University extra (9)
The morning after the exam, Wen Sheng hurriedly put on her cotton coat and went out. As soon as she opened the door, a biting cold wind hit her in the face, making her shiver.
I was careless...
Wen Sheng turned back and put on the thick sweater from the closet. Just as she was about to go out again, she suddenly remembered Xu Jianing's instructions from yesterday.
"It will be very cold tomorrow morning, so remember to wear your scarf, earmuffs, and the cotton gloves I bought for you." He counted them off on his fingers, making sure she didn't forget, and emphasized them several times.
She was preoccupied with the relief of being free after the exam and clearly didn't take his words to heart, replying dismissively, "Is it that cold?"
Wen Sheng hesitated at the door for a moment, but finally obediently went back inside and put on her scarf, earmuffs, and gloves. Looking at her chubby reflection in the mirror, she couldn't help but laugh.
Oh well... so be it if I'm bulky, staying warm is the most important thing.
She pushed open the dormitory door, and the cold wind hit her again, but this time, with the protection of a scarf and gloves, it wasn't so uncomfortable.
The campus was quiet this morning, with fewer people getting up early to study in the library. Most students were still asleep, with only an old man sweeping the floor in the distance and a few other early risers on their way.
Wen Sheng wrapped her scarf tighter, her breath quickly dissipating in the air. She carefully walked on the snow-covered road, her steps uneven as she made her way towards the school gate.
From afar, she saw Xu Jianing pushing his bicycle and standing next to the stone lion at the school gate. He was wearing a dark blue cotton-padded jacket, and the cold wind made his bangs stick up slightly. His nose was red from the cold. When he saw her coming, he immediately smiled and waved to her.
"Looks like I emphasized it last night. Scarf, earmuffs, gloves, you didn't forget any of them." He looked at her fully armed and nodded with satisfaction, reaching out to straighten her slightly crooked earmuffs.
"Won't it look bulky?" Wen Sheng asked, her eyes peeking out from above the scarf as she looked at him.
"No, it's very cute," Xu Jianing said with a smile, reaching out to pinch her nose through the scarf.
Wen Sheng was amused, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
"Come on, get on. The train station is still a distance from the school, so riding a bike will be faster." Xu Jianing turned the bicycle around, patted the back seat, and gestured for her to get on.
Wen Sheng sat on the back seat, grabbing the hem of his cotton-padded coat with both hands. His usual canvas bag was also strapped to the back of the bicycle, bulging and its contents unknown.
"Hold onto my waist, it'll be easier to grip," Xu Jianing said, turning back to give him a word of advice before pedaling hard.
She obediently wrapped her arms around his waist, and when she touched the thick cotton-padded fabric, she said with a regretful look, "You're wearing too much in winter, I can't even feel your abs anymore."
After saying that, she remembered something else and asked loudly, "Xu Jianing, if you can't exercise in winter, will your abs disappear?"
The front of the car swayed slightly, and Xu Jianing almost lost his grip on the handlebars.
"What...what are you thinking about so early in the morning?" He smiled helplessly, but his tone was full of doting and indulgence.
Only she dared to ask. If it were anyone else, he would just give them a cold look and not say a word. But with Wen Sheng, he not only wouldn't be angry, but he actually hoped she would take the initiative.
"This is a very serious issue! I don't want to feel only a little belly when I touch him in the spring." Wen Sheng chuckled from the back row, patting his belly through his cotton-padded coat with both hands.
"Please rest assured, Comrade Wen, I will definitely work hard during this period, and I look forward to seeing your results in the spring."
“Okay, I have high hopes for you, Comrade Xiao Xu.” Wen Sheng mimicked his tone, replying in a stern voice, and even emphasized the word “comrade”.
Xu Jianing held the handlebars with one hand and reached back with the other, patting the hand that was wrapped around his waist: "Hold on tight, there's a downhill ahead."
The bicycle rolled down the gentle slope and suddenly picked up speed. Wen Sheng quickly tightened her arms and hugged him even tighter.
"Are you cold?!" Xu Jianing shouted, her voice carrying intermittently through the wind to her ears.
"It's cold!" Wen Sheng called out back, her voice muffled by her scarf.
"Then hold me tighter!"
Wen Sheng didn't reply, but simply pressed her forehead against his back, letting him shield her from the wind. Xu Jianing felt the embrace behind him and deliberately slowed his pedaling pace on the smooth road, so that she could lean on him more steadily.
After riding for about thirty minutes, they finally arrived at the train station. The old waiting building had the words "People's Railway for the People" written in large red characters on its exterior wall.
Xu Jianing parked his bicycle in the bicycle shed by the roadside and carefully locked it. Fearing that someone might steal it, he first locked the rear wheel with an iron lock, and then took out another old lock from his canvas bag and locked the front wheel and frame together to the iron railing of the shed.
"Why did you bring two locks?" Wen Sheng asked from behind.
“There are a lot of car thieves these days. I saved up for a whole semester to buy this car, so I can’t let it get stolen.” He stood up, dusted off his hands, and checked the two locks again to make sure they were secure.
"What if it's really lost?"
"Then I'll have to trouble Comrade Wen Sheng to walk back to school with me."
"It takes 30 minutes to cycle back, but it would take two hours to walk back?"
"Just consider it exercise. When the results are checked in the spring, Inspector Wen might give me an extra point."
Wen Sheng patted Xu Jianing on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Comrade Xu is very conscientious."
As the two chatted and laughed, they entered the square in front of the train station. Looking around, they saw a dense, bustling crowd: migrant workers carrying burlap sacks, travelers with bamboo baskets, and adults cradled their children. Luggage bags, hot water bottles, and old quilts were piled up everywhere, and the loudspeaker repeatedly announced: "Passengers, please queue in an orderly fashion and do not crowd..."
"So many people..." Wen Sheng murmured, feeling somewhat worried upon seeing so many people.
“It’s almost Chinese New Year, so it’s normal to have so many people. We’re one of the earlier ones.” Xu Jianing protected her as she squeezed forward to the end of the queue, shielding her from being pushed by the crowd.
The scene outside the train station's ticket hall was chaotic. Some people complained that they had been queuing for two hours without the line moving forward, and some even squatted on the ground to smoke.
Xu Jianing placed the canvas bag at Wen Sheng's feet and said to her, "There's water, roasted sweet potatoes, and steamed buns from the cafeteria in here. Take them out and eat if you get hungry."
"Where are you going?" She tugged at his sleeve, her brows furrowed slightly.
"You stay here and wait in line. I'll go check out the situation at the front."
She looked up at the dark mass of people in front of her, hesitated, and nodded: "Okay, I'll wait for you here. Be careful not to get jostled."
Just as Xu Jianing was about to turn around, he leaned closer to her and whispered, "Be careful, don't get too close to people, especially keep an eye on your pockets. There are a lot of pickpockets at the train station."
Wen Sheng put her hands in her cotton-padded jacket pockets, clutching the little money she had, and nodded.
When Xu Jianing squeezed to the front, he happened to see someone arguing fiercely with the ticket seller.
"Is it even possible to buy this ticket?!" A middle-aged man, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a snakeskin bag in his hand, yelled angrily at the ticket window, his voice so loud that people standing behind him could hear him.
"I've been queuing for three hours, and all I hear is 'no tickets, no tickets.' Did we come all this way for nothing?" he yelled, slamming the snakeskin bag to the ground, startling the baby next to him into tears.
The ticket seller at the window, experienced in this field, remained expressionless, simply repeating: "There are no more hard seats, only a few standing tickets left. If you want one, line up; otherwise, stand aside."
"Aren't you ripping us off? You didn't even tell us how many tickets we had. We came all this way just to hear this?" The veins on the man's neck bulged, and he had lost control of his emotions.
Someone behind him, his eyes blazing with impatience, leaned straight out the window and shouted, "Standing tickets are fine too! I need two!"
When Xu Jianing returned, his expression was somewhat somber.
Wen Sheng immediately went to greet her, asking anxiously, "How is it?"
"Sure enough, there are no hard seats left, only a few standing tickets, and scalpers are already raising prices." He sighed.
"Standing ticket? How long would I have to stand?"
"It takes about 18 hours to get from here to Hancheon City."
"How about we don't go back? We can spend the New Year at school." Wen Sheng felt a sense of helplessness, as if she and Xu Jianing had become strangers stranded in the capital, with no hope of returning home anytime soon.
Xu Jianing pursed her lips, glanced at the bustling crowd, and said in a low voice, "I'll go ask the scalpers."
About ten minutes later, he returned, followed by a man wearing a gray Zhongshan suit and with slicked-back hair parted in a side part.
These days, even scalpers are starting to dress up.
"Young man, you want to buy two tickets, right? You two?" The scalper's smile was greasy, with the corners of his mouth turned up, and his eyes scanned back and forth between the two of them.
Xu Jianing said calmly, "Where's the ticket? Let me see it."
The scalper chuckled and slowly pulled two green train tickets from his Zhongshan suit pocket. "Genuine tickets, direct to Hanchuan the day after tomorrow. But these tickets... aren't cheap."
He held up five fingers and waved them: "This number. If you dawdle, there won't be any tickets left."
"Five yuan a ticket, right? Then give me two." Xu Jianing reached out to take the tickets.
"Young man, you've gone too far with this joke. Fifty! Fifty yuan a ticket!" The scalper's face changed, and he quickly stuffed the ticket back into his pocket.
"Don't beat around the bush. Two tickets for fifty, or I'll turn around and leave. It's not the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush yet, tickets are tight, but not to the point where they're impossible to get." Xu Jianing looked around and found someone who looked like a scalper.
Following his gaze, the scalper reluctantly said, "Seventy, two seventy-yuan bills, that's my bottom line."
"Forty." Xu Jianing didn't hold back in trying to lower the price.
"Are you kidding me? Forty? That's not even the original price!" The scalper glared angrily.
"Believe it or not, it's up to you. Anyway, other people have tickets too," Xu Jianing replied coldly, and then turned to leave.
Seeing that he was about to leave, the scalper was afraid that he would lose the business, so he quickly reached out and grabbed him, saying through gritted teeth, "Fine! Two fiftys."
Xu Jianing reached out and took the ticket, carefully checked the date and stamp, and handed over the money after confirming that everything was correct.
Wen Sheng wanted to applaud this brilliant negotiation; the price was only slightly higher than the original ticket price. Just as she was about to take her hand out of her pocket to clap, she suddenly felt as if there was a second hand in her pocket besides her own.
Their hands clasped together in their pockets for a moment.
Xu Jianing was standing in front of me exchanging tickets with the scalper, both of his hands clearly visible in front of me.
So what about the hand in the pocket...?
"Ah!" Wen Sheng screamed, grabbing the unfamiliar hand in her pocket and pulling it out forcefully.
Upon hearing the sound, Xu Jianing immediately ran over and grabbed the person behind her. It was a thin, middle-aged man wearing a tattered cotton-padded coat, who was trying to slip away in the chaos, but Wen Sheng held his wrist tightly.
People nearby realized what was happening and shouted, "Pickpocket! Catch the pickpocket!"
"Let go! Let go of me!" The man struggled desperately, but Wen Sheng's strength was extraordinary, and she wouldn't let go no matter what.
The scalper hadn't gone far when he heard the commotion and squeezed over. He immediately recognized the man and clicked his tongue, "Old Li? It's you again? Didn't you just get arrested and spent three days in jail last month?"
Xu Jianing twisted the pickpocket's arm behind his back, and the man screamed in pain, completely losing the strength to struggle.
Just then, two police officers from the station squeezed in, and the crowd immediately made way.
"Why did you steal again?" The lead police officer frowned, recognizing the habitual offender at a glance.
The pickpocket, pale-faced, still stubbornly insisted, "I failed to steal it, so you can't arrest me!"
A chorus of curses erupted from the crowd: "Shameless!" "Just because you can't steal it doesn't mean it's not stealing?!"
Without further ado, the police officer pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his waist and, with a "click," cuffed them to the pickpocket's wrists.
Two police officers, one on each side, escorted the pickpocket out of the crowd and quickly disappeared outside the waiting hall.
Wen Sheng then came to her senses and found that her palms were covered in cold sweat. After the shock she had just experienced, she looked up at Xu Jianing, her eyes filled with tears.
"It's alright, it's alright," Xu Jianing said, gently patting her shoulder.
Wen Sheng looked down at her hands, where deep marks from her fingernails were imprinted on her palms. She sniffed and whispered, "I was almost scared to death just now."
Xu Jianing held her hand in his palm, gently massaging her stiff fingers with his fingertips, then slowly stroking the deep and shallow marks, trying to erase those dangerous traces.
"You did a great job. You caught him immediately and didn't let him get away."
“But next time something like this happens, protecting yourself is the most important thing. If he has a knife or some other weapon, don’t fight back. You can earn money again, but it’s a real problem if you get hurt.” He said, rubbing her hand.
"Hmm." Wen Sheng took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
Xu Jianing bent down, picked up the canvas bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's go, let's go to the city for a walk to clear our heads."
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