It took three days to set up the new store.
Erhua returned to the countryside to continue working. He was so tired from running around to open Mr. Huang's old and new stores that he seemed to have been reborn. His originally lifeless face became much rosier.
Every morning after breakfast he would go to listen to some music and give the young man a few cents. After a few times, he and the young man became close friends regardless of age difference.
"Xiao Zhao, you play this tune really well. Where did you learn it from?"
Xiao Zhao wiped the flute with a clean cloth and put it away. He smiled brightly, revealing two rows of white teeth, and said, "I learned this specifically in the opera troupe."
"Oh, you're an expert!"
"Haha, Master Huang, you are my mentor. I've been bragging about this for quite a while, but you're the only one who appreciates it."
Mr. Huang laughed heartily. After all, he was a young man. He had an energy that made people feel young too, as if they had returned to more than ten years ago.
However, Xiao Zhao does not come here to play music to make money. He is a serious worker who only started working this year and took over his father's job. He comes here to play the flute in the morning purely as a hobby and to earn some pocket money at the same time.
A few female students hurried by the roadside, glanced secretly at Xiao Zhao, and walked forward laughing.
Mr. Huang looked at the female student, then looked at you, Xiao Zhao. The young man was confused and didn't understand anything.
"Well, if I were thirty years younger, they would definitely be smiling at me, not you, hahahaha.
Back then, I was like you, no, even more handsome than you, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a straight back.
By the way, Xiao Zhao, do you have a partner?
"What kind of partner? Uncle Huang, I'm only sixteen!" Xiao Zhao replied.
Mr. Huang looked at him in surprise and said, "You look quite anxious, you look twenty-six, but you're sixteen."
"Well, everyone says that to me. Really, do I look that old?"
"Haha, it's okay. People said the same thing to me when I was younger. But for people like us, at sixteen we look like twenty-six, and at thirty-six we still look like twenty-six. We can still grow up!"
Xiao Zhao looked at Grandpa Huang and laughed. Grandpa Huang has been a little busy recently, but his mood has improved a lot. He also has a little friend, and it is quite interesting to listen to some little songs every day.
"It's getting late. I'm going to open the door. When you're on night shift, come to our shop during the day. I'll treat you to fried fish noodles. It's right across from us and it's quite famous."
Xiao Zhao nodded innocently and said, "Okay, Uncle, we are destined to be together. Next time I will come to play with you and learn how to do business from you."
"What's so good about learning business? We old guys are just young ghosts back then. No factory wants us. It's better for you to be workers."
"That's not true." Xiao Zhao leaned over and whispered, "Only my mom and dad are so stubborn. After so many years of reform and opening up, they want to go into business and make a fortune!"
Haha, Master Huang likes this young man more and more. Although he is young, he is full of ideas. He gestures when he speaks and his eyes shine brightly.
"Okay, then come play next time and show me the shop, and I'll teach you everything."
The two said goodbye, one to the south and one to the north.
Mr. Huang ate a lot in the morning, including fried dough sticks, flatbreads, glutinous rice balls and soy milk. After sitting for a while, he still felt a little full.
Walking onto the stone bridge, he watched from afar as Xiao Zhao walked on the cobblestone road with high spirits. The young man's feet seemed to have springs on them when he walked, and his shoulders rose and fell, showing a youthful spirit that could not be suppressed by the world.
The water in the moat is very clear. Both sides are lined with large slabs of stone. The back walls of the houses on both sides are flush with the slabs of stone. The river is just one step forward from the back door.
In the past, someone drank in a small restaurant, opened the back door and fell into the river. When he was fished out, he was already soaked like a pig in water.
As Mr. Huang walked back, he thought about what Xiao Zhao said and found it more and more interesting.
"Oh...if my son wasn't lost..."
He shut up and said nothing more, feeling a little pain in his heart. Yes, if he hadn't lost it, he would be sixteen years old, and probably more handsome than Xiao Zhao.
The next afternoon, there were no customers in Mr. Huang's shop. He lit the coal stove outside the shop and prepared to boil a pot of water.
The firewood in the store was wet by the rain yesterday and it couldn't burn for a while. It was smoking and made him cough continuously.
"Uncle Huang!" Xiao Zhao appeared out of nowhere, scaring Uncle Huang so much that he almost threw the fan in his hand.
"Hey, Xiao Zhao is here, welcome." Grandpa Huang threw the stove to the waiter and invited Xiao Zhao in.
"You came at an inopportune time. There is no hot water in the store. I'll get you some snacks." Grandpa Huang placed a plate of lard cake and a plate of yellow sponge cake.
"I bought them all from Huang Tianyuan. Try them."
Xiao Zhao picked up a piece of lard cake and finished it in two bites.
"Uncle, I've eaten." He smacked his lips as he spoke, not treating Uncle Huang as an outsider at all.
"I didn't expect that you run a furniture store, uncle!" He licked his fingers, feeling unsatisfied.
Mr. Huang pushed the plate over and said, "Eat another piece, young man. Eating more will give you strength."
Xiao Zhao laughed and touched Silala's head with his hand, then picked up the lard cake with the same hand.
"What's the story behind the furniture store?" asked Mr. Huang.
He shook his head, smiled sheepishly, and said, "There's nothing much to say, but I like looking at furniture. When I was a kid, my dad worked in a local specialty store that sold furniture."
"Oh, what a coincidence! What's your father's name? There used to be a furniture and local specialty store here, and you needed tickets to buy anything.
I also worked there, maybe I know your father."
"I don't know his name. To be honest, my current father is not my biological father. I was adopted by them."
Mr. Huang felt like he was slapped on the forehead. He was sixteen years old and running a local furniture store!
His hands couldn't help but tremble, his throat was dry, and he didn't dare to speak. He just stared at Xiao Zhao. He felt uneasy when he was looked at by Master Huang.
He waved one hand in front of Mr. Huang's eyes and called out, "Uncle, Uncle!"
"Hey, look at me, you're lost in thought as you think about what happened back then! Since you knew your father worked in a local product store, how come you were adopted?" Grandpa Huang asked tentatively.
"I don't know, I can't remember." After eating another piece of lard cake, he burped.
"They adopted me from the opera troupe. At that time, the troupe was struggling and was about to disband, and they were worried about what to do with me. I learned to play the flute in the troupe, and I figured it out on my own afterwards."
"Xiao Zhao." Grandpa Huang's throat rolled, and he felt dry and burning inside. His heart was aching as if an invisible hand was squeezing it.
"Xiao Zhao, your Uncle Huang is just asking, do you have a black birthmark on your waist that looks like a hammer?"
Xiao Zhao was stunned and said, "Uncle Huang, you are amazing! You know all this?"
"What's the big deal, silly boy!" Grandpa Huang suddenly burst into tears, leaving Xiao Zhao at a loss.
"I'm your biological father! I finally found you!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
