After Tong Yan finished cooking, she returned to her original position and sat down to eat slowly. It's rice, but it's actually corn paste, or it's a very thin kind, plus a pickle with chopsticks, and it's breakfast. Tong Yan was eating, and the old woman came again: "Girl, are you alone?" Tong Yan was stunned for a moment, secretly vigilant in her heart, but with a little smile on her face, she replied: "Yes." ”

"My surname is Zhou, you call me Aunt Zhou, don't be afraid, I just look at you alone, and you are young, so ask you, I am from Shiwan Village, most of the people here are from Shiwan Village, I just haven't seen you, I guess you are not here!"

Tong Yan looked at Aunt Zhou's clear eyes and nodded. Aunt Zhou saw that she had guessed correctly, and her smile deepened a little: "I just said, if you look clean, you must not have suffered," she said and sighed, "We, the water has risen high, the crops in the field have flooded, fortunately people came out." After saying that, he sighed again. Tong Yan is Aunt Zhou's chatter and finished breakfast. I also roughly figured out the current situation.

This is a small town in J Province, a few days ago, the heavy rain washed away a section of the embankment, Shiwan Village and several other villages were affected to varying degrees, and some people evacuated to this town. Aunt Zhou fled here with her daughter-in-law and grandson, and Aunt Zhou's son went to the disaster. After that, the enthusiastic Aunt Zhou also took Tong Yan to her temporary place of residence - a shed, which was to pull a rope between two trees and put a piece of cloth on it. Two small bamboo poles were planted on the ground at the back, the two corners were tied to the bamboo poles, and a broken mat was also laid on the ground, and Aunt Zhou's family temporarily settled here.

Aunt Zhou's daughter-in-law is surnamed Liu, Tong Yan calls her Sister Liu, and there is a seven-year-old boy named Haizi. Sister Liu is not tall, she is also thin, and she talks little. Haizi is also shy, Aunt Zhou asked him to call someone, but he hid behind Sister Liu and refused to come out.

The four of them sat down and started chatting. Tong Yan told them that she was from S City, because the accent of her speech could not be changed, and she had to tell the truth. I came to J province and city to look for relatives, because I was an outcast, I grew up in a welfare home in S city, and now I want to find relatives. I heard that there may be relatives in Province J, so come and try your luck.

Aunt Zhou is a soft-hearted person, when she heard Tong Yan's miserable life experience, she took Tong Yan's hand and said pitiful, the person who abandoned Tong Yan at the beginning was simply heartless. Sister Liu also showed a sad look on her face, although she didn't say anything, she looked at Tong Yan's eyes full of sympathy. Both of them enthusiastically invited Tong Yan to be with them. Tong Yan said sorry in her heart, after all, she deceived others, and she was moved by the simplicity of people in this era.

Aunt Zhou heard that Tong Yan's identity certificate was lost, and gave Tong Yan an idea: "You can go and make up for one, we escaped in a hurry, we didn't bring a lot of things, there is a place to make up for it, I'll take you there when I go back." When Tong Yan heard this, she was overjoyed, the most important thing in this era is the proof of identity.

Aunt Zhou took Tong Yan to a two-story building, and found an office with a familiar way, in which sat a young man in his early twenties, dressed in a green uniform, the young man looked very energetic, and when he saw that it was Aunt Zhou, he greeted warmly: "Auntie, why are you here, is there something?" Aunt Zhou nodded, pulled Tong Yan over, and said to the young man: "Comrade Han, do me a favor, this girl needs to make up a certificate." Then he said to Tong Yan: "The proof of our family was all done with the help of Comrade Han, you see him, he looks good, has a good attitude, does things quickly, and is still warm-hearted." ”

Comrade Han scratched his head embarrassedly, "Auntie, don't praise me, I'm just here, and I'm still learning from my old comrades." Looking at Tong Yan again, seeing Tong Yan looking at him with a smile, he couldn't help blushing a little, and hurriedly greeted: "Sit down first, I'll take a pen and paper, and you fill in two lists first." After a pause, he said, "If you don't know how to write, I can write it for you." "I'll write. Tong Yan took the list and filled it in according to the requirements.

Aunt Zhou couldn't help but admire: "Girl, you still know how to read! This character is so good!" After filling out the list, Comrade Han carefully inquired about Tong Yan's situation, and Tong Yan said the remarks just now, but that Comrade Han was not as easy to fool as Aunt Zhou, and asked a few more questions. hesitated: "Or, you wait a while, I still have to ask about this matter, your situation is different from theirs." When Tong Yan heard this, her heart couldn't help but tighten, and she wanted to say something more, the door of the office was pushed open, and a woman in uniform glanced inside, and said to Comrade Han: "Xiao Han, hurry up, gather at the gate, I'll call the others." After saying that, he ran away again.

When Xiao Han heard this, he grabbed his hat and was about to go out, but was grabbed by Aunt Zhou, "Comrade Han, our matter is ......" Comrade Han pulled Aunt Zhou's hand and said, "I'll do it for you when I come back!" Aunt Zhou grabbed him quickly: "Comrade Han, don't worry, she is not a bad person, besides, what bad things can a little girl do!" Comrade Han is not leaving, not leaving, he is in a hurry, and he is really unable to stomp his feet, so Aunt Zhou has to say: "Okay, okay, okay, I'll do it for you." He took the list he had just filled out, took out a big red seal, and stamped the paper with a red stamp.

When Tong Yan held the certificate, her heart was extremely happy and relaxed. I thought to myself: God still favored her once. Aunt Zhou was also very happy, took Tong Yan's arm, and imparted her experience vigorously: "If you want to get things done, you have to keep an eye on them, or they will study and study for a while, and investigate and investigate, and I don't know when they will be able to get things done." Tong Yan listened to it and admired it in her heart, this is also a simple experience!

returned to Aunt Zhou's temporary residence, Aunt Zhou watched the children and asked Sister Liu to help in the square. It turned out that these people who had fled had settled here for the time being, eating relief food, and it was not good for everyone to just eat and not work, cooking rice, cleaning and doing all these tasks by themselves. There is food in Tong Yan's space, but you can't take it out like this, on the contrary, the safest way is to eat relief food like everyone else. But she has food and has to eat, Tong Yan is not so cheeky, so she decided to work with Sister Liu.

A few days later, the good news was that the water had receded and everyone could go home. Tong Yan and Aunt Zhou's family also parted, and Aunt Zhou still wanted to persuade Tong Yan that if she had nowhere to go for the time being, she could go back to the village with them, but Tong Yan had other plans. Besides, in the countryside, you have to earn a living by farming, and if Tong Yan goes, it is estimated that she will starve to death. But before leaving, Tong Yan took out a bag of twist flowers from the space and stuffed it to Xiao Haizi. It's a thank you gift.

Tong Yan's plan is to stay in this town, it is impossible to return to S City, and the big cities are often tightly checked, and his identity is still flawed.

The most important thing now is to find a place to live, and renting has become a top priority. Tong Yan has also inquired carefully in the past few days, the houses here are basically self-built, and the family is not rich to live in, let alone rent out. But on the other side of the town there are factories, and where there are factories, there are workers, and the workers always have a place to live, maybe to find a place to live.

The farther west she went, the more lively it became, and along the way, Tong Yan saw supply and marketing cooperatives, hospitals, stations, and most importantly, Tong Yan found a school - Lin'an Town No. 1 Middle School.

The school is composed of several rows of bungalows, brick and wood structure houses, it looks a little old, but the walls are painted snow-white, and the book "study hard, go up every day", the school is peaceful, Tong Yan stood at the school gate and looked inside, an uncle at the door was sweeping the floor, and when he saw Tong Yan, he asked: "Girl, who are you looking for?" Tong Yan took two steps inside: "Uncle, ask something, does this school have a high school?" "Yes!" See, this is the junior high school, and the back row is the high school, girl, if you want to go to high school, you have to take the exam, and you can only study if you are admitted, understand?"

"Okay, thank you, uncle. Tong Yan wanted to ask about other things, but she heard someone behind her shouting to her: "Miss Tong." Tong Yan wondered who would know her here.

As soon as she turned around, she saw Comrade Han, who was helping her with the certificate, standing not far away, still wearing the same uniform on her body, looking at Tong Yan scratching her head embarrassedly, "Looking at a back that looks a little like you, I called you, didn't you go back with Aunt Zhou?" Tong Yan really didn't want to see him, but she couldn't hide from it, so she could only respond with a smile: "No, my aunt is back in the village, and I am not from the village, and I have nowhere to go now." "Oh, oh, then, what are you going to do? Go back to S City?!" Comrade Han asked again after hearing this, and a trace of blush appeared on his slightly dark face.

Tong Yan was a little hesitant, not knowing whether to tell him about his current situation. Comrade Han looked at her hesitant appearance and comforted: "If you have any difficulties, just talk about it, I can help you if you can." My name is Han Yong, and you can call me by my name. Listening to his sincerity, Tong Yan decided to give it a try, and said that she wanted to find a house in Lin'an Town now, but Han Yong felt sorry for Tong Yan, "S City is a big city, it must be better than here." ”

Tong Yan explained her thoughts: "I don't have any relatives now, it's the same everywhere, since there is news that my family may be here, I think if I can stay here, it will be easier to find someone in the future." Han Yong listened, felt a little reasonable, and nodded, "That's it, I'll take you to find someone, maybe she can help you." Tong Yan followed Han Yong for about ten minutes and came to the door of a small alley, Han Yong asked Tong Yan to wait for a while, and walked into the alley by himself.

After a while, I brought an eldest sister out, and when I saw Tong Yan, she introduced: "This is Sister Li, she is from the housing management office." He introduced to Sister Li again: "This is Tong Yan, I want to rent a house here, see if you can do me a favor." "Sister Li, with short haircuts, looks neat and neat, although her clothes are white, there are no patches. She looked Tong Yan up and down, and asked, "Xiao Han told me about you, since you want to rent a house, what kind of house do you want to rent?"

Tong Yan knew that she had found the right person as soon as she heard it, and said with a smile: "Thank you, Sister Li, I just want to rent a place to live, and I don't need a big place to live alone." Sister Li smiled faintly and nodded, "Renting a house costs money, you ......" Tong Yan was embarrassed: "That, do you have to pay the rent immediately?"

"That's not necessary, pay monthly, pay at the end of each month, can you do it?" When Tong Yan heard this, her heart was relieved, and she immediately agreed: "Okay, no problem." Han Yong said on the side: "Sister Li, you take Tong Yan to see the house, I'll leave first." He turned his head and said to Tong Yan, "If you have something, you can go to the office to find me." Tong Yan hurriedly responded and said some words of thanks to Han Yong.

As soon as Han Yong left, Sister Li took Tong Yan to see the house. The first time I saw the house, it was good, an independent house, it could be twenty square meters, Tong Yan was very satisfied after seeing it. Sister Li looked at Tong Yan and said: "This house is good, the price is not expensive, but there is a sentence I also said ahead, this house was lived in before, a lonely old man, the old man was gone a few months ago, so this house was collected." ”

When Tong Yan heard this, her face turned pale, and she quickly shook her head: "Forget it, I'll take a look at something else." Sister Li thought for a while: "There is another one, the area is smaller, the environment is not as good as this one, and the price is cheap." Tong Yan said she wanted to go and see it.

Sister Li took Tong Yan back to the original alley, walked for a while, and then pointed, "That's it." What Tong Yan saw were several brick houses crowded next to each other, arranged in a semicircle, with a small courtyard in the middle.

Sister Li took Tong Yan into the most marginal room, opened the door, there was a strange smell inside, Tong Yan stood at the door and looked inside, about seven or eight square meters, the house should have been uninhabited for a long time, with a layer of dust, there was a bed in the room, and a half-old table. Sister Li disliked the smell and didn't go inside, but only introduced it to Tong Yan: "This place is small, but the price is cheap, and the key is convenience." Tong Yan was a little confused, didn't understand what convenience meant?

Sister Li glanced at Tong Yan and explained: "This place is leaning on the road, so it's convenient to go out." Turn out, there is a well behind it, and it is convenient to get water, and besides, this yard is basically lived by workers from several nearby factories, so it is safe for you to live alone. Tong Yan thought about it, nodded and agreed: "Okay, then I'll rent it, how much does it cost?" "Five a month." There are only a few days left in this month, so I won't count your money, and I will start counting next month, and I will collect the rent at the end of next month. Once you've decided, go back with me to go through the formalities. ”

"Sister Li. Someone on the side greeted Sister Li, "Yo, I'm coming back from work." Sister Li looked at the visitor, responded with a smile, and beckoned: "Come, come, come, let me introduce, this is Sister-in-law Tian, this is Tong Yan," and then said to Sister-in-law Tian: "New tenant, rent this house now, you will be neighbors in the future, you should take care of each other." ”

Sister-in-law Tian responded with a smile, looked at Tong Yan and praised: "The girl is so good-looking, I live in that house, you can say hello if you have something, don't be polite." Tong Yan also responded: "Thank you, sister-in-law, I will live here in the future, so I will not trouble you." The two went back and forth and said kind words again.

Sister Li took Tong Yan back to go through the formalities, and pointed out Tong Yan along the way: "Sister-in-law Tian, she is a good person, the man works in a machinery factory, and there is a child at home, if you encounter something in the future, ask her more." He looked at Tong Yan again and asked her, "What are you going to do if you stay here alone?" It's not easy for us to find a job here. ”

Tong Yan replied: "I don't want to find a job, I want to go to high school here." When Sister Li heard this, she was very surprised, and looked at Tong Yan carefully: "Studying?"

"Yes, I've already graduated from junior high school, but I still want to go on, and when I go to high school, it will be easier to find a job again. Listening to Tong Yan's words, Sister Li was a little impressed by Tong Yan, and her speech was not as cold as just now: "There is only one high school in our town, which is the No. 1 Middle School in Lin'an Town, and my son is in junior high school in it, but I don't know if they will accept it in such a situation." ”

"I'd like to give it a try, and I'll ask again to see if I can get in. As she spoke, the two arrived at the housing management office and completed the formalities, Tong Yan was just about to leave, and Sister Li came out again, Tong Yan looked at Sister Li with a puzzled face, but Sister Li pulled her hand: "Go, I'll take you to school, I know the principal, you don't know each other here, you can't do anything." ”

I didn't expect there to be such an unexpected joy, Tong Yan naturally thanked Sister Li a thousand times, which helped a lot. Sister Li was a little disapproving: "Seeing that you girl is still a little self-motivated, I will help you, we here, it would be good for girls to go to junior high school, most of them go to elementary school, just know Braille, there are few girls in high school." Speaking of this, a trace of gloom flashed in Sister Li's eyes, and then she smiled: "When I was a child, I followed a few brothers and read some books, you see, the job I am looking for now is not bad." At that time, I was trained by my family, and I felt that female dolls didn't need to study, and it was their ability to do a good job at home. Like now, both men and girls can study. ”

The two walked to the gate of the school as they spoke, the uncle at the door knew Sister Li, and greeted him warmly, Sister Li said to find the principal, and the uncle let them in, and looked at Tong Yan twice, probably recognizing her, and smiled at Tong Yan.