At this moment, the train conductor finally forced the door open a crack, and the crowd surged in like a tide.
She took the opportunity to squeeze in, and the man followed her into the car.
The carriage was already packed to the brim, with luggage piled up in the aisle, under the seats, and even on the luggage racks.
Rong Jiaojiao finally found her seat, only to discover that a woman holding a child was already sitting there.
She was about to speak when she noticed the woman looking at her apologetically.
"Comrade, I really have no other choice. My child is crying so hard. Can I sit down for a while?" The woman's voice was filled with helplessness, but she showed no intention of giving up her seat for the rest of the journey.
The polluted air and the noisy crowd made Rong Jiaojiao want to cry but had no tears. It was true that her situation had become worse without the protection of her parents and master.
Looking at the crying child in the woman's arms, who was probably only a little over a year old, Rong Jiaojiao could only say against her will, "It's okay, you sit down first, I'll stand for a while."
She placed her cloth bag under the seat, leaned against the seat, and prepared to stand for the rest of the journey.
At that moment, the middle-aged man who had helped her walked over and patted her on the shoulder.
"Young lady, please sit here. I'll stand for a while." He pointed to the seat next to him.
Just as Rong Jiaojiao was about to refuse, the train started moving. The train lurched violently, and before she could react, Rong Jiaojiao lost her balance and almost fell onto the man in military uniform.
"Watch out!" The middle-aged man reacted quickly, catching her in the nick of time. His tone was slightly teasing. "This train starts like a wild horse, it's not gentle at all."
Rong Jiaojiao smiled shyly, and was about to thank him when she suddenly noticed something wrong with the uncle's left leg.
Upon examining the man's calves with their spiritual sense, it was discovered that he had lost most of his muscle.
She was startled; no wonder he seemed a little unnatural when he was walking earlier.
"Uncle, your leg..." she asked cautiously.
"Oh, this is a memento from the Korean War." The man patted his left leg, his tone as relaxed as if he were talking about someone else. "Compared to those comrades who stayed in Korea, I'm considered lucky."
She laughed and said, "You are a hero, so I can't be a coward. I'm strong, so I can't compete with a hero for a seat."
The uncle then sat down with a smile, and judging from his expression, he seemed to be in a good mood.
Shortly after the train started moving, a commotion arose from the adjacent carriage, and after a while, the noise reached their carriage.
"Tickets are being checked! Don't move!" Three inspectors wearing red armbands walked over aggressively, followed by two railway police officers, and were checking the passengers' luggage one by one.
Several live chickens that an old woman had hidden under a basket were discovered, causing a commotion.
"They've been cracking down on speculation and profiteering lately," the man explained in a low voice. "Do you have anything illegal in your bag?"
Rong Jiaojiao shook her head: "I only have two sets of clothes to change into in my bag."
Although it was still that big cloth bag, there wasn't much inside. Besides my own clothes, it contained things I had bought from the supply and marketing cooperative before, but I had receipts for all of them, so there was nothing to worry about.
They quickly located them, and a policeman stood in front of them: "Comrade, please open your luggage for inspection."
Rong Jiaojiao opened the cloth bag and let them inspect it. There were only a few items, which were clearly visible at a glance, and they didn't make things difficult for her.
After checking her bag, the police turned their attention to the older man.
The man smiled slightly, opened his military backpack, which contained only some basic toiletries and a few books.
The inspectors and police officers looked through it for a while, then said nothing more and continued walking forward.
The carriage became noisy again, and people began whispering among themselves about the ticket check that had just taken place.
Rong Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief and was about to put the cloth bag back when she discovered that the woman who had been holding the child was gone, and the seat was empty except for a small teddy bear.
The middle-aged man seemed to notice Rong Jiaojiao's confusion and explained, "She carried the child and went to the other side."
Rong Jiaojiao scanned the carriage with her divine sense and saw that the woman walked forward for two carriages without stopping.
Not knowing what the woman was up to, Rong Jiaojiao didn't bother to care and simply sat back down in her seat.
The woman never came back. Rong Jiaojiao traveled all the way to Haishi and chatted with the uncle the whole way.
I learned that the uncle's name was Qin Biao, that he was from Haishi, and that he had gone to Taiyuan County to seek medical treatment.
When Rong Jiaojiao learned that he often suffered from multiple hidden injuries, she decided that she would give him two jars of medicinal wine to treat his injuries after she got off the train.
As the train whistle sounded, Rong Jiaojiao could already see the iconic clock tower of Haishi through the train window.
The train quickly stopped at Haishi Railway Station, and everyone stood up and crowded into the aisle to wait to get off the train. Rong Jiaojiao saw that Uncle Qin Biao was not in a hurry, so she was not in a hurry either.
After everyone had finished getting off the bus, the uncle stood up, and Rong Jiaojiao also stood up and walked behind him.
While no one was paying attention, she quietly put the clothes in the cloth bag into the secret realm and replaced them with two small jars of spirit wine.
"Uncle, this is for you." After getting off the car, she quickly stuffed the bag into the uncle's hand and ran away, but her words clearly reached Uncle Qin Biao's ears: "Uncle, this is our homemade medicinal wine. A small cup every night can relieve pain."
"These are all medicinal herbs from the snowy plateau, so you can drink them with peace of mind."
Qin Biao wanted to chase after Rong Jiaojiao, but his legs wouldn't cooperate, and he could only watch Rong Jiaojiao's figure disappear into the crowd.
Looking down at the bag in his hand, he realized it was the little girl's bag that had been used to pack her clothes, yet it now felt heavy in his hands.
Just as he was feeling frustrated, he remembered what she had said, and his heart skipped a beat when he thought of the medicinal wine from the snowy region.
Without thinking about anything else, he put the cloth bag on the ground and opened it. Inside, there were only two jars of wine, no clothes or other things.
Recalling the snowy region the little girl had mentioned, Qin Biao murmured, "Snowy region? Snowy fairy mountain?"
Snowy Immortal Mountain, that's a legendary place, where immortals are said to live in seclusion and can refine elixirs and miraculous medicines.
"Could that little girl be from the legendary Snow Mountain?"
"It must be, otherwise there's no way to explain why the little girl only had one bag, but the contents had been changed."
Qin Biao stood there, gazing in the direction where Rong Jiaojiao had disappeared, his mind churning with countless thoughts.
He carefully picked up the wine jars, unsealed one of them, and a refreshing medicinal fragrance instantly filled his nostrils, soothing his soul.
Just from smelling it, his chronically painful joints seemed to feel a little better.
"This..." Qin Biao stared in shock at the wine jar in his hand. Years of life experience made him immediately realize the preciousness of the wine.
He quickly resealed the wine jar, looked around warily, and after confirming that no one was paying attention, tightly clutched the cloth bag to his chest.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com