On June 8th, early in the morning, before the roosters crowed, the Ning family got up.
It takes nearly seven days to travel from Qi Province, where Shangang Village is located, to Hailang Island by train. It is a long journey.
The train ticket I bought was for nine in the morning. To take the train, I had to go from Shangang Village to the city first, which was a long way to go, so I had to get up early.
Ning Tang had never gotten up so early since he came here. He never got up until noon every day. But he got up so early out of the blue, standing with his eyelids closed.
Sun Aiju put the cooked eggs, steamed buns and sweet potatoes into a package and gave it to Ning Tang. "Here, eat it on the train."
Ning Tang took it and handed it to Chen Lie, "I understand, Mom."
Sun Aiju took Ning Tang's hand and looked her up and down carefully, as if trying to imprint her figure in her mind.
Ning Weiguo didn't come over. He sat alone on the threshold of the main room, smoking one cigarette after another rolled out of straw paper.
Ning Tang felt very uncomfortable. There was no doubt about how much Sun Aiju and Ning Weiguo loved her. She had long regarded them as her biological parents.
Ning Tang forced a smile on his face, took Sun Aiju's hand in his backhand, patted it, and said jokingly, "They say you can have dumplings when you go out and noodles when you get home. Mom, you only gave me eggs, steamed buns, and sweet potatoes to deal with. Where are the dumplings I had when I went out?"
Sun Aiju glared at her and said, "Your father and I ate all the dumplings."
Ning Tang laughed heartily, "Then don't forget the noodles I had when I got home. I love the noodles you made. Cook a pot of thin noodles, add an egg, add two drops of sesame oil, and put two small green vegetables on top. Wow, the taste is so fragrant that it makes me dizzy."
"Yeah." Sun Aiju responded, her voice choked with sobs. She stretched out her index finger and tapped Ning Tang's nose. "You silly girl, you only think about eating."
Ning Tang touched the tip of his nose in a playful manner and glanced at Ning Weiguo, who was sitting on the doorstep smoking a cigarette. "Also, you need to control my dad. It's not good for him to keep smoking like this."
Ning Weiguo threw his smoked cigarette holder to the ground and crushed it with his shoe sole. "I heard it."
Ning Tang stuck out his tongue.
Sun Aiju looked at the sky and saw that the sun had already risen. "It's almost time."
"Yeah." Ning Tang responded and waved to Sun Aiju, "Then let's go."
When Ning Tang was talking to Sun Aiju, Chen Lie stood beside her and waited silently. Only when he heard her say she was leaving did he follow her.
The two walked out side by side. Ning Tang turned back every three steps and waved to Sun Aiju. "Mom, I'll write to you when I get there."
Soon, the two figures turned into a small black dot.
At the same time, Su Junyan and Ning Xue were also saying goodbye to Ning Weidang, Zhou Yin and Ning De.
Ning Xue didn't say much, Zhou Yin and Su Junyan were the ones talking the whole time.
Zhou Yin kept holding Ning Xue's hand and told her to get along well with Su Junyan and not to get divorced like her previous marriage.
Su Junyan kept making promises to Ning Weidang and Ning De, saying that he would take good care of Ning Xue. He also said that Hailang Island was rich in seafood and he would send a lot of seafood to Ning Weidang and Zhou Yin. In short, he made a lot of promises.
Su Junyan was good at speaking and his words were very eloquent, which made Ning Weidang and Ning De stunned. Ning Weidang was grinning from ear to ear, and even Ning De felt that his sister had really been entrusted to a good man this time.
Because they talked too much, Su Junyan and Ning Xue were reluctant to set off. Later, they hurried to catch up with Chen Lie and Ning Tang.
Just like the last time I went to the department store in the city, I first took a donkey cart from Shangang Village, and then went to the train station when I arrived in the city.
Chen Lie and Ning Tang waited at the train station for a long time, until the train was about to leave, when they finally saw Su Junyan and Ning Xue.
Ning Tang looked at the two men sweating profusely and felt that it was time. She had called them again and again before they set off, but who knew that these two would make excuses and keep chatting about family matters. She also asked them to go first, and now they almost missed the train.
Although not many people take the train these days, June is the peak season, and Shen Lie and Su Junyan only managed to grab four seats.
Fortunately, these four tickets were for the same carriage. When Ning Tang entered the carriage, he saw two long green armchairs facing each other, with a small table for eating in the middle.
The environment is pretty good, and it's better to sit than to stand.
But when Ning Tang thought about having to sit for seven days, he just felt sore in his back.
Chen Lie and Su Junyan put the luggage they brought on the luggage rack. Ning Tang took out the egg buns and sweet potatoes that Sun Aiju had stuffed for her to eat on the way, and the four of them shared them.
In the evening, the four of us ordered train meals. The food tasted pretty good and was affordable. You could buy a box lunch with one meat dish and one vegetable dish for only 20 cents.
We got up early in the morning and everyone was sleepy at this time. After dinner, we simply went to the bathroom to get some water, wiped ourselves, and prepared to go to bed.
The carriage is not very spacious. A green reclining chair can barely seat two people. If one person lies down, they can only stretch their legs.
Chen Lie glanced at the seat and gave the entire seat to Ning Tang, "You sleep."
Ning Tang raised an eyebrow, "What about you?"
Chen Lie stood on tiptoe and took a bag stuffed with clothes from the luggage rack. He sorted it out and gave it to Ning Tang as a pillow. "I can just lean on it and take a nap."
Ning Tang was a little embarrassed. "How about we take turns sleeping? I'll sleep in the first half of the night, and you sleep in the second half."
"Don't bother, just sleep," Chen Lie said. "When we were fighting in the rainforest of the Western Territory, I had to keep one eye open when I needed to fall asleep. It's nice to have a place to lean on and take a nap. I'm used to it. Don't worry about me, just sleep on your own."
As if afraid that Ning Tang wouldn't believe him, Chen Lie explained a few more words.
He had said so much, Ning Tang didn't hesitate, "Okay, I'm going to sleep."
Ning Tang was tired after a busy day. She lay on the chair, resting her head on the package stuffed with clothes, and soon began to snore softly.
Chen Lie leaned against the side of the chair, his arms folded across his chest, his eyes closed, resting. It was unclear whether he was asleep or not.
Ning Xue glanced at the two of them, feeling a little envious. She looked at Su Junyan with anticipation.
Su Junyan received Ning Xue's gaze and said softly, "Sleep on me. I'll hold you and be your human pillow. This way you'll sleep more comfortably."
Ning Xue was speechless. The seat was not soft, and it would be so uncomfortable for the two of them to sleep while sitting.
But when Ning Xue thought about Su Junyan being willing to hold her while sleeping, she felt a surge of sweetness in her heart, so she sweetly agreed, "Okay."
After a good night's rest, Ning Tang woke up feeling refreshed in the morning.
In contrast, Su Junyan and Ning Xue's seats were hard and straight. They slept on them all night, and when they got up, their necks and waists were almost broken.
The journey is long and there is no conversation along the way.
By the time Ning Tang was about to vomit watching the scenery flash by outside the car window, they had finally arrived at their destination.
After getting off the train, Ning Xue asked Su Junyan, "Have we arrived at Hailang Island?"
Su Junyan smiled. "No, we've only just arrived. We're in Wen County, Jiang City, and it'll take more than three hours by boat to get to Hailang Island."
Ning Tang, who was standing by, almost felt his legs go weak when he heard that they would have to take the boat for another three hours.
But when I think about the seven days and seven nights of train travel I had already endured, a three-hour boat ride was nothing.
The four of them bought boat tickets and took a boat from Wen County, Jiang City to Hailang Island.
The boat was just an ordinary passenger ship, made entirely of white iron sheets. The bolts in some places had turned yellow rust after being soaked in water for a long time.
The space was not big. The boatman was steering the boat at the bow, and the four of them were standing on the boat. There was not even a place to sit. Besides the swimming ring, there were only fishing spears and fishing nets on the boat.
The passenger ship was swaying back and forth as it was hit by the waves. The boat ride was not a good experience at all.
But fortunately the scenery is extremely beautiful.
It was evening at this time. A gust of sea breeze blew, and ripples appeared on the sea surface. Seagulls hit the sea surface, causing ripples.
Looking out, there is a huge fiery red sunset on the sea level, and the sunset glow makes the houses on the distant Hailang Island shine brightly.
The four of them stood on the boat, smelling the slightly salty sea breeze, and were all fascinated by the scenery.
The scenery is so beautiful that time flies by so quickly. In the blink of an eye, the three-hour boat ride is over and the passenger ship arrives at its destination, Hailang Island.
Ning Tang jumped off the boat at the boatman's shout. The moment her feet touched the land, she felt something real.
As soon as Ning Tang got off the boat, she couldn't help but look around. The port where they got off the boat was a beach, and the beach was covered with large and small black reefs.
There were many women wearing conical hats standing on the reef, holding a bucket in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other. They kept walking back and forth on the black reef, dropping a pair of pliers from time to time, as if they were catching something.
One of them was wearing a bamboo hat and looked a bit bloated. She looked a certain age. She seemed to have noticed them and trotted over from the Black Reef. She raised her voice and said, "Captain Shen, Section Chief Su."
Shen Lie responded to Su Junyan, "Sister-in-law Luo."
Ning Tang took a look and saw that Mrs. Luo was wearing a blue and white checkered twill cotton shirt on the upper body, navy blue wide-leg pants on the lower body with one leg rolled up, and a pair of khaki plastic rain boots on her feet. There was a lot of sand stuck on the heels of her shoes. She looked very simple.
Ning Tang and Ning Xue also quickly followed suit, "Hello, Sister Luo."
Mrs. Luo responded with a smile, "Hello, hello."
As she answered, she looked at Ning Tang and Ning Xue, with surprise flashing in her eyes from time to time. It was rare to see such a beautiful girl, who was no less beautiful than the art soldiers of the art troupe that had come to the island for a tour before.
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