Chapter 113 Northward

"Yes, yes, don't say it, what if you tell me that all your luck will be gone!"

None of them had any knowledge or experience about cenotaphs, and they only relied on the process that Ren's father had learned from others, and buried Ren's mother's clothes, shoes and socks in the dug pit in order.

After the burial, Ren Ying and Ren Ru took out the incense, candles and paper money that they had exchanged with others in advance from their backpacks, kowtowed in front of the grave with the younger generations, and hurried down the mountain. Ren Ru's family had to go back before the morning train departed.

Ren's father, Ren Ying and three others sent their little daughter and her family to the train before returning to the mountain.

As soon as the Jiang family entered the carriage, Jiang Dong slipped into the driver's cab while no one was paying attention, as the first bus was about to depart.

Ren Ru and Jiang Qian went to the dining car to get food. Jiang Mingchen didn't sleep well last night, so he climbed up to the upper bunk to catch up on his sleep. Jiang Weimin and Huang Liping sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the rosy clouds in the sky outside the window, the people coming and going, and the increasingly smaller background of the in-laws' family of four. The ideas that had been bubbling in their hearts like springs these days became clearer.

"I don't know what happened to the Red Soldiers and the Guards!"

Jiang Weimin thought of the villagers who had separated from them before and sighed first, "I wonder if they found anyone in the city?"

Since their last separation, Jiang Weimin has never received any news from the villagers.

At the beginning, his family was not settled yet, so he was not in the mood to think about it.

Later, when his family's life was relatively secure, he also tried to call other people, but just like the Ren family, none of the calls he made went through.

Up to now, they have been separated from other people in the village for almost three months, but they still have not received any news from their hometown.

At that time, everyone said that they wanted to go to the nearby resettlement site in City A. The airport had dispatched so many people from the resettlement site in the city, but they didn't see a single familiar person.

Although they stayed in the car for a long time, they met a lot of people and heard a lot of news about the outside world in the recent days since the dining car opened.

Some people say that City A had already fallen and almost no one could come back alive from the city. Others say that the rescue teams that were stranded in the city are still trying their best to carry out rescue operations.

But what was more telling was that the entire city had become a ghost town, devoid of any living beings except zombies. Even if there had been living people before, they wouldn't have survived more than three months in a city swarming with zombies, starving to death. Even rescue teams rarely went into the city anymore.

Jiang Weimin had been avoiding thinking about the worst-case scenario, but this time, when he saw Ren's father and Ren Ying's family, he felt a little brighter.

Huang Liping listened nearby and glanced at her husband.

"Who knows? There's been no news since they left last time. I asked several people in the dining car who sounded like they were from City A, and they all said they hadn't heard from them."

She knew that her husband didn't actually want her to give a definite answer, he just wanted her to confide in him.

"City A is so big, and it's been so chaotic since the end of the world, it's not easy to get information."

It’s not just the husband who is thinking about his relatives!

These days, after receiving news about Ren's father and Ren Ying's family, Huang Liping also frequently thought of her relatives from her mother's side.

She is in her fifties. Her parents have passed away long ago, and most of her close elders have also passed away. The only blood relatives she has are an older sister and a brother.

My eldest sister died early after marriage and didn't even leave behind any children. My husband's brother-in-law remarried later and we lost contact long ago.

Her brother also passed away a few years ago, leaving behind her sister-in-law and two nephews. However, Huang Liping had a bad relationship with her two nephews, so she had almost no contact with them after her brother's death. The last time they contacted was when her second nephew had a new baby.

But the past was the past. Now, at this critical moment of life and death, she would think of her two nephews in her spare time. Even if they had done many bad things in the past, they were still the children she had watched grow up.

There are also those elderly people in the village who have no blood relationship with me but watched me grow up, and playmates who grew up with me. Although they are old now, the feelings they once had are still real...

But now, not only are we separated by thousands of miles, we don’t even know whether they are dead or alive. The meeting we had so long ago might have been the last one in this life.

Thinking of this, Huang Liping felt a pang of bitterness in her heart.

Jiang Weimin looked at the expression on his wife's face and knew what she was thinking. He found a rare opportunity to tease her, "When we broke up with those two guys, you said so many harsh words. It looked like you were going to never have anything to do with each other again. And you always said you were hard-hearted. Now you've softened your heart, haven't you?"

Huang Liping spat at her lightly. "That was then, and now is now. Didn't you break off your friendship with Jiang Ruhai back then? You can't necessarily watch him die now, can you? Who was it that stepped on the accelerator and rushed out of the temple last time? And you're still laughing at me?"

Jiang Weimin choked and waved his hands, "Okay, okay, I won't laugh at you anymore. Is that okay?"

Seeing her husband admit defeat, Huang Liping continued, "I don't know where those two guys are now! I heard that they moved to the city, but I don't know where exactly."

"Sometimes knowing just adds to the worry," Jiang Weimin said. "I do know where Xiaohui and Xiaoyao's families are, but there's no way I can go there right now!"

"If we want to go, let's go!"

As soon as Jiang Weimin finished speaking, Jiang Qian's voice was heard outside the door. The next second, the dormitory door was opened, and Jiang Qian and Ren Ru came in with food.

Huang Liping was startled. She stood up, walked to the door, looked out twice, and after closing the door tightly, she whispered, "Why are you so loud? Where are you going? You're saying this outside, afraid that others won't know, right?"

Jiang Qian set the table and said, "Don't worry, I checked before I came in. There's no one in the corridor outside. Xiao Li next door is at work today, and the people from the Xia family have all gone to eat, so there's no one in the house either."

"You can't just say that, right? What if someone hears you when you're not paying attention?"

Seeing that her mother was about to start nagging again, Jiang Qian quickly changed the subject.

"Seriously, if you want to go to City A, let's go! By tomorrow night, we'll probably have enough mileage to set up a new station. Then we can set up the next station in City A."

Jiang Qian looked at her parents, "Dad, aren't you worried about Uncle Weibing and the others? Mom, you're also worried about my cousins, so let's go to City A to take a look."

"this……"

Jiang Weimin and Huang Liping looked at each other and asked, "Is this possible?"

"The site had been heading south before. Wouldn't it be bad if it suddenly turned north?"

Although the two were moved, they were still hesitant.

"So what? Didn't they say we had to go south?"

Jiang Qian took out chopsticks from the cabinet and distributed them to everyone. "Before, we came to the south just to find Uncle Ren and the others. Now that they have been found, isn't it the same whether we go south or north?"

Jiang Qian joked, "You can go east or west if you want."

After completing their major goal of finding the Ren family, everyone in the Jiang family felt a bit lost. While things looked more relaxed, everyone was still feeling lost. At this time, it was a good idea to set a new short-term goal.

"Since you are worried about Uncle Guard and the others, let's go and take a look."

"But..." Jiang Weimin was tempted, but still hesitant. "I heard from others that City A has become a dead city now. It's probably not safe for the train to stop there."

"Then let's find a relatively safe place to stop," Jiang Qian said. "Wherever we stop will probably be the new safe zone. We won't be able to find them directly, but if there are still people in the city, the train can attract attention from outside, which should also be beneficial to those stranded in the city."

"I heard there's a city in the south that's already preparing a suitable station for us to go to..."

"That doesn't matter. Wherever the train stops is good for the local area. At worst, we can just go there at the next stop. It shouldn't be a big deal in a few days."

Now trains run several times a day, so 5,000 kilometers doesn’t seem far away.

"That's true," Jiang Weimin thought for a moment, his concern for his family ultimately prevailing. "Then... shall we discuss this tonight?"

But in the end, it didn't wait until the evening. The train started running automatically at noon. When Jiang Dong came back for lunch, the anxious Jiang Weimin brought up this issue on the dining table.

Jiang Dong has no opinion on going north or south. As long as the family can stay together, it's fine.

He glanced at his wife and nodded on behalf of his family.

"Just go, I'm worried about Brother Hui and Xiaoyao too."

So, the new site was decided.

The next evening, after the train stopped at the airport station, Jiang Qian did not plan any other itineraries.

The last train arrived two hours earlier than in the previous few days, and experienced rescue centers in various places noticed this anomaly.

It was clearly night time, but the lights in conference rooms everywhere were brightly lit.

"What's going on? Why did we stop in City A this time?"

"Didn't City X excitedly say last time that it would be their turn next time?"

If you draw a circle around Jingming Mountain, you'll find that 80% of the land within an area of ​​80 to 100 kilometers belongs to them. The only 10% is in the neighboring province, a nearly uninhabited mountainous area. Getting there is simply impossible.

Therefore, this time, almost all nearby cities thought that City X was going to get the new train station as easily as taking candy from a baby. Jingmingshan and City K had prepared drones for surveillance in advance. Who would have thought that City A would intercept them in the end?

Everyone cast their gazes on the map hanging on the wall, settling on their initial stop, the airport in City A. Someone's gaze slowly shifted north, a hypothesis forming in their mind.

Could it be that this time, the new station is in City A?

Someone whispered his guess, but was refuted by some people.

"City A already has an airport station. Wouldn't another be redundant?"

"In my opinion, it's probably headed to City P, northeast of City A. City P is a famous resource-rich city with oil fields and a renowned grain production base. Setting up the new station in City P would be more beneficial."

"But City N already has two airports, so the new station might not necessarily be in City N."

…

City A was unaware of the discussions taking place at other city meetings. At this time, the temporary government of City A, located in the Xiaozhao Village Committee, was urgently dispatching helicopters and drones.

The unexpected event at night made them busy and happy. They had also thought about the speculations about other cities, but everyone suppressed their inner joy.

Although they already have an airport station, City A is large and the radiation range of a station is limited. No one would complain about the benefits that fall into their own pockets.

"Don't tell anyone, things haven't been finalized yet, don't be happy for nothing."

"Yes, yes, don't say it, what if you tell me that all your luck will be gone!"

"Making a fortune in silence is the right thing to do."

“…”

While they were busy, the train left the airport station and flew north.

【Author’s words】

So far, the Jiang family's original plan has been realized. The family's safety has been basically guaranteed. Ren Ru's parents have been found and are currently well settled. Going forward, there will probably be fewer family matters (not none, just fewer, after all, even the closest relatives are still separated by a layer of distance). The train is about to explore new territory!

The fact that I have written over 300,000 words so far has exceeded my expectations. The estimated word count has been rising again and again, and now I dare not estimate it anymore [covering my face]

I need to speed up the process from now on, as there are still many trains to unlock! Cheer up for myself!

Thank you all for your support! Bow!