Shanghai Stationery Street.
Haishi Stationery Street has a long history. In ancient times, it was a street lined with bookstores selling paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones to urban dwellers. It was destroyed several times during the war years, leaving the entire street in ruins. However, it was quickly rebuilt after liberation, but after reconstruction, it became an ordinary street selling daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Until the 1990s, the first Xinhua Bookstore opened on this street, and gradually, the surrounding shops became various bookstores and stationery stores.
Before Xu An started school as a child, his grandmother would bring him here to buy all sorts of stationery. Back then, the stationery sold on this street was quite simple. Backpacks with prints of Rainbow Cat, Blue Rabbit, Astro Boy, Popeye, and other characters were very expensive, even considered small luxuries. But now, all you see are stationery products printed with all sorts of fancy prints, and the prices are very low.
The dazzling array of goods overwhelmed the two little ones, making them feel like they couldn't take it all in. One moment they thought a backpack with Pleasant Goat printed on it was really cute; the next, another backpack with a cute anime girl design looked good; and then, behind them, there was one with Bear Brothers printed on it.
Just as the two little ones were incredibly conflicted, a little boy came bounding over, snatched the Ultraman backpack hanging in front of them, and excitedly turned around, shouting, "Dad, Dad, I found it!"
The sound abruptly stopped. Xu An looked in the direction the boy had spoken and saw only a middle-aged woman passing by with a child; he didn't see the man. At the same time, Xu Kang and Xu Le's voices rang out with a hint of surprise, "Brother Hu Lei!"
Hearing their shouts, Xu An finally realized that the little boy in front of him was the child he had rescued from the river not long ago. The first two times they met, he was too rushed to see the boy's face clearly the first time, and the second time the boy was either hiding behind his parents or playing with Xu Kang and Xu Le, so he hadn't gotten a good look at him either. Now he even had a buzz cut; if it weren't for Xu Kang and Xu Le shouting, Xu An really wouldn't have recognized him.
"Where's your dad?" Xu An grabbed Hu Lei, who was about to rush out to look for his father, and asked softly.
"He was just behind me a moment ago, and I don't know where he went!" Hu Lei answered, his eyes welling up with tears and his voice trembling with sobs.
"No rush, no rush!" Xu An gently patted Hu Lei's soft back of the head, squatted down and looked into Hu Lei's eyes, saying, "Brother has your dad's phone number. Brother will call your dad now. Just stay by my side and wait for your dad to come, okay?"
Whether it was Xu An's words that had an effect, or the comforting words from Xu Kang and Xu Le that worked, the tears in Hu Lei's eyes slowly stopped.
Xu An was with three children, but since he didn't have three hands, he could only let the three children hold hands and walk in front of him, while he followed closely behind, heading towards a dessert shop on the street. The shop was quite crowded, but there were still a few empty seats. Xu An led the three children to a table and let them choose their favorite desserts and order. Then, he took out his phone and dialed the number of Hu Lei's father, Hu Guanghong.
Beep—beep beep beep—beep beep—
Hu Guanghong did not answer Xu An's call until the call time expired. He persistently dialed four more times, but still no one answered. On the fifth call, the unchanging ringtone was replaced by a monotonous voice saying, "The user you dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later."
There's only one possibility in this situation: Hu Guanghong's phone was stolen! After all, with the current state of public security, you can't just walk down the street and suddenly get killed. Putting down his phone, Xu An pondered how to contact Hu Lei's family. Just as he looked up, he met Hu Lei's uneasy gaze.
"Xiao Lei, I couldn't get through to your dad on the phone." As soon as Xu An said this, Hu Lei's lips drooped down, and his eyes welled up with tears. Startled, Xu An quickly added, "Do you remember your mom's phone number? I'll call her and ask her to come pick you up, okay?"
Hearing the word "Mom," Hu Lei's emotions calmed down slightly. He nodded, then shook his head, and said timidly, "But...but I don't remember Mom's phone number. Is it possible to find Mom?"
Xu An suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for the ubiquitous smartwatches of his future life, which allowed children to dial their families' numbers with a simple press. Even if a phone call wasn't possible, relatives could use an app to locate their child and quickly find them. But that wasn't an option now, and he couldn't contact Hu Guanghong either. There was only one solution left—to ask the police for help!
After apologizing to the shopkeeper, Xu An asked for directions to the police station and then led the three of them towards it like herding ducks.
Um, I'm having writer's block. I need to sort out my thoughts. This is the only chapter I'll write today (x﹏x)
(End of this chapter)
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