Cheng Xiao Kui really wanted to give the aunt a thumbs up. With the aunt's natural expression, who would dare to doubt that the two of them weren't relatives?
She said with a smile, "I want to go back to the capital. I'll buy two tickets back to the capital."
The auntie clutched the egg in her hand and put it into her pocket.
Eggs were a precious commodity in those days; carrying ten eggs was enough to celebrate a holiday and visit relatives.
If I take these two eggs home, I can steam a delicious bowl of steamed egg custard for her little grandson.
Soon, the two people in front of them finished buying their tickets, and it was the auntie's and Cheng Xiao Kui's turn to buy their tickets.
The older woman took out her letter of introduction and handed it to the ticket seller, stating that she wanted to buy three tickets, and that Cheng Xiao Kui wanted to buy two tickets to the capital.
Cheng Xiao Kui quickly took out the letter of introduction and handed it to the ticket seller.
The ticket seller verified the letter of introduction and wrote the destination and train number on the train ticket.
In those days, train tickets were narrow, hard card-like tickets.
The information on the train ticket needs to be written down with a pen. When you enter the station, the ticket inspector will use a hole punch to punch holes in the ticket to indicate that it has been checked.
Cheng Xiao Kui and the auntie both successfully bought tickets and walked out of the train station happily.
Cheng Xiaokui's train ticket back to Beijing is for the 7 a.m. train tomorrow.
Cheng Xiaokui thanked the aunt, put the cloth bag she was carrying back into the willow basket, and rode her bicycle home.
It was already dark when she returned.
When she got home, she told Lin Qiuru to get ready quickly, as they had to leave in the middle of the night or they would miss the train.
But how will the family get to the train station?
Lin Qiuru thought of the village coachman, who was a distant relative of hers and, by seniority, Si Muyang's great-uncle.
She packed two pieces of sponge cake and went to find her uncle.
Lin Qiuru has a very good reputation throughout the village, especially since her son is a soldier, which is the pride of the whole village.
When Uncle Biao heard that Lin Qiuru was going to the capital to see her son, he immediately agreed.
Anyway, I just sneaked out in the middle of the night. If I came back quickly, no one should notice.
Cheng Xiao Kui boiled all the eggs at home into tea eggs.
Although there were no tea leaves, the addition of plenty of salt and soy sauce meant that even with a short cooking time, the flavor was still quite good.
She took the boiled eggs out, wrapped them in oilcloth, and put them in a cloth bag.
She now has two bags of potato chips and half a bag of boiled eggs. How much money she can earn on this train trip depends on these!
There was no time to sleep at all. At midnight, the family of four boarded Uncle Biao's horse-drawn carriage and quietly left the village.
When Cheng Xiaokui and her family arrived at the train station, she glanced at the clock on the wall in the waiting hall; it was just past 3 p.m.
She took out two more eggs, put them in her uncle's pocket, said a few words to him, and told him to be careful on the road.
With red eyes, Uncle Biao took out two yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Cheng Xiao Kui's hand. "Child, you can finally go back to the capital. Don't cause any more trouble when you get back."
I've heard the police in Beijing are really tough; you could easily get a jail sentence. Take good care of your mother-in-law; she's had a tough life.”
Cheng Xiaokui nodded, looking at the money that Uncle Biao stuffed into her hand.
The money was crumpled and wrinkled; it's unclear how long Uncle Biao had been saving it, but he only managed to save two yuan.
She choked up as she said, "I understand, don't worry. When I return to the capital this time, I will definitely be a good person and contribute to society!"
She took her uncle's arm and saw him out of the waiting hall.
As Uncle Biao got into the carriage, she secretly slipped the money back into his pocket.
She couldn't accept the money. The villagers were too poor. In those days when people couldn't get enough to eat or wear, every penny was as precious as gold.
Cheng Xiao Kui only returned to the waiting hall after hearing the sound of horses' hooves fade into the distance.
The two children were so excited that they refused to sleep, but they were too young. After playing for a while, they became so sleepy that they fell asleep in Cheng Xiao Kui and Lin Qiu Ru's arms.
At six o'clock in the morning, Cheng Xiao Kui, along with Lin Qiu Ru and their two children, finally boarded the train back to the capital!
As the train started moving, Cheng Xiaokui listened to the sound of the wheels turning.
She knew that her fate was about to change drastically from that moment on!
As dawn broke, the villagers who had gotten up early to work in the fields discovered that Cheng Xiaokui and her family had already left!
Immediately, one of the educated youths shouted in dissatisfaction, "Why should Cheng Xiao Kui be given the spot to return to the city?!"
"Which of us didn't perform better than Cheng Xiao Kui? Village Chief! Why did you give her the spot?"
"Why? Even if I'm not as good as Li Dazhuang, am I not as good as Cheng Xiaokui?! Village Chief, explain yourself!"
The village chief, his face dark, was digging at the ground with a hoe. In fact, he had already announced the list of those returning to the city to the Party Secretary and several other village officials.
However, fearing that the other educated youth would cause trouble, he never announced the list to the public.
Now that Xiao Kui's family has left, the deed is done, and this matter can be made public.
He said, leaning on the handle of his hoe, "Cheng Xiaokui is a scourge to our village. What's the point of keeping her around?"
Let her wreak havoc on the men of our village. Which family's son isn't afraid of her tormenting them? Which family would want a daughter-in-law like her?
"Don't worry, you lot. I heard from the higher-ups that there are still slots available for returning to the city to be allocated to our village soon. It won't be long before everyone can go back!"
After he finished speaking, he picked up the hoe and continued hoeing the ground.
The educated youth were so shocked that their mouths were agape. They never expected that the village chief's reason for giving Cheng Xiaokui a spot was to send this troublemaker a thousand miles away!
...
The train moved slowly, perfectly embodying the idea that in this era, travel was slow and a lifetime was only enough to love one person.
They took the train before dawn and didn't arrive at the capital's train station until the next day when it was just getting light.
Xiaolongbao looked curiously at the streetlights on both sides of the train station road.
Xiaolongbao pointed at the street lamp and asked, "Xiaokui, what's this? Why is this oil lamp so tall? Who refills the oil lamp?"
Cheng Xiaokui said, "This isn't called an oil lamp, it's called a street lamp. Street lamps are powered by electricity! Just like the electricity in a battery."
The only difference is that it doesn't use batteries, but rather the electricity from the wires connected to the power plant.
She didn't know how to explain it to Xiaolongbao for a moment, so she could only use the simplest and most common way to explain it.
Lin Qiuru stood blankly on the street and asked, "Xiao Kui, where are we going now? Are we going to find Mu Yang?"
Cheng Xiaokui said, "Let's not go see him yet, let's go back to my house first. Si Muyang is busy with work, and we haven't even said hello to him. I'll give him a call sometime, and he can come see us when he's not busy with work!"
Only she knew that Si Muyang's work was kept secret, so the work address and military unit number that Si Muyang told her mother were all wrong.
She found several remittance slips at Lin Qiuru's house, indicating that money had been sent to her from the capital.
The address on the remittance slip must be her home address.
Having just arrived in the capital, let me go back to my hometown first.
Because she was a villainous cannon fodder character who died in just one episode, the book didn't clearly explain her family situation...
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