Soon it was time to go to Beijing. Xia Qingqing and her friends' train tickets were for departure at 9 o'clock.
Old Ding's oxcart was waiting at the Xia family's door early in the morning.
This was an arrangement between Xia Heping and Uncle Ding, whereby Uncle Ding would take his family to the train station and give him one yuan for the fare.
Zhang Hongyan checked to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, then locked all the doors before finally getting on the oxcart last.
"Uncle Ding, that's enough, let's go."
"Alright, let's go," Uncle Ding cracked his whip at the cow's rump, and the cow slowly started to walk.
Xia Heping sat next to Uncle Ding and chatted with him casually.
Uncle Ding sighed, "Heping, you two are really going to enjoy your life now, you've had a wonderful daughter."
Now, everyone in the brigade envies Xia Heping and his wife; some are genuinely happy for them, while others are simply jealous.
Xia Qingqing smiled innocently: "Hehe, it's our blessing to have such a good daughter as Qingqing."
"You're going to Beijing for a few days this time. When you come back, you have to tell me all about what Beijing is like," Uncle Ding said with a smile.
Xia Heping assured him repeatedly, "No problem, I'll bring you some specialties from Beijing."
"That's great, I'll be waiting for it."
Beside her, Gou Dan nestled in Xia Qingqing's arms, chattering away and asking her all sorts of questions, while Zhang Hongyan chimed in from time to time.
......
In a cheerful atmosphere, the oxcart soon came to a stop at the entrance of the train station.
Xia Qingqing looked at the train station in front of her with curiosity. It looked very simple and didn't look like a train station at all. It looked more like a bus station.
Apart from her, none of the three, including Zhang Hongyan, had ever ridden a train before, and they appeared somewhat reserved after entering the station.
Xia Qingqing had no choice but to take the lead, dragging her family through the crowd, and finally found their carriage before the train departed.
"Phew~", Xia Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief as she listened to the sound of the train moving. This situation was no less than the Spring Festival travel rush. Her shoes were almost squeezed off.
Zhang Hongyan tidied her messy hair, her tone tinged with complaint: "There are just too many people on this train. If it's any slower, we won't be able to get on."
She was initially excited about experiencing train travel, but the chaotic crowd completely destroyed her excitement, leaving her only exhausted.
Xia Qingqing's family bought sleeper tickets. There are six seats in a sleeper carriage, and the four of them occupied three of them.
As for why there are 3, it's because Gou Dan bought a child's ticket, so he doesn't have a separate bed. If he wants to occupy a separate bed, he has to pay more for a full-price ticket.
The four of them put their things away and then assigned beds. Gou Dan and Xia Heping slept together, while Xia Qingqing and Zhang Hongyan slept separately.
"Where are you all headed, ladies?"
As soon as Zhang Hongyan finished packing her things, a middle-aged woman smiled and struck up a conversation with her.
Before the family entered, there were already three people in the carriage: a middle-aged woman who was talking, a short-haired girl in her early twenties, and a middle-aged man who didn't look like they had boarded the train at this station.
Seeing that the other person was about the same age as her and had a friendly demeanor, Zhang Hongyan quickly started chatting with him.
Xia Qingqing sighed helplessly as she watched her mother almost reveal all of their family's secrets to the other party.
Zhang Hongyan appears feisty and capable, but due to her limited perspective and lack of experience traveling far from home, she is still too trusting of others.
Xia Qingqing wondered if she was overthinking things, but she felt that this middle-aged woman was being inconsiderate. Why would a stranger ask about someone's private matters? She seemed to have ulterior motives.
She didn't take it to heart. Just because someone lacks tact doesn't mean they're a bad person. Some people are naturally outgoing and can be very friendly with strangers.
Seeing that the woman was still asking questions, Xia Qingqing joined the conversation, and whenever Zhang Hongyan was about to talk about her family situation, she would change the subject and interrupt her.
The auntie noticed Xia Qingqing's wariness and said with a smile, "Hongyan, your daughter is really vigilant. That's good; she won't be easily deceived when she's out in the future."
"Oh, this child just overthinks things, Sister Zhen, please don't mind," Zhang Hongyan said somewhat embarrassedly.
However, I realized that I shouldn't have told the other person so much about my own family.
She was used to chatting with people in the village, and once she started talking, she couldn't stop. Besides, she didn't think there was anything wrong with being a rural woman.
Soon it was noon, and Sister Zhen took out the cornbread from her bag first, and generously handed one to Gou Dan.
She thought that a little kid like Gou Dan would take the food immediately, but Gou Dan didn't take it at all.
Zhang Hongyan quickly declined, saying, "Sister Zhen, you don't need to be so polite. We brought our own food."
As she spoke, she took out boiled eggs and white flour pancakes that she had specially prepared early that morning from her package.
Sister Zhen's eyes lit up, and she said, "Hongyan, are these pancakes made with pure white flour? They smell really good."
Actually, the pancakes had long since lost their heat and no longer smelled fragrant.
When Zhang Hongyan heard her ask this, and thinking of how she had offered Gou Dan the pancake, she smiled, broke off a piece, and handed it over: "I made it myself, Sister Zhen, you can try it."
Sister Zhen pretended to decline for a while, but quickly took the pancake and finished off half of it in no time.
The middle-aged man in the carriage also saw the eggs and white flour pancakes that Zhang Hongyan took out. He immediately felt that the corn pancakes in his hand were tasteless and took a deep look at the package next to Zhang Hongyan.
......
Time passed slowly on the train, so Xia Qingqing simply took out her textbooks and helped Gou Dan preview his lessons.
Gou Dan knew he had taken a week off and was afraid it would really interfere with his studies, so he studied very hard.
The short-haired girl sitting in the lower bunk opposite Xia Qingqing saw this scene and couldn't help but glance at Xia Qingqing a few more times. She seemed to want to talk to Xia Qingqing but didn't know what to say.
Xia Qingqing noticed that she was looking at her and gave her a friendly smile.
That smile gave the girl a lot of courage, and she asked in a low voice, "Um, are you also a freshman at Beijing University?"
She had just overheard Zhang Hongyan and Sister Zhen talking. Zhang Hongyan had mentioned at the beginning that her family was sending their daughter to school, which was why she wanted to talk to Xia Qingqing, but she hadn't had the courage to speak up.
Xia Qingqing nodded upon hearing this: "Yes, are you also going to study in Beijing?"
"Yes, I'm also a freshman at Beijing University," the girl said with a shy smile.
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