As soon as Zhou Huaishan parked the tractor, Wang Zhen, Yang Dongmei and the Yang family came out to greet him.
Everyone exchanged a few warm greetings, went in to have breakfast, fed little Jiuer who was looking around curiously, and then took the luggage out and put it on the tractor.
There were two big red leather suitcases and two large snakeskin bags filled with the wedding quilts that Yang's mother made for her daughter. Zhou Huaishan drove the tractor to take them to the train station.
It is about two or three kilometers from the clinic to the train station. After arriving there, Zhou Huaishan dropped the person off and drove his tractor back to deliver the goods.
Wang Zhen took them into the waiting room, where many people were already waiting. They found a place to sit down and waited for about ten minutes. Then the bell rang and the ticket checking began.
The ticket inspector stood at the iron gate with a loud speaker and shouted, "Passengers taking the 8:15 express train, please come and check your tickets and board the train. Passengers taking the slow train, please wait."
Wang Zhen took out the tickets and distributed them to everyone. There were a lot of petty thefts on trains these days, so he had asked someone with connections to issue a certificate to buy the sleeper tickets.
"It takes more than ten hours to get to the provincial capital. I bought a sleeper berth. My sister-in-law, eldest sister and a few elderly people all have lower berths, while we all have middle and upper berths. If someone insists on squeezing in later, we'll let them get on first and then we can get on."
"I heard that there are a lot of three-handed people at the train station. They often squeeze at the door of the carriage to steal things when people are in a hurry to get on the train." Zhou Huaian added in a low voice.
After hearing this, several old men looked around cautiously and said, "We understand. We will follow you all the way."
Yang's father and mother each held a child, Zhou Huaian held Xiao Jiuer, and the others carried their luggage. They lined up at the ticket gate and had their tickets checked in turn.
In her previous life, Yang Chunyan had taken both slow trains and fast trains. Slow trains were mostly train carriages with seats arranged horizontally on both sides of the carriage. This type of train was mainly used for short-distance transportation, stopping at every station and with sparse inspections.
Whenever a train arrives at the station, passengers rush to grab seats. During festivals, the carriages are packed like sausages, with no place to sit.
There were passengers on the bus, as well as villagers who were going to the market to trade, carrying chickens, ducks, piglets, and some leading sheep and calves.
The interior of this type of train is almost like a vegetable market, with the sounds of chickens, ducks, geese and other livestock, and the smell is so sour. The most annoying thing is that there are so many pickpockets. If you are not careful, they will cut a big hole in your pocket with a blade, and by the time you find out, all your money and belongings are gone.
There are just as many pickpockets in the hard-seat carriages of express trains. Anyone who has taken a long-distance train knows that pickpockets start working, especially after midnight when passengers are tired and sleepy.
Passengers who were alert and hid their money and belongings were better off, but those who were a little careless only found out that their belongings were lost when they woke up.
Sleeper berths are relatively safer, but these days, sleeper berth tickets are not something that ordinary people can buy. You need a certificate from a government official.
Later, various anti-theft methods were used, such as sewing a bag on underwear, anti-theft belts, anti-theft waist bags, or hiding money under the insoles of shoes. It was not until various payment codes were introduced that pickpockets had no place to use their tricks, but there were more and more scammers with endless ways of cheating...
She was lost in thought as she followed everyone to the platform, only to find that there were many more people waiting for the train on the platform than in the waiting room.
Wang Zhen led them forward for more than ten meters, put down the luggage bag in his hand, stood on the platform and waited for a while before the train slowly pulled into the platform.
Yang Weiguo said to Dashuang and Xiaoshuang: "See? That's a train."
Da Shuang nodded, "It's so long, like a worm."
Xiao Jiuer's eyes widened as he stared at the train that was slowly approaching with a clang. Suddenly, he pointed at the train and said, "Big bug!"
Zhou Huaian laughed and said, "It's not a big bug, it's a train."
Xiao Jiuer insisted, "It's a big bug!"
After hearing this, Yang Chunyan recalled the pigworms (Pieris rapae) that Zhou Jiakang and his friends caught that day. They were also green and had big heads. She thought that children really had rich imaginations.
There were many people getting on the hard seat car, but not many people getting on the sleeper car. Everyone was carrying luggage and children, and only got on the train after showing their tickets to the conductor and finding their berths and putting their luggage away.
Yang Chunyan and Zhou's mother lived in the bunks opposite each other. Zhou Huaian put Xiao Jiuer on the bed and went to talk to Wang Zhen and Yang Weiguo.
Yang Chunyan saw him quickly fall out of bed, and heard the whistle of a train starting up ahead, so she quickly hugged him and said, "Don't move, it's about to start. If you fall, I won't take care of you!"
The train started to move with a rumble. The little guy looked curiously at the scenery outside the window that kept falling backwards, and sat there obediently.
Zhou's mother laughed and said, "He's moving faster and faster every day. He'll run outside if you're not paying attention. A few days ago, you went up the mountain to dig up white hyacinth. I hadn't even finished drying my clothes when he climbed to the back mountain."
Yang Chunyan looked at her son who was sitting still so quietly. "That's right. As soon as Huai'an put him down and turned over, he crawled downstairs."
Mother Zhou looked up at the bunk above and said, "I didn't expect that there are three layers of beds in such a small place. It's just too narrow. I'm afraid I'll fall off if I turn over too fast."
Yang Chunyan smiled and said, "It looks narrow, but it's no problem to lie down and turn over."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talked for a while, and Yang's mother and Yang Dongmei also came over, "Mother-in-law, are you still used to sitting?"
"It's a habit. Look, it's clean. Doctor Wang spent a lot of money." Zhou's mother stood up with a smile and asked her to sit down. The two mothers gathered together to chat.
Xiao Jiuer couldn't sit still after looking at the scenery for a while, so Yang Chunyan asked Zhou Huaian to take her to the next room to play with Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang. The two sisters huddled together and whispered.
The yard that Doctor Wang showed them was just opposite where Wang Zhen's father lived. It was a two-story Western-style building that had just been built. Because the landlord was transferred to another province or city, he sold the house here.
Yang Dongmei curled her lips, "That woman is jealous of the house we just bought, and she's angry that old man Wang Zhen insisted on decorating our wedding room. She has a gloomy face all the time, as if someone borrowed her millet and returned it with rice bran. She made a lot of noise in the kitchen. She has no manners at all."
"Your wedding room is not in the new house?"
"Yes! Old man Wang Zhen told Grandpa that he was the eldest son and the wedding room should be at home. Wang Zhen didn't want to make Grandpa angry so he agreed."
Yang Dongmei sighed and said, "Wang Zhen told me that he still likes the way we live in the countryside, where we kill a pig at home and hire a chef to prepare nine dishes, and friends and family gather together to have a lively banquet."
Yang Chunyan smiled and patted her hands. "It's good to go to a big restaurant. Take us to have a look. We can eat and leave immediately without cleaning up the dishes."
Yang Dongmei knew she was trying to persuade her, so she smiled and nodded, "The food at the restaurant that the old man booked tastes pretty good, but there's not enough of each dish."
Yang's mother laughed and said, "The restaurant has to make money. If they serve a large plate of every dish like we do, what will they feed so many people?"
Zhou's mother also said, "We country people do a lot of physical work and have big appetites, while city people move less and eat less, so we waste too much food if we can't finish it."
After chatting for a while, they went back to their bunks to rest for a while. At noon, the two families took out the food they had brought with them, and went back to sleep after eating and drinking their fill. They went to the dining car for dinner, which was expensive and unpalatable, and the old people were heartbroken.
We boarded the bus at eight in the morning and arrived in the provincial capital at nearly twelve at night. We felt chilly before we even got off the bus, so everyone hurriedly took out thick clothes from their luggage and put them on.
As soon as we got off the train, Wang Zhen's cousin Wang Nan was waiting outside. We followed him into two cars and drove for about half an hour before arriving at a quiet street.
There are many flowers, plants and trees planted inside the hollow carved wall. After entering, I found that they are all two-story small houses.
Yang Chunyan thought that Wang Zhen's father's house was just opposite, so she turned her head and looked. She saw that the yard opposite was similar to this one, but the difference was that there were soldiers in military uniforms standing guard at the gate.
After entering the yard, the car stopped in front of a building. Doctor Wang and his son welcomed everyone in at the door. Wang Zhen's father was gentle and polite, and his smile was very friendly.
The older people were a little reserved when they saw him. After greeting him politely, they went into the living room.
The spacious living room has a leather sofa, a mahogany coffee table, and an open-air balcony. The whole house is covered with bright red couplets and the word "happiness" (happiness) on the wall.
Yang Chunyan thought this small building was really nice. She heard that it was bought for just over 8,000 yuan. In another 20 years, it might not be possible to buy it even for 10,000 or 8,000 yuan.
Doctor Wang smiled at everyone and said, "You have been tired all day, take a good rest. After the wedding banquet, Wang Zhen will take you to see around and have some fun."
Father Yang looked at him with a smile in his eyes, "Teacher, we are fine, you should go to bed early!"
Doctor Wang and his son saw that they looked restrained and nodded with a smile, "Okay, then we'll go back and rest first. I'll live in that small building over there. That's Wang Zhen's father's home."
After Wang Zhen and Yang Dongmei sent them out, they arranged rooms for everyone. There were two beds in the guest room on the first floor. Yang's father, the old man, and Zhou's father stayed in one room, while Yang's mother and sister-in-law Yang and her son stayed in another room.
Yang Chunyan and Yang Dongmei lived in the same room, and several people stayed in the guest rooms on the second floor. Fortunately, there were many rooms, otherwise so many people would have had to stay in a hotel.
After washing up, it was already past one o'clock. Yang Chunyan didn't feel sleepy because she had slept too much during the day. The two sisters chatted in private for a while before going to bed.
In the next room, Zhou Huaian went to the balcony to look around, then smiled at Yang Weiguo and said, "Brother, this house is really nice. How about we buy one if there's a suitable one?"
Yang Weiguo rolled his eyes at him and said, "There are too many houses in the county town to live in, and you want to buy one in the provincial capital. I think you should just collect houses in the future."
Wang Zhen said to the two men, "I heard that next year a wholesale and retail market will be built next to the railway station. That would be a good investment project."
Zhou Huaian turned his head and looked at him, "The train station where we got off?" (End of this chapter)
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