Disagreement
The rumbling train brought a flow of people. Li Guorong gazed at the train station, which could be called luxurious in this era. It had a symmetrical structure and was marked with Beijing Station. There were two identical clocks on the top of the two towers on the left and right sides. It was said that at night it looked like two giant Christmas trees.
Inside, there were green seats and a white dome, presenting an overall European style. Lin Shaocheng's muscles bulged, he carried a large package in his left hand, another on his back, and another in his right hand, with wisps of smoke rising from his head in the chilly winter wind.
Li Guorong clung tightly to Lin Shaocheng's arm; the place was so crowded, she didn't want to get lost.
Squeezing onto the green train was just the first step. The aisle was full of luggage, and people without seats stretched out their legs. Li Guorong raised his leg, afraid of accidentally breaking someone else's leg.
It took Li Guorong almost 10 minutes to walk less than 10 meters to his seat. There was an older woman with two children sitting in his seat. Li Guorong said, "Excuse me, this is our seat."
The middle-aged woman, who had a perm with small, curly hair, glanced at Li Guorong up and down before turning back to look at the scenery, as if she hadn't heard what Li Guorong had said.
Li Guorong rolled up his sleeves, a cold smile on his face, "You don't appreciate my kindness, do you?"
The little boy in the seat quietly kicked Li Guorong, leaving a footprint on Li Guorong's leg. Li Guorong was wearing new pants. She was furious and reached out to pull the old woman away.
Lin Shaocheng put down the package and blocked the three people's way out like a mountain. "Get out."
Lin Shaocheng's face was gloomy, and his burly body, coupled with the imposing aura honed by life and death, frightened the two children into crying loudly.
The woman's face turned pale, and she cursed, "What kind of brat are you? You made my child cry, can you afford to compensate me?"
Lin Shaocheng picked up the package on the old lady's table and pretended to throw it outside, saying, "Believe it or not, I'll throw you all out one by one."
Those watching the commotion dared not utter a sound; this was a tough nut to crack.
A moment later, the person in the opposite seat returned and quickly advised, "Sister, hurry up and look elsewhere, maybe there are some spare seats."
Seeing an opportunity to back down, the woman snatched her bag, grabbed her two children, kicked the man in the aisle, and slunk away from the carriage with him.
Lin Shaocheng took out a handkerchief and swept the fruit peels off the seats. Li Guorong sat down in the window seat, while Lin Shaocheng sat in the aisle seat.
The surroundings were quiet. Lin Shaocheng's face was cold. He had been so ruthless just now. He must be a gangster. No one dared to mess with him.
The train finally started moving slowly after swallowing twice the number of people and several times the amount of luggage. A strong stench of sweat, cigarette smoke, and stinky feet wafted from the small metal box, mixed with the smell of cheap perfume and food, making Li Guorong want to vomit.
In her past life, she only went back to her hometown once by train. Later, her daughter bought her a plane ticket, which was in economy class, but the interior smelled nice.
Li Guorong couldn't help but hug his head. Lin Shaocheng loved cleanliness and had been handling herbs for many years, so his body had also developed a faint grassy smell and a bitter taste.
She hadn't felt this kind of torment in a long time, and she couldn't help but press herself against Lin Shaocheng. The scent of grass and sea salt made her head feel less uncomfortable.
Li Guorong complained in a low voice, "Why didn't you buy a sleeper berth?"
Lin Shaocheng was helpless. If he hadn't fallen out with the Lin family, he could have gotten sleeper tickets through his grandfather's connections. Now that he was just a driver, getting two seated tickets was already the best he could do.
"Once I get into university and work hard for 10 years, you can fly if you want."
Li Guorong gently pinched him, and she then remembered that sleeper berths were not easy to buy these days; only those with certain social status could purchase them.
Li Guorong sat up, pouting, clearly angry. Lin Shaocheng took out a book from his bag with the title "Floating" on it. "You can read this. Someone recommended it to me, saying it's the most suitable book for women."
Li Guorong took the book. It was so thick. How long would it take to read it? When she saw the foreign names on it, she felt the smell of Lin Shaocheng's breath seeping into her nose again. "What kind of book is this? I can't stand reading foreign books. It's perfect for covering instant noodles."
Lin Shaocheng sighed, took out his textbook and started studying it again. He needed to make the most of every minute. He had borrowed this book from Zhao Wanyin because he was worried that Li Guorong would be bored. The book about female empowerment reminded him of Li Guorong, and he thought she would like it.
Li Guorong poked at his textbook and said, "Do you think my older sister and sister-in-law would like jeans?"
Li Guorong chattered away, while Lin Shaocheng had long since mastered the skill of reading a book while letting his mind wander and answering casually, occasionally uttering a few words in response.
After a while of silence, Lin Shaocheng looked down and saw that Li Guorong had fallen asleep. He took off his coat and covered Li Guorong's upper body before immersing himself in his book again.
A gentle shaking woke Li Guorong. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and asked, "What's wrong?"
The sun made the small table scorching hot, and the entire train carriage was filled with the aroma of various foods.
"Do you want a boxed lunch or instant noodles?"
Lin Shaocheng took out instant noodles from his bag, and Li Guorong pointed to one of the packets, "This one will do."
Lin Shaocheng left with his lunchbox and instant noodles. The people around Li Guorong seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Across from them was a couple in their forties, speaking Mandarin with a heavy accent. "I thought your husband had a terrible temper, but I didn't expect him to be so nice."
Li Guorong woke up and finally someone was talking to her. "That's right, he's a high school student and a factory worker. He even came home with me during his short break."
The older woman said to her husband with envy, "Look at him, he's so cultured and he spoils his wife."
The smile in Li Guorong's eyes was impossible to hide.
The older woman continued, "I can tell you're not from Beijing, right? Your accents are different from your husband's. How did you meet?"
“He drove to our area, and we hit it off, so I came to Beijing.”
The older man next to him said enviously, "Beijing is still the best. The roads there are all paved and smoother than back home."
Li Guorong quickly retorted modestly, "There aren't any trees in Beijing, it's not as good as back home, and there's not cement everywhere, plus houses are ridiculously expensive."
The older woman then asked, "Do all companies provide housing?"
"Where can I find one? The dorm rooms are ridiculously small."
"Hmm." The man's deep voice broke the atmosphere of the conversation. He took the two boxes of fragrant instant noodles from his hands, still wanting to chat.
Lin Shaocheng said in a low voice, "Let's eat."
Li Guorong looked up at Lin Shaocheng's expression. Lin Shaocheng warily sized up the person opposite him, from his hands to his bag, his whole body tense. He seemed to relax when he realized there was no danger.
The woman took out some sesame seed cakes from her package and handed them to Li Guorong and Lin Shaocheng. Lin Shaocheng coldly declined, saying, "No need to thank me."
The eldest sister didn't dare to offend Lin Shaocheng, so she kept offering Li Guorong sesame cakes. Li Guorong couldn't refuse her hospitality, took a bite, and exclaimed, "They're really delicious, eldest sister!"
The older woman smiled and said, "I went to Beijing for treatment. I thought I was going to die, but the specialist made a small cut and I was cured."
Li Guorong looked shocked. "Big sister, you seem so healthy. I never imagined you'd suffered such a terrible ordeal."
After saying that, they took out some dried fruit, peanuts, and melon seeds from their bags, and the two chatted about fortune telling.
Lin Shaocheng's face showed a barely perceptible hint of irritation, which he then suppressed.
Three days later, Lin Shaocheng helped Li Guorong get off the bus in Chongchuan. Li Guorong felt that her lower limbs were numb from sitting. She smelled the stench of smoke on her body. The sun was about to set, and she decided to tidy herself up in the city now. She couldn't go back to the tomb in such a disheveled state.
The two men, holding the letters of introduction, checked into the hotel. Lin Shaocheng finished tidying up, sat on the bed, patted the bed, and Li Guorong, drying his almost dry hair, lay down on the bed.
Lin Shaocheng said, "Don't talk so much to strangers next time."
Li Guorong was a little confused. "You mean Sister Wang? She's a good person."
Lin Shaocheng frowned. "Sister Wang? You can know a person's face but not their heart."
Li Guorong was exhausted. There weren't that many bad people. People were very friendly these days, chatting away on the train. It wasn't that she was careless. "You're just worrying unnecessarily. Go to sleep."
People come and go on the train. She's not a little child who can be kidnapped. Isn't there Lin Shaocheng?
Li Guorong closed her eyes and covered her ears. Tomorrow she would return to her hometown refreshed and energetic, but she didn't have the energy to listen to Lin Shaocheng's grand pronouncements from his book.
Lin Shaocheng could only close his eyes as well.
"The youngest daughter of the Li family is back."
Li's youngest daughter is the only one in the village to marry into a wealthy family in another place. The remaining girls are all restless and want to find a rich man, making the young men in the village less desirable.
Winters in Chongchuan are somewhat cold, but nowhere near as cold as in Beijing. In Beijing, you'd probably freeze to death without a down jacket.
Li Guorong wore a yellow sweater, black trousers, a red cashmere coat, and black boots with a slight heel. Lin Shaocheng wore a light-colored sweater, trousers, and a black coat, with a cold expression; they looked like stars straight out of a movie.
The village children surrounded the two, too afraid to approach. Was this Li Yaomei? Her hair was still curly, making her look like a monster.
A child shouted, "Aunt Rong has turned into a monster!"
Lin Shaocheng chuckled. Li Guorong was so angry that she chased the child wildly across the muddy village ground. The rolling dust on the muddy ground stained her black pants gray. She couldn't help but smile; it had been a long time since she had run like this.
When Li Guoqiang heard his sister return home, he rushed to the village entrance and gently tapped the child, saying, "What are you doing, playing around with your aunt?"
The child made a face and ran away in a flash. The Li family members quickly took the package from Lin Shaocheng's hands.
Li Guolan looked at Lin Shaocheng arm in arm with Li Guorong with some envy. She also wanted to get married, but there was no suitable person, and she was about to become an old maid.
The group returned home, where there was a small stove for heating. Li Guorong took out jeans and a shirt dress from the package for his sister-in-law. These were leftovers from the last sale, which he had originally planned to mail, but he brought them with him this time. He also took out a suit for his brothers.
Wu Cuihua touched her coat and said, "Why did you buy all this? You're all country bumpkins, it's such a waste."
Li Guorong pressed himself against his mother, saying, "What's the waste? Wearing it means it's not a waste."
Li Guolan opened her mouth but didn't speak. Wu Cuihua knew what she meant and whispered to Li Guorong, "There are a few people from out of town, saying they're from Hebei, who are here to find wives. It's so close to Beijing. I wanted to let your older sister take a look, so that we can have someone to look after us in the future."
Li Guorong's expression changed.
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