Chapter 12 Departure to the Island

Lin Xiang happened to be holding the household registration page that Lin Jianxin had given her. It was originally intended to help him find a job, but now it was just right for him to register to go to the countryside.

This pampered Lin family baby who sucked the blood of the family, especially the original body, deserved it. After all, in the original book, the original body gave him a job, but Lin Jianxin was not grateful at all. Later, the original body was framed to marry Sun Yaozu. After marriage, she was often beaten and lived a hard life. Lin Jianxin did not care at all, and did not care about his sister's request for help. Even after the original body was beaten and died prematurely, Lin Jianxin still said something sarcastic, saying that his sister must have done something wrong and made her brother-in-law unhappy.

Look, is this human language?

These days, there are many people who sign up to go to the countryside for their family members. The staff of the street office checked Lin Xiangshen’s past household registration certificate, and after confirming that there was no problem, they wrote Lin Jianxin’s name in the registration book.

This person should go to the countryside to work and gain some experience, to see if he can straighten out his crooked roots.

.....

Lin Jianxin didn't like working. If it wasn't for the desire to avoid going to the countryside, he would have been lazy about going to work. But now there was nothing he could do. After hanging out outside for a day and losing two dollars playing poker, Lin Jianxin returned home on time when the work at the steel mill was over.

Seeing that her son had not contacted her for a day, Qiu Aiying knew that the job transfer must have been completed, so she casually asked, "Son, have you completed the job transfer?"

Lin Jianxin felt a little guilty and quickly responded loudly, "It's done, Mom. I've been working all day. I'm exhausted."

"Wait for me, I'll get you something delicious!" Qiu Aiying loves her son so much!

However, now she and Lin Guangming were finally relieved that their precious son had a formal job and no longer had to go to the countryside.

On this day, Lin Xiang still didn't come back. Lin Guangming didn't want to hear the name of this unfilial daughter again. She didn't understand his painstaking efforts at all. Her own father didn't believe him, but was very friendly with the people outside. He told her to go to some island to suffer, and then cry and want to go back to her parents' home. Even if she knelt in front of him, he would not care about this little girl!

Qiu Aiying was not that angry, she just regretted not getting any real benefit from Lin Xiang's marriage, but at least she solved her son's job problem. As for Lin Xiang, she was waiting to see how she would cry in the future.

No one cared about Lin Xiang's absence from the house, but when it was dinner time, Lin Chuchu hadn't come home yet. Qiu Aiying looked around and asked, "Where did this girl go?"

Lin Jianxin didn't care much: "Mom, my elder sister is so old now, she won't be unable to find her home."

Lin Guangming said nonchalantly: "Maybe there is something wrong. Let's eat first."

That day, Lin Chuchu didn't come back from outside until eight o'clock in the evening.

Qiu Aiying heated up the water on the coal stove. After the family washed up, she took the enamel basin outside to get some water. She saw her daughter looking absent-minded: "Chu Chu, where have you been? You're back so late."

Lin Chuchu shook her head and said as if she was a beat late: "Oh, I went to have dinner with my colleagues in the factory and forgot to tell them."

"You kid..." Qiu Aiying didn't care. After all, she was exhausted these days and she had to rest early.

The family is in a mess. Lin Xiang's plan to marry Sun Yaozu went awry and she lost face. Today, when she was working in the workshop, there were whispers everywhere. Some people even made insinuations and said that the stepmother was no good, which made Qiu Aiying very angry.

Now she didn't care anymore. Lin Xiang could leave if she wanted to. At least her son's going to the countryside problem was solved, and she could finally sleep well.

That night, the night in Xifeng City was as dark as ink. The summer cicadas were chirping and the birds were singing. The wind blew through the banyan trees, making them rustle. People who had been busy all day fell asleep early, and it was no different from any other day.

Lin Xiang got up before dawn and packed his bag to leave.

She bought a ticket for the nearest train, which was due to leave at 6:30 this morning.

It was five o'clock in the morning, and the sky was just beginning to turn pale. Occasionally, one or two residents around got up early to prepare breakfast. The light smoke from the cooking slowly rose into the air, blurring out a few lines of light from the dark sky.

Aunt He got up even earlier, borrowed a stove from a relative's house, and used the dry grains she brought from the village to steam a pot of cornmeal buns for Lin Xiang to eat on the train.

After they finished preparing the meal, the two of them ate two cornmeal buns each. Then Aunt He took Lin Xiang's hand and went to the stove, where she took a black glass jar from the stove and brought it over.

Lin Xiang was curious. She glanced at the dark and yellowish water in the glass jar and asked in confusion, "Auntie, what is this?"

Aunt He smiled, with a few wrinkles on her face, and said kindly: "This is a good thing! When the Japanese invaded the village, I used this to smear the female comrades in the village, and I hid them to avoid many Japanese raids. Now you have to go out alone, take a train for three days and two nights, and look like this..."

Speaking of appearance, Aunt He looked up at Lin Xiang in the dim light of dawn in the dim stove room. She had met Lin Xiang's mother Feng Huiling in the past, and she was extremely beautiful. Now her daughter has grown into a beautiful girl, and she is so pretty that she fell in love with her at first sight.

No one would feel at ease letting Lin Xiang travel thousands of miles away by train alone.

"This is water boiled with berries from the hillside of our village. It's dark in color and can make you look less white and less noticeable when you go out. This solution will work for a while. It will be dark at first, but then it will lighten and become a little yellow."

Lin Xiang understood that Aunt He was worried that she would be noticed when she went out, so she wanted to dress herself up!

However, this was her first time seeing such an operation, and she couldn't help but wonder: "Can it be washed off with just water?"

"It's a bit hard to wash with water. When you get to the army, find a pot of these berries and use them to wash your face. It will be clean, just like before! It won't leave any marks, don't worry." Aunt He stuffed five or six small black berries into Lin Xiang's palm and advised, "You still have to be careful when you go out. You don't know, I heard that there are many kidnappers in the train station and on the train. Some of them like to kidnap little boys, and some specialize in kidnapping beautiful young comrades and selling them to others as wives. They are all conscienceless!"

When Lin Xiang heard this, she immediately became alert. After all, human traffickers were the most despicable existence in the afterlife!

Aunt He applied the cooled syrup on Lin Xiang's cheeks, which made Lin Xiang feel like she was applying a facial mask. When the job was done, she looked for the mirror with some curiosity and eagerness. Wow!

After Aunt He's transformation, the face of the woman in the mirror was no longer fair and tender, but dark and yellow, instantly obscuring her appearance.

"Here, I'll give you a few more pockmarks." Aunt He was very proud of her craftsmanship and kept reminiscing about the past. "Most people can't tell my craftsmanship."

The world is in chaos nowadays, and if anything happens there is no surveillance and no eyes in the sky. It is right to be careful when you are alone outside. Lin Xiang is quite satisfied with her current appearance. She is really inconspicuous in a crowd, even ugly.

After a makeover, Lin Xiang, with dark yellow skin and freckles on her face, set out in a gray puffy coat. She and Aunt He had to take the early bus from Qingshui Lane to the train station for 40 minutes, but they moved quickly and arrived at the train station at 6:10.

The train station in the 1970s was old and narrow, not as spacious and grand as later ones. A bungalow with white walls stood tall, with two red-painted characters "Xifeng" supported by steel frames on the top, towering into the air. People were coming and going outside the station, full of people wearing gray puffy shirts, carrying large and small bags, which added a bit of worldly atmosphere.

When we entered the waiting hall, we saw rows of wooden chairs and loud and noisy voices. The platform was even bustling with people waiting to get on the train or pick up other people, all looking at the empty tracks, hoping to hear the whistle and see the green train coming.

Lin Xiang and Aunt He walked around before they found two empty seats to sit down. Her bag was simple and did not contain many things, but Aunt He had prepared a lot for her.

"These are salted duck eggs that we pickled at home. Hongyuan likes them the most. You should also try Auntie's cooking skills." Auntie He loved to pickle salted duck eggs at home, and her sons also liked it the most. Lin Xiang was traveling alone, and she didn't want this thin girl to bring too many things, so that she wouldn't take care of food and herself, so she packed six salted duck eggs for her, "Take them and eat them with cornmeal steamed buns on the road, it will fill you up. In addition, you can buy food sold on the train for lunch and dinner, and Auntie will give you "Take the money. Here are some grain coupons. I exchanged them with the captain. They are not many. You can use them if you see any. Be careful on the road. Don't talk to anyone casually. You look good, but it will be bad if kidnappers target you. When you meet Hongyuan, don't be polite to this guy. You are engaged and have a marriage certificate. Besides, I am here. He has a tough temper. You can scold him if you need to. Don't be polite. If you have any problems, come to me! I will support you!"

Aunt He was indeed worried about Lin Xiang going out alone, so she forced ten yuan into Lin Xiang's pocket. Since she failed to contact her son, she later contacted her son's uncle's family, asking them to arrange for someone to pick up Lin Xiang if He Hongyuan had not returned by the time Lin Xiang arrived.

Lin Xiang traveled back to the 1970s. She was an orphan and finally had parents. However, she had a scumbag father and a stepmother. She did not enjoy any family love and was instead schemed against in every way.

Fortunately, I met a lot of kind people who helped me, especially Aunt He, who made me feel a sense of family love.

The old lady's attentive and nagging manner was exactly in line with Lin Xiang's imagination of the image of the older generation who were kind and nagging, which made people feel warm in their hearts.

Lin Xiang frowned, glanced at the green-skinned salted duck eggs and the bag of cornmeal cakes, and said softly, "Auntie, I've noted them all down. Don't worry, I'll be fine on the train, I'll be very careful."

The two exchanged greetings for a while, and Lin Xiang put all her things into her bag. She kept the money and bills close to her body. The bag mainly contained dry food and clothes, which were not very valuable, but she just had to be careful on the train.

As a whistle sounded from the front, a green train with billowing white smoke rumbled into the station. The crowd on the platform was in commotion, and it was difficult to remain silent in the train car. Many passengers could not wait any longer and stood up with their bags, wishing they could jump off the train immediately.

"The train is coming!" Aunt He saw that Lin Xiang had thin arms and legs, so she held her bag in one hand and held her arm with the other, and then made way for her. "I think you can't squeeze in, so I'll take you up."

Lin Xiang had indeed never experienced such a horrible scene of getting on a train. She had experienced the Spring Festival travel rush in later generations, but the train station in the 1970s still gave her a completely new experience.

The crowds were so overwhelming that there was no place to stand. People were squeezed together so tightly that it was almost impossible to breathe. Only those with strong strength could make way forward. Many people could not wait and climbed out of the train windows to get off, or directly climbed through the windows to get into the carriages.

Aunt He had been working in the fields to earn work points all her life. She was strong and capable, otherwise she would not have been able to raise three sons by herself. With her paving the way, Lin Xiang's journey was much smoother.

At that time, there were no hard seat numbers on the trains. The seat belonged to whoever got on the train first. There were even many people who quarreled and fought over seats.

Aunt He was quick-witted and quick-handed. She stared at a seat where passengers were getting off the bus and grabbed a window seat for Lin Xiang. Before the person arrived, she threw her bag over and dropped it steadily on the seat. With the corner of her eye, she saw a middle-aged man running over. He seemed to be eyeing the seat as well. He hurriedly pulled Lin Xiang to the seat, moved the bag away with one hand, and pushed Lin Xiang down with the other hand.

The whole movement is done in one go, smoothly and effortlessly.

It was Lin Xiang’s first time riding a train of this era, and before she could react, she got a roll of the eyes and a pout from the man who didn’t get a seat.

Aunt He glared back unwillingly, saying that she was too slow in her movements and hadn't even grabbed a seat, so what was she doing so arrogantly?

"Auntie, you are amazing!" Lin Xiang admired her sincerely. According to Auntie He, she had only traveled far once and taken a train once, but she had heard a lot about seat grabbing. Now that the theory has been transformed into practice, it is so majestic and domineering! It makes people feel safe.

"That's nothing." Aunt He was thinking about her son's marriage. He had such a beautiful daughter-in-law. It was really a great honor for the family. Of course, she had to protect Lin Xiang. "Don't attract attention when you go out, but don't get angry. If you encounter any problems, ask the flight attendant for help!"

"Okay." Lin Xiang rarely enjoyed the protection and well-arranged care, and a warm feeling surged in her heart.

The green train was about to start. Aunt He quickly squeezed through the crowd and got off the train. On the platform, she said goodbye to Lin Xiang, asking her to be careful and report back to her when she arrived at the unit.

Amid the billowing of white smoke and the sound of flutes, Lin Xiang held her bag tightly, turned her head to look out the window in the crowded carriage, and waved to Aunt He.

She traveled to Xifeng City and now is leaving for Langhua Island.

Suddenly, a strange emotion surged up in her. How much affection did she have for this place? It seemed that she had none. But it was the first place she had stayed in after traveling through time. Now, as she set off on the train towards an unknown future, she felt curious, yearning, and also had wild thoughts.

Just as Lin Xiang was riding on the green train heading south towards Langhua Island, a major event broke out at the Lin family of the Xifeng City Steel Rolling Mill.

The surprise that Lin Xiang left for Lin Guangming and Qiu Aiying has just been revealed.

Lin Jianxin was urged by his parents to go to work, but was told that there was no job available in the steel rolling mill.

When Lin Guangming and Qiu Aiying heard this, they almost fainted.