Sullivan took out the candy he had bought in advance and distributed it to the bear children, who received the candy and happily ran to the side to play hide and seek.

The second textile machine family compound covers a vast area, with a total area of more than 200,000 square meters. There are about 20 six-story buildings where cadres and senior technicians live, 70 or 80 tube buildings where middle- and low-level skilled workers live, and countless bungalows and shantytowns where ordinary workers live.

In the late 70s, when the factory was at its most prosperous, there were more than 20,000 workers in the second textile machine, which was the largest state-owned enterprise in Baosha City, with cinemas, supply and marketing cooperatives, middle schools, primary schools, nurseries, hospitals, post offices, banks and other facilities, and all the needs of the workers could be solved internally, just like an independent small town.

At that time, the second spinning machine was the pearl of the entire Baosha City, with high wages and good benefits, and the young men did not worry about getting the words, and the girls did not worry about getting married. I really can't find the object of the guy inside, no matter what crooked melon and cracked dates, as long as the tooling of the second spinning machine is worn, the girls outside are waiting for him to pick, this way, the guy is not happy, he only thinks about finding the object inside, and the welfare of double workers is on a higher level.

Su Liwen was born in a two-income family of textile machinery, a few years after he was born, the tide of marketization rolled in, the glory of the second textile machine was smashed, and in the early nineties, the factory laid off employees and reduced wages, and the former giant was crumbling.

Nowadays, the second textile machine is still breathing, the operating rate of the huge factory is less than 10%, and the basic wages of workers cannot be paid, which has become a huge burden in Baosha City.

Sullivan knew that in another two years, the second textile machine will be dismantled and sold, and when the insatiable moths will be eaten and wiped clean, only the empty shell of the second textile machine will be reorganized at an unbelievably low price, and it will become a mixed enterprise dominated by private capital.

After passing through a field of tiled houses and shantytowns, Su Liwen came to a six-story building, and several retired old workers who were rubbing mahjong and typing cards downstairs to bask in the sun greeted him: "Xiaowen, just come back?" ”

After chatting a few words with the group of elders who watched him grow up, Sullivan went upstairs with his luggage.

…………

Su Liwen's house is on the third floor, it is a three-bedroom house, facing south and north, with good lighting.

Took out the key and unlocked the door and entered the house, a burst of aroma of pork ribs and lotus root came to his nose, Sullivan grunted twice in his throat, saliva spread out, this is his favorite soup, his mother knew that he was coming back this afternoon, and specially made it for him.

Hearing this, my mother came out of the kitchen, looked at Su Liwen a few times, and then said, "Well, it's not bad, I've grown stronger in four months at school, your dad is out, I'm going to come back later, I still have a few dishes to do, the room has been cleaned up for you, you put your luggage and clothes in order." ”

"Okay, Mom." Sullivan answered, walked into the bedroom, threw the luggage on the side of the bed, and lay down on the bed with his head up, the smell of sunlight on the futon, it was obvious that his mother had dried the futon.

It was in this bedroom, four months ago, thirty-one-year-old Sullivan inexplicably traveled back from 2015, and now that I think about it, it is like a dream, everything is so wonderful and absurd, but it is extremely real.

Mother kept the room neat, bright and spotless, with little furnishings, an old wooden bed with a blue-gray bedding, an old-fashioned bulky desk by the window, which my father had used, and a wardrobe with peeling paint.

In later generations, at the end of Su Liwen's last relationship, his parents who had gray temples were heartbroken, and the old couple knew that Su Liwen was unwilling to return to Baosha City to develop, so they took out the coffin book and helped him make up a down payment to buy a house.

At that time, he was always ashamed of his parents who were almost sixty, and how to let the second elder spend his old age in peace became his biggest problem.

Su Liwen thought about it for a while, his father also came back, his mother had already prepared the meal, and the family of three ate around the old-fashioned Eight Immortals table, the dishes were all Su Liwen's favorite dishes, stewed lotus root soup with pork ribs, fried pork belly with chili peppers, fried chicken offal with shredded white radish, and stir-fried Chinese cabbage.

When you look closely, the mother's crow's feet are already deep, the father's figure is no longer as tall as before, and gray hair has begun to appear on the sideburns.

Mother has been laid off last year, idle at home, father will be laid off the year after tomorrow, at that time, the two of them are bleak, the son is still in the third year of college, need a lot of expenses every year, in order to support the family, as a seventh-level technician father went south and north, started a fruit wholesale business, the father did not have the talent to do business, wind, frost, snow and rain for a few years, just to make a little money.

…………

After the meal, my mother cleaned up the table and went to the kitchen, and my father turned on the TV, just as the news broadcast came to an end, and the TV was broadcasting the tragic experience of the Iraqi people.

The family sat on the sofa, the news broadcast had already ended, the father held a copy of "Baosha Daily" and looked at it, and the mother turned down the volume, and then asked Su Liwen: "Tell me about your work-study and starting a company." ”

It is not uncommon for college students to work and study, but opening a company is a great event, this is 2004, in the eyes of ordinary people, the company is sacred, great, and now the son says to open a company, how can he not surprise his parents.

Su Liwen didn't dare to say too much detail, thought about it, and said: "Mom, that's the case, didn't I study computers, so I developed a software with a few senior classmates, but I didn't expect it to be very easy to sell, and then the business volume was large, so I established a company." ”

"How can it be so simple to open a company, just to apply for a company license, it takes a month or two to come down, not to mention office space, registered capital, business operations, you say more carefully." My mother used to be the accountant of the second textile machine, and the articles of association of the company were very clear. Parents don't know about software, but they know that it is not easy to start a company in these years, take Baosha City as an example, with a population of seven or eight hundred thousand, large-scale companies can be counted on two hands, and they are all real estate companies. All other industries are self-employed and factory-owned.

At this time, his father also put down the newspaper and looked at Su Liwen, Su Liwen thought for a while and explained: "I worshipped a master to practice martial arts, and there was a senior brother who was the director of the police station, and he helped deal with the application for the company. ”

Mother looked at Su Liwen a few times again, and said with a smile: "I said, I haven't seen you for a few months, and my body has become a lot stronger, it turns out that I worshipped my master and practiced martial arts, which is also a good thing, after the New Year, you can bring some bacon balls to your master and brother, but you can't make trouble outside." ”

Su Liwen nodded hurriedly: "I know." ”

Father Zhengse said: "We have no objection to you opening a company, but it can't affect your studies, and the family's savings are not much, they are all for you to go to school, get married and buy a house, and this money can't be moved." ”

"Mom and Dad, don't worry, I make money by opening a company, not only will I not ask my family for money, but I can also solve my tuition and living expenses." Sullivan laughed.

The parents glanced at each other and were very surprised, there are also college students who can earn enough tuition by themselves in the second textile machinery compound, but they are all earned in the third and fourth years, and I haven't heard of any student who can earn enough tuition in the first year. The mother asked, "Are you saying that you don't have to pay the tuition fee from your family next year, and you can solve it yourself?" ”

"Yes!" Sullivan nodded.

My mother became interested and continued to ask, "Then tell my mother how much money you earned this semester?" ”

"I don't earn much, enough for the tuition and living expenses of the next semester, and I may be able to earn more next year." Sullivan said vaguely, he didn't dare to tell his parents the truth, it was better to give them a little buffer time, four years of college is long.

When my parents heard this, they all calculated in their hearts, the tuition fee is more than 2,000 yuan a semester, and the living expenses are also this number, which is almost 5,000 yuan less. Neither of them is very convinced, can a college student make so much money in four months? Don't do anything bad out there, right?

Su Liwen knew it was going to be bad as soon as he saw his parents' expressions, and sure enough, his mother asked nervously: "Xiaowen, don't you do anything outside......"

"Mom, where do you want to go, am I that kind of person!" Sullivan hurriedly interrupted his mother.

The mother wanted to ask again, but the father waved his hand to stop the mother and said, "Don't talk nonsense, our son is not a person who can't tell the difference between good and bad, and besides, our family is not bad for those tuition." ”

The mother thought about it carefully, isn't it exactly, although her son has been naughty since he was a child, he has never done anything like petty theft, let alone doing other bad things, he is confused, and his son can make money, which is also a good thing. But I have to ask my son how he earns the money, five thousand yuan in four months, which is higher than the salary of the second textile machine worker.

The mother continued to ask Sullivan about the details of making money, and Sullivan brought the topic to the software, and the two of them listened to it in a fog.

…………

Late at night, in bed, the mother asked the father: "I listened to it all night and didn't understand how my son made money, five thousand yuan in four months, which is higher than the income of the workers of our second textile machine, only a little worse than you, hey...... Talking to you, do you hear ......"

In response to the mother's snoring, the father fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed, for him, it is a good thing for his son to make money, as long as he does not break the law, he will not get to the bottom of it.

At nine o'clock, Tang Yu called, Su Liwen told her that she had returned, Tang Yu was happy at first, and then angry, she blamed Su Liwen for failing to fulfill his promise and not coming to her for the first time.

In the early morning of the next day, Su Liwen went downstairs to run and practice boxing, and on an open field, a group of old men and women were practicing Tai Chi, and then ran forward, which was the shantytown of the compound.

Shantytown is the historical legacy of the compound, at the end of the seventies, the second textile machine recruited a lot of new workers, the number of family buildings is limited, can not accommodate so many new workers, the workers do not care, fully carry forward the spirit of socialist ownership, build a tile house shantytown, in their minds, the factory will solve the housing problem sooner or later, Baosha City who does not know that the second textile machine is a first-class unit.

Who would have thought that after waiting for more than ten years without waiting for housing, the second spinning machine would rapidly decay, and the shantytown would be preserved.

Sullivan ran along the edge of the shantytown, and in the early morning of a cold day, an old man wrapped in a heavy torn cotton coat was picking up garbage.

This old man is a lonely old man, his son entered the second textile machine at the end of the seventies, did not do a few years, died of a work injury, because of the short length of service, only made up a thousand pieces of pension, the son died, when the mother because of excessive sadness, a few years also went, the old man has been lonely since then, relying on the relief money issued by the second textile machine.

In recent years, the second textile machine can not even pay wages, let alone relief funds, the days are becoming more and more embarrassing, all rely on the help of the neighbors, this is persevered, the neighbors are all bitter haha, can help for a while, but can not help a lifetime.

Su Liwen was in a heavy mood, slowed down, there was a Wahaha mineral water bottle in the stinky ditch in front of him, the old man climbed down the ditch with difficulty, slowly squatted down, picked up the water bottle, and climbed up with difficulty.

With a sour heart, Su Liwen subconsciously touched his wallet, but he touched it empty, he ran without money, turned around and ran home, not long after dawn, his parents had not woken up, Su Liwen tiptoed into the bedroom, opened the wallet, there were 1,200 yuan in cash, took out 1,000 yuan to find an envelope and stuffed it in, wrote a line on the envelope with a brush, and tiptoed out of the door.

The old man went to other places to pick up the rags, Sullivan knew the old man's residence, and ran directly to his door, which was a dilapidated and indescribable residence, the paint on the door had long been peeled, the windows had rotted, there were several large holes in the glass, which were blocked with paper plastic sheets, and the asbestos tiles on the roof were also broken, and many places were covered with rain cloths.

The more Sullivan looked at it, the more uncomfortable it became, shoved the envelope through the crack in the door, and walked away.

…………

The old man came back after picking up the rags, it was two o'clock at noon, he dragged his tired body in the cold wind and opened the door, there was only one table and one bed in the room, plus a 17-inch black and white TV, the TV was bought when his son was there, the bottom of the bed and other spaces were stuffed with all kinds of rags, the old man cleaned up and classified the garbage in the snakeskin bag, these rags can also be worth a hundred or ten yuan, this year is all counting on it, but it can't be like last year, the children came to pay New Year's greetings, and they couldn't even take out a candy.

The old man's lunch is two steamed buns, his teeth are not good, he can only tear the steamed buns and soak them in hot water, in order to swallow them, after lunch, the old man is carrying a snakeskin bag ready to go out, and suddenly found that there is an envelope on the ground behind the door, he picked it up suspiciously, and there is a line of strong and powerful words written on the envelope, which reads "Uncle, inside is a little of my heart, I wish you a happy Spring Festival."

When I opened the envelope, there were ten red bills inside. It was freezing cold, and in this dilapidated dwelling, the old man was in tears.