The days grew colder and colder, and then another heavy snow fell.
The Public Security Bureau issued a notice stating that Li Bin was sentenced to five years of labor reform at a farm for suspected tomb raiding. Qu Bing, who was also involved in tomb raiding, was sentenced to twenty years and was burned to death by arson during interrogation at the Public Security Bureau. Both cases have been reported to their respective local governments.
This announcement sparked another small wave of public opinion in the village.
The issue that had almost been forgotten by everyone was brought to the forefront again, and the matter of the two educated youths amplified the villagers' opinions and dissatisfaction with them.
On this day, the village cadres organized a meeting for all the educated youth. The main purpose of the meeting was to tell the educated youth to behave themselves and not to do anything illegal. The village cadres looked unhappy, and the educated youth looked even uglier, like a palette of colors.
An Moxue was even more worried. She hadn't received a letter from Chu Dongmei yet and didn't know what was going on with her. Now, with this situation, would her leave request to the village be approved?
Two more days passed, and there was still no news. An Moxue was unwilling to give up. She sat on the ice sled, supporting herself with her wooden cane, and experienced the thrill of high-speed travel. She went to the town post office, but still found no letter from Chu Dongmei.
An Moxue hated the slow communication at this time!
Back in the village, she secretly went to see the village chief, who was quite surprised by her cautious demeanor.
"Uncle, can I talk to you about something?"
"Tell me what it is first."
"I would like to ask for a few days off."
"what?"
“I’m going to the next province. A friend of mine might be in trouble. The situation is very serious. I wrote to her several days ago. I should have received the letter a few days ago, but I haven’t heard anything. I’m very worried and want to go see her. Uncle, I promise I’ll come back as soon as I see her and I won’t cause any trouble.” He then raised his right hand as if to make a promise, looking very sincere.
"You know there's a rule that educated youth can only take family visit leave after two years of service, right?"
"I know, but isn't this a family visit? My friend is in trouble, I can't just not go! It's about helping each other, about unity and friendship among compatriots! Uncle, please make an exception!"
"No, especially with your temperament, who knows what trouble you'll get into this time!"
"Uncle, let's not tell the villagers. I'll leave quietly. If anyone asks in the next few days, just say I went to the county to assist with a case, okay? I promise I won't cause you any trouble. If you're really having trouble, I'll go to the county and ask Director Li for a temporary transfer slip, is that alright?"
"No way, if I let you go on temporary assignment, who knows where you'll end up! How many days? It's a promise, you won't cause any trouble."
“Seven days!” An Moxue said hesitantly.
"No, five days at most." Village Chief Guo made the biggest concession.
“Okay, five days it is. We can start tomorrow. I’ll leave tomorrow and try to come back as soon as possible. Uncle, let’s go now. I don’t know what time my train is yet, so I want to leave as soon as possible.”
He handed an envelope to Village Chief Guo and said, "Uncle, just open it at the address on this page."
An Moxue made a decision: she would go back and tidy up the house in a little while, and then leave.
Village Chief Guo looked at her helplessly, took the envelope, went into the house, and opened the letter of introduction for An Moxue.
An Moxue took the letter of introduction and said to Village Chief Guo, "Uncle, wait for me, I'll bring back some local specialties from there to show my respect to you."
Without waiting for Village Chief Guo's reply, he turned and walked away.
As Village Chief Guo watched her turn and leave, he chuckled and muttered, "You little rascal!"
An Moxue returned home, tidied up the house, checked everything one by one, emptied all the water from the water tank, dressed neatly, and left with a backpack.
Last time she went to town, An Moxue experienced the fun of riding an ice sled. It was not only fun, but also much faster than riding a horse-drawn carriage.
The road was covered with a layer of ice and snow. Sitting on the ice sled with two walking sticks, you could glide a long way, especially downhill. It was fast and exciting. An Moxue fell in love with this tool. It is said that snow sleds are also very fast and can travel on ice. They can also be used to haul things. She must try it if she has the chance.
An Moxue was on her way to the county town, but some people didn't know that because she was a day late, she had come all this way for nothing and didn't get to see the person she was looking forward to.
It was already dark when An Moxue arrived in the county town.
She went directly to the station, asked the ticket seller, and learned that the nearest train was at 2:30 a.m. She decisively bought a ticket and then asked about the train schedule for her return journey.
She was glad she left a day earlier, otherwise she might have arrived a day later.
After buying the ticket, I booked a room at a guesthouse near the station for one night and checked out a little after 1:30.
On the train platform, the north wind was particularly cold in the early morning, as if it were trying to take away every last bit of warmth from one's bones.
There weren't many people waiting for the bus, and they all hunched over, trying to keep warm.
The sound of the train, "Clatter, clatter," grew louder as it approached. An Moxue finally boarded the train, hoping it would be warmer, but to her surprise, the train wasn't much warmer than outside, except for the absence of the howling north wind.
The train was mostly empty, so An Moxue found a seat in the middle of the carriage and sat down.
Soon the train started moving, and the carriage returned to silence, with only occasional whispers from passengers.
Mo Xue fell asleep without realizing it.
She woke up again to the sound of an argument.
"What did you say? Say it again! I've raised you for nothing! I've raised you all these years and you don't even recognize your own mother? This is a sin against heaven!" The middle-aged woman cried, looking utterly heartbroken.
The girl standing next to her rolled her eyes rudely and said, "Auntie, please look at my face before you claim me as your daughter, and then look at yours. Do you think you can give birth to a girl as beautiful as me? You're dreaming! Don't you even look at yourself before randomly claiming relatives?" The surrounding tourists all thought the girl had a point. The girl had bright eyes and white teeth, while the middle-aged woman had a thin body and triangular eyes. The two didn't look like mother and daughter at all.
“How can you say you weren’t born of me? You don’t look like me. You look like your uncles, so why is that wrong?” At this point, the passenger realized that what the aunt said made sense. There’s an old saying that nephews often resemble their uncles.
Who is telling the truth?
The two people each had their own reasons, which confused the passengers.
"Really? Are you sure? Who can prove that you are my mother?"
"You child, you wait here. I'll go to another carriage to find your father. I don't believe you won't even recognize your own father."
After the woman finished speaking, she turned and went to another carriage.
The girl also found the train conductor who had been watching the commotion without participating. The girl handed the conductor something, and the conductor looked shocked when he saw it.
The girl smiled as she looked at the train conductor.
The train attendant hurriedly left the carriage.
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