In the early morning, Chen Wengang stopped by to see the house where he lived with his parents when he was a child.

It's just three doors away from the Lu family.

The houses in the old town retain the authentic quaintness of the small fishing village, with low-slung houses lined up one after another, crowded on top of each other like building blocks and toys. The exterior walls are painted white, and the roofs are painted blue, which have been stained with mottled stains after numerous typhoons and rainstorms.

He parked outside his house, only looking through the wall, which had been rented out and was occupied by other people's homes.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a mother came out with her child, with a guitar on her shoulder, about to go to an interest class.

The mother and son didn't know him, and they passed by him while talking about what the teacher was going to teach today.

Taking advantage of the moment the door opened, Chen Wengang glanced into the courtyard, and the scene in the courtyard flashed.

Traces of his childhood life are probably gone.

The uncle's family lives on Chuntao Street, only two blocks away from Jiangchao Street.

Chen Wengang walked to the sound of hawkers.

Uncle Chen Zeng's family is very enthusiastic about Chen Wengang, and the aunt who usually picks the door specially bought a chicken and came back to stew.

Chen Zeng pulled his nephew to pour wine: "I don't usually come here, so I must accompany my uncle to drink two glasses today." ”

Chen Wengang refused with a smile, and reasoned that the amount of alcohol was really not good. The main reason is that Chen Zeng is addicted to alcohol, and he can't stop when he drinks it.

"You don't want to think about what kind of living standard Wengang has in the Zheng family." The eldest aunt blamed her husband, "If you usually want to drink it, you must drink high-end foreign wine, what lafite, champagne...... Who will drink the burning knife with you? ”

The eldest aunt is a bit of a philistine, she doesn't like to listen to what she says, Chen Wengang goes in and out of her ears, and she doesn't take it to heart.

What's more, his purpose today can be called a bad one, and she may regret stewing the chicken later.

The situation is mainly like this -

When Chen Wengang's father died, Zheng Bingyi gave a generous pension, and the family house and some of his savings during his lifetime should be inherited by his only son Chen Wengang. But because Chen Wengang was young, he was witnessed by a lawyer, and handed over the property to his uncle before he became an adult.

The escrow agreement stipulates that it will be returned when he becomes an adult, but until Chen Wengang is eighteen years old, no one has mentioned this matter.

The uncle's family is not rich, and he has a good life in the Zheng family, so it is difficult to open his mouth.

In order to take care of his family affection, Chen Wengang even thought about pretending to be confused and just forget it.

His mother is said to have grown up in a children's home, leaving him with only some warm but very thin memories, but not a single parent. For as long as they can remember, the only relatives they have been able to move around are on their father's side. Who could be closer than a sibling?

Chen Wengang is not unaware that the uncle and his wife are both calculating people. But man has always been a social animal, not a completely independent island. Even if the family affection is a little shallow, it is still family affection, and it is somewhat warm.

I always feel that if I don't get along with each other for the rest of my life, I really don't have any relatives.

But then one day, the uncle suddenly took the initiative to transfer the pension to Chen Wengang, saying that he had saved almost enough for him, and asked him not to spend it indiscriminately.

Uncle is naturally not such a generous person, even if it is, it is difficult for the aunt to get by.

Chen Wengang tried it a few times before he learned that Zheng Bingyi had sent someone to Chen Zeng to "talk".

That amount of money is nothing to Zheng Bingyi, but his authority cannot be challenged, and the pension he gives cannot be used if it is not yours. This is the distance between the big man and the little man, just one sentence, the uncle didn't dare to send Chen Wengang a point.

It's just that Zheng Bingyi helped Chen Wengang get back that part of the pension.

The house and savings left by his father are not worth mentioning in the eyes of Master Zheng, and how to distribute them is Chen Wengang's own business, whether he wants to subsidize his relatives or take them back, he is at will.

So it is still in the hands of the uncle.

The tenants living in it were found by the uncle and aunt, and the rent was directly paid to the couple's account.

So during lunch, Chen Wengang took the initiative to mention the matter: "When the lease expires, I want to take back my father's house." ”

Previously, the topic had just moved on to moving the graves of grandparents. Chen Wengang promised to take on a part, but he wanted his father's things.

The eldest aunt was stunned: "How old the house is, it's good to be able to rent it out, what are you doing with it?" ”

"Just brush it again. When I come back, I will be a place to stay in the future. ”

"You're still going to live?!" She was taken aback, "You are doing well in the Zheng family, you are blessed or not, why do you have to think about coming back?" ”

"Why can't you come back?" The uncle glared at his wife, "This is not Wengang's home?" ”

The eldest aunt turned around and went to the kitchen, saying that she was going to see the soup, and shook her face inconspicuously.

Chen Zeng pouted at her back, took a sip of wine, and turned around: "You tell the uncle carefully, what are your plans in the future." ”

"My stepfather raised me until I was eighteen years old to go to college, and I was already benevolent and righteous, and I am still in the Zheng family for two more years." Chen Wengang said, "By next year at the latest, I will be able to graduate from college and be self-reliant, and I really can't say anything if I don't leave." ”

"I know you're a strong kid, and it's good to have your own ideas." Uncle said, "But Uncle should also advise you to think twice." When you really get out of society, you will know that your thoughts are very naïve, and it will not be so easy to turn back. You live in the Zheng family, do you know that this is the starting point that many people can't touch? If I don't talk about you, just talk about your uncle and me, I have worked hard for half a lifetime to become an ordinary manager. During the Chinese New Year this year, we drank together, and the boss heard that my nephew had a relationship with the ship king, and immediately it was a different face, and even the establishment of a branch begged me to be a legal person......"

Cousin Chen Xiangling saw that her father was drunk, her mouth was open, and she turned her head to look at her cousin's face.

He was so pretending to be a tiger, Chen Wengang was not unhappy, but just asked, "Do you agree?" ”

The eldest aunt came over with the soup: "Why don't you agree?" Wengang, look at it, the world is so realistic, and there are people behind you who are different from no one. You don't know, your uncle and their boss value him a lot now. ”

Chen Wengang pretended not to understand: "It's better not to agree to this kind of thing." ”

But the uncle didn't listen to it, and was immersed in the pride of the spring breeze that he was about to be promoted and make a fortune.

To be precise, he has been promoted, his salary has been raised, and his boss has been unprecedentedly kind to him, calling him a brother, playing golf, washing his feet, and singing, and he has promised that as long as there is a vacancy in the company's senior management, he will be promoted again soon.

When other colleagues in the company saw him, they all shouted "Mr. Chen" and "Mr. Chen" jokingly.

Chen Zeng was so drunk that his face was red, and the day when this "total" became veritable seemed to be tomorrow, and he could touch it as soon as he stretched out his hand.

Back to the question of the ownership of the house, the eldest aunt still wanted to argue, but was stopped by the uncle: "That's Wengang's father's house, give it to him, it should be." "In the end, the house in the old town is not worth a few dollars, and he will not occupy his nephew.

She glared at her husband, so she was embarrassed: "That's not a coincidence. The tenant just renewed his contract last month. They dragged their families with them, and they were used to living there, and they didn't want to move around, so this time they signed for five years in one go. You see, this kid didn't say it sooner......"

Chen Xiangling suddenly raised her head: "Mom, you remember wrong. The family proposed to renew the lease for five years, but you said that you wanted to increase the price, but you haven't negotiated yet, hasn't the new contract been signed yet? That's just about to expire. ”

The eldest aunt slapped the table and yelled at her daughter: "You know a fart! Adults talk, do you have the right to interject? ”

Uncle played a round game: "What are you arguing about eating?" Since the contract has not been signed, let the family vacate it. ”

Chen Xiangling lowered her head and continued to cook silently.

Her two younger brothers were giggling and laughing beside her, mingling and eating as they fought.

Chen Wengang's uncle and aunt have a daughter and two sons. Chen Xiangling is the eldest and is seventeen this year.

The following two boys are twins, Chen Guangzong and Chen Yaozu, who have a big age difference with her, and are conceived by their eldest aunt Lao Beng Huaizhu.

The eldest aunt was not happy today, so she sandwiched vegetables for the children and sandwiched two chicken legs into the bowls of Guangzong and Yaozu respectively.

According to the previous practice, one of them was originally Chen Wengang's. But he is not short of this stuttering, and usually transfers it to Chen Xiangling.

The uncle glared at his wife again, did it himself, and scooped two pieces of chicken breast for Chen Wengang: "Come on, Wengang, eat more." ”

After this meal, the eldest aunt kindly let them rest, and took Chen Xiangling to pack up the dishes and chopsticks and send them out.

Chen Wengang stood in front of the windowsill for a while, and the uncle came to greet him and asked him to sit down and watch TV.

When pouring him tea, the uncle said: "Actually, there is another thing, your sister is not young now......"

Chen Wengang smiled with a teacup: "Isn't it summer to celebrate your adult birthday?" Do you want to celebrate her? ”

The uncle's face froze: "Huh? …… Oh, celebrate, celebrate. Life flies so fast, and she's going to graduate next year. This was supposed to be told to you by your aunt, and I want to ask if you have any friends of the right age who you can introduce to her. ”

"Blind date now? There's no need. The children in the family are only in college at this age. Chen Wengang looked at him.

Uncle denied it: "How can it? Of course, not to go on a blind date. However, she didn't go to college either, just because it was time to think about finding a job, so she thought about multiple friends and multiple paths. ”

After graduating from Chen Xiangling Middle School, Chen Zeng and his wife took charge and enrolled her in a vocational high school, majoring in secretarial and directional training, and she has been on school for two years, and she can be employed in another year, and she will be assigned to the front desk or secretary of which cooperative company.

But it's not so strict, the family has a little relationship, and if you want to find a job, you can find it yourself.

That kind of pheasant school Chen Wengang actually can't look down on, it's full of little gangsters and little sisters who have no intention of learning - they have no future, and the family doesn't want to give up completely, so they send them to barely mix up a diploma, and their academic qualifications are just a little better than dropping out of middle school.

When I walked into the courtyard, my aunt was nowhere to be seen.

Chen Xiangling squatted alone in front of the sink, rolling up her sleeves to wash a lot of cups, dishes and dishes.

"Bell bell." Chen Wengang squatted down beside her, "Where's Aunt?" ”

"Oops, Brother Wen Gang!" She was startled, "Why are you walking silently?" She went out for a walk. ”

The voice of the neighbor next door came from the base of the four nine cities, and someone shouted: "Hu! Then there was a bang.

Chen Wengang stretched out his hand to help her, but she hurriedly refused: "No, don't touch your hands, I'll finish it right away." ”

Still washed the dishes with four hands, Chen Wengang whispered: "Let's go, let's go out for a while." ”

Chen Xiangling sent the bowl to the kitchen, came out and just wanted to step up, looked down at the dusty T-shirt on his body, hesitated for a moment, said "You wait for me", rushed back to the room to change into a floral dress, combed his hair, and then followed him out.

Chen Wengang took her out of the door, didn't say where she was going, just wandered around.

Chen Xiangling didn't know that every dilapidated street and ancient alley was the scenery he had been absent from for more than ten years.

There is the maternity and child health hospital where his mother lived when he was born, the elementary school where he only studied for three years, and the grocery store and stationery store that he snuggled up to every time he passed by as a child...... When he was released from prison in his previous life, Chen Wengang would rather go to the more crowded dock area to settle down rather than return here. There are too many people here who know him, and they still remember him, but he doesn't dare to come.

Later, Huo Niansheng also asked him if he wanted to go home, but he still didn't have the courage to face it.

If it weren't for inheriting Huo Niansheng's inheritance, Chen Wengang wouldn't even know that he had bought the Chen family's old mansion.

The last chance to see it was when Huo Niansheng asked: "Jiangchao Street is going to be demolished, do you want to go back and take a look?" ”

At that time, they were lying on the bed, resting □□, Chen Wengang closed his eyes in his arms, imagining the desolate and scattered situation on the street, and finally said "not going". Maybe he didn't understand Huo Niansheng's hard work, so he should have come and take a look.

Later, I didn't have a chance to see it.

Jiangchao Street and Chuntao Street only retained the street name, and the stone road was built into an asphalt road. The old buildings were razed to the ground and built into the same high-rise residences. The lanes full of craftsmen and small workshops are also missing, and the same shopping malls and pedestrian streets have been built.

Chen Wengang took two steps and couldn't help but look back, Chen Xiangling turned back with him, but he didn't understand what there was to see.

Chen Wengang has been very worry-free since he was a child, and when he asked her if she wanted anything, she was always "no", unlike Chen Guangzong and Chen Yaozu, who would keep pestering him to ask for this and that. It's still the same now, asking anything is "don't".

When she was passing by a bookstore, Chen Wengang bought her two popular novels she wanted to read.

After coming out, there was a female stall owner on the side of the road who sold the trinkets she designed, saying that it was 925 silver, and he asked Chen Xiangling to pick it, she looked at it for a long time and said that she didn't like it. Chen Wengang reached out and pulled a pair of small bells. The stall owner sweetly flattered: "Look, it's more for your girlfriend." ”

Chen Wengang smiled: "This is my sister." ”

The other party was busy apologizing and collecting money.

Chen Xiangling's thick hair was combed into two fluffy braids, and she didn't say she didn't like it after buying it, so she tied the bell to the braid.

Chen Wengang looked at her hairy head and felt sorry for her in his heart.

The uncle and the aunt's abacus sounded, and they felt that any of his classmates and friends were the second generation of rich second-generation enterprises, and they wanted their daughter to climb high branches. In his previous life, Chen Wengang did not agree. But after Chen Xiangling worked, she encountered a good condition. The boss's son chased her fiercely, and at the urging of his parents, Chen Xiangling got a certificate when she reached the age of marriage and got a certificate with the turtle who looked like a dog.

The wedding was very big, and the three gold gifts were all gold bars. Bentley floats lined up half the street.

Every time they meet during the holidays, she says that she is doing well, and that brother-in-law is gentle and considerate to her in front of people.

It wasn't until several years later in the hospital that I learned that the man was a control freak and a violent person in private, constantly suspecting her of cheating, and committing domestic violence, restricting his wife's personal freedom, and beating people to the point that the doctors and nurses called the police.

Looking back, it is impossible not to have a clue: she covered the wound on her face with foundation, saying that the fracture was caused by her own fall......

This is an extremely regrettable thing that Chen Wengang can't make excuses for himself, and it is also a thorn in his heart. He is a cousin and her mother's family, and he is such a serious dereliction of duty. The so-called Gu Nian family affection, I don't know where he has taken care of it.

Passing by a potholed stone road, Chen Xiangling suddenly said: "Brother, what my dad said at noon was to move the graves of grandparents, he actually wanted you to make a big head." Why don't you give it away? Don't believe him crying poor, he and my mother have saved a lot of money. ”

"yes, I know."

"Also, do you want your title deed? I know where my parents are, I'll help you steal them out. ”

"No, I have a solution." Chen Wengang said, "I'll talk about that later, I'll give you a coming-of-age gift first." ”

"What? You don't have to break the bank, it's so troublesome. ”

"After an afternoon of shopping, I'm hungry again." Chen Wengang said, "Find a place to eat and talk at the same time." ”

There are many fly restaurants on the road, but Chen Wengang has no intention of stopping. Chen Xiangling chased after him, and they walked all the way to the next intersection, and Chen Wengang reached out to hit the car.

This taxi is an hour away.