Chapter 37 Catching the Train Even if a thousand songs drift away to the distance, I...
Ji Yu stood there silently, frozen in place, until she was startled awake by a loudspeaker blaring from the platform, "Anyone still not on the bus? It's about to leave! Hurry up if you haven't boarded yet..."
He seemed to remember something, so he quickly walked a few steps to the train conductor, saluted, handed him a pack of cigarettes, and told him to take good care of Chen Mian and the others on the way, "I'll treat you to a meal when you come back from this trip."
The train conductor chuckled good-naturedly: "Brother, why are you being so polite with me? Don't worry, I'll make sure your wife is well taken care of!"
Ji Yu glanced at him, and the train conductor immediately changed his tune: "Future sister-in-law, future sister-in-law."
"Woo..." As the whistle sounded, the green train slowly started moving, and with a clattering sound, it set off carrying the longings of travelers throughout the carriage.
Ji Yu watched the train disappear, then started her own car and drove away, feeling utterly lost. The jeep wandered aimlessly through the streets and alleys, while beautiful songs drifted from the video arcade.
“Even if a thousand songs drift on my distant road in the future; even if a thousand evening stars shine brighter than tonight’s moon; none of them can compare to the beauty of this night, nor can they make me appreciate it more…” [1]
On the train to Yuanning City, Li Cuiping stretched out her legs, leaned against the headboard of her sleeper berth, and slowly yawned, saying with a sigh, "This is much more comfortable than when we came here. You're so smart!"
Chen Mian leaned back like her, replying lazily, "That's because we made some money on this trip, otherwise I wouldn't have been willing to buy a sleeper berth. And we were lucky; we managed to get the last two lower berths, otherwise we would have..."
At the end, she deliberately drew out her words, exchanged a glance with her friend, and said in unison, "The iron rod goes straight to Xinjiang, hahaha!"
"Young lady, you have to be careful when you're out and about. Don't flaunt your wealth. There are a lot of pickpockets on this train..." An older woman in dark clothes, holding a yellow fertilizer bag, poked her head in to look around and muttered, "This is it. I went to the wrong place earlier. I'm exhausted."
After saying that, she stuffed her luggage under the bed on Chen Mian's side, and then, as if she knew him well, she turned her bottom and sat down.
Chen Mian glanced at her, not wanting to argue, so she didn't say anything, just silently pulled her legs back and crossed them. It wouldn't hurt to sit for a while, since she would eventually have to go back to her seat later that night.
Seeing this, Li Cuiping across from her rolled her eyes and started chatting with the old lady, "Auntie, where are you going? Did you also buy a lower bunk?"
Aunt Zhou took a transparent jar out of the cloth bag she carried with her, unscrewed it, took a sip of water, and said with a hint of complaint, "I went back to Sichuan to see my father, but our son has already moved into an apartment building here. I asked him to come, but he just wouldn't come. So I, this old man, have to go back!"
"Luckily, my youngest son is filial and bought me a sleeper berth, otherwise my old bones wouldn't be able to take it." After saying that, she took out a crumpled train ticket from her pocket and handed it to Chen Mian. "Young lady, can you help me see if this says sleeper berth? I've never been to school and I can't read."
Chen Mian got up and took it. After unfolding it, the location shown on it was indeed this place, but it was not the lower bunk, but the middle bunk.
She pointed to the location and added, "Auntie, your son is indeed very filial. He bought you a sleeper berth, right above us."
Aunt Zhou, somewhat dissatisfied, snatched the crumpled ticket back from her hand and asked skeptically, "Are you sure you're not mistaken? My son said he bought me a lower berth. The upper berths are so high, how could I possibly climb up? You're not trying to fool this old woman who can't read, are you?"
Chen Mian, still good-natured, explained, "I didn't see wrong. You can ask someone else to check if you don't believe me." Li Cuiping, who was standing next to her, also chimed in to smooth things over, "Why would we lie to you? We don't know each other, we have no grudges against each other."
Seeing this, Aunt Zhou had no choice but to reluctantly say, "Alright, alright, I'll sit here for a while."
Chen Mian nodded, then closed her eyes, listening to the clattering sound in her ears, and gradually fell asleep as the green train bounced up and down.
Outside the train window, we passed fertile fields and then barren deserts. The speeding train was like a sharp sword, tearing open the frontier landscape that had been silent for many days.
When it was time for dinner, Li Cuiping shook her awake, mysteriously rummaged through her bag and pulled out two packages, then took out a metal box. "Look, what's this!"
Chen Mian rubbed her eyes groggily, and when she saw what it was, she widened her eyes in surprise: "Wow, when did you buy this? I didn't know!"
Li Cuiping rolled her eyes at her, quickly tore open the two packets of instant noodles, put in the noodles, sprinkled on the seasoning, and pouted, "How could you possibly remember this? You said you were going out to say hello, but then you just disappeared!"
Chen Mian felt a little embarrassed by her friend's words. She leaned out of the bed, covered her friend's mouth with her hand, and said coquettishly, "You're not allowed to imitate me anymore, or I'll get angry. Besides, I didn't disappear. I really just said hello and came back."
Li Cuiping was still muttering under her breath: "Don't you dare copy me again~ Who takes half an hour to greet someone? Do you know that I waited for you until the food got cold!"
Chen Mian got up, put on her shoes, and sat down next to her. She put her arm around Cuiping's and shook it: "Cuiping, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me, okay? I swear, I will never leave you alone again."
Li Cuiping turned her head away and ignored her, but the pout on her lips slowly faded.
Chen Mian knew she was probably not angry anymore, so she picked up the metal lunchbox and said, "I'll get you some hot water."
Chen Mian walked through the long corridor, where a group of people were queuing up for hot water. She stood and waited for a while before it was her turn. The boiling water was poured into the lunchbox, the seasoning powder was dissolved, and a rich aroma began to waft out.
She carefully carried the lunchbox back to its original spot, but before she had taken more than a few steps, she heard Aunt Zhou's shameless voice.
“Your friend isn’t here right now, what’s wrong with me lying down for a bit? I’ve been sitting here for ages, my back and waist are aching. You’re all so young, don’t you know how to give me a break…”
"Pah, you shameless old man! You have plenty of space, why do you insist on staying here? We've already been kind enough by letting you sit for a while, get up right now!"
Seeing that Li Cuiping wouldn't listen to reason, Aunt Zhou threatened, "Hey, don't pull me! I'm not feeling well, I'm going to faint in a minute."
The person on the upper bunk couldn't stand it and leaned down to chime in, "You don't look unwell at all. You talk quite loudly, don't you? I think you're healthier than most young people!"
Li Cuiping nodded in agreement: "That's right, that's right. I think your skin is much thicker than ours young people."
"You!" Aunt Zhou closed her eyes and started rolling around on the bed: "Oh dear, come quick! Someone is bullying an old lady! Is there no justice in this world?!"
Hearing the commotion, Chen Mian quickly went back with her things. She placed the lunchbox on the table near the window, turned around, crossed her arms, stared at Aunt Zhou's position, and said...
"Auntie, that's not very nice of you. We're just trying to be nice and let you sit for a while, are you trying to take advantage of us?"
Aunt Zhou secretly opened her eyes, glanced at the two of them, and then pretended to be innocent again: "When did I say that I wanted to rely on you? I'm just too old to climb up, so I wanted to switch places with you."
Li Cuiping, being straightforward, reached out and said, "We can switch seats, but you have to pay us the difference in ticket price. The lower berth and the middle berth are not the same price."
When Aunt Zhou heard that she still wanted money, she started shouting again, "What money? I don't have any money on me, unlike you young people who can earn so much money on a trip and are even eating instant noodles."
Chen Mian stood with her hands on her hips, her chest heaving with anger. She was at her wits' end with this scoundrel; he wouldn't listen to her at all, and they were talking past each other.
Li Cuiping was also thinking about how her instant noodles were almost ready and wanted to get rid of this person as soon as possible so he wouldn't be an eyesore.
The two men exchanged a glance, then suddenly stepped forward. One grabbed Zhou Da Niang's upper body, while the other held her legs, lifting her off the bed.
Suddenly, Aunt Zhou was lifted up by the two men. A little frightened, she said, her voice trembling with fear, "Hey, what are you doing? Let me go! Put me down..."
Chen Mian and Li Cuiping remained silent, holding their breath as they threw her onto the corridor floor a few meters away. Just as they were about to leave, she grabbed their legs tightly, shouting, "Don't go! You ganged up on me and now you think you can just run away?!"
The commotion finally attracted the attention of the train conductor who was selling sunflower seeds and peanuts in the distance. He strode over, pushing his cart, and demanded, "What's going on here? What are you doing blocking the way?"
Chen Mian looked up innocently and explained, "This old lady bought a middle bunk, but she insisted on being unreasonable and lay down on my lower bunk and wouldn't leave. We had no choice but to carry her out."
They hadn't done anything wrong, and had a clear conscience. They were just protecting themselves. Spending a little more money than others was just to make the journey more comfortable. Why should they pretend to be good people and give it to others for the sake of some vague sense of face? She didn't want to. Let whoever wanted to be the good person be it; she wasn't going to.
The train conductor, who had been somewhat angry, immediately calmed down upon seeing Chen Mian's face. He hesitated for a moment before swallowing back the word "sister-in-law," and then turned to criticize Aunt Zhou, who was still lying on the ground.
"Get up quickly. This train isn't yours to run. If you want to sleep in a lower bunk, you have to pay extra. I'll find you someone willing to switch. Why make things difficult for those two young girls?"
Seeing that Aunt Zhou didn't react, he continued to scold in a stern voice: "Did you hear me? If you dare to act like a scoundrel again, I'll kick you off the bus at the next stop!"
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Author's Note: The lyrics quoted are from the Cantonese song "A Thousand Songs," it's so beautiful! My legs have been aching all day, and my head is all foggy T﹏T
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