Chapter Seventy-Six

Ji Wanmei and Luo Chunyan returned to their seats and sat down. Officer Li asked what had just happened.

Luo Chunyan recounted the events over and over again. Although she was in the toilet at the time and did not witness them firsthand, the way she described those close calls made it sound as if she had seen them with her own eyes.

Ji Wanmei was both amused and exasperated, thinking it was a real shame that Chunyan wasn't going to tell stories on Tianqiao.

Officer Li quickly offered words of comfort and expressed his remorse, saying that he had been careless and had not taken good care of Ji Wanmei.

Who would have thought that I would run into a hooligan just by going to the toilet?

Ji Wanmei shook her head and said it was nothing, telling Officer Li not to take it to heart.

Luo Chunyan kept saying that it was fortunate that Lei Tingjun was there just now. He was very skilled and reacted quickly, and immediately took action to resolve the situation.

When Officer Li heard Lei Tingjun's name again, he fell into thought, feeling that it was no coincidence that Lei Tingjun was on the train.

Ji Wanmei caught a glimpse of Officer Li turning back to look at Lei Tingjun out of the corner of her eye, and quickly nudged Luo Chunyan with her elbow, signaling her to stop talking.

Luo Chunyan also indicated that she seemed to have talked too much because she was too excited, so she quickly shut her mouth, yawned, and said that she was tired and wanted to sleep.

It was around 7 or 8 pm, and the sky outside the train was gradually getting dark.

The night on the train passed peacefully.

Perhaps it was because Lei Tingjun had such a strong intimidating effect on the other passengers that most of them found a seat and went to sleep quietly at night, and even the little children being held by adults didn't cry much.

There were quite a few passengers with standing tickets like Lei Tingjun, but because they had witnessed how fierce Lei Tingjun was when he beat people up, no one dared to mess with him.

He walked to the entrance of the passageway, took a newspaper, and sat down on the ground. No one dared to squeeze in with him.

Ji Wanmei was indeed tired. The train was cramped and the space to move around was limited. The wind blowing in from the window at night gradually became cooler.

She leaned on Luo Chunyan's shoulder, her eyes half-closed, and fell asleep.

When Luo Chunyan sleeps, she makes a soft snoring sound, and Ji Wanmei gradually falls asleep to this rhythmic snoring.

Ji Wanmei woke up around six o'clock the next morning.

She was woken up by the crying of the child in the next seat. The child was probably uncomfortable after sitting on the train for a day and a night and kept crying.

But they will arrive at their final destination, Zhejiang, at eight o'clock.

Ji Wanmei shook Luo Chunyan awake: "Chunyan, Chunyan, don't sleep, we'll be there soon."

Luo Chunyan opened her eyes with a start: "Where? Where? Have we arrived yet?"

Ji Wanmei glanced at her watch; it was 6:30, so there was still an hour and a half to go.

"It'll be a while, but we can get up, have something to eat, and get ready."

Having been on the train for a day and a night, Ji Wanmei felt that her calves were almost swollen. She desperately needed to find a spacious place to move around and stretch her limbs.

They had finished the steamed buns they brought, but there were still a dozen or so eggs left. Since they were getting off the train at eight o'clock anyway, they didn't need to be too particular about breakfast. They divided the eggs among themselves to have a little something to eat.

Ji Wanmei still left three for Lei Tingjun.

While she went to the restroom to wash her hands, she handed the eggs to Lei Tingjun: "Have something to eat, we'll be getting off the bus soon."

"I'm not hungry, you eat." Lei Tingjun refused to take the food.

Ji Wanmei said, "We've all eaten; this is for you."

Lei Tingjun then accepted it.

He boarded the train in a great hurry, with only a little money on him and almost nothing else. As a result, all the food he ate on the train was given to him by Ji Wanmei.

Lei Tingjun doesn't really like himself like this.

Ji Wanmei watched him eat the egg silently, then went into the toilet. She used the pitifully weak water flow to wash her face, then wrung out the handkerchief she had on her and wiped her neck, shoulders, back, and arms.

Only then did I feel the sticky, greasy feeling on my body subside a bit.

When she came out, Lei Tingjun had already finished eating his eggs and was leaning against the aisle smoking.

When he saw Ji Wanmei come out, he quickly put out his cigarette.

Ji Wanmei glanced at him; she actually wanted to tell him it was nothing.

She knew he was exhausted from being crammed in the narrow aisle all night and wanted a cigarette to clear his head.

However, he had already put out his cigarette, so Ji Wanmei didn't say anything. She only said to him, "You probably didn't rest well last night. Go wash your face. After you get off the bus, don't let Officer Li see you going in the same direction as us."

"Okay, I understand." Lei Tingjun nodded, watched her return to her seat, and then went into the restroom to wash his face.

Many passengers got off at Zhejiang Station. Starting at 7:30, people began taking their luggage off the overhead racks to prepare for disembarking.

Ji Wanmei and the others didn't have much luggage. Luo Chunyan had a handbag, Ji Wanmei had a small suitcase, and Officer Li only carried a briefcase. They were all quite relaxed.

However, the exits on both sides of the vehicle were blocked by a large number of migrant workers, making it impossible for them to move forward or backward.

Finally, as the train's arrival announcement played, we arrived at Zhejiang Station.

The crowd on the train began to surge out through the doors.

Ji Wanmei turned around and saw Lei Tingjun walking in the opposite direction from the door they had gone to. He went to the other carriage alone and got off there.

For some reason, Ji Wanmei felt uneasy as she watched his back as he walked in the opposite direction.

"Meimei, we're finally going to Zhejiang! I'm so excited! You can feel how fast my heart is beating!"

Luo Chunyan's excited voice interrupted Ji Wanmei's thoughts. She turned around, smiled at Luo Chunyan, took her hand, and said:

“After getting off the train, we can walk closely together. There are so many people at train stations in big cities, it’s easy to get separated if you’re not careful.”

"Okay, I got it. We'll hold hands later," Luo Chunyan said, both nervous and excited.

The train slowly pulled into the platform, and the doors opened—

When Ji Wanmei and Luo Chunyan set foot on the land belonging to Zhejiang, they both looked up and took a deep breath of fresh air.

They all had a feeling that this trip to Zhejiang would change their destiny!

Together with Officer Li, they moved forward with the vast flow of people leaving the station. The moment when they stood out in the sea of ​​people and felt their own insignificance was truly impactful.

"This place truly lives up to its name as Zhejiang! It's so prosperous, with skyscrapers everywhere!"

After exiting the platform, Luo Chunyan looked up and around, marveling at the bustling scene of this coastal city, her first time traveling so far from home.

Ji Wanmei smiled slightly.

This was Zhejiang in 1988. Twenty or thirty years later, it will become an international metropolis.