It was almost five o'clock, and the sunset was slanting in the sky, but the temperature was still unbearable.

Shen Huai didn't want his sister-in-law to be embarrassed, but he couldn't rush to the Municipal Beijing Office at this time to call Chen Bing and others to see the clues, and walked into the alley, and he didn't know which direction to go for a while.

Although Shen Huai was brought to live in Yanjing for a few years, he was also left in a boarding school, rarely in contact with the Song family, and rarely entered Yanjing City. In the past seven or eight years, the construction of Yanjing city has also been very strong, and the appearance has changed a lot, and Shen Huai's memory of this area is even more blurred.

Shen Huai stood at the mouth of the alley, feeling very unfamiliar for a while, and he didn't know where he was standing.

Shen Huai knew that her sister-in-law Song Wenhui would get a small courtyard house when she returned to the city, and it should be here. However, 90 years ago, regardless of the high status, the living environment of the small courtyard house was generally poor, so the sister-in-law and the aunt moved to the house with the electricity part, that is, the apartment in the morning.

After my sister-in-law was transferred to the Southeast Electric Power Construction Group, the apartment was empty there. Around the same time, Yanjing City focused on renovating the courtyard area, and it was also the first area where the families of the ministries and commissions and the military commission lived together. The living conditions on this side of the courtyard alley have been greatly improved, and the security conditions are by no means comparable to ordinary residential areas.

It looks very ordinary here, but the cars that occasionally pass by are either Audi or Cadillac, and you know that the people who live here are either rich or expensive in the real sense. Therefore, luxury cars such as Audi and Cadillac, which usually show off their might in other places, are particularly well-behaved here. Although there are no obvious no-honking signs in the alley, Shen Huai has stood here for three or five minutes, passing by several cars here, all of them are quiet, and the eyes of those drivers are also very "kind", after all, this roadside is afraid of an old man and lady who rides a bicycle or walks with a vegetable basket, and it may also be a big tiger that cannot be provoked.

On both sides of the alley are neat courtyard houses, sandwiched between narrow and smooth asphalt roads, which have a unique tranquility in the middle of the city at dusk in summer.

Shen Huai walked to the mouth of the alley and saw that the main street of Xidan was outside, and only then did he see an inconspicuous metal sign with "West Temple East Lane" written on the inconspicuous side wall of the alley, and realized that the old man lived in the mansion on the opposite side of the west alley.

Shen Huai was afraid that his sister-in-law and uncle might pass by here to go to the mansion later, and when he saw a bookstore at the mouth of the alley, he turned around and walked in.

The door of the bookstore is small, but the depth inside is very large, the light is a little dim, the ceiling fan is whirring overhead, and there is a table in the corner, where an old man in his sixties sits drinking tea, looking like the owner.

There were no other customers in the store, and the shopkeeper was also leisurely, and when he saw Shen Huai walking in, he just nodded and smiled, which was regarded as a greeting.

There is a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger here, no one knows if the old man in front of him is a relative of the zhongyāng boss or someone else, Shen Huai did not dare to slack off, and with a smile, nodded and walked to the bookshelf in the back row to find a book.

Walking to the back row, Shen Huai found that the books sold here were of very high quality, apparently carefully selected by the shopkeeper before they were purchased, and there were also many quite professional foreign economic books, which made people suspect that the shopkeeper had a very high level of education, and it was likely that the bookstore was opened after retirement.

Whether it is a bookstore or library in Donghua or a provincial capital, there is still a shortage of professional books, especially some foreign monographs. When Shen Huai went to Yanjing this time, he planned to take a trip to Xidan Book City, the largest bookstore in China, to find some books on industry and economics, but he did not expect that there would be something else in this seemingly inconspicuous bookstore.

Shen Huai was like a treasure, so he first picked out a large number of books, and then found a corner and then carefully selected. Many Western monographs are obscure and difficult, and it is extremely difficult to sort out the context in a short period of time, requiring a high degree of concentration.

"You sit and ......look slowly," the shopkeeper said kindly, handing over a folding chair.

Shen Huai said and took the chair and sat down. The shopkeeper did not interfere with Shen Huai's selection of books, and quietly retreated to his original place, sitting there and drinking tea leisurely.

I don't know how long it took, but I heard the shopkeeper greeting people outside: "Cui Lao, just came back and ran around?" The voice of the person who came was not loud, and Shen Huai didn't care about listening, thinking that the shopkeeper had met an acquaintance, so he buried his head and continued to pick out books.

It wasn't until he felt a figure stop in front of him that Shen Huai raised his head suspiciously, and saw that the old man with a strange temper on the train was staring at him.

Shen Huai didn't expect him to live nearby, but it was normal to think about it, after all, it was a black Audi that picked him up at the station. Shen Huai stood up and greeted with a smile: "Old man, you just returned to Yanjing, why do you have time to come over and visit the bookstore?"

"I really don't want to listen to all the nonsense that the family is talking about, and where else can I go but here?" Probably what happened on the train, the old man had a good impression, and his tone of voice was much more soothing than when he first met on the train, but his eyes were still sharp, he glanced at Shen Huai twice, and then glanced at Shen Huai's hand and the stack of books stacked separately on the bookshelf next to him, and said, "Young man, what about you?"

"I'm the opposite of the old man's situation, probably because my family doesn't want to listen to my nonsense, so I have to come here to pass the time," Shen Huai said with a smile, seeing the old man looking at him with his eyes again, he felt strange, "Old man, do you know me?"

"I felt like it on the train, but now that I see that you also live in Xisi Lane, the more I look at it, the more I look like it," the old man stared at Shen Huai and asked, "Is your surname Song?"

Shen Huai knew that he looked plainly dressed these years, but the old man who traveled soft and sleepy couldn't be an ordinary person, thinking that as long as he lived on Xisi Street, he would know the Song family to some extent, and said with a smile: "My grandfather is Song Hua, old man, do you know my grandfather?"

The old man seemed to have a sensitive nerve to pick at it, straightened his face, and said, "The ghost only knows Song Hua? I only know that the second child of the Song family is a powerful character......

Shen Huai was stunned, he didn't expect to meet a character who had a vendetta with the Song family, and he was embarrassed for a while and didn't know what to say.

Although the friendship between the older generation of revolutionaries was openly publicized in China, Shen Huai knew to some extent that the older generation was actually entangled in grievances, especially in the several movements after the liberation, and there were many internal struggles, which was also one of the main sources of the formation of different factions since the reform.

Looking at the age of the old man in his seventies but less than eighty, he should have experienced the older generation of people who had experienced the Liberation War. However, many of the older generation characters were there, and Shen Huai couldn't guess who he was, so he could only smile awkwardly.

The shopkeeper came over at this time and said to the old man with a stiff face: "Elder Cui, don't you kick Song Lao's grandson out of my shop, you are so angry, I can't stand Song Lao's scolding," and asked Shen Huai, "Are you Song Qiaosheng's son?"

"Song Qiaosheng is my second uncle, and my father is the fourth ......"

The shopkeeper glanced at Old Man Cui suspiciously, and didn't remember for a while that Song Bingsheng, the fourth eldest of the Song family, had a son.

The old man Cui said "oh", remembered something, and said to the shopkeeper: "The fourth child of the Song family who has no interest and the girl of the Xie family have not given birth, this should be the son of the fourth child of the Song family who was left on the farm......"

Shen Huai's face was there, this embarrassing past, I didn't expect it to be revealed so bluntly to the old man in front of him. He knew that the two old men in front of him should have a great background, although this old man surnamed Cui spoke very ugly, and he couldn't have any temper with him.

Shen Huai didn't know what the old man surnamed Cui was with the Song family, so that the neighbors knew that he was at odds with the old man, so he could only stand by and laugh like a grandson.

Cui Lao seemed to be very satisfied with Shen Huai's attitude, glanced at him, and said: "I heard that your Lao Tzu just got the opportunity to go to Huaihai Province for a temporary job, and you still don't give up, and you still want to jump up." On the train, when I saw you, I should have thought that you are Song Hua's grandson, and you and the fourth child of the Song family are simply printed in the same mold," it seemed that he also saw the doubts in Shen Huai's eyes, but the old man Cui looked like a man who didn't say dark words, and said: "My name is Cui Xiangdong......"

Shen Huai was not surprised that the old man in front of him turned out to be one of the early giants of the Republic Navy, but shocked him with the news revealed earlier, his "father" was going to Huaihai Province for a temporary post!

Cui Xiangdong saw that Shen Huai didn't respond for a long time, thinking that he was still thinking about his identity, and said directly with some impatience: "I happen to have something to ask you for help, you come with me......"

Cui Xiangdong has been in a high position all the year round, and his personality is extremely strong, and when he speaks to a junior like Shen Huai, his tone is naturally not refusal.

"Old man, you wait for me for a while," Shen Huai didn't know what the old man Cui was looking for him, but it was not good to refuse, so he could only lead him by the nose helplessly, picked up the stack of books he had selected, and said to the shopkeeper, "These books are still troublesome for the old man, you can help me pack them first, and when I finish the things the old man ordered, I will come back and settle the bill with you......"

The shopkeeper took the book and said, "It's okay, when my little five gets off work, I'll ask her to send it directly to your house......"

"Don't be so troublesome," Shen Huai really couldn't explain the truth to the two old men in front of him about his refusal to come to the house, and said, "I'll come and get it later, if it's early, I want to pick up some more books." Your books are so good that I can't wait to move them all back. ”

"Professor Yan University picked out the books for you, you buy a set and move back, it's really not a loss to you," Cui Xiangdong stood next to him and interjected, "It's a pity that those guys in this alley regard themselves as noble breeds one by one, and they follow up like a dung p......it when they enter Baoshan."

Shen Huai thought that the identity of the shopkeeper would not be unusual, but he didn't expect it to be a retired professor of Yan University, but this is not the family residence of Yan University, and he thought that he might be a family member of a big man's family, so that he could recognize Cui Xiangdong and the old man of the Song family.