twenty one
As the saying goes, the road to Sichuan is difficult, harder than climbing to heaven. Yang Qiujin and her family rode in an ox cart along the bumpy dirt road to the county, and then took a small bus from the county to go around the winding provincial road on the mountain road, and finally arrived at the train station in the provincial capital.
As soon as they got off the car, Yang Qiujin, who usually didn't get motion sickness, vomited violently. On the contrary, Chen Tianyou, although he looked listless, did not have any symptoms of motion sickness and was full of blood and revived as soon as he got off the car.
"Have a drink of water." Chen Shengqing opened the military water bottle he carried with him and handed it to Yang Qiujin.
Yang Qiujin took a couple of sips and felt her anxious stomach feel much better. She said weakly, "How long will it take to get in?"
They stopped at the entrance of the provincial capital railway station. Packages of all sizes were placed on the roadside. Yang Qiujin felt dizzy and got a headache when she saw the packages on the ground.
"It will probably take about ten minutes." Chen Shengqing saw that she looked very bad, so he put the heaviest package on his back, hung another one in front of him, and picked up all the remaining packages with his arms. He looked around and said to Chen Tianyou, who was extremely curious, with a serious expression: "Comrade Chen Tianyou, the organization has issued an order to you now. The train station is crowded, and the weak Comrade Yang Qiujin needs your help to send her to the train safely. Comrade Chen Tianyou, can you complete the task assigned to you by the organization?"
"Make sure you complete the tasks assigned by the organization!" Chen Tianyou had no idea that his father had given him this instruction because he was afraid that he would run around and cause trouble for Yang Qiujin, who was already feeling unwell.
He was extremely excited. He stood at attention and gave Chen Shengqing a not-so-standard military salute. He turned around and took Yang Qiujin's hand, looking at the crowd around him with a vigilant look, "Comrade Yang Qiujin, please follow the organization's footsteps and move forward unswervingly. As a child of the Party, I will definitely protect your safety at all costs."
These words were totally unlike what a six-year-old child would say, but Yang Qiujin knew that these were the lines that Chen Tianyou learned from movies such as Land Mine Warfare and The Red Detachment of Women when he often went to watch dam movies with the other children in the village.
She let Chen Tianyou pull her through the crowd with a bit of amusement, and did not forget to turn around and give Chen Shengqing a thumbs up.
As expected, he is a man who has been leading subordinates for many years. He can make his naughty son obedient with just a few words.
God knows how much of a headache she felt when she saw Chen Tianyou getting ready to make a move and wanting to run around everywhere.
Chen Shengqing raised the corner of his mouth slightly. The new recruits he had led were much more mischievous and difficult to discipline than Tianyou. He had plenty of ways to deal with them. He could easily control a mere kid.
The train station in the provincial capital was much larger than other small stations. Yang Qiujin and her family walked through the crowded crowd to the waiting room and waited for nearly an hour before the waiting room broadcast sounded announcing that the train they were taking was about to arrive.
Other passengers were rushing to get on the train, carrying their luggage. Chen Shengqing, who was wearing a military uniform, just stood at the platform. Then, staff members followed the principle of military personnel first and escorted Chen Shengqing and his family of three to get on the train safely.
This green train to the border city of Urumqi has mostly hard seats and very few berths. Ordinary people cannot afford to sit in the berths. Only cadre experts or some special personnel, foreign technicians, etc. are eligible to buy berth tickets.
As an army officer, Chen Shengqing was eligible to buy sleeper berth tickets, and he bought two in total. Chen Tianyou was a child, so he didn't need to buy a ticket. Once on the bus, he could just rest next to him and Yang Qiujin.
The sleeper cars were at the front and had to pass through the hard seat cars. As soon as they boarded the train, Yang Qiujin saw that the sleeper cars were filled with young people wearing clothes of various fabrics and looking very young, looking out the windows with panicked expressions.
Chen Shengqing led Yang Qiujin and her son to the sleeper compartment, found the location of their tickets, put their large and small bags in place, and said to Yang Qiujin, who looked pale, "You can sleep on the lower bunk. There are windows below, and you will sleep more comfortably."
At that time, the train windows could be opened by oneself. Yang Qiujin nodded and opened the window. She saw many passengers on the platform outside the window who were seeing off their relatives and friends. Each of them had tears in their eyes and said something to the young people sitting by the window.
"Why are there so many people on this train, and they are all young people." Yang Qiujin asked casually.
She took out an orange from her bag, peeled it, gave the flesh to Tianyou to eat, and put the peel between her nose and smelled it, which was very effective in getting rid of motion sickness.
Chen Shengqing also took a slice of the sweet and sour orange and ate it: "Most of them are educated young people who went to the border areas to support the frontiers."
The struggle in the mainland became increasingly severe, and the country had a policy requiring the vast majority of educated young people to receive re-education from the poor and middle peasants and go to various parts of the country to contribute to national construction. Many young people were forced to give up their studies and go to the countryside.
Border areas are sparsely populated and have harsh living conditions, and are one of the key areas where these young people are sent down to work.
There were also many bad elements, including young people who wanted to escape from the nightmare of right and wrong. During this period, trains to the border were basically overcrowded.
"Where in the borderland will they go?" Yang Qiujin asked, taking a deep breath of the scent of orange peel.
"The various military corps, state-owned farms and ranches will take over."
"So what kind of people are accepted in these military farms?" Yang Qiujin pulled Chen Tianyou, who was climbing up and down restlessly, to sit on the bottom bunk where she was sitting.
"We can collect them, but we can't. The household registration system in border areas is still very chaotic." Chen Shengqing answered every question. "Because it is close to the Soviet Union, India, Mongolia and other countries, the border area is too vast. Many counter-revolutionaries, spies and lawless elements are roaming around the border areas, making population investigation very difficult."
"Is that so..." Yang Qiujin thought thoughtfully.
At this time, a girl with long hair, beautiful looks, petite stature, but a good figure, with a curvy figure, came towards them carrying a rattan box.
She held a ticket in her hand, for the bed opposite them.
When she saw Yang Qiujin's family sitting together and talking, especially Chen Shengqing in military uniform, the girl's tense brows relaxed noticeably. She smiled at them politely and said nothing. She picked up the box, stepped hard, and put the heavy rattan box on the second-level bunk.
The sleeper compartments of those days were very narrow, with no partitions. The sleepers were placed opposite each other in pairs, with a crowded aisle in the middle. Usually the upper bed was much higher than the lower one.
The girl was too petite, with thin arms and legs. The wicker basket she held up in her hands felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and swayed as if it would fall at any moment. However, she gritted her teeth and lifted it up with all her strength, without asking anyone around for help.
Seeing this, Yang Qiujin reached out and pushed Chen Shengqing, "Why are you just standing there? Go and lend a hand and serve the people. Isn't that what you soldiers should do every day?"
"To serve the people, you have to choose between people." Chen Shengqing looked at her deeply. "If I take the initiative and enthusiastically help a young girl carry a suitcase, as my wife, will you be jealous and quarrel with me and smear my face?"
Yang Qiujin was stunned by what he said, "I didn't think of this."
"It's best if you don't have any crazy thoughts." Chen Shengqing raised his eyebrows, stretched out his long hand, and gently helped the girl put the box on the second-tier bunk. Amid the girl's series of thanks, he turned to Yang Qiujin and said, "Our deputy regiment commander's wife is a jealous person. Whenever the deputy regiment commander gets a little closer to any female comrade or shows a little more friendly expression, she will make the deputy regiment commander's face full of flowers. Our deputy regiment commander has a headache when mentioning her wife. You have always had a bad temper, and I don't want to become our second deputy regiment commander."
"In your eyes, I am a fussy tigress?" Yang Qiujin rolled her eyes at him and reached out to grab Chen Tianyou who wanted to run away. "The train is about to leave. Where are you going? Sit tight!"
"Mom, the train is so noisy and stuffy, I don't like it." Chen Tianyou is an active child. It seems like there are nails on his buttocks. Once he sits down, he moves around and cannot sit still.
"You have to sit even if you can't sit still. We are on the train and you can't mess around." Yang Qiujin took out a boiled egg from the bag where she kept food and handed it to him, "Peel it and eat it yourself. After you finish eating, ask your dad to play tank bombing with you."
"I don't want to eat." Chen Tianyou tilted his head and said angrily, "Boiled eggs have no taste and are not delicious. I want to go to another carriage to play."
These words attracted curious glances from people sleeping nearby.
Most people these days don’t have enough to eat, and eggs are considered delicate food in people’s eyes. Normal people eat eggs as if they are precious, but this child actually complained that white eggs were not tasty.
What a good life this is, not even eggs are worth looking down on.
After seeing that Chen Tianyou was fair-skinned, with red lips and white teeth, and that his father was wearing a military officer's uniform, people began to understand a little.
After all, the allowances for officers above the battalion level are not low, so it is quite easy to raise a picky child.
"Eat it if you want, or not." Yang Qiujin was not used to him. She quickly peeled the egg, ate the egg white herself, and stuffed the yolk into Chen Shengqing's mouth, "Open your mouth."
“?” Chen Shengqing was puzzled.
"I don't eat egg yolks." Yang Qiujin said confidently, "It's too choking. I'll give it to you."
Chen Shengqing was speechless. "If you are a picky eater yourself, how can you set an example and teach your children not to be picky eaters?"
Yang Qiujin retorted, "I am me, and he is him. What I say is the truth of heaven, and he has to listen even if he doesn't want to."
"Mom is just unreasonable." Chen Tianyou winked at Yang Qiujin, and before she got angry, he knew how to flatter her. "But I like Mom like this."
Chen Shengqing held the egg yolk in his hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. When he was in the army, he often thought that if he was not in the vanguard brigade and without his support, would Yang Qiujin and her son be bullied, would they not have enough food to eat, would be reluctant to spend money, and would starve themselves.
He often felt guilty about this, but now it seems that he was just overthinking.
Passengers in the carriage got on one after another, and soon the train started to rumble, shaking slowly at first, and then gradually picking up speed.
"Wow, it's so fast." Chen Tianyou had never been on a train before. As soon as the train started, he leaned against the window, staring at the scenery passing by outside the window with sparkling eyes.
"I want to sleep for a while." Yang Qiujin lay down on the bed and told Chen Shengqing: "Look after Tianyou. Don't let him run around or make noises, disturbing others' rest. And don't let him eat other people's food."
"You can sleep peacefully." Chen Shengqing looked at the dark circles under her eyes and said, "I promise to complete the task."
Yang Qiujin had a strange smile on her face. "Don't be too confident. You will find out in a moment how difficult your son is to deal with."
"No matter how difficult it is, it won't be more difficult than the troublesome new recruits under my command." Chen Shengqing was very confident. He called Chen Tianyou, who was tired of looking at the scenery outside the window, and said, "Let's play tank bombing planes. When you play, remember to lower the volume so as not to disturb others."
This is a simulated military toy that Chen Shengqing bought specifically from a military service agency. The so-called tank bombing of an airplane means that one person holds an airplane and the other holds a tank, pretending to attack and fight against the enemy.
"Okay, I still choose the tank!" Chen Tianyou liked this game very much. He immediately took out a military green tank from his small package, made a "bang! bang!" sound similar to a bomb, and began to bombard Chen's plane.
"Be careful." Chen Shengqing took the plane and dodged his bombs. From time to time, he pretended to drop bombs from the sky and bombarded Chen Tianyou's tanks. "Continuous bombing, pay attention to hiding!"
"Ah - help - run!" Chen Tianyou pretended that he was defeated and retreated quickly holding the small tank.
As his emotions grew agitated, he began to laugh and cry for help louder than anyone else in the carriage.
Everyone in the carriage was startled, and then they all quieted down and looked at Tianyou who was shouting for help.
A patrol officer came over immediately and found a cute, clean little boy playing games with others. He said to Chen Shengqing politely and jokingly, "Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, please pay attention to the tone and words you use when playing with your child to avoid unnecessary trouble."
"I'm sorry, flight attendant. I didn't teach my children well. I'm sorry for causing you trouble." Chen Shengqing apologized to the flight attendant awkwardly, then turned to Chen Tianyou and said, "What did your father tell you? Don't make a lot of noise in public. Be aware of the impact and don't disturb others' rest."
"I'm sorry, Dad." Chen Tianyou admitted his mistake very quickly.
"Want to play?"
"think!"
"Then remember, no matter how excited you are, don't get carried away and shout."
"Okay, Dad."
The second round of bombing began, and Chen Tianyou was bombed by the plane without exception, and he shouted again: "Ah, help, run!"
Chen Shengqing:......
After apologizing to the train attendant once again, he was not giving up and started a third round of bombing with Tianyou. This time he deliberately let Tianyou's tank blow up his plane.
"I won! Oh oh, I won!" Tianyou shouted even louder, and clapped his two little hands vigorously to applaud himself.
As the night grew darker and quieter, his excited roar sounded so harsh.
Chen Shengqing felt a dull pain in his temples. He patiently explained various reasons to Chen Tianyou. Chen Tianyou agreed quite readily, but in the blink of an eye he forgot what he said and did whatever he wanted.
After experiencing Chen Tianyou unable to sit still and running around everywhere, laughing and joking with a few equally naughty children in other carriages, asking for water and food, and soon shouting that he wanted to go to the toilet, coveting other people's food, begging for other people's food with a grin, etc., Chen Shengqing kept following him around, exhausted, and finally understood the strange expression on Yang Qiujin's face before she went to sleep.
This kid has too much energy and is really difficult to deal with.
When Yang Qiujin woke up, it was already the next morning. Chen Shengqing had fallen asleep on the bunk above her at some point. Tianyou, perhaps because he had slept for a while or was still full of energy, actually climbed onto the bed of the skinny girl opposite them, eating the glutinous rice noodles that the girl had brought with his mouth bulging.
"Chen Tianyou! Get down here!" Yang Qiujin frowned and glared at Chen Tianyou with murderous intent.
She has never been short of money for food, clothing and other expenses compared to this brat, but this brat doesn't know what's wrong with him. He always covets other people's things. No matter what others eat, he wants to have a share.
No matter how many times she beat and scolded him for this, he never learned his lesson. He was the typical person who only remembered the food but not the beating, and was so heartless and ungrateful.
"Oh no! Why is my mother awake?" Chen Tianyou's neck shrank, knowing that his mother was calling him by his full name, which meant she was really angry.
He hurriedly stuffed the glutinous rice noodles in his hand into his mouth, jumped down with his cheeks puffed up, and jumped into the aisle, without even putting on his shoes, ready to run away.
"Hey, brother Tianyou, be careful!" The petite girl was terrified, afraid that Chen Tianyou would jump from such a high place and sprain his ankle. Seeing that Yang Qiujin looked unhappy, she forced a smile and introduced herself to her: "Sister Yang, right? Tianyou told me that you are her mother. I am very happy to meet you. My name is Ren Ying, and I am an educated youth going to the Alianshan Farm. I took the initiative to ask brother Tianyou to come over to eat Jiangmi Noodles. Please don't scold him. When he woke up, you and your wife were not awake yet. He was hungry."
"Hello, Comrade Ren." Yang Qiujin got out of bed, put on her shoes, walked to her bed, and smiled helplessly at her, "You were fooled by this bastard. We have plenty of food in our bags. He just coveted other people's food. In order to get a bite of food, he learned to lie."
Ren Ying was slightly startled, then quickly smiled nonchalantly, "Children are like this, they always think other people's food is the most delicious. When I was a child, I often coveted other people's food, and my parents scolded me a lot at that time."
When she said this, her eyes dimmed and she lowered her head as if she was enduring something.
Most of the educated youth on this train did not volunteer to go to the countryside. Yang Qiujin did not ask about their secrets. She smiled and joked with Ren Ying. Then she turned around and pinched Chen Tianyou's ear, gritting her teeth and said, "You are so capable. You go and ask for food from others again. You are embarrassing your mother."
"It hurts, it hurts." Chen Tianyou bared his teeth, "Mom, you are wronging me. It was Sister Ren who took the initiative to give me the glutinous rice noodles. I didn't ask her for it."
Ren Ying agreed: "Yes, Sister Yang, Tianyou is so pretty and cute, and he is also very polite. When you were still asleep just now, he enthusiastically helped an old man to go to the toilet at the other end of the carriage. I heard his stomach growling, so I gave him some glutinous rice noodles."
"Really?" Yang Qiujin let go and looked Tianyou up and down. Seeing that his bright eyes were full of grievance, she immediately said, "I'm sorry, Tianyou. Mommy wrongly blamed you."
"It's okay, Mom. I forgive you." Chen Tianyou admits his mistakes quickly and gets over his anger quickly. A big reason for this is that he learned from Yang Qiujin, who also admitted her mistakes quickly.
Chen Shengqing was lying on the bunk, having been awake for quite a while. He listened silently to the conversation between mother and son. A faint smile appeared on his handsome face, and he quickly closed his eyes and continued to sleep.
The train rumbled along at high speed, stopping at platforms of varying sizes at regular intervals. Passengers got on the platforms one after another, most of them young people who were sent to support the border areas, and only a few people got off.
It took about two days for the scenery outside the window to change from green mountains and clear water to gradually desolate.
We had already entered the border area, but there was still one night's journey to Wushi. The temperature at night dropped significantly faster than in other areas. This was the special climate of the border area where people had to wear cotton jackets in the morning and evening, and gauze in the afternoon. Many people in the car were rummaging through their boxes for clothes to keep warm.
Yang Qiujin took out two thicker clothes from the package and put them on herself and Tianyou. She turned around and saw Chen Shengqing still wearing a thin military uniform. "You didn't bring back a piece of thicker clothes?"
"My uniform is quite thick." Chen Shengqing stretched his limbs, which were stiff from sitting in the car for a long time. "Don't worry about me. I have been fighting for many years, in the wind and rain. My body is very strong and I won't catch a cold."
Yang Qiujin:.......
Why is this guy always so self-indulgent? Who would worry that he would catch a cold?
The train was slowing down at this time and was about to arrive at a small platform. A conductor held up a large loud speaker and walked between the carriages to remind passengers who were about to get off to get ready, while also checking the toilets to see if there were any passengers trying to avoid paying their ticket.
Yang Qiujin took out the train tickets for her family of three and waited for the train attendant to check the tickets again. After waiting for a while, she saw a train attendant banging on the toilet door of their carriage. "Open the door quickly, people inside. Don't hide inside. If you don't open the door, we will pry it open!"
The people inside were motionless. The sound of the attendant knocking on the door became louder and louder. Everyone in the carriage turned their eyes to the toilet between the carriages and talked about it: "Who is in there? Why doesn't he open the door?"
"Maybe he's taking a big dump, and he hasn't finished it yet."
"You can't just keep silent."
"Don't be a reactionary or a bad element, do bad things in the toilet."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The flight attendant outside the toilet looked serious and said, "Listen, everyone in there. I'm giving you one more chance. If you don't come out, you will bear the consequences!"
After shouting and hearing no response, the flight attendant immediately called several colleagues and flight attendants to come over and try to break into the room.
At this moment, a weak female voice came from the toilet: "Comrade flight attendant, please wait, I am not feeling well. Please call Comrade Yang Qiujin in berth No. 19 and ask her to come in and help me."
"Why do you go to a doctor if you feel unwell?" The conductor was very suspicious. "Is Comrade Yang Qiujin a doctor?"
"No, that Comrade Yang is a military wife." The female attendant who was in charge of patrolling this sleeper car and had checked Yang Qiujin's five train tickets in two days had already memorized her name and identity.
"What do the people inside want to do with a military wife?" The police officer couldn't figure it out, so he called Yang Qiujin and explained the situation to her, "Comrade Yang, whether you are willing to go in is entirely up to you. We will not force you."
Yang Qiujin had already guessed who was in the restroom at this time, and did not rashly agree to go in. Instead, she looked at Chen Shengqing who came with her, "What do you think?"
"It's okay. I'll stand behind you. If there's any danger, I'll save you the first time." Chen Shengqing pulled out the military dagger he carried with him at his waist. His eyes were cold and his expression was serious.
In this era, spies are everywhere. As a soldier, Chen Shengqing is willing to help any civilians, but he will not let go of any saboteurs.
He was confident enough that he could protect Yang Qiujin, so he didn't mind Yang Qiujin responding to the people inside.
The conductor and four flight attendants standing next to him were infected by his serious expression and movements, and their hearts were lifted.
The conductor drew out the pistol he was carrying and stood opposite Chen Shengqing, so that even if there was an emergency, he could cooperate with Chen Shengqing and rescue Yang Qiujin as soon as possible.
Yang Qiujin herself did not feel nervous at all. She motioned Tianyou, who had been clinging to her, to stand further away, and then she reached out and knocked on the toilet door: "I'm here, please open the door."
"Click——" The sound of the bolt and crowbar being pulled open came from inside, and the toilet door slowly opened a crack.
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