Chapter 3: Times have changed dramatically
...
Xu Li took Xu Kai to find a small bathing pool and gave Xu Kai a good bath with pomelo leaves.
After changing into the new clothes that Xu Li brought specially, the moment he stepped out of the bathing pool, Xu Kai felt that the sunlight was much brighter.
With the steps of a new life, Xu Kaixiang went straight to the bus station in his memory.
But after taking a few steps, Xu Kai's confident steps became hesitant - Xu Kai used to be able to navigate around Hengdian with his eyes closed, but now he couldn't even tell the directions of east, west, south, and north.
Xu Li, who had guessed that Xu Kai was looking for the bus station, said softly, "Brother, the bus station was demolished five years ago and replaced with the International Trade Building, which integrates guest rooms, restaurants, entertainment, conferences, and business. The bus to our Furong Village has become bus No. 12."
Ten years have passed, and although Hengdian is still called Hengdian, tremendous changes have taken place.
The old, gray houses and dirty streets are gone. The old state-owned factories that everyone in Hengdian knew about, such as the old silk factory and the old pharmaceutical factory, have no trace left. Even the Nanjiang River, which used to smell terrible, no longer emits the familiar smell that Xu Kai was familiar with.
Today, Hengdian has become a metropolis with its straight roads and bridges, garden-like streets, elegantly decorated buildings, neatly organized industrial parks, scenic tourist attractions, a number of magnificent film and television shooting bases, well-equipped hospitals, hotels, schools, cinemas, libraries, gymnasiums, high-end shopping malls, hotels and commercial streets.
"Time has passed and things have changed dramatically!"
"I am no longer the boy I once was!"
Bus No. 12 carried Xu Kai and Xu Li through most of Hengdian and arrived at Furong Village.
As Xu Kai expected, the once dilapidated and backward mountain village has now changed dramatically.
Brick and tile houses of various shapes, small Western-style houses, and even large villas have replaced the old mud houses.
The previously bumpy rural dirt road has become a wide and clean concrete avenue.
The small dirt bubble where children used to play in front of the village has become a clear pond. Ancient-style corridors and pavilions can be seen everywhere, trees and shrubs are scattered along the banks of the pond, and the newly paved stone road leads to a winding path, creating a southern landscape.
Xu Kai turned his head and looked at his home: "Fortunately, it hasn't changed much except that it is a little more dilapidated than ten years ago."
After walking along the muddy mountain road for nearly twenty minutes, Xu Kai finally returned to the home he had been dreaming of for ten years - No. 1 Furong Village.
As soon as Xu Kai and Xu Li appeared, the sound of firecrackers rang out in front of Xu Kai's house.
Soon, Xu Kai saw Xu Yun and Cui Min, who were obviously much older than they were ten years ago.
Seeing Xu Kaizhen coming back, Cui Min couldn't help but shed tears, and even Xu Yun had red eyes.
Xu Kai wanted to say something, but he really didn't know what to say. He even wanted to kneel down to his parents who had cared about him for so many years, but he felt that it was too artificial.
"Stop crying, you'll make the kids laugh at you."
After saying this, Xu Yun lit the brazier that he had prepared long ago.
Then Xu Yun and Cui Min led Xu Kai over the brazier and into their home.
Before Xu Kai could ask why Xu Mai was not there, Xu Li took the initiative to say, "Mai Mai won the second place in the Rubinstein Piano Competition in the city and can participate in the finals. We all think this opportunity is too rare, so we asked Tang Yun to take her to the Magic City to participate in the finals."
It was not until then that Xu Kai remembered his younger brother who had been silently accompanying him all the way.
After a careful look, Xu Kai discovered that Xu Li had aged a lot. He was no longer the sunny and handsome young man he used to be, but a middle-aged man who had experienced the hardships of life.
Yes.
middle aged.
Although Xu Li is two years younger than Xu Kai, he is only twenty-nine now.
But no matter how Xu Kai looked at him, he felt that Xu Li looked more than ten years older than him.
The reason for this is that, in addition to the fact that Xu Kai has been practicing Qigong for ten years and is good at health preservation, it is also because Xu Li has had a very difficult life in the past ten years.
It is no exaggeration to say that Xu Kaineng spent ten years in prison without distraction, all because he had this good brother who had been silently contributing to their family.
It was he who supported Xu Kai's parents.
It was him who raised Xu Kai's daughter.
It was also him who took on many responsibilities and obligations that should have been borne by Xu Kai.
When Xu Kai was imprisoned, he was less than 19 years old and was just a teenager in high school.
It can be said that Xu Kailai has a lot to do with his current appearance.
If Xu Kai had not been imprisoned, he would never have dropped out of school early to work as an extra to earn money to support his family, and become as miserable as he is now.
"Thanks to you and Tang Yun for helping me take care of Mai Mai over the years." Xu Kai said sincerely.
Xu Li grinned and said, "Brother, your daughter is my daughter, why bother saying thank you or not."
The thanks were not spoken, so Xu Kai did not act pretentiously, but asked: "When are you and Tang Yun going to get married?"
When Xu Kai mentioned this, Cui Min said, "They should have been married a long time ago. They have been together for 8 years, but Tang Yun's father is a vampire. He refused to let Xu Li and Tang Yun get married unless they got 500,000 yuan short of the betrothal gift. When he was pushed to the limit, he drank pesticide."
"If you don't want to get married, then don't get married. It's just a formality anyway. Given the relationship between Tang Yun and I, we can't break up even if we don't go through the formality." Xu Li comforted everyone.
"How can this be possible? Tang Yun has followed you for 8 years without any regrets, and has helped me take care of Mai Mai for 8 years. Our family must give Tang Yun a decent wedding no matter what. This will not let Tang Yun down for her efforts for you and our family. Besides, 500,000 yuan is not a lot of money. A girl as good as Tang Yun deserves 5 million yuan in gifts." Xu Kai said.
The Xu family knew that Xu Kai had 1.3 million yuan in compensation, but they had already agreed that no one could touch the 1.3 million yuan and it would be kept for Xu Kai to marry a wife.
After all, compared with Xu Li, who has lived with his girlfriend for 8 years and has a stable relationship and has started his career, Xu Kai, who has been in prison for more than ten years and has a daughter who is almost eleven years old, is in worse conditions. Without the 1.3 million yuan, how can Xu Kai start a family and build a career?
So, although Xu Kai had already brought up the topic of money, Xu Li immediately changed the subject: "Brother, you have to thank Officer Fan someday. If it weren't for her, you would have to stay in prison for at least another three years. The key is that even if you get out after three years, you will still have a criminal record and won't be able to do many jobs."
Xu Kai knew that if he said now that it was not difficult to make millions with his own abilities, no one would believe him.
Although he was willing to give out the 1.3 million yuan he had, he estimated that his family members, who already thought of him as so pitiful and hopeless, would not accept it.
Therefore, Xu Kai simply did not mention it and waited for the facts to speak for themselves in the future.
"Yes, I will definitely thank her if I have the chance."
…
(End of this chapter)
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