At about 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, in the main building of the Su Family compound in Zhannan District, the third sister pulled the second uncle's arm and said coquettishly, "Everyone is here, just meet them! We should also have some hospitality, okay?"
"What time is it?" Uncle Er said speechlessly in his pajamas, "How can you visit someone in the middle of the night?"
"He's going to meet Mayor Li tomorrow, and he came right after getting off the boat." The third sister explained softly, "He's quite polite."
"Bullshit!" said the second uncle with a fierce face.
"The kid has been on the boat for a week and is here right after landing. You should at least show up." Second Aunt also advised, "Besides, he still has to take care of the family business."
"Don't call him kid. Calling him brother is better." After being harassed for a long time, the second uncle stood up with a little helplessness: "I'll get dressed and go out."
"Thank you, Dad." The third sister grinned.
…
In the Su family's living room.
Gui Mengjun stood with his hands behind his back, looking at some photos on the south wall, and asked Su Tianyu softly, "Did your second uncle serve in the army?"
"Yes, he was from the old Northeastern Corps in District 9. He first followed Shen Wanzhou and then came back to follow Zhou Xingli." Su Tianyu replied, "It happened when I was young."
"Then you are all considered relatives of the rebels? Haha." Gui Mengjun replied jokingly.
Su Tianyu was speechless: "When he retired, he was only a deputy battalion commander. How could he be considered a rebel? People at that time had no choice. Those who stuttered had to carry guns."
Actually, what Gou Liuzi said was not wrong at all. In special times, many things are not decided by ordinary people. When my second uncle joined the army, it was a disaster. It was hard to survive, and shit was hard to eat. When you were hungry, there was no point in talking about ideals and positions.
Gui Mengjun looked at the photo of his second uncle in the military camp when he was young on the wall, and looked at him and his group of comrades, as if looking for something.
"What are you looking at?" Su Tianyu asked.
"It's nothing. Your second uncle looked very energetic when he was young." Gui Mengjun grinned.
"Of course I have to. My family is full of handsome men." Su Tianyu replied shamelessly.
While the two were chatting, the third sister walked out with her second uncle and aunt.
"Mr. Gui, my parents!" the third sister greeted.
Gui Mengjun turned his head suddenly and stepped forward to greet him: "Hello, uncle!"
The word "uncle" sounded so natural, there was no sense of disobedience at all. The second uncle glanced at Gui Mengjun, stretched out his hand and said, "Hello, Mr. Gui!"
"Uncle, please don't call me Mr. Gui. Call me Mengjun or Xiaogui." Gui Mengjun smiled and replied, "Be casual."
"Please sit down." Uncle greeted him.
"Aunt!" Gui Mengjun stretched out his hand towards his second aunt again.
"Please sit down, I'll get you some tea." Second Aunt looked at Gui Mengjun, then left the living room with her daughter.
After everyone sat down, the second uncle glanced at Gui Mengjun and asked for something to talk about: "Are you here on a business trip?"
"Yes," Gui Mengjun started talking to him, "Let's talk about the business here and meet the people from the partner."
Although the second uncle didn't quite agree with him and the third sister being together, he still had to be polite. After all, the association depended on other people's supply of goods for its survival, and being too arrogant would definitely annoy people.
…
In the kitchen.
Second Auntie was washing the teacup and carefully recalled Gui Mengjun's face: "He looks OK, not old."
"He's not even forty yet, sister." The third sister replied in a panic, "You don't really think he's the same age as you, do you?"
"Who are you calling sister? You are so disrespectful." The second aunt hit the third sister and said, "It's okay. She looks manly and more stable than the young ones."
"Yeah, he's quite handsome." The third sister agreed with a smile.
Second Auntie knew her daughter too well. She paused and said softly, "Miao Miao, there's an old saying about marrying someone of equal social status. As a woman, if one day you don't have to worry about food and clothing, you'll have to worry about other things."
"You mean, Gui Mengjun's status as a second-generation rich man is not good, and he will have affairs with other women in the future?" asked the third sister.
"The threshold of the husband's family is too high, so people are not strong enough." Second Aunt, based on her own experience of more than 50 years, said softly to her daughter: "It's hard to be a daughter-in-law."
"He and I just started dating, aren't you guys thinking too much?"
“… Wash the cups.” Second Aunt said nothing more.
…
In the living room.
Gui Mengjun chatted with his second uncle for a while, and suddenly asked, "Uncle, you served in the 125th Army of the Shen Clan in District 9, right?"
The second uncle was stunned when he heard this: "How do you know?"
"Haha, Miaomiao told me." Gui Mengjun paused and asked with a smile: "Tong Zhigang, Jiang Wei, do you know them?"
The second uncle looked at Gui Mengjun in astonishment: "I... I know him. Tong Zhigang was my old squad leader, and Jiang Wei was the ammunition handler in our class."
"That's right."
Gui Mengjun reached out and took out two envelopes from his bosom, and narrated softly: "Uncle, we have always cooperated with the Chinese District. Many of my company's senior executives are stationed inland, especially in the Ninth District, where we have more business. Before coming here, it happened to be the holiday season, so I sent someone to Songjiang to find your ancestral house and clean up the cemetery."
The second uncle looked at Gui Mengjun, and the surprise in his eyes had turned into urgency: "Have you found the ancestral house?"
"No, it's been too long, and many houses there are gone." Gui Mengjun shook his head: "What's more, Miaomiao has very few memories of her hometown. Haha, the information she provided is all wrong."
"Oh, yes, it's been so long. We used to live outside the residential area. All the houses there must have been demolished. It's hard to say whether the cemetery still exists." The second uncle sighed.
"But I asked someone to find Tong Zhigang and Jiang Wei." Gui Mengjun handed over the envelope. "I originally wanted them to record a video or leave their contact information so that you could call them when I got here, but they didn't want to. They just wanted to write to you. Please take a look."
"They wrote it?"
"Yes." Gui Mengjun nodded.
The second uncle immediately took the envelope, opened the one from Jiang Wei with trembling hands, tilted his head to the light above his head, and read it with a frown.
"Brother Su, it's nice to see you in person.
Recalling the past, we parted during the evacuation of District 9. It has been more than 20 years. The flames of war and the strong comradeship are still unforgettable. Thinking of the things in those days, the youthful years, I can't help sighing. Now you and I are old, and there are few old friends left. I miss you even more. Last week, someone from the old triangle brought news that you have settled down in Longcheng...!"
Ten minutes later, my second uncle was looking at the letter with a frown on his face, his eyes full of tears.
This is not a letter, it is life, it is time!
Su Tianyu's generation may have a vague concept of hometown, but it's different for Second Uncle and his family. They spent most of their lives there, and there are too many memories and people worth missing there.
During the evacuation of District 9, many troops and comrades were dispersed, but the memories are so profound.
Su Tianyu glanced at Gui Mengjun and thought to himself that this guy was really powerful. He had been a member of the Su family for so many years, but he had never seen anyone cry because of his second uncle...