Chapter 113 - Departure

Zhou Weifang's train departed from Beijing at eight o'clock in the morning.

He got up before dawn, washed up, checked his luggage again, took out the money he already had in various places, counted it, and put it away again. After breakfast, he opened the shop door and waited for Zhang Hongmin to come to work.

Before he arrived, a car mechanic showed up instead.

Fortunately, Zhou Weifang was taking a long train journey and was dressed casually. After the repair, he noticed that his clothes were all dirty, so he casually patted them off and glanced outside the shop.

Zhang Hongmin was eating breakfast while walking when he felt that his boss was silently urging him on, so he quickly started running.

He charged too fast and almost couldn't stop in front of Zhou Weifang, barely managing to regain his footing.

He can be described as steady and reliable, but at other times he can be quite reckless. Fortunately, he has never made any mistakes at work.

Zhou Weifang trusted him, gave him a few more instructions, picked up his luggage and said, "If there's anything you can't handle, go to Luo Hong. He's the boss while I'm not here. You'll have to work hard for now, but you'll get a break when you get back."

The boss gave me a 20 yuan red envelope in advance, which is equivalent to half a month's salary, and promised to give me another one when I got back.

Therefore, Zhang Hongmin didn't feel tired at all and just smiled sheepishly.

Zhou Weifang patted him on the shoulder, slung his bag over his shoulder, and took the earliest bus to the train station, where they waited to meet at the entrance.

When Zhu Tianhong arrived, he saw him and said, "Oh, I thought I was the first one here."

He glanced at his watch again: "It's almost time, why aren't these two brats here yet?"

There were four people on this trip; the other two were Zhu Guoping and Li Xiang. Zhou Weifang had dealt with them before and said, "I can't sleep because I'm thinking about going out, and I'm just killing time anyway."

He didn't seem like the type to lose his temper so easily. Zhu Tianhong offered him a cigarette: "Something on your mind?"

Zhou Weifang didn't refuse. He took it and tucked it behind his ear, saying, "I'm afraid I won't be able to find a way to make money on this trip."

Judging from this, Zhu Tianhong asked, "Are you short of money lately?"

Zhou Weifang laughed: "There's no such thing as someone who doesn't need money."

That's true, otherwise who would be willing to travel around like this?

Zhu Tianhong: "Brother, let me tell you, men need to earn more money. When you get married and have children, that's all money."

Zhou Weifang sighed, "That's right."

He earns a decent amount from his shop, but when he calculates carefully, he realizes he has to save up to buy all the major appliances, let alone a decent house.

When Zhu Tianhong was seven or eight years old, he knew how to organize the children in the alley to catch crickets and collect toothpaste tubes to exchange for candy. The old folks often said that he was more shrewd than most people, and they could tell he was involved just by listening to him. They would say, "Does he have a girlfriend?"

Zhou Weifang did not deny it: "They didn't like me."

People are naturally inclined to ask a few questions.

Zhu Tianhong became interested, but seeing that people were gradually arriving, he had to pause and said, "Let's go check the tickets."

Zhu Tianhong had asked someone to buy the train tickets, so the four of them ended up in a soft sleeper compartment. Zhou Weifang stuffed his luggage under the berth and said, "Paying money means better conditions. When I returned to the city from Xinjiang, the hard seat was so cramped I almost wanted to jump out the window."

Even squeezing to the window was difficult, to the point that he considered crawling out from the roof of the car.

Having ridden too many long-distance buses, Zhu Tianhong skillfully pulled out a deck of cards from his bag and said, "If I had taken a hard seat, I would have needed to lie down for at least five days to recover before I could get back to work."

He's getting married during the Mid-Autumn Festival, so of course he wants to save as much time as possible. Besides, there are a lot of people in the hard-seat trains, and he's carrying a lot of money with him. Losing it would be a huge loss.

"Five more days?" His cousin, Zhu Guoping, exclaimed, "Last time I came home, I felt like I was floating for half a month straight."

Zhu Tianhong said he was useless, shuffled the cards, and said, "Come on, let's kill time."

There wasn't much else to do on the train; everyone just played cards or slept.

As the car traveled south, the scenery gradually changed. This was the first time Zhou Weifang had ever been to the south, and he looked out with great interest.

Zhu Tianhong threw down a card and said, "You won't have the energy to watch tomorrow; you'll just keep thinking about when it will arrive."

This train isn't direct; you have to transfer in Yingtan, and then take a bus from Xiamen to your final destination, Shishi. The whole trip takes five or six days. But compared to the journey from Beijing to southern Xinjiang back then, it's nothing.

Perhaps it was the youthful exuberance that made Zhou Weifang feel energetic throughout the journey, saying, "Right now, I'm just thinking about what good food to eat."

To be honest, Zhu Tianhong said, "There's plenty of seafood, but it's a pity it's too early in the season. We'll have to wait until Mid-Autumn Festival for good crabs."

Zhou Weifang regretted that seafood was difficult to transport, otherwise Yanyan would definitely have liked it. Just thinking about his sweetheart made his face uncontrollably light up with joy.

Zhu Tianhong thought he was just craving something: "Anyway, when you travel with me, I'll make sure you eat and stay well."

As long as the business goes smoothly, these are all small amounts of money.

Zhou Weifang is a hard-working person, but there's no reason for him to rush into suffering. He continued the conversation casually.

The four of them chatted and played cards to pass the time until lunchtime.

In those days, the food trucks offered the best food, and they didn't require food coupons. Zhu Tianhong was generous and ordered all meat dishes in one go.

Zhou Weifang picked up a piece of braised pork with his chopsticks, wondering: I wonder what Luo Hong is preparing for my sister today.

——

Luo Hong had no free time; he was so busy in the shop that he couldn't even turn around. His sister brought him lunch.

Luo Yan only has one short class in the morning. After class, she reviews her lessons in the library and goes to the cafeteria to get her food right on time.

Jiaotong University's cafeteria has several famous dishes, but you have to be quick to get them. Luo Yan was lacking in this area, and by the time it was her turn, all she got were the "last resort" dishes, like a lot of scallions with a few bean sprouts.

But she had no choice; even if she was a little slow in handing over her lunchbox, the auntie serving the food would give her a dirty look.

Luo Yan felt embarrassed, thinking that people who are waited on hand and foot are indeed the happiest. She picked up her lunchbox and went to find her brother.

Luo Hong's business was good that morning. He didn't even stop when he saw her come in. He said, "You eat first."

Perhaps because she had just been upset, Luo Yan didn't have much of an appetite. She sat down and took out a book, saying, "I'm not hungry yet."

She's a grown woman; she doesn't need her meals every day. Luo Hong went with her, and only after fixing three more cars did he realize, "You haven't eaten yet?"

Luo Yan gets so engrossed in her book that she forgets what year it is: "I forgot."

"How could you forget this?" Luo Hong washed his hands, opened the lid of the lunchbox, and laughed, "No wonder you weren't in a hurry to eat. The quality of the food here has really plummeted."

"You're quite cultured now," Luo Yan glanced at him sideways. "It's good enough that we have something to eat."

Luo Hong wasn't a picky eater, and his generation didn't usually have that habit. But it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. Yesterday he ate a complete meal with two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, but today, suddenly faced with reality, he clicked his tongue and said, "Girl, aren't there any other guys who want to bring you food? I'd like to take advantage of that."

Who else has the same perfect combination of timing, location, and connections as Zhou Weifang? To put it bluntly, only he has the opportunity to be so attentive. If it were anyone else, Luo Hong would have already kept them at arm's length without Luo Yan even having to think of a way to refuse.

He was just joking, then sat down and started eating: "Would you like me to heat it up?"

In this hot weather, the food will get cold anyway. Luo Yan said, "No need, just eat it as is."

She said this, but after taking a bite, she frowned almost imperceptibly, inexplicably thinking of Zhou Weifang, and said, "We can eat something better ourselves."

She was still sulking, so Luo Hong gave her some money: "Buy whatever you want."

He really couldn't free his hands.

Luo Yan was thinking about dinner, so she couldn't eat anything in front of her. She took some snacks from the shelf and ate half a bag of calcium milk biscuits.

Luo Hong suddenly remembered when he was working in the countryside in northern Shaanxi, and what he looked forward to most each month was what delicious food would be in his package.

He initially thought it was a portion his parents had set aside from the rations, but after returning to the city, he learned that his sister had secretly included his share, fearing he might go hungry in the countryside.

Thinking of this, Luo Hong gave his sister some money: "You've almost finished your cookies, haven't you?"

In the past two years, food coupons are no longer needed to buy cookies and snacks. Whether at home or in her brother's shop, Luo Yan has never lacked food when she opens the cupboard.

She and her brother were never polite, and she even made a request: "I want to eat chocolate."

Luo Hong simply handed her his wallet, saying, "Leave me a few cents."

Luo Yan: "I'm not a bandit."

She counted out 75 cents and said, "Thank goodness we don't need sugar coupons to buy chocolate anymore."

Luo Hong: "I heard that several places in the south have had bumper harvests, and maybe even grain coupons will be abolished in the future."

Grain coupons haven't been abolished yet, but they're gradually being relaxed. Luo Yan isn't ignorant about daily necessities, and she says, "Now, seven ounces of coupons can buy a pound of rice."

Luo Hong knew more than his sister: "The supply in Beijing is sufficient, and other places are also receiving their full quotas."

Luo Yan wasn't quite sure about this, but blurted out, "They also accept it from Fujian."

Fujian? Luo Hong glanced at his watch: "The three parties estimate they've only reached Hebei."

Luo Yan muttered, "Who cares where he goes?"

Does he really not care? Luo Hong thought it was unlikely, but he didn't expose it—as he said before, things were developing according to his sister's will.

But Luo Yan had to find a reason for herself: "It's because it's mealtime that I thought of him."

He then corrected himself: "It wasn't 'thought,' it was 'mentioned.'"

Okay, okay, whatever she says is fine.

Luo Hong nodded perfunctorily, then shoveled down a couple more bites of rice: "You don't have class this afternoon, are you going home or staying here?"

The sun was blazing outside, and Luo Yan didn't want to go anywhere, especially since she had her advanced mathematics exam the day after tomorrow. She said, "I'll study here."

She read books while Luo Hong earned money. They were both busy with their own things all afternoon until the sun set. Only then did Luo Yan put down her book temporarily, stretch her muscles, and go get her food.

Luo Hong shouted from behind, "More meat! I'm hungry."

Lunch was not very oily, not even enough for him to swing the hammer a couple of times.

Luo Yan was also quite hungry. She swallowed hard just looking at the words on the menu. She restrained herself and ordered two meat dishes and one vegetable dish. After paying, she stood to the side and waited, her eyes darting around boredly.

This stir-fry restaurant is very close to Jiaotong University, so its customers are mainly students.

Two boys in the packed shop smiled at Luo Yan, seemingly recognizing her.

But Luo Yan didn't recognize them, and no matter how hard she racked her brains, she couldn't remember them.

She wasn't very good at remembering faces, but it was too embarrassing to go up and ask, "Who are you?" So she just smiled and pretended to recognize them, thinking to herself, "Please don't talk to me."

The more this is the case, the more things go against our wishes.

The small restaurant had only one aisle, and the two boys sat down right next to the path Luo Yan had to take. As she approached, they asked, "Luo Yan, aren't you eating here?"

Good heavens, who are they?

Luo Yan was internally screaming for help, but still politely replied, "No, my brother is waiting for me."

The boy nodded to indicate that he understood, but didn't say anything more to her.

Luo Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and then it dawned on her that they were classmates from the next class—the two classes shared several courses, but she didn't know their names. As for others knowing hers, it wasn't surprising.

When she returned to the shop, she told her brother about this incident and her thoughts. Luo Hong said, "A few people came to repair their cars this morning, and I heard them mention 'Brother Luo Yan' or something like that."

Several girls whispered among themselves for a long time, finally concluding that "the brother and sister don't look alike."

Luo Yan always knew that she was somewhat well-known at school, and said happily, "I wish everyone knew that Brother Luo Yan is a car mechanic."

That business must be booming!

The words "car mechanic" can easily carry a sense of contempt, but when spoken by my sister, they had no such connotation.

On the contrary, Luo Hong sometimes worried that people would gossip about her because she had a self-employed brother, so she said, "Why don't you stick these words on your forehead?"

Just imagining how many people would stare at her on the street made Luo Yan's scalp tingle. She rubbed her arms and said, "I wouldn't dare."

Luo Hong's assessment: "Cowardly."

Luo Yan still wanted to defend herself: "I can be very brave sometimes!"

Indeed, Luo Hong could imagine how furious his sister would react if someone dared to say the words "car mechanic" in a flippant tone in front of her.

He said, "That's right, we should act when the time is right."

Luo Yan hadn't actually done much, and the most memorable time was when she embarrassingly burst into tears before even speaking. She still felt ashamed thinking about it and said, "Let's not talk about it."

Even if Luo Hong isn't mentioned, she still has to make fun of her, but she quickly shut up after being glared at by her sister.

Luo Yan kicked him irritably, then remembered to ask, "Are you staying at his place tonight?"

Zhou Weifang's shop needed someone to watch it at night, and the task was naturally entrusted to his childhood friend.

Luo Hong: "Yes, I'll take you home first, and you can take a shower before I come over."

Luo Yan: "Aren't you packing your luggage? After all, we'll be staying here for a while."

What's there to pack? Luo Hong: "It's not much trouble. Anyway, I have to go home every day."

He didn't even bring a washbasin, planning to wash up at home morning and night.

Luo Yan feigned disdain: "You don't have to go home every day."

Luo Hong pinched her cheek: "You're someone who comes to report to me three times a day for every meal, and you're giving me feedback?"

Luo Yan corrected her, her pronunciation slightly slurred: "It's two meals."

He added, "I'll be on vacation next week."

Luo Hong knew perfectly well: "You won't miss out on coming even during holidays."

Luo Yan said confidently, "The library is open during summer vacation, so of course I'm coming."

"Okay, okay," Luo Hong thought, noticing the thin layer of sweat on her forehead. He figured he didn't mind, but the shop still needed a fan.

He pondered this matter and decided to tell his parents when he got home that evening—it was a big purchase after all, and he had to give the adults an explanation.

Liu Yinfeng had just visited her son's place not long ago and said, "Your shop still faces west, you should buy one. Mom will buy it for you."

Luo Hong wasn't there to ask for money, but he still held out his hand: "Just give me ten yuan more."

Liu Yinfeng gave her son twenty yuan: "Buy something good."

Luo Hong responded and took his bedtime reading book with him to go and take over the shift at his childhood friend's car dealership.

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Author's note: No, I've decided to resort to some methods that force me to update more often.