The boss then took out a portable flashlight.
"You can borrow this too, but you'll have to pay for it if you break it!"
"Thank you, boss!"
Su Jianguo said gratefully.
With the camera he had just rented, Su Jianguo returned to the freight station.
This time, he went around to the south side of the freight station and climbed over the wall from a corner where miscellaneous items were piled up.
The sky had darkened.
The searchlights at the freight station swept back and forth.
Su Jianguo hid in the shadows and slowly approached the coal train.
The guard was smoking at the other end of the carriage and didn't notice him.
Su Jianguo seized the opportunity and quickly approached the carriage.
With trembling hands, he opened the camera, aimed at the carriage number, and pressed the shutter.
A soft "click" sounded particularly jarring in the quiet night.
Su Jianguo's heart almost stopped, but luckily, the sound of a train whistle in the distance just happened to cover up the sound of the shutter.
He mustered his courage and took a few more photos of the interior of the carriage.
Through the crack in the door, one could clearly see the vegetable baskets stacked inside, a stark contrast to the "Coal Dedicated Transport" sign outside the carriage.
Just as Su Jianguo was about to leave.
A figure turned around from the other end of the carriage.
It was a train conductor in a railway uniform, walking this way with a cigarette in his mouth.
Su Jianguo quickly hid in the shadows of the carriage, but it was too late to completely conceal himself.
The train conductor walked a few meters away from him, stopped, and took out a match to light a cigarette.
"Hey bro, can I borrow a light?"
Su Jianguo had a sudden inspiration and stepped out of the shadows, pretending to have just arrived.
The train conductor was startled and almost dropped his cigarette.
Which part are you from? I've never seen you before.
"He was recently transferred from the locomotive depot."
Su Jianguo naturally extended his hand.
"This is my first time riding in a car tonight."
The train conductor looked at him suspiciously, but still handed him a match.
Su Jianguo took it and lit a cigarette as if to make a show of it.
"That train journey must have been tough, right?"
Su Jianguo exhaled a puff of smoke and chatted idly.
"I heard it runs the Guangzhou route?"
"you do not say!"
"The train conductor complained."
"We're leaving tomorrow morning, a 28-hour non-stop journey. We'll rest for a day there, then head back!"
Su Jianguo's heart skipped a beat.
"So rushed? Shouldn't you rest for a couple of days?"
"No way, these are all express deliveries!"
The train conductor lowered his voice.
"A round trip takes five days. If I can get back by five o'clock on the fifth day, that's already pretty good."
Su Jianguo's impressive expression pleased the train attendant greatly.
After they finished their cigarettes, they went their separate ways.
Su Jianguo walked straight out of the freight station. A cold wind hit his face, but Su Jianguo felt a surge of heat.
He touched the camera in his pocket, which contained evidence powerful enough to shake the position of Deputy District Chief Liu.
But these photos alone were not enough; he also needed to take pictures of the train bringing back vegetables from the south, and of Ma Sanbao and his men receiving the goods.
Fortunately, Su Jianguo already knew when the next train would return.
Five days later, at five o'clock in the morning.
The next two days.
Su Jianguo was living a life of unprecedented comfort.
He closed the door of "Su Ji Vegetable Shop," hung up a "Closed" sign, and took his whole family to enjoy this rare moment of leisure.
As for Deputy District Chief Liu, seeing that Su Jianguo had closed all the shops, he assumed that Su Jianguo had given up resisting, so he stopped paying attention to Su Jianguo.
The morning sunlight streamed into the room through the curtains. Su Jianguo stretched and turned to look at his wife, who was still fast asleep.
Wang Xiulan's sleeping face was peaceful, and the fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes looked especially gentle in the morning light.
Su Jianguo got up quietly, afraid of waking her.
In the courtyard, my father-in-law, Grandpa Wang, had already gotten up and was slowly practicing Tai Chi.
Upon seeing Su Jianguo come out, the old man stopped what he was doing and said with a smile.
"Jianguo, where are you taking us today?"
"Dad, let's go to the Summer Palace today."
Su Jianguo said while buttoning his cotton-padded coat.
"There are fewer people this season, which is perfect for a good stroll."
Grandpa Wang's eyes lit up.
"That's where the Emperor once lived!"
He rubbed his hands together, like a child looking forward to a picnic.
"Old woman! Get up quickly, Jianguo is taking us to the Summer Palace!"
Breakfast was made by Su Yufen: steaming hot soy milk with freshly fried dough sticks and homemade pickled vegetables.
Grandma Wang held the bowl and sighed.
"This soy milk is ground so finely, it smells even better than the soy milk ground with a stone mill in our village."
"Mom, please drink more if you like."
Wang Xiulan served her mother another bowl.
"Jianguo specially bought soybeans from Northeast China, saying they yielded a lot of soybean pulp."
After dinner, the whole family set off in a grand procession.
Su Jianguo hailed two tricycles. He, his parents-in-law, and Wang Xiulan rode in one, while Su Yufen and Su Yuzhen, along with their two children, rode in the other.
The two elderly people looked curiously at the tall buildings on both sides of the street.
"The city of Beijing has changed so much!"
Grandpa Wang sighed.
"The last time I came here was ten years ago, there weren't this many cars back then."
In the Summer Palace, Kunming Lake has frozen over with a thin layer of ice, which sparkles in the sunlight.
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