The sound of the car's horn made Wan Qing's ears ache. She rubbed her temples and breathed out a foul breath, and then recovered from the motion sickness just now.

"It can't be...that store, right?" Ye Chen, who was looking around after getting off the car, suddenly found the target, and stretched out his hand to point there.

"Huh?" Wan Qing followed and saw a two-story single-family wooden house—at least it looked like it was made of wood from the outside.

The slightly curved colored eaves are extraordinarily beautiful and have an antique charm.

On the plaque with gold letters on a black background, the four characters 'Golden Flower Pawnshop' are written in flying and flying shapes.

"Is this the shop that Dad mentioned this morning?"

"If I hear you right, this is it." Wan Qing nodded, walked across the congested road, and walked to the door of this magnificent pawn shop that could be seen at a glance.

Through the open wooden door, you can see the exquisite wooden cabinet inside, and you will be greeted with an 'expensive' smell, which makes people daunting.

"It's so luxurious." Ye Chen opened his mouth wide, "How much did Dad pay to keep this place for 20 years?"

"Maybe the store wasn't that big at the time..." Wan Qing couldn't help but calculate the storage fee based on the price of the year, but she was more worried about another thing. After 20 years, those things have no use at all. Someone took it, so it must have been lost.

After all, even if it is a bank safe, the stored items will be lost after a long time.

Of course, it could just be 'lost'.

"Go in?"

"Then why not? Just watch at the door."

"It feels like a place where rich people come..."

"Look at your prospects." She gave him a sideways look with contempt, but she also took a deep breath before slowly walking into the shop.

There are many cabinets in the store, and all kinds of exquisite items are placed on the heavy counters.

Even if it is not an antique, it is also a handicraft with exquisite workmanship and high value.

Sitting on the ebony chair was a 25-year-old girl. She was wearing a school uniform with the flavor of the Republic of China, and she was cleaning a delicate box with her head down.

"Hello."

"Huh? Hello, what do you need to pawn? Or do you want to buy something?" She smiled peacefully, and it didn't alienate ordinary people like the decoration in the store.

"I'm here to get something... someone else kept here."

"Okay, what is the serial number or the name of the custodian?"

"Ye Youliang."

"Ye Youliang..." The woman frowned slightly, then looked at her in surprise, and the box in her hand fell to the ground in surprise, making a crisp sound of colliding with the ground, "It was...20 years ago... ...Ye Youliang?"

"Yes."

"You are……?"

"I'm his daughter." Wan Qing replied simply, without introducing Ye Chen who was standing aside.

Seeing the other party's expression in a trance, she couldn't help asking: "Is something... lost?"

"It has been well preserved and will never be lost." She looked at Wan Qing excitedly, "I have been waiting, waiting... for someone to get it back."

"Thank you." Wan Qing looked at her suspiciously, as if thinking of something.

This is not a 'professional spirit', but an emotion that is deeply engraved in my heart, called 'gratitude'.

"I'll go get it for you right away!" She didn't care to pick up the box on the ground, and ran upstairs in a hurry, making a 'dong dong' noise in the quiet pawn shop.

A little dust fell from the ceiling, and then, the woman rushed down holding a walnut-colored wooden box.

The style is a bit like the cosmetic case used by rich and noble ladies in the 60s and [-]s.

It's just that there are not many decorations on it, which makes it more concise.

Her speed suddenly slowed down, and she carefully handed the wooden box in front of Wan Qing, and whispered excitedly and reluctantly: "For so many years, I have never opened it to see what is inside, and I have always kept it safe. Now, I thought no one would come to take it away..."

"Thank you."

She raised her head with red eyes, tears flickering in her eyes: "My father... where was he buried?"

"what?"

……

85. Since the past

The story begins on December 1977, 12.

That day, the sun was shining brightly, brightly and warmly, and you could feel the gentle warmth when it shone on your body.

The plaque of Jinhua Pawn Shop looks mottled, but this one-story low tile-roofed house shines brightly in the sun.

In fact, the pawn shop has not been open for a long time.

In that era, which was so depressing that it was even hard to breathe, the pawn shop had not been operating normally for a long, long time.

The gate is closed most of the time, but the plaque has never been taken down, as if it is some kind of obsession and stubbornness.

Ye Youliang straightened his clean cropped hair, adjusted his blue overalls uncomfortably, and pulled up his brown belt pants—and tightened the belt inwards by the way.

"You came to the wrong place, I'm sorry... We don't pawn things here for a long time." A white-haired old man showed embarrassment, his body was bent like a shrimp, not like a disease, but like a disease. It's like someone broke a bone.

The store was deserted, but there was not much dust, only a little girl was lying on a small bench beside her, shaking and playing.

A little boy blowing snot bubbles led several children who were also only three or four years old and shouted at the door.

The old man tapped his back: "Ninny, all your little friends are looking for you to play."

"Well! Grandpa, I went out to play!"

"Okay, go ahead and be careful."

The little girl nodded quickly, and ran out in a bouncing manner. The pair of white cloth shoes she was wearing were extraordinarily beautiful.

"Old man, I was introduced by the tortoise, he asked me to come to you..."

"That boy..." The old man coughed twice, "But now the store can't do business... You see... It wasn't before, I couldn't give you any money. We can't afford the food stamps for ourselves. reluctantly……"

"Old man, I'm not here to pawn things, I hope you can help me keep some things."

"custody?"

"Yes, I hope to keep it—for 20 years!"

The old man smiled immediately, a smile that he hadn't seen for a long time appeared on his face full of vicissitudes and wrinkles: "Ever since I was imprisoned in a pigsty and broke my spine... I have never been laughed at by anyone... …Young man, do you think my shop will still be here in the future? Now I’m just an old man guarding the empty shop, it’s useless for a long time! Look inside, it’s empty, there’s nothing——nothing! "

"Times won't last forever, old man."

"I can't promise to keep it for you for 20 years."

"Just do your best to keep it for me. I will give you these food stamps, as well as these oils, noodles, and daily necessities. They are all distributed in the factory and I saved them up." Ye Youliang brought in large and small bags from outside the door. , In a few decades, these things may not be as much as some people go to the supermarket to buy supplies for a week, but in this era, they are very precious.

Among the daily necessities, there are aluminum lunch boxes, brand-new hot water bottles, even bowl-cleaning balls dried from old loofahs, and a kitchen knife that I sharpen myself with the machine in the factory...

"This……"

"Old man, I believe you can keep it for 20 years!"

"What do you want me to keep? Why can't I keep it myself?"

"Keep it yourself...they may not be able to get it." Ye Youliang lost his mind, and then laughed again, "Well, old man, this is the box, which contains the things I want them to get."

"Leave it to future generations?"

"How do you know?"

"Hehe... Although I am old, I am not stupid... I can save it for you. You have to write down your personal information, where you live, and the contact information of your wife, parents, and friends. , write them all down, and if I really can’t keep them any longer, I’ll bring them back to you.”

"it is good."

In this small pawn shop, Ye Youliang filled in a long list of information, while the old man carefully took a special box to keep it.

"The handwriting is beautiful, young man, how many years have you been studying?"

"Hey... I graduated from elementary school, and at most I went to junior high school for one semester, and I didn't study after that."

"Why didn't you read it?"

"Fighting with someone." He rubbed his nose and smiled embarrassedly, "I was fired."

"Haha, young man." The old man shook his head, accepted the box he handed over, and stroked it lightly, "The box is also a good box... the things inside it must be very valuable."

"It's okay, it's mainly... my heart."

"I'll keep it safe for you."

"Thank you, old man."

Ye Youliang breathed a sigh of relief, and patted the 'dust' that didn't exist on his body.

"Then, old man, I'll go first."

"it is good."

He walked out of this old pawnshop that was about to disappear, refreshed, and walked on this not-so-spacious concrete road.

There are almost no cars on the road, except for occasional people passing by on bicycles.

He walked forward for a long way, and the road gradually became wider. There was only one state-owned store on the side of the spacious street.

The well-dressed female teller is listening to singing from the radio.

——"Let's Swing the Oars" is playing inside.

It is obviously a children's song, but it is inexplicably carrying a touch of sadness.

Another female teller was cursing an old man like she was a grandson, filthy words came out of her beautiful mouth one after another.

Ye Youliang looked away and landed on the note posted on the wall: "Do not beat or scold customers".

He chuckled and quickened his pace.

It seems that he wants to leave the old world behind, grasp his own destiny, and head towards the future.

Everything has reached the limit of depression, and the opening signs have already begun to appear. The faces of pedestrians walking on the street seem to have a little more hope and expectation.

He walked into a post office, queued up to pay the deposit in advance, and went up to the second floor.

It was divided into compartments one after another, and it was much more grand than the one he used to go to.

Although the location is not very good, it is newly opened after all, and it cannot be opened in the downtown area like the old one.

Through the upstairs window, you can see the small river behind, and a group of children are gathering around and playing around under the nearby ginkgo tree.

He couldn't help but want to share the joy in his heart, and without hesitation, he dialed the number he knew so well—the number that could call the future.

Here he leaves a gift that future generations can receive right away.

Obviously, it took a long time, but for both parties, it was just a short time.

No matter how many times you experience this feeling, it is exciting and exciting.

But this time the phone rang for an extraordinarily long time.

Make him a little uneasy.

Maybe not at home?

Maybe it's still in a dream?

Just when he thought that the call that didn't need to pass through the switching station might not be able to be connected, a voice suddenly came from the other end, and a lazy "Hello" came to his ears from the other end of the phone through time and space.

"Hey, is it your daughter?" He suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked calmly.

"Uh, it's me."

"Haha, during this time..."

As if opening a chatterbox, he couldn't help but say a lot, and of course he didn't forget to tell them that he had prepared the gift to be sent 20 years later.

Today he doesn't care so much about how much it costs to make a phone call—he can't help but want to make it a little longer.

Or it doesn't matter if you just pay all the deposit.

He looked at the swaying golden ginkgo outside the window, and saw the children messing around in a panic, and then looked into the river, where a child was struggling.

All the words he wanted to say just now were swallowed back into his stomach.

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