Chapter 165 Passion
"I made them at home." Jiang Haitang handed over two with a smile, "Would you like to try them?"
"How can I do that? You put meat in these dumplings." The old lady was obviously greedy, but did not take it.
"I'll give you a taste! You're welcome."
The old lady couldn't refuse, so she took the dumpling, took a bite, and immediately praised it: "This is really good! It tastes better than the dumplings in state-owned restaurants."
Little Taozi puffed out her chest proudly: "My grandma made it! And my auntie too..."
"Oh, this little one has such a sweet mouth, you can tell he's smart." The old lady was amused and took out an apple from her pocket and stuffed it into Little Taozi's pocket, "Come, grandma will treat you to some fruit."
In this way, the long and cold journey became warm because of the hot dumplings and the kindness of strangers.
As night fell, the loud song "The East is Red" rang out from the train radio.
Little Taozi leaned against the car window, looking at the twinkling lights in the distance, and suddenly asked, "Mom, are there children eating dumplings in those bright places?"
Jiang Haitang hugged her daughter in her arms: "Yes, in every place with lights on, there are children and their parents who are happy families."
Lu Liangchen silently held Jiang Haitang's hand. The shadows of the three of them were reflected on the car window, blending into the vast night outside the window.
The old lady looked at the family of three and couldn't help but smile.
"You two have such a good relationship and you both look good. No wonder the little girl is so pretty." The old lady said with some envy.
Jiang Haitang felt embarrassed and could only find a topic to ask: "Auntie, are you going to Jincheng too?"
"Yes, I'm going to visit relatives. There is an old sister here whom I haven't seen for many years." The old lady said with a smile.
"It's good to move around more, Auntie. Where is your elder sister in Jincheng?"
"At the Jincheng Machinery Factory, have you heard of Director Mao? He's my eldest nephew."
Jiang Haitang was a little surprised to hear that the old lady was actually a relative of Director Mao.
She nodded. "Yes, we know. Jincheng Machinery Factory is a large factory, and Director Mao is the leader of the factory. Of course we know that."
"The Jincheng Machinery Factory is a big factory, but it's not as glamorous as the Jincheng Textile Factory. I don't know if I'll have the chance to meet the family of three who saved a trainload of people from the textile factory during my trip to Jincheng. I've never seen a hero in my life."
As the old lady spoke, there was admiration in her eyes.
Jiang Haitang listened and thought that the old lady might be talking about their family of three, so she avoided the topic.
But the old lady looked at Jiang Haitang's family of three and suddenly narrowed her eyes: "Why do I feel that your family is a little familiar, as if I have seen it somewhere before?"
The carriage was filled with a mixed smell of coal smoke and food. Several passengers were gathered in groups of three or four to chat and brag. The old lady's voice attracted the attention of several people sitting next to her.
Jiang Haitang and Lu Liangchen exchanged glances. Lu Liangchen cleared his throat and was about to speak when the old lady suddenly slapped her knee.
"Oh! Aren't you the family of three who saved a trainload of people as reported in the newspaper? You don't know, but everyone in our area says you're heroes. When they knew I was going to Jincheng, they specifically told me to visit you at the textile factory."
The old lady spoke a lot in rapid succession, not giving Jiang Haitang and her family of three a chance to speak.
When they were rescuing people, they did not notice that there was a reporter on the train, who took a photo of the family of three and published it in the newspaper.
When Lu Liangchen saw the newspaper, he felt that the photos in the newspaper were black and white and blurry, and he could only vaguely see the outlines of the family of three. They should not be recognized when walking on the street.
But I didn't expect that I would be recognized by an old lady with sharp eyes.
"Auntie, you've got the wrong person." Jiang Haitang said softly, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corners of her clothes.
Lu Liangchen also slightly turned sideways to block Xiao Taozi who was chewing sesame candy seriously.
"How could I be wrong!" The old lady pointed at the little peach behind Lu Liangchen. "Such a beautiful little baby, exactly like the one described in the newspaper, how could I be wrong?"
The sound was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, and soon the whole carriage was in commotion.
A young man wearing glasses squeezed over and said, "It's really you! I was on that train that day! I received your help." His voice trembled. "If you hadn't taken timely measures, all of us on that train would have been..."
Obviously, even though half a month has passed, the impact of that disaster on everyone is still there.
With the young man's identification, the other passengers became more convinced.
Little Taozi was frightened by the sudden bustle and shrank into Jiang Haitang's arms, accidentally dropping half a piece of sesame candy in her hand to the ground.
Jiang Haitang patted her daughter's back soothingly, while Lu Liangchen bent down to pick up the candy and carefully wrapped it in his handkerchief.
"Heroes! They really are a family of heroes!"
The news spread like wildfire throughout the train carriage in no time.
Soon, people came to visit the family of three, bringing them all kinds of local specialties. One brought a bag of dried hawthorn slices, and another gave them a few warm boiled eggs. An old farmer in patched clothes stumbled out of the hard-seat carriage carrying a bamboo basket and forced it into their hands. When they heard the clucking sound inside, they realized it was a live hen.
"We can't have this..."
Lu Liangchen refused again and again, but the enthusiastic passengers refused to listen.
The old man in the patched clothes said, "My son, daughter-in-law and grandson were also in the car that day. If it weren't for you, our family would have been broken up. This is a small token of our gratitude. I know it's not enough compared to your life-saving grace, but this is all I have with me."
The old farmer looked like he wouldn't leave unless you accepted his money.
Little Taozi was amused by this scene. The little guy just felt happy and had no idea what was going on.
There was a little girl with pigtails who gave Xiao Taozi a beautiful flower hairpin. Xiao Taozi didn't have the good habit of refusing. In her opinion, this was the same as the gifts her brothers gave her.
Little Peach accepted the gift generously, and then gave the little girl a piece of her favorite sesame candy.
The rest of the journey became extremely lively. At every stop, new passengers came to see the "hero family" and even the conductors and police came over several times just to thank them.
Little Taozi became everyone's happy pill. She was hugged by one and teased by another. The snacks she received filled up the space under her seat.
"Mom, why do you all give us delicious food?" Little Peach asked with her little face covered in candy.
Jiang Haitang wiped her daughter's face with a handkerchief and said softly, "Because... because everyone is very kind, and everyone is a very good person!"
She glanced at Lu Liangchen, and they both saw the same helplessness and touching in each other's eyes.
They just did a little bit within their ability, but they received gratitude from so many people. How could they not be moved?
When the train finally arrived at Jincheng Station, the family of three almost fled.
As for the gifts, they felt that they should not accept them and planned to ask the train attendants to help return them. However, the enthusiastic passengers still chased after them and stuffed the gifts into their hands.
A few young men quickly chased after them, moved all the gifts to them, put them under the car, and then hurriedly got back in.
Watching the train start, Jiang Haitang and Lu Liangchen knew that they could not return the gifts today. Fortunately, they were all local specialties and did not violate any regulations.
However, they found that when they got off the car, there seemed to be a lot more gifts.
"This...what should I do..." Jiang Haitang held Xiao Taozi in her arms and looked at so many things placed at her feet, feeling at a loss.
Lu Liangchen smiled bitterly and shook his head. Suddenly he saw Xiao Wu standing on the platform, stunned. He waved to him hurriedly.
Xiao Wu was very surprised to see so many scattered bags, baskets and baskets around the two people.
Didn’t Director Lu and Engineer Jiang come back from the capital?
Are people in the capital so careless that they carry so many scattered bags and baskets?
Lu Liangchen knew what Xiao Wu was surprised about, and could only smile helplessly: "This was given by someone on the train. We refused to accept it. They got off the train and put it down at our feet before leaving."
Xiao Wu was shocked when he heard this: "Director, are passengers this welcoming these days? They actually gave so many things to strangers?"
Although most of them seem to be local specialties of little value, there are really not many people who are willing to give food away these days.
Anyway, he hasn't seen it.
A few people were talking here when they heard a familiar voice. They turned around and saw that it was Director Mao and his driver Xiao Li.
"Engineer Jiang, Director Lu, are you back?"
When he saw the two people, Director Mao was extremely enthusiastic, as if he had seen long-lost relatives.
Lu Liangchen and Jiang Haitang hurriedly greeted Director Mao.
"You have so many things? Let Xiao Li help you get them out of the station and onto the train."
Xiao Li quickly said, "Okay, Director."
Before the words were finished, Director Mao called out, "Aunt, I'm here."
Jiang Haitang and Lu Liangchen turned around together. Wasn’t that the enthusiastic lady with sharp eyes in the car?
If it weren't for this lady's good eyesight, they would not have been recognized.
The old lady was walking around the station looking for someone when she saw Director Mao, and then she saw Lu Liangchen and Jiang Haitang, and she immediately ran over.
"Oh, you guys really recognized me."
Director Mao asked in surprise, "Aunt, do you recognize them?"
The old lady nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, he's a hero who saved lives. Many people recognize him. When I go back this time, I might brag about him to my old friends for half a year. The hero and I shared the same bunk bed when we arrived in Jincheng."
Director Mao was even more surprised now. How could such a coincidence happen?
"Auntie, we'll go back first." Jiang Haitang was really afraid that the aunt's aunts would shout and be heard by others.
Director Mao looked at the family of three fleeing in panic and was still confused about what was going on.
He could only hurriedly carry the old lady's luggage and ask Xiao Li to help move the many things on the ground.
"Nephew, you don't know that these things were given to the hero by the passengers on the train. There was also a young man on the train who was on the train that had the accident..."
As the old lady kept talking, Director Mao finally understood the whole story.
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