The Beginning of the World: Going to the Countryside as an Educated Youth

Huang Laosan walked to the gate of the courtyard, looked back at Zhao Dongchuan, and asked with his eyes.

Seeing this, Zhao Dongchuan said nothing, but just nodded.

So Huang Laosan raised his hand and knocked on the door.

With a "creaky" sound, the door was opened a crack.

A hunchbacked old man with gray hair, a weathered face and a goatee poked half of his head out from the crack in the door.

"Huang Laosan, is that you?"

He looked at Huang Laosan, then at Zhao Dongchuan.

No words.

"Uncle, let's talk inside!" Huang Laosan said in a low voice.

The old man looked at the two of them again, was silent for a while, then opened the door and motioned for them to come in.

Zhao Dongchuan and Huang Laosan walked into the yard one after another. The old man didn't say anything, but walked to the eaves where there was a small recliner, and then he lay down on it.

"You want to buy this yard from me?" The old man looked at Zhao Dongchuan with half-squinted eyes and picked up the pipe at his feet. He twisted the tobacco leaves, silently lit the cigarette with a match, and started smoking.

"Uncle, this is Mr. Han!" Huang Laosan glanced at Zhao Dongchuan, and after getting an affirmative look from him, he continued.

"Mr. Han heard that you wanted to sell this yard, and he really wanted to buy it! He is willing to pay the amount you asked for!"

Hearing this, the old man paused for a moment, bit the cigarette holder and took a deep puff, then looked at Zhao Dongchuan and said, "Where did you get so much money, young man?"

"You don't need to ask that, my money is clean!" Zhao Dongchuan saw that the old man had an "I'm so arrogant, come and hit me" look, and he murmured in his heart, but he said it with a smile on his face.

The old man exhaled a long puff of smoke and looked at Huang Laosan again.

"Who is he to you?"

"Well, this Mr. Han is my savior!" Huang Laosan bowed to Zhao Dongchuan and then said to Uncle Huang.

"Oh...? Is that so? No wonder you are so respectful to him!"

"Since you are this kid's savior, you are also family. I won't hide it from you. I want to sell this house, but it's not easy to sell!" Huang Laosan said to Zhao Dongchuan.

Seeing Zhao Dongchuan's puzzled expression, Grandpa Huang took a deep puff of his pipe, blew out a smoke ring and continued, "Mr. Xiao Han, in fact, I am not the only owner of this house. There is another owner!"

Grandpa Huang showed a nostalgic expression, lying on the recliner, looking up at the sky, and said quietly: "There was a woman who saved me back then, allowing me to survive until now, and she also left this house to me, and then she disappeared..."

"So she also owns half of this house. I can sell this house to you, but you have to do something for me!" Uncle Huang paused and said in a very serious tone.

At this moment, he no longer seemed to be an old man in his twilight years, but a powerful and influential hero.

Zhao Dongchuan was completely confused, what was going on!

I'm just buying a house, why do you have to take it so seriously? You're making a movie!!!

Zhao Dongchuan complained in his heart, but he remained calm on his face and asked, "I wonder what Mr. Huang wants me to do? I'll be frank with you. I can't do anything beyond my ability, and I can't do anything that is against the will of heaven and earth!"

"Don't worry, you can do it. No one can do it better than you. I can see that you are very strong! And my request is not difficult. I just want you to go to Shanghai for me and help me find out about her. Of course, it would be better if you have some news, but it doesn't matter if you don't! As long as you promise to do your best, it will be fine!"

After saying that, Mr. Huang took out a pair of embroidered shoes wrapped in velvet from his inner pocket.

"This is one of her shoes. When we parted, I took this one and left the other with her. By the way, her name is "Sister Hua". Her real name is unknown. She is a very charming woman!"

As he spoke, Grandpa Huang handed the velvet-wrapped shoes to Zhao Dongchuan.

Zhao Dongchuan hesitated for a moment and did not reach out to take it.

As if seeing his concerns, Mr. Huang showed an ugly smile and said, "Young man, are you scared now? I just asked you to help me find someone, not to kill anyone, what are you afraid of!"

"Here! If you have a chance to go to Shanghai, help me find out. No matter what the final result is, I will accept it!"

Zhao Dongchuan thought about it and felt that there didn't seem to be any pitfalls. Others had already said it. No matter what the result was, he would go and take a look and ask when he had the chance.

"If you sell this house to me, where will you live?" Zhao Dongchuan still didn't answer.

"Now that I have money, are you still worried that I have no place to live? Besides, I have a small house, and I don't come here often!" Grandpa Huang smiled, and that smile was full of carefreeness.

"Okay, stop being so nagging. Are you going to buy the house or not?"

Zhao Dongchuan finally took the embroidered shoes and said, "Buy it, why not? I will keep your matter in mind, but you'd better be mentally prepared. It's been so many years..."

"I know what you said. You can do whatever you want!" Then he continued to lie on the recliner, closed his eyes, and basked in the setting sun...

Seeing that Mr. Huang didn't want to say more, Zhao Dongchuan stopped talking about it and turned to Mr. Huang and said, "Since the matter has been settled, let's get it done as soon as possible in the next two days. And the house will be temporarily registered in your name!"

"Cleaning up this house later, just do some simple things, and I'll do it properly when I come back!"

Huang Laosan nodded quickly in agreement.

Mr. Huang seemed to be asleep at this moment, and ignored the two of them. He just lay quietly in the sunset. Fortunately, Zhao Dongchuan could sense his breath, otherwise he would have thought that this old man had passed away...

Afterwards, Zhao Dongchuan did not stay any longer. He had to go to Jia Bing's house again to ask him for help in asking for leave.

"I'm leaving first, please take care of yourself! During the time I'm away, you should keep a low profile as much as possible. You can look for some people to help you, but the prerequisite is that they can be trusted. Otherwise, it's better to have nothing than to have someone of poor quality!" Zhao Dongchuan put the embroidered shoes wrapped in velvet into his shoulder bag and said to Huang Laosan.

"Mr. Han, don't worry, I will get it done, but it will cost money to find people..."

"It doesn't matter. You have to spend what you need to spend. As long as you can get the job done, you can do whatever you want!"

The two walked outside while talking.

"Okay, don't see me off. Take good care of your uncle. I'm leaving first!" With that, Zhao Dongchuan turned and left.

........................

Zhao Dongchuan took off his glasses at an empty corner, took out his bicycle from the space, and drove towards Jia Bing's house.

Soon he arrived at Jia Bing's house.

"Xiao Zhao, why are you here!" Jia Bing was sweeping the floor with a broom at this time. When he saw Zhao Dongchuan coming, he asked in surprise.