claim they married for love, which is disgusting to look at.
If they had no money or social standing, do you think they would still be willing to get married?
Just then, Wang Aifang inadvertently saw a person walking towards her from not far away, carrying two large bags in his hands, and he looked very familiar.
She could hardly believe her eyes, and even rubbed them again.
That's right! After confirming it again, Wang Aifang quickly tugged at her mother-in-law's arm.
"Mom, look! My uncle is back."
"Which old man?"
The second aunt, who didn't react for a moment, asked casually.
"Who else could it be but Zheng Dong's own uncle!"
Wang Aifang pointed ahead with a happy smile; if she weren't pregnant, she probably would have jumped up.
This time, the second aunt heard it clearly and immediately stood up, looking in the direction her daughter-in-law was pointing.
Upon seeing this, even Auntie couldn't hold back anymore. It was none other than Sun Dajiang!
"The child's great-uncle, really the child's great-uncle."
As she spoke, her second aunt quickly ran up to prepare to welcome Sun Dajiang's return.
The others at the door also stood up, watching the former king return to the courtyard.
"Damn it, is that you?"
Seeing the travel-worn man before her, Auntie still found it hard to believe.
Sun Dajiang never expected that the first person he would meet upon returning would be his sister-in-law. Could it be that she happened to be visiting?
However, this is not the time to find out the situation; let's go home first.
"Sister-in-law, it's been years since we last met. It's me, I just got back to Beijing this morning."
"Oh! It's good that you're back. You don't know, your sister-in-law talks about you every day at home. Come on, let's go home and talk about it."
As she spoke, her second aunt snatched the large bag from his hand. Sun Dajiang could only shake his head with a smile and then walked towards the door.
"Grandpa Sun, you're back! It's been years, but you haven't changed at all."
"Yes, yes! Now the whole family is reunited. This old lady doesn't even know yet! If she knew you were coming back, she would be so happy."
"..."
Seeing so many familiar faces and some unfamiliar children at the entrance, Sun Dajiang was also moved by the scene and kept greeting them back.
"Hello, Grandpa Li, Grandma Chen, Grandma Yi, Second Grandma, Third Grandma... I'm back, thank you for your concern."
At this moment, Wang Aifang also came over, greeting him with a smile.
"Grandpa, you're back."
"Oh! Aifang, you're pregnant! No wonder you ran into your sister-in-law as soon as you got back!"
Seeing that Sun Dajiang didn't understand the situation, Wang Aifang didn't explain too much. She would explain in detail when she got home.
So she pulled Mao Mao and Xiao Xuan, who were hiding behind her, and said...
"Come here, Mao Mao, this is your grandpa. How did your grandma teach you to say hello to grandpa?"
"Xiaoxuan, this is your great-grandfather, quickly greet him."
Upon seeing the two children, Sun Dajiang was astonished. Could this Mao Mao be Zheng Guo's child?
But thinking about it again, the age doesn't seem to match up, because when I left, my daughter-in-law was already pregnant. Could it be Zheng'an's child?
"grandfather."
"Grandpa."
While Sun Dajiang was still imagining things, the two children had already spoken.
"Oh, oh! Good boy."
As he spoke, Sun Dajiang took out candy from his pocket and stuffed it into the hands of the two children.
Of course, Sun Dajiang also gave two to each of the other children at the door.
He bought these candies on his way back from a supply and marketing cooperative store, just so he could give some to the children.
Otherwise, if you haven't seen someone for years, and their child calls out to you, but there's nothing there, wouldn't that be incredibly awkward?
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