Chapter One Hundred Sixteen: Hometown

  As the ambulance arrived, a blue sports car like a phantom also came over. A mature woman ran down from the car, wearing a professional suit with a hint of wind and dust on her face. This hint of wind and dust added a touch of charming maturity to the woman. The woman was very beautiful, but her eyes were extremely anxious. Seeing the smoky makeup girl lying on the ground covered in blood, the woman exclaimed and ran over.

  The paramedics put the two injured people into the ambulance, and the woman followed the ambulance as it drove away, leaving behind only the blue sports car. Before long, a man walked up to the sports car and drove it away.

  For everything that happened later, Zhao Tiezhu was completely unaware. At this time, he was sitting in the passenger seat, and Lucy was driving the car. It took about an hour to pass through nearly half of the city's districts, arriving at a section near the suburbs of FJ City. This is the old downtown area of FJ, where the renovation has not been fully carried out, so it still looks like the 1990s, with green bricks, tiles, and those ancient locust trees that have witnessed the development of FJ.

  It's not as crowded as the city center, that old road is already worn out, occasionally there are some motorcycles and bicycles passing by, and many children running and playing on the road.

  Zhao Tiezhu directly let Lucy stop the car at the intersection of the old city, and the two got out of the car. Lucy looked at the scene in front of her and was also amazed, as if she had returned to the 1990s.

  "There are many pagoda trees here, so a long time ago, this place was called the Pagoda Tree District." Zhao Tiezhu said as he led Lucy deeper into the old city.

  "More than a decade ago, this was still one of the most prosperous areas in FJ." Zhao Tiezhu touched the bricks on the wall, where some ivy had grown, extending directly to the upstairs.

  "I've lived here for a long time, my parents left me when I was very young, my grandmother said they were dead, and I didn't ask again. Later, my grandmother also passed away, and I left this place to make a living on my own." Zhao Tiezhu seemed to be reminiscing, or perhaps lost in thought. "I remember that this used to be a small playground." Zhao Tiezhu pointed to a vacant lot that had been abandoned, where weeds were growing, and several children were squatting in the grass, searching for something unknown.

  "Tiě zhù, what do you do? Before buying a villa." Lucy asked curiously, after all, that villa was worth tens of millions, and Zhao Tiezhu looked like he was only in his twenties, how could he possibly afford it.

  "Hey, back then I was strong and healthy, so I went out to sell it. 200 yuan each time, 10 minutes per session, selling for 24 hours a day, earning 30,000 yuan a day. Selling for two years would be enough." Zhao Tiezhu made a joke, but Lucy thought for a moment, "10 minutes at a time... Tiezhu, you're really bad."

  “。。。。”

  "Come this way." Zhao Tiezhu walked into a small alley and shouted at Lucy.

  After turning a few corners in the alley, a three-story small building appeared before their eyes. There were still clothes hanging on the clothes rack upstairs, and it seemed that someone was still living there.

  "My old home was just there. I haven't been back for many years." Zhao Tiezhu pointed to the second floor.

  "Go take a look." Lucy smiled and went upstairs first, Zhao Tiezhu had no choice but to follow.

  Because it had been a long time, the door of the room was rusty, but it was unusually clean, which made Zhao Tiezhu somewhat curious.

  "Oh dear, the door is locked and we can't get in." Lucy said disappointedly after twisting the door handle.

  "Look at this." Zhao Tiezhu smiled, poked a small gap on the door panel with his finger, and a small grid appeared on the door panel. Inside was a copper key, which most people used in the 90s.

  "Wow, and a secret compartment!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly.

  "That was when my grandmother often went out to work for others, and I would go out to play. The key would often get lost if I carried it with me, and a new set of keys cost 1 yuan. My grandmother's monthly income was only over 200 yuan, and she had to raise me too. Every time the key got lost, she would be heartbroken for a long time. Later on, she made a hidden compartment in the door panel, and every time I went out, I would put the key there. Anyway, there wasn't anything valuable at home, so we weren't afraid of thieves." Zhao Tiezhu said, opening the door with the key.

  This is a small house, with a small living room of just over ten square meters. The living room and kitchen are directly connected, and there are two bedrooms in the house.

  "This is my grandmother's." Zhao Tiezhu pointed to the simply decorated room, which had only a bed, a table, an old black and white TV set, and a ceramic Buddha.

  "The old man had believed in Buddhism all his life, and the year he passed away, he told me that he wanted to put his ashes in Nanshan. I spent half a year before finally arriving at Nanshan and placing the old man in the temple." Zhao Tiezhu's voice was calm. Lucy walked into Zhao Tiezhu's room, where several posters were stuck on the wall - nothing but the Four Heavenly Kings and Little Tiger Team. At that time, young people only had these idols, unlike now when every Tom, Dick, and Harry comes out to be a star."

  A wooden bed with a worn-out quilt on it, a desk with several books on it, and several pots of unknown plants on the windowsill.

  "This is my room, I've lived here for many years, from childhood to adulthood." Zhao Tiezhu smiled and introduced, but there was a hint of puzzlement in his eyes, he hadn't been back for several years, why was everything so clean?

  "Rail pillar, I didn't know you used to live here." Lucy's eyes were full of surprise. For her who grew up in the United States, such houses could only be seen in slums. Her family was not rich either, but when she was a child, they had everything like cars and computers.

  "Huh, you wouldn't believe it, twenty years ago, we were considered to be relatively well-off, at least my family was. It's just that things have developed too quickly now." Zhao Tiezhu walked towards his desk, and indeed, the desk was very clean.

  "Is anyone there?" A soft and weak voice suddenly came from outside. Zhao Tiezhu walked out of the room to take a look, it was an ordinary-looking woman with long hair.

  "Post!!!" The woman exclaimed in surprise.

  "Worms!!!!" Zhao Tiezhu was also very surprised.

  "Zhùzi, when are you coming back? Why didn't you even give us a notice?" The woman called Chóngzi walked into the room with a surprised look on her face.

  "Just arrived today, come and see, after so many years, you still live here?" Zhao Tiezhu said with a smile.

  "Anyway, my dad gave me that small shop of his, and now I'm running it. Come on, come on, let's go to my place and sit down for a bit." Bug said, just as Lucy walked out of the room. At the sight of Lucy's beauty, even Bug was taken aback, "Tie Zhu, who is this?"

  "My friend Lucy, Lucy, this is my childhood friend Li Qingcong, you can call her Chongzi."

  "Hello." The insect smiled and shook hands with Lucy, "Let's go, sit down at my place."

  "All these years, you've been taking care of this house, right?" Zhao Tiezhu asked as soon as they stepped out the door.

  "Yes, you've been away for so many years, and I've seen this place almost abandoned. So whenever I have time, I come over to tidy it up a bit. Luckily, you told me about the secret compartment back then, or else I wouldn't have even been able to get into this house." Bug said as he led the way ahead.

  "Xiao Su, Biscuit, and that Chen guy, are they all still here?" Zhao Tiezhu asked.

  "Xiao Su and the cookie are still around, Chen Xuanyan that kid is messing around in the city, I heard he's almost a father now. We all still keep in touch with each other, except for you, who just left and didn't send any news for years." There was a hint of resentment in Zhongzi's tone.

  "Haha, work and all that, when are we going to get those few guys together and have a gathering?" Zhao Tiezhu said with a smile.

  "Wait a minute, I'll call you back tonight."

  "Alright."