Standing in the square, accompanied by the national anthem, the red flag slowly rose into the air.

Lin Yao and the others watched quietly, no one spoke, only the bright red in their eyes.

A moment later, the ceremony was over, and the guard of honor walked away.

Lin Yao looked back and saw that Old Man Xu was full of tears, and there seemed to be a thousand words hidden in his eyes.

"Dad, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing the tears in the corners of Old Man Xu's eyes, Xu Lingjun stepped forward to support the old man.

The old man shook his head and sighed: "In 1954, the approval was issued from above, in order to check and balance private businessmen, they changed hoarding and changed private enterprises to state-owned enterprises.

Under this policy, we, the Xu family, who have been in business for generations, bore the brunt of it, and the huge family fell apart in an instant.

You were only six years old at the time, and my relationship with your mother was also in trouble, and in order to escape, but also for the sake of the family, I left and sailed to America.

All in all, it's been 30 years, and I'm finally back. ”

Old Man Xu didn't know whether to sigh or reminisce, and couldn't help but mention the old things.

Xu Lingjun held the old man's hand and held it tightly: "Dad, it's all over." ”

"Yes, it's all over, and the motherland is getting better and better."

Old Man Xu was a little lonely, waved his hand and said, "You young people go out for a walk, I'm a little tired, so I'll stay in the hotel today." ”

"Dad, I'll stay with you in the hotel."

Although Xu Lingjun was abandoned since he was a child, he was beaten into the rightist again in a special era and suffered a lot.

But he did not complain, the prairie in the northwest pasture purified his mind, and the simple herdsman soothed the wounds in his heart.

He is like a weed, standing tenaciously on the grassland, regardless of the wind and rain, unmoved.

So when facing Old Man Xu, he had no resentment, no dissatisfaction, and no even questioning.

I just thought: Father has a problem, too.

"Don't accompany me, old fellow, go around the capital for me, I'll listen to you and me tell these stories at home."

Old Man Xu smiled with relief, and was 200% satisfied with Xu Lingjun.

The female secretary standing next to her saw it, took the initiative to take over the responsibility of taking care of the old man, and said, "Lingjun, you can go out together, just have me with the chairman." ”

"Okay, we'll be back soon."

Xu Lingjun didn't think much about it, he just thought that Old Man Xu was touching the scene, and it was difficult to control his feelings for a while.

He understands this mood, Old Man Xu has endured ups and downs in his life, and a large part of his misfortune is brought about by the times.

For the motherland, for this land where he was born and raised, the old man's feelings are very complicated.

"Lao Xu, what does your father do in the United States?"

A few people walked together in the imperial city, and Lin Yao couldn't help but chat with Xu Lingjun.

Xu Lingjun smiled and replied: "My father is the chairman of a chain department store, and I don't know exactly what he does every day, and my father and I only met yesterday." ”

"The chairman of the department store chain!"

Lin Yao nodded, keeping this matter in mind.

Then he asked, "Is there anyone else in your family?" ”

"I still have my wife and children at home, and they didn't come with me and waited for me at home."

When talking about his wife, Xu Lingjun had a happy smile on his face.

Lin Yao smiled: "You love your wife very much!" ”

"Who wouldn't love their own wife."

When Xu Lingjun talked about his wife, he couldn't close the conversation box anymore, and took the initiative to say: "My wife's name is Li Xiuzhi, and my marriage with my wife is quite dramatic."

It was 1976, the end of a special era.

My wife is from Sichuan, and there were some changes in the family, and she fled all the way to the northwest.

At that time, I was a wrangler on the ranch, and Xiuzhi had no relatives and no place to stay, so our captain asked her if she would like to settle down here.

Xiuzhi said yes, and then she was taken to me, and we got married. ”

Saying that, Xu Lingjun looked at Lin Yao again and asked, "Can you eat spicy?" ”

Lin Yao didn't know why he asked this, and said honestly: "Yes, I can eat spicy food." ”

Xu Lingjun smiled very simply, and said happily: "I came to the capital this time, Xiuqin brought me two jars of hot sauce, my father doesn't eat spicy, if you like to eat, I'll send you a jar when you go back." ”

"Okay, is it an authentic Sichuan hot sauce?" Lin Yao asked rhetorically.

Xu Lingjun nodded and said, "Definitely, there is still an exclusive secret recipe." ”

The two talked and laughed, wandering around the palace.

Lin Yao asked about Xu Lingjun, and Xu Lingjun also asked them.

When the time came to noon, Lin Yao proposed to go back to the Yanjing Hotel for dinner, but he didn't want this proposal to be rejected by Xu Lingjun with a smile: "The consumption level of the Yanjing Hotel is too high, the three of us had dinner last night, and there were only five dishes in total, and it actually cost more than eighty yuan."

Put it on our ranch, even if you eat every day, you can't eat so much for three months.

A plate of boiled fish costs more than 40 yuan, which is worth a month's salary of an ordinary worker.

I see, the Yanjing Hotel is purely a slaughterer, I know that you are not bad for money, and my father is not bad for money, but this feeling of being slaughtered makes me uncomfortable. ”

Xu Lingjun is not a person who likes to talk about pomp, in his opinion, even if it is a crucian carp in West Lake, it is not worth a month's salary.

Besides, is West Lake crucian carp tastier than crucian carp elsewhere?

Not necessarily.

The so-called West Lake crucian carp is a gimmick, in modern parlance, an IQ tax, if you like to talk about pomp, you have to pay more.

"How about we go eat Yanjing roast duck?"

Hearing the two of them talk about what to eat, Dao Zai couldn't help but help: "When I was in the army, there was a comrade-in-arms who was from the capital, and he said that Yanjing roast duck was a must in the sky. ”

"Roast duck!"

Lin Yao nodded, and said to Xu Lingjun: "Quanjude's Yanjing roast duck is indeed one that can best represent the local cuisine of Yanjing, you shouldn't have eaten it yet, right?" ”

"No, just heard of it."

Xu Lingjun only arrived in Yanjing yesterday, and it was already evening when he got off the bus, so he didn't have time to go around.

Hearing that Xu Lingjun hadn't eaten either, Lin Yao immediately made a decision and went to Quanjude to eat at noon.

When I arrived at Quanjude, the price of the old store in Quanjude at this time was still very close to the people.

A high-quality roast duck is 8 yuan, and four side dishes are given, a pot of duck rack soup, a salt and pepper duck rack, and two additional pancakes are given.

If it is eaten by two or three people, a high-quality roast duck is enough for three people to eat, which is much more affordable than Yanjing Hotel.

Of course, for people in this era, it is still a luxury to spend five days' wages to eat once in Quanjude.

When I entered the store, most of the customers inside were foreigners, and most of the remaining Tang diners were also people with status.

"Fried prawns, three fast four."

"Braised sea cucumber, three pieces of eight."

"High-quality spicy chicken, two pieces of two."

"Dongpo meat, three pieces of meat!"

Lin Yao looked at the recipe and said to Daozai: "It's much lower than the price on Hong Kong Island." ”

Daozi touched his chin and whispered, "I just don't know if it's delicious?" ”

"The chef here is no worse than the three-star, five-star chef on Hong Kong Island, and it must be false to say that it is not delicious."

Lin Yao put down the menu and instructed the waiter: "A high-quality roast duck, a duck liver, and then four of your specialties, three cold dishes, and one roast duck plus eight dishes." ”

"Late for dinner?" Xu Lingjun couldn't help but ask.

"If you can't finish eating, you can pack it, and we'll take it back and eat it at night."

Lin Yao said this, and said: "Eat more at noon, I will take you to a good place in the afternoon, this place is still what my friend specially told me when I got on the train." ”

"Where?" Xu Lingjun asked inexplicably.

Lin Yao replied: "Antique street!" ”