On the train, Chen Jing carried a bag of luggage and a bag of food, and escorted Ji Xia onto the train.
The green train tracks made rhythmic creaking sounds as passengers hurried along the aisle, carrying their luggage.
At this time, the large-scale Spring Festival travel rush had not yet begun, and more than a month had passed since the Spring Festival, so there were not many passengers on the train.
The two found their spots without any trouble.
At this time, the seats were still hard seats, separated by the aisle. In each small interval, there were six seats facing each other on the left and four seats on the right, with a table in the middle separating them.
Ji Xia and Chen Jing looked at their tickets and were speechless.
The two sat side by side, but Ji Xia was on the left and Chen Jing on the right.
Ji Xia pouted unhappily: "What should we do? Switch seats with someone?"
"We'll change, definitely change, we'll sit here."
Chen Jing gestured for Ji Xia to sit in an empty seat inside, stuffed a large duffel bag onto the overhead shelf, and then sat down next to her.
Just as they sat down, a sickly-looking boy wearing glasses, carrying a small suitcase, stood in front of them with the flow of people.
He frowned slightly as he looked at the seat number while holding a train ticket, and Chen Jing immediately stood up with a smile.
"Hey bro, this is my seat, right behind you. Can we switch seats?"
Chen Jing smiled and pointed at Ji Xia: "She is my fiancée, and we want to sit together."
Hearing his explanation, glancing at the pretty girl in the seat and then at the ticket in Chen Jing's hand, the bespectacled boy didn't argue much. He readily exchanged his ticket with Chen Jing's and then sat down on the other side of the carriage.
"Thanks, bro, that's great."
Chen Jing thanked her profusely, sat back down next to Ji Xia, and chuckled, "Alright, everything's fine now. Are you sleepy? Want to lean on my shoulder and rest for a bit?"
Ji Xia pinched her nose and shook her head: "It's nothing, I just feel a little stuffy and my chest feels a bit uncomfortable. Did we buy some oranges?"
"It's ready, don't worry."
Chen Jing took a large tangerine out of the bag and handed it to Ji Xia. When he turned around, he saw that the bespectacled boy next door was also pinching his nose with a disgusted expression.
He pulled out another one and handed it over: "Brother, are you feeling carsick? Have an orange, it'll make you feel better."
The bespectacled boy didn't want to owe anyone a favor, but seeing Chen Jing's enthusiasm and finding the orange scent pleasant, he gave him a grateful, faint smile.
Thanks!
"You're welcome. When you're traveling, it's only right to be considerate of others, which is also a good thing for yourself."
Chen Jing laughed and, after he peeled the orange, reminded him, "You don't have to throw away the orange peel after you finish eating it. It's nice to smell it."
The boy couldn't help but turn around and smile at him: "You know so much."
Ji Xia watched as the two quickly became acquainted and couldn't help but smile.
What is this called? Social arrogance? So, Chen Jing's success in his previous life was not accidental. In addition to his unwavering courage and perseverance, his personality also made it easy for him to make many friends.
After eating half an orange, the passengers in the carriage calmed down. Ji Xia opened the window a little to let the cool air dissipate the stale smell in the carriage.
It was the second month of spring, when the grass was growing and the birds were singing. The train was running across the verdant fields, and the distant and vast world seemed to be getting infinitely closer.
Ji Xia admired the view outside the window for a while until her fingers felt a little cold, then she pulled herself back inside.
She rubbed her hands together, then took out a book on the history of clothing development and notes from her backpack and began to review it seriously.
After looking at it for a while, feeling dizzy from the sheer number of terms, she switched to a sketchbook and leaned against the window to write and draw.
Wang Luoran, the boy who switched seats with Chen Jing, looked at her in surprise: "Your fiancée is also a college student? Is she back at school now?"
Chen Jing turned back and looked at Ji Xia gently: "Not yet. She's going to the capital to apply for the Academy of Fine Arts."
Wang Luoran glanced at her curiously again: "Why are you taking the exam now? The college entrance exam is in July, and you have to take it in your place of household registration?"
Chen Jing shook her head: "No, the academic exam is in July, but the professional exam is in March. Registration is in February. Last year, a friend of hers wrote to her explaining the application process—"
In the evening, Ji Xia rubbed her stomach; she was a little hungry.
She looked at the passageway. In later generations, train passageways always had dining cars and snack carts coming and going, selling instant noodles, mineral water, sunflower seeds, fruit and fast food at high prices.
Why aren't there any food trucks this time?
Seeing her touch her stomach, Chen Jing reached out and took off his backpack: "Hungry? What do you want to eat? I brought boiled eggs, salted duck eggs, beef jerky and mung bean cakes."
Boiled eggs, mung bean cakes, chestnut cakes, and some cooled roasted chestnuts were placed on the table. Chen Jing turned around and waved enthusiastically to Wang Luoran: "Brother, want to eat something together?"
"No need, no need. I'll go to the restaurant over there for a hot meal later. You can buy food in carriage number seven."
"Can I buy food? Is it hot?"
Chen Jing turned around in surprise: "Why don't we go buy some hot food too? This is all cold."
Ji Xia tugged at his sleeve and shook her head: "Forget it, it's too much trouble. Let's just eat here. We can just eat it with hot water."
These days, railway security isn't very good. On a single train, you never know how many womanizers, thieves, or swindlers might be on board.
They didn't have much money on them, only a little over two hundred yuan, but they also had a savings book with 100,000 yuan in savings. Ji Xia would be heartbroken if someone stole it.
Chen Jing looked at the cold food and said, "Your stomach can't handle cold food. This cold food isn't very tasty. If you don't want to leave, I'll go get you a hot meal."
"Never mind, no need."
As Ji Xia spoke, she subconsciously glanced at the eyes around her. In this day and age, saying that boiled eggs, mung bean cakes, and other foods were not tasty was sure to invite hatred.
"No, I promised my second brother and your parents that I would take good care of you."
As Chen Jing spoke, he took a wallet out of his backpack, put it in his pants pocket, and nodded to Wang Luoran, saying, "Brother, what kind of hot food do you want to buy? I'll buy it for you while I'm at it."
"Okay, buy me a bowl of rice, stir-fried shredded potatoes and pork, and some greens."
Chen Jing responded, then suddenly leaned down and whispered a few words in Wang Luoran's ear, and told Ji Xia not to wander around, before leaving with the enamel lunchbox.
After Chen Jing left, Ji Xia grabbed three or four chestnuts, gently pinched them from the cracks, and a brownish-yellow chestnut popped out.
She popped it into her mouth and chewed it gently. Although it was cold, it still smelled quite good.
At this moment, a middle-aged woman holding a baby sitting opposite Ji Xia smiled slightly and said, "Young lady, I'd like to go to the front carriage to get some hot water. Could you hold the baby for me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
