Chen Xingling carried Ma Dali around the old residential area, turned left and right, and soon arrived at the gate of the Liao ancestral hall.

"Over there!" Ma Dali pointed out: "Turn into the alley, go straight for about thirty meters, and you'll almost get there." ”

Chen Xingling rode smoothly, turned into the alley and went straight forward.

Ma Dali shouted: "It's here!" The three-room old mansion in front of you is! ”

Chen Xingling braked, and his long legs stepped on the ground.

Ma Dali hurriedly jumped down.

I saw that the house was a traditional old-fashioned building in Chongqing, with a small courtyard at the front door, a square patio inside, a spacious hall and two partial rooms. The house looks a little old, at least thirty or forty years old.

Ma Dali stepped forward and knocked on the door and shouted, "Uncle Liao! Uncle Liao! ”

A moment later, an old man in his sixties came out of the side room, wearing a fancy shirt and shaking slowly with a puff fan in his hand.

Chen Xingling looked at it and guessed that this was Uncle Liao.

There is no other reason, just because the shirt on his body is a South Asian-style thin shirt that many old overseas Chinese like, which is fancy and cool without losing the sense of trendiness.

Uncle Liao saw Ma Dali and recognized him at once.

"Yo! The ponies are coming! You said that you would come in the afternoon of the past two days, and I was just wondering if you would come. ”

Ma Dali smiled honestly and hurriedly made an introduction.

"This is Chen Xingling. We are all going to go to school at Yucheng University next, and we are old classmates and good friends. Uncle, the garden you like is hers. ”

Uncle Liao looked at Chen Xingling and smiled instead.

"I like your little garden when I look at it. I am old, I dare not go out in the morning and afternoon, and I will go out for a walk in the morning and evening when it is cool. ”

Chen Xingling has never liked to beat around the bush, and asked Uncle Liao bluntly if he wanted to build a similar garden.

"Actually, my land is still a little small, and there is not enough space to build. If it can be half the size, or if it is half the size, it will look better to build. ”

Uncle Liao glanced at her and said with a smile: "The girls who study are different, they have good courage and speak in a big tone." ”

Ma Dali smiled honestly and embarrassedly, and whispered: "She...... She was more cheerful and generous than many men. ”

Chen Xingling laughed and said, "I'm telling the truth. The land was bought and given to me by my fourth brother, and it was only six rooms wide. Fortunately, Shuiyue Road is a big road, and each family can have a yard a few meters wide, otherwise we would not have built the model we have today. ”

"Hmm." Uncle Liao gestured and said proudly: "I have a total of two acres of land over there." ”

Chen Xingling thought for a while and said, "That's not much wide." ”

"There are yards too." Uncle Liao explained: "The yard is about six meters wide. The land is boxy and smooth, and it is a rare homestead on the east side of the city. ”

Chen Xingling asked again: "Uncle, how wide do you want to build?" ”

"You've got two over there, huh?" Uncle Liao gestured three fingers: "I have to have three." My sons and daughters are all abroad and have not returned, and I don't need to live alone. But I'm used to living in a foreign country and I like big places. I'm not too young, maybe one day I'll have to go to the west to worship the Buddha. When my children came to take care of me, I was able to live there, and my grandchildren knew that they had a big garden and ancestral house in their hometown, and they remembered that it was built when the old man was alive, so it seemed chilling. ”

All three laughed.

Uncle Liao patted his wrinkled old face and teased: "I, I am born to love face." I used to be so strong when I was young, but now I'm a lot older, and I don't want to fall behind others. You said that you can live in such a beautiful garden with a young girl, why am I willing to live in such an old house, right? ”

The three laughed again.

Ma Dali looked around curiously and asked, "Uncle, this is also your ancestral home, right?" As far as I know, the people in this neighborhood are all surnamed Liao. ”

"Not bad." Uncle Liao explained: "This is the territory of the descendants of the Liao family. This house of mine was built decades ago by my daughter-in-law when I was young, and it has been about forty years. ”

Ma Da Lihu asked: "This is the north of the city, why did you-why did you go to the east of the city to buy land?" It would take at least ten or twenty minutes to walk, right? ”

"It takes twenty minutes to walk slowly." Uncle Liao smiled bitterly and sighed: "There are only two reasons why I want to move over there...... The main thing is to accompany me as a big brother. ”

Chen Xingling asked gently: "Old friend?" ”

Uncle Liao nodded: "It's a long story!" This old brother is closer than my relatives, and I have known him for more than 40 years. When I was young, there were wars and chaos everywhere in the country, and there were often dead people lying in the corners of the streets and alleys, and every day I was hungry on the river beach and beach to catch something to eat, and when I saw an unknown stranger coming, I immediately plunged into the river or the sea and hid. ”

"At that time, many people fled to Nanyang, and I wanted to go with them, but unfortunately my family was so poor that I couldn't afford to buy a ferry ticket. Later, someone said that someone on the east side of the city knew how to evade the fare and get on the boat, so I hurriedly looked for it. It turned out that there were two young brothers in the east of the city who planned to swim in the middle of the night and climb onto the boat, secretly hiding in the big chimney of the foreign ship, and then climbing out when the boat was about to leave. It's a bit dangerous, but it's a good idea. I begged them to take me with them in the evening, and if we could go to the Nanyang Rubber Plantation together, I would give them the first money I earned. ”

"At night, when the foreign ship docks, the sea tide rises, and it is a danger to go to sea! Fortunately, I had a good water nature, a few gourd and gourd scoops tied to my body, and I helped take the two brothers halfway, and finally swam to the side of the boat smoothly. After climbing into the boat, taking advantage of the fact that the sailors were not paying attention, he hid in the big chimney. ”

The three of them almost froze to death in the middle of the night, warming each other and finally waiting for the boat to leave the next afternoon. As soon as the charcoal stove boiled, the chimney smoked, and we climbed out and fell down and were burned to ashes. The ship was full of passengers, and we hid and hid until we reached the South Seas a few days later. Hungry with only skin and bones, and no good meat on his body, he wandered in several places, and finally found a place to live and work. ”

"The three of them worked hard to make money, and at first they could only eat a full meal, until a few years later, when I finally saved a small amount of money, I took a boat back to Chongqing. The two brothers didn't go back, because their relatives on their side were killed by devils, and they felt that they had no relatives, their homes were gone, and it was not interesting to come back. At that time, my father and mother were still there, and I missed them in my heart, so I packed a few clothes and came back. ”

Then, the old man pointed to the old mansion and introduced: "After I came back, I built this old mansion, married a daughter-in-law, and settled down." At that time, the country was not stable, and I always couldn't make money, so I couldn't bear to let my daughter-in-law and children starve, so I went south to make money. At that time, the two old brothers contracted their own rubber plantations, and they were doing a good job, so they took me to do it together. Soon after, I built a house over there. I heard that there was still a commotion in the country, so I came back and took my wife and children. ”

"After ...... And then? Ma Dali listened attentively, smiled honestly, and asked, "Uncle, have you always been in the rubber business?" I heard that the quality of Nanyang's rubber is very good! ”

"It's not." Uncle Liao shook his head: "When I was working, I was on a rubber plantation, and I later made money by buying and selling fishing boats." The two elder brothers of the rubber plantation married local women one after another, and the elder brother gave birth to six or seven children, but the younger brother did not have any of them. Later, my wife was gone, and my children became their own families. I always felt lonely, so I packed my bags and went back to my hometown. I've been guarding this old house for almost five years. ”

There are overseas Chinese in many places in Chongqing, and nearly half of the young people in Chen Xingling's hometown Huiqiao fishing village went during the peak period. So, she and Uncle Liao soon had a common topic and chatted very harmoniously.

Uncle Liao explained: "Two years ago, an old brother from the east of the city also came back. His wife is gone, and he has no children or daughters, nothing but money. He heard that the Yucheng government took great care of the old overseas Chinese and gave them many preferential measures, so he decided to return to his hometown and return to his roots. My brother bought a piece of land in the east of the city and built a big house, but unfortunately the place is spacious but there is no one to keep him company, so he comes here from time to time to look for me. There was a vacant lot next door to his house, and I wanted to go there and be with him. ”