When Mingwen took Xuemei and the others to the nearest overnight hotel, it was already seven o'clock. If it was half an hour later, the state-owned hotel would be closed.

State-owned restaurants usually get off work at 7:30 pm and close at 8 pm.

Xuemei and her friends arrived too late; the meat dishes at the state-owned restaurant usually sold out by 3 or 4 p.m. So they ordered two kilograms of mixed-grain rice, a plate of pan-fried tofu, an egg with chopped green onions, and a plate of hot and sour shredded potatoes.

The dishes and rice at the state-owned restaurant were always generously portioned, with little to no frills. Fifteen minutes later, the food was all served. Everyone was starving, so they asked Mingwen to put some extra food out for He Wenting first, and then the others picked up their bowls and started eating.

After the meal, each person drank a bowl of free salted vegetable soup. (The soup was made with homemade preserved vegetables and tasted a bit sour.)

After eating and drinking, everyone carried their things and walked towards the train station under Mingwen's leadership.

Fortunately, the train station was not far from here. Xuemei and her friends walked for nearly forty minutes and arrived at the train station at 8:30.

When they arrived at the train station, no one rushed in. He Wenting, a pregnant woman, was already tired. She kept yawning after dinner and was very sleepy.

Xuemei and her friends planned to book a few rooms at the guesthouse next to the train station. When they arrived at the guesthouse, Xuemei took Mingwen and his friends' situation into consideration and booked two triple rooms with them.

After registering at the front desk, Han Chen and several other boys helped the girls take their things to their rooms, and then returned to their own rooms.

After Han Chen and Mingwen put their things away, they asked Mingwu to guard the things in the room and see if Xuemei and the other three needed help.

After everything was arranged, Han Chen and Mingwen took their own and other people's identification documents and letters of introduction to the train station to buy tickets.

After Xuemei and the other two entered the house, they found three stools, a double bed, a single bed, two wooden basins, and a thermos.

After putting their things down, Xuemei and He Jing went to the front desk to borrow another thermos, and then went to the hot water room to wash up together. One of them filled a basin with hot water, and the other carried two thermoses of hot water back to the room.

Xuemei and the other person knocked for several minutes before He Wanting finally opened the door. He Wanting rubbed her eyes and said, "Sorry, I just fell asleep while sitting on the bed!"

"It's okay, let's go in first!" Xuemei replied.

After entering the room, He Jing put the basin on the ground and said to He Wanting, "Sister, first use the cold water in your kettle mixed with some boiling water from the thermos to brush your teeth, then wipe your face with a wet towel. The hot water in the basin is for you to soak your feet to reduce the swelling!"

Before Mingwen and Han Chen left, they specifically asked Xuemei and He Jing to let He Wanting soak her feet before going to bed. He Wanting's legs started to swell up a little these days, perhaps because she walked too much or for some other reason.

At home, Mingwen would soak He Wenting's feet in hot water every night these days and then massage her feet after the soak.

When He Wanting saw how attentive Xuemei and the others were, she was moved and said, "Xiaojing, Xuemei, you are so kind!"

After He Wanting finished speaking, she suddenly became emotional and started to cry.

Xuemei patted He Wanting on the back and joked, "You're so moved to tears by such a small thing. Don't be a crybaby in the future. Wanting, stop crying!"

He Wanting took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears, then said embarrassedly, "I don't know. These tears came all of a sudden. Maybe it's because of the influence of this little guy in my belly!"

"I heard from my mother that pregnancy will affect both the body and the emotions. If you feel uncomfortable on the way, tell my second brother and us, don't keep it to yourself!" Xuemei comforted.

He Wanting nodded and started to wash up.

After Xuemei and He Wanting finished washing up, they filled the three people's kettles with boiling water, then carried the thermos with half a bottle of boiling water left to Han Chen and their room, and asked Mingwu to go wash up first while she stayed here and changed the water in their kettles.

Mingwu had just been out for a few minutes when Han Chen and Mingwen came back.

As soon as Xuemei opened the door, Han Chen asked in confusion, "Xuemei, why are you here?"

"We girls have finished washing up. I'll come over to replace Mingwu and let him go wash up. You guys come in first!" Xuemei replied.

After the three of them entered the room, Xuemei asked, "Han Chen, Second Brother, what time did you buy your tickets? Did you buy a sleeper berth?"

Han Chen took out the ticket and handed it to Xuemei, saying, "There are only two trains tomorrow. We bought tickets for the 8:00 AM train, both with hard seats. We got there in time, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get these hard seats. And forget about the hard sleeper."

"Then it will be too late for us to go to the state-owned restaurant tomorrow morning!" Xuemei said.

"You can go to the train station. The staff canteen there opens at six in the morning. My second brother and I asked the ticket seller and we can eat there. The charges are the same as those in state-owned restaurants!" Han Chen replied.

"That's fine. Eat something hot before taking the train, and you'll feel better. I'll go back and rest first. You two should also go to bed early. We'll set off from here at six tomorrow morning!" Xuemei instructed.

Han Chen nodded, and Mingwen quickly asked, "Xuemei, has your sister-in-law soaked her feet? Are her feet very swollen?"

"Second brother, my second sister-in-law soaked her feet. I looked at her legs. They were not so swollen anymore and looked much better. She should be asleep now!" Xuemei replied.

Mingwen finally nodded in relief. Han Chen and his room were about ten meters away from Xuemei and the others' room. This was the guesthouse's rule: boys lived on one side, girls on the other. Families or couples could live in the middle room, but they all needed to provide proof of marriage.

Although the distance was not far, Han Chen was still worried and wanted to send Xuemei back to her room first.

"Han Chen, go wash up quickly! I asked the staff at the guesthouse, and the hot water in the hot water room was cut off at 9:30 in the evening! The electricity was also cut off at 9:30. There are only twenty minutes left now." Xuemei reminded while standing at the door of the room.

"Okay, you must lock the door at night. I won't leave until I see you enter the room!" Han Chen replied.

After He Jing opened the door, Xuemei and Han Chen waved and closed the door.

In the room, He Wenting had already fallen asleep on the single bed. Xuemei and He Jing were afraid that they would accidentally hurt He Wenting's stomach while sleeping, so they let her sleep in a bed by herself.

He Jing looked at the sleeping He Wanting and whispered, "Xuemei, the warm water in the basin is clean. I just got it from the hot water station. Add some hot water to wash your feet and then go to bed. I'm going to bed first!"

Xuemei nodded. After washing her feet, she didn't plan to go out to pour water. She would talk about it tomorrow morning.

Before going to bed, Xuemei checked whether the door was locked from the inside. She was not very reassured about being outside, so she took a stool and placed it in front of the door before climbing into bed to sleep.