After a safe birthday in the midst of busyness, the days passed even faster. In the blink of an eye, it is the end of the year again and the courses for this semester are basically over.
As we usher in the Year of the Tiger amidst the wind and snow, people are looking forward to the vitality of the tiger and hope that the new year will turn things around.
The common people's only hope is good weather and a peaceful life. However, according to students purchasing train tickets, the situation is not optimistic. Tickets for northbound trains are almost impossible to find at the train station ticket office.
After Zhang Guoqing learned about it, he specially picked a time to go to the platform to contact Liu Ming. He went there twice and finally waited for the other party's train.
Before the two could exchange a few pleasantries, Liu Ming suggested that the family not return home before the Lunar New Year. Firstly, the children were young, and the weather was much colder than usual. Secondly, many refugees were traveling with their elderly and children. The health and safety risks posed by these trips were too numerous, so it would be better to wait until the next spring.
Before Zhang Guoqing could make a decision, his father sent two letters in a row, asking his family not to go back and that they would go to Beijing immediately after the spring.
The two letters written by Zhang Laoer on his behalf made Zhang Guoqing extremely anxious. If the letters were not so frequent, he could still comfort himself, but when the unusual letters appeared, he was restless.
Why didn't he let his family go back? After six months of not seeing him, his parents didn't miss their oldest son. It didn't make sense. Was something wrong at home, or was someone causing trouble again? What was going on?
Zhang Laoer's letter was unclear, and he almost cursed. The inconvenience of communication once again made Zhang Guoqing very upset.
After finally getting through the holidays, he immediately took out his food coupons and planned his trip. His wife and children were safe in Beijing, so why couldn't a grown man like him travel far?
How could he bear to leave his parents who were far away in the Northeast, the parents who only reported good news and not bad news, his father who always trusted him, and his mother who was extremely partial to him? How could he let go of them and let go of his worries?
Zhang Guoqing left his wife and children with his father-in-law, and without taking a break, he grabbed his ticket, carried his luggage, and rushed to the station. However, he didn't notice that there was a person who was smiling all the time and didn't stop him or say anything.
Watching his son-in-law quickly walk away, Zhou Xiaozheng glared helplessly at his daughter. He wanted to scold her, but couldn't bear to let her go. He wanted to keep her, but worried she might sneak away and become unsafe. Faced with his daughter's stubbornness, he was helpless. If it were his son, he would have kicked him out long ago, but this delicate darling, forget it.
Zhou Xiaozheng ordered the guard to sneak his daughter onto the train and personally escorted her to the station. Along the way, he was very attentive, repeatedly telling her to be careful and to hold her young son-in-law in check, so as not to let the fool get too excited.
To be honest, he wasn't worried about his daughter, but rather the soft-hearted Zhang Guoqing. People with a strong sense of justice often die the fastest.
Inside the sleeper car, Zhang Guoqing was stunned when he saw the father and daughter. Wasn't that an agreement? He'd be gone in three to five days and back. What would happen to his son if his wife went?
Zhou Xiaozheng looked at the foolish boy with disdain. Foolish people have good fortune. In what past life must the Zhang family have accumulated merit to allow this foolish boy to marry their precious Jiaojiao. Glancing at the outsiders in the carriage, he shifted his itchy right leg. Forget it, he'd better give this foolish boy some face.
"Dad, I will definitely protect Jiaojiao. We will be back in a few days."
Zhou Xiaozheng nodded coldly. He was internally wondering, "Who's protecting whom?" If his daughter Jiaojiao didn't have the drugs as a trump card, would he have agreed to let her go to Northeast China? How foolish!
As the train was about to depart, Zhou Xiaozheng said, "Listen to Jiaojiao more when you're out there. If anything gets into trouble, don't be afraid, Dad will take care of it for you."
Zhang Guoqing looked at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, as he said something and left without hesitation. He didn't bring his wife with him, because he was afraid his father-in-law would worry. It was really not easy, but he was willing to let go and leave.
Zhou Xiaozheng watched the train depart in disappointment. It was such a shame to have a grown-up child, always wanting to go out and play. He was no match for Xiao Ping'an. But his own Jiaojiao really let him do what he wanted, and he was tired of the city.
As he drove, Zhou Xiaozheng kept thinking about whether he could take his children abroad. He still had the ability to broaden his horizons.
Zhou Jiao looked at her father outside with reluctance. As the train started, she sighed deeply. Why didn't the plane start civil aviation? She didn't like this long journey at all.
It was icy and snowy all the way, and many of the companions in the carriage got off at every stop and brought up roasted biscuits and food. This action shocked the couple.
Zhou Jiao quickly realized that at each station, a certain amount of dry food and staples could be purchased with a ticket, without the need for food coupons. These shrewd people had already calculated this. Two steamed buns or steamed bread per person at each station would add up to a lot. After a journey, by the time they reached the final destination, they would have saved on food coupons and had more food.
As soon as they stopped at the second stop, the couple followed them and lined up to buy food. They were not so much happy to buy dry food as they were to enjoy this exciting activity during the boring journey.
What's the best way to foster connection? Going along with the crowd! The atmosphere in the upper, middle, and lower berths of the sleeper car reached a fever pitch, with everyone excitedly discussing their experiences.
Zhou Jiao saw the woman in the bunk opposite her running away alone, leaving behind a pile of luggage, and running faster than anyone else. She couldn't help but sigh that people were really practical these days and didn't worry about losing anything at all.
Soon, she contradicted herself. The next morning, at a small platform, she witnessed someone accidentally fall, and the biscuits that were spilled were instantly snatched up by the crowd around them.
In fact, it’s not that people are real, but that the environment they are in is different.
In the rows of hard-seat carriages at the back, many people brought their families with them, making the corridors of the already crowded carriages even more crowded, thus opening up a new front for people to get on and off the train - entering and exiting through the windows.
It was freezing cold, and I didn't know how they managed to open the windows that were always closed. Just thinking about the long night, the dawn, and the biting north wind blowing into the carriage made me shiver.
After that day, Zhang Guoqing confined her to the carriage and forbade her to leave it, so Zhou Jiao could no longer observe what was happening inside and outside the window.
As the train stopped and started at small stations along the way, she soon discovered that the vendors who used to hawk their wares along the way had almost disappeared.
Fortunately, meals were still available on the train, otherwise it would be inconvenient to use the space along the way, and the couple would have to rely on dry food to get home.
No matter how long the journey, there is always a destination. After a series of heart-pounding journeys, I finally arrived safely in the provincial capital.
Zhang Guoqing and his wife said goodbye to their new friends, young and old, and as soon as they arrived in the provincial capital, they rushed back to the county town without even bothering to visit Zhao Chuangguang and others.
My hometown is still the one I long for. The familiar dialect, the familiar long pipe, the familiar loud voice. It's less noisy and more solemn.
A few months later, when they set foot on the familiar land again, they had become the returning wanderers.
Standing in front of the gate, Zhang Guoqing took a deep breath and shouted, "Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Yes, they are back, my parents.
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