Chapter 57: Departure: Zhoulan City
Gu Yuehuai left Wang Peisheng's house and went to the breeding place.
After she entered the room, she found that Wang Fu was not there today. Wang Peisheng was the only one in the office. He was writing furiously on a notebook with a pen in his hand. With such seriousness, his position as a team leader was not in vain.
Gu Yuehuai called out, "Director Wang!"
Wang Peisheng was stunned, then turned to look at Gu Yuehuai. Seeing that she was in good spirits, he put down his pen and said with a smile, "You're back? How's your second brother?"
Gu Yuehuai shook his head: "It's nothing, thank you Director Wang for your concern. I came here today to ask you if I can take two more days off. I plan to go to Zhoulan City to visit my relatives, and the journey will take some time."
Wang Peisheng did not hesitate. He knew that something had just happened in her family and she would have to ask her relatives to help her. He said, "Okay, there's no rush for the mural." Then he turned and asked, "You need a letter of introduction to go to Zhoulan City, right?"
Gu Yuehuai smiled and flattered him: "Director Wang is thoughtful and is indeed a good cadre serving the people!"
Wang Peisheng laughed, shook his head, and took out a piece of special paper for letters of introduction, which was a piece of paper smaller than 16K, with the stub on the left. He took out a pen and wrote down all the information about Gu Yuehuai, and finally stamped it with the official seal of the Dalaozi Production Brigade.
He blew the ink off the pen on the letter paper before handing it to Gu Yuehuai: "Here you go."
Gu Yuehuai took it and looked at the name, date, matter, introduction signal code, etc. clearly marked on it.
She smiled and said, "Thank you, Director Wang."
Wang Peisheng waved his hands. It was just a small matter, not worth thanking for.
Gu Yuehuai thought about the food coupons and said shamelessly, "Director Wang, my family doesn't have many food coupons, but I can't go out without them. Can you lend me some? I'll definitely pay you back when I come back!"
In the era of coupons, you couldn’t move an inch without a ticket or a certificate.
Wang Peisheng smiled and said, "I thought it was something serious."
As he spoke, he took out a stack of money from his inner pocket, sorted out the food coupons and handed them to Gu Yuehuai: "Here are two kilograms of food coupons, is that enough?"
Gu Yuehuai hurriedly said: "Enough! Enough! Thank you Director Wang!"
Food coupons were relatively scarce for villagers, because food coupons were distributed according to population, gender, age, and type of work, and there were also national food coupons and local food coupons.
The villagers were self-sufficient, and food coupons were only distributed at the end of the year. As for meat coupons, oil coupons, and cloth coupons, they were even scarcer, not to mention the various luxury coupons that could only be obtained through connections.
Gu Yuehuai said goodbye to Wang Peisheng and went home.
She picked up a basket, filled it with some space well water and dates, and boiled a few eggs to eat on the way.
Because taking the train requires special food coupons, otherwise you can't eat the train meals. If she doesn't prepare something to eat during the whole night's journey, she's afraid she will starve before she reaches Zhou Lan City.
Everything was ready, so Gu Yuehuai locked the door and went to town.
There was only one train from Qing'an County to Zhoulan City, and it was at night. There was no need to rush on the way, so she didn't spend money on the ox cart. The family was poor but the road was rich. She only had 20 yuan and two kilograms of food coupons on her, so she decided to be frugal.
It was not until noon that Gu Yuehuai arrived at Qing'an County.
She didn't have a watch and didn't know the exact time, so she didn't go back to the clinic and walked directly to the train station.
The railway station in Qing'an County is very small, with only a waiting room and two platforms.
The train station was packed with people, and there was a huge clock hanging in the middle. Gu Yuehuai took a look and saw that it was two o'clock. She clenched the jade ring in her pocket, squeezed into the crowd, and lined up at the back to buy a ticket.
Although the line was long, it was very efficient and it wasn't long before it was Gu Yuehuai's turn.
The conductor asked, "Where to?"
Gu Yuehuai said: "Zhou Lan City."
The conductor swiftly took out the ticket from the box in front of him, and stamped it with the date and train number: "Two dollars and two cents."
Gu Yuehuai paid the money and got the ticket.
It was a very small hard-board ticket with the words Qing'an County - Zhoulan City marked on it, fare 2.20 yuan, date 1972.10.24, departure time 22:20, valid for arrival within five days, etc.
Gu Yuehuai looked up at the big clock. It was still early and she would need to wait in the waiting room for another eight hours.
She sat in the waiting room and ate two dates and an egg to fill her hungry stomach.
After Gu Yuehuai finished eating, he began to stare at the pedestrians coming and going in the station. There were crying children, quarreling couples, an elderly couple supporting each other, and workers on business trips who were neatly dressed.
Life is full of different aspects.
Compared to all these people, isn't she lucky to have a chance to start over?
Time passed by minute by minute, and it was already dark.
When the ticket checking time was approaching, Gu Yuehuai suddenly saw Gu Zhifeng anxiously looking for something in the crowd!
"Dad!" Gu Yuehuai was startled and shouted.
Gu Zhifeng turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Gu Yuehuai.
He squeezed through the crowd and before he even got to Gu Yuehuai, he started to scold him, "Why don't you go back to the clinic? Dad hasn't given you money or food coupons yet! How can you go to the city without anything?"
Gu Yuehuai was stunned for a moment, looking at Gu Zhifeng muttering non-stop, then took out a stack of bills from his pocket and stuffed it into her hand.
Gu Zhifeng patted Gu Yuehuai's hand and warned him, "Dad doesn't have much money on him, so I'll give it all to you. Take good care of it, pack it well, and don't lose it. Don't waste yourself outside, and eat something good, okay?"
Listening to his earnest instructions, Gu Yuehuai's eyes turned slightly red.
She nodded heavily, and did not refuse, and packed the money and notes: "Dad, go back soon, don't worry, I will check the tickets soon, and when we come back, we can pay off the debt and live a good life."
Gu Zhifeng moved his lips and wanted to say something, but in the end it all turned into a sigh.
22:20, it's time to check in.
Gu Yuehuai pursed her lips and walked to the ticket gate. After checking the ticket, she passed through the gate. When she turned around, she saw Gu Zhifeng waving at her while wiping away tears imperceptibly. She looked so tearful that she looked like she was going to marry off her daughter.
Gu Yuehuai smiled, waved to him, turned around and strode into the station.
*
At that time, most trains were still steam locomotives, which burned coal to power the locomotives. Generally, a trip would consume several tons of coal, and the speed was very slow, only 30 to 40 kilometers per hour.
Although Qing'an County is a county under the jurisdiction of Zhoulan City, the two places are far apart, one in the north and the other in the south. It takes seven hours by train to get there, which is even farther than going to the neighboring city.
However, Zhoulan City is very prosperous and is considered a first-tier city in Country Z.
This is also the reason why she traveled all the way to Zhoulan City. Consignment stores are not available everywhere.
Gu Yuehuai did not buy a sleeper ticket, so when he sat on his seat, the environment was noisy and the smell was strong.
Her seat was by the window, and soon after she sat down, the train started rumbling away.
"Ni'er, are you going to Zhoulan City?" After driving for an unknown amount of time, the woman sitting next to Gu Yuehuai started talking to her. After all, the journey was long and it would be boring without anyone to talk to.
"Yeah." Gu Yuehuai nodded.
She was not a warm person, and because of her tragic experience, she was extremely wary of strangers.
The woman didn't care about her indifference and said with a smile: "Haha, I'm going to Zhoulan City to see a doctor too."
She was a chatterbox and was never idle during the whole journey. She kept asking Gu Yuehuai if she had a partner, and whether there were any strong laborers in her family. She wanted to dig up everything about her ancestors.
However, after Gu Yuehuai said that her ancestors were landlords, the woman stopped talking and looked at her with contempt.
Gu Yuehuai's ears were quiet, so he simply leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes and took a rest.
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