Chapter 86 Zhou Jingsong: I'm also stationed in Harbin...
Chapter 86
The train, which had been trembling all the way, gradually came to a stop, slowly shifting to a gliding speed until it came to a complete halt.
Meng Yingying and the others packed their luggage and came downstairs. By the end of September, Moscow was already deep in autumn.
Even the air felt brittle with cold.
When Meng Yingying and the others suddenly got off the warm train, the cold wind blew into their bones.
She pulled her coat tighter, trying to ward off the cold wind. "It's so cold. I feel like Moscow is colder than our city of Harbin."
But the wind was too strong, so it was all in vain. Qi Donghan simply took off his coat and draped it over her.
His movements were so natural that everyone around him was stunned.
Gao Chunyang's eyes darkened, and he lowered his head as if he hadn't seen it.
While covering her clothes, Tong Jialan said jokingly, "It's good to have a boyfriend."
Meng Yingying felt a little embarrassed by the favoritism shown to her in front of everyone, but then she thought about it and realized that Qi Donghan was her boyfriend. She calmly wore his clothes and said with a pursed lip, "If you're envious, why don't you find a boyfriend too?"
Now it was Tong Jialan's turn to blush, and she fell silent.
The group didn't linger for long before two men in uniforms approached and spoke with Qi Donghan and Gao Chunyang in Russian.
Both of them spoke Russian, and Yang Jie also knew some, so they could probably understand it.
She then turned to her students and said, "Bring out your red dispatch certificates and credentials for them to inspect."
Meng Yingying and the others listened and did as instructed, and waited until the dispatch certificate and proof were checked.
The other party also requested to inspect the package, stating that "diaries, cameras, and large amounts of RMB are not allowed."
This is clearly a red line issue regarding travel to the Soviet Union.
Meng Yingying went to see Qi Donghan, who nodded and said, "This is a routine inspection, and the people here don't allow us to take pictures."
In order to prevent them from leaking information here to the country.
After hearing this, Meng Yingying took down all her luggage and let the other party check it. It took them more than half an hour to check all the luggage.
"It's really complicated."
"Going abroad is really complicated."
Tong Jialan sighed softly, but Meng Yingying shook her head, signaling her not to say anything. After the inspection, the other party led them out of the train station, where each person exchanged thirty rubles at a small window outside the station.
Only then did they start waiting for a car by the roadside.
The exchange program they attended this time was at Moba Affiliated School. Yang Jie seemed to have been there before, so she was very familiar with the pace of the program.
"A bus will come to pick us up later."
Meng Yingying nodded and waited in the autumn wind for about ten minutes before the bus from Moba Affiliated School arrived at the train station.
"Yang".
A blond, blue-eyed man got out of the car and gave Yang Jie a big hug. This left Tong Jialan and the others speechless. In China, it's rare for strangers or people you've just met to hug in public.
That would inevitably be labeled as an improper relationship between a man and a woman, but here, such an embrace is so natural that no one around them even gives them a second glance.
Yang Jie clearly knew the rules here, and she naturally gave the other person a hug, saying, "Jian, it's been a long time."
Jian released her hand, stood still, and looked Yang Jie up and down. "It's been at least thirteen years since we last met."
"Yang, you haven't changed at all, just like before."
Seeing Yang Jie's familiar attitude towards the other party, Meng Yingying understood why Yang Jie was chosen to lead the exchange and study trip to the Soviet Union.
This feels just like going back to my hometown.
After Yang Jie finished exchanging pleasantries, she simply invited them to board the bus. The buses in the Soviet Union were green, somewhat the same color as the green trains in their country. Inside, there were white curtains hanging on the windows.
It is very elegant.
Meng Yingying was alright; once she sat down, she simply sat down. But everyone else couldn't help touching and groping her.
Yang Jie noticed this and whispered a reprimand, "Sit down properly."
"If you want to see the view outside the window, just open the curtains."
Everyone then calmed down and turned to look out the window. It would take about forty minutes to get from Yaroslavl Station to Moba School.
Along the way, we passed Red Square and the Kremlin walls, and saw the golden onion domes shining brightly in the sunlight.
Tong Jialan and the others couldn't help but widen their eyes in shock, "The houses here are really special."
"How could a house be built like this?"
Is anyone living in this house?
This remark caused a burst of laughter, and since Jane could clearly understand Chinese, he even added an explanation.
After hearing this, Tong Jialan was so embarrassed that she couldn't even lift her head.
After a 40-minute drive, we finally arrived at the Moba Affiliated School, a three-story red Russian-style building with uniform wooden floors.
The house is clean and bright.
"Even the houses here are so beautiful."
Even Shen Meilan, who came from the capital, was somewhat shocked, "The roads are so clean."
"There's not a speck of dust."
"And they were all blond and blue-eyed; they didn't look like us at all."
Just as everyone was whispering among themselves, when they arrived at the dormitory, Jian said to Yang Jie, "Everyone, please rest first."
"After you rest, I'll take you to the cafeteria."
Yang Jie thanked the other party and then translated for Meng Yingying and the others. Meng Yingying understood what was going on after listening.
"Two people per dormitory room, assigned according to gender, you can pair up freely."
Meng Yingying naturally shared a dormitory with Tong Jialan, while Li Shaoqing and Shen Meilan had no choice but to share a dormitory.
Yang Jie is both the team leader and a teacher; she has her own dormitory room.
As for Qi Donghan and Gao Chunyang, they were assigned to the same dormitory.
After everyone had settled in, they went to the cafeteria to get their meal tickets. They thought this might be the first time in over a week that they would have a hot meal.
However, when they saw the mashed potatoes, borscht, and white bread, everyone was stunned. "Is this what we're eating?"
This would feel like an after-dinner snack in the country.
"right."
Yang Jie said in a low voice, "The staple food in the cafeteria here is mashed potatoes and white bread. Everyone needs to get used to it gradually."
Meng Yingying was somewhat dazed; it had been a long time since she had eaten Su cuisine.
Seeing it again brought back some memories.
She took a bite of the mashed potatoes, which were smooth and sandy in her mouth. The borscht was a rich red color, and her tongue turned red after drinking it, with a savory flavor.
Finally, she took a bite of the crispy white bread with a soft interior, dipped it in beef gravy, and felt incredibly satisfied.
This is definitely tastier than cornbread or corn porridge.
Seeing her eating with satisfaction, Tong Jialan asked uncertainly, "Is it delicious?"
Meng Yingying nodded, "It's delicious."
"You can try it."
Only after hearing these words did Tong Jialan dare to put down her spoon, especially since the borscht looked so bright red; anyone who didn't know better would be drinking human blood.
That scared me to death.
It wasn't as bad as I had imagined.
Qi Donghan ate for a while, and then chatted with someone. After a while, someone from the cafeteria brought over a plate of beef, which smelled sour and fragrant.
He cut the beef into small pieces, and in the end, each person got two pieces as an extra meal.
Afterwards, Meng Yingying was a little curious, so while everyone else was walking ahead, she deliberately lagged behind and asked, "How did you get the beef?"
The meals they had eaten before did not contain beef.
Qi Donghan held out his hand, revealing the rubles he had received as change earlier. "I bought them with money."
"Beef Stroganov, 150g for only two rubles."
Meng Yingying, “?”
It took me a while to understand, "You mean the beef we just ate?"
Qi Donghan nodded, "It's just called that. It's actually just tender beef strips with yogurt and onions. Someone just gave it a nice-sounding name."
"It's similar to eating Buddha Jumps Over the Wall in China."
Meng Yingying then understood. She suddenly realized, but was also a little puzzled. "How do you have so many?"
This really touches on many aspects of daily life.
Qi Donghan raised his hand and ruffled her hair. "We used to have this course, and because the Harbin garrison is relatively close to the Russians, we've even gone on missions with them."
After spending some time together, you'll naturally become familiar with each other.
Meng Yingying murmured, "Qi Donghan, you know so much."
Qi Donghan said calmly, "It's not that I know a lot, it's just that you'll naturally understand after you've been exposed to more of it."
He didn't think it was something to be proud of or to show off.
After getting familiar with the environment of Moba Affiliated School, Meng Yingying and her classmates entered into intensive training.
For these students, the most urgent task every day is to learn ballet and Russian. Fortunately, Meng Yingying had been ambushed by Yang Jie before, so it wasn't too difficult for her to get started.
But for Tong Jialan, Shen Meilan, and Li Shaoqing, four hours of ballet and Russian every day was simply unbearable.
Having become accustomed to Chinese pronunciation and word order, they were challenged to change the pronunciation and memorize the new way of speaking.
It's really hard, but we have to keep going no matter how hard it is.
Besides four hours of ballet and Russian, they also have to go to the school classroom to practice dancing, and they practice with students from the Moba Affiliated School.
To be honest, it wasn't until I came out that I realized what a genius was. Meng Yingying was alright, though, because she had already seen the world of geniuses in her previous life.
However, this was not the case for Li Shaoqing and Tong Jialan. The most powerful person they had ever met before was Meng Yingying.
But after arriving at Moba Affiliated School, they discovered that these people were more talented than them.
This created a sense of urgency among everyone, making their dance practice even more intense.
Jane and Yang Jie watched from the side. After looking around, he pointed to Meng Yingying, who was listening to the phonograph and practicing "Don Quixote".
He turned to Yang Jie and said, "Yang, is this your leader this time?"
He could tell that Meng Yingying's practice of Don Quixote was already showing promise.
Yang Jie nodded. "Her name is Meng Yingying, and she is also my apprentice."
At this point, she changed the subject, "Jane, you may not believe it, but Meng Yingying has only been in the dance industry for three years, and she has only been learning Don Quixote for a week."
This shocked Jane. "That's impossible."
He reflexively denied it, saying, "Our school's genius, Arsipova, would need at least three months to achieve this effect when she dances 'Don Quixote'."
The dance to Don Quixote is notoriously difficult. It took Arkhipova three months to complete a full version of Don Quixote.
This has already had a very significant impact on Moba School.
Then Yang Jie tells her that Meng Yingying may have achieved this effect after dancing for a week?
No wonder Jane was shocked.
“Jane,” Yang Jie said, “you know my character; I never lie.”
"If you don't believe me, you can continue to observe for a while."
"Then I'll have to observe them carefully for the next month."
He desperately wanted to know the limits of Meng Yingying's talent.
*
It was early autumn in Harbin. In the residential compound of the motor factory, Old Mrs. Song looked at the newspaper again and again. It was about Meng Yingying winning the championship and when Meng Yingying went to the Soviet Union to participate in exchange activities after winning the Northeast Three Provinces League Championship.
She couldn't help but exclaim to Old Master Song, "Look at Yingying, Mr. Song."
"She is too outstanding."
Old Master Song, wearing his reading glasses, looked up and then snorted coldly, "No matter how outstanding you are, you won't be surnamed Song."
Old Mrs. Song knew he was being stubborn, "Then she's definitely not a child of the Song family. You people with the surname Song have never raised her for a single day, nor let her eat a single grain of rice from the Song family."
"No matter how outstanding they are, it has nothing to do with the Song family."
These words made Old Master Song's face turn ashen instantly, while Old Madam Song felt incredibly pleased.
She turned and left to pack her things, heading to the garrison.
After reading it, Old Master Song murmured, "Even if you go to the garrison, it won't make a difference. They're not stationed there, so what would you do there?"
Grandma Song said, "I only go because Yingying isn't stationed here. If she were here, I'd feel like a thief and wouldn't dare go."
This is the real problem.
"Yingying hasn't said she acknowledges us, so why should we bother her?"
"All we can do is try to be nicer to her and make up for what we can without her knowing, that's all."
As for recognizing each other.
As Grandma Song watched Meng Yingying become more and more outstanding and rise higher and higher, she became more and more determined to abandon the idea.
That's impossible.
Old Master Song said instinctively, "Why is it impossible?"
Grandma Song sneered, looking him up and down with his wrinkled face. "Your face is quite big, isn't it?"
"If Yingying were not doing well, your going to acknowledge her would be a lifesaver. But now? Yingying is doing quite well, and her career is thriving. What's the point of you going to acknowledge her now?"
"Do we want to make the other party hate us?"
She truly regrets it.
Upon hearing this, Old Master Song remained silent for a long time. He waved his hand and said, "I don't care about you anymore, and I can't control you."
Old Mrs. Song sneered, "You don't mean you can't control me; you controlled me for the past twenty years."
“They won’t let me acknowledge my child, and they won’t let me send letters. Every time I try to send one, they stop me.”
"Now you want to interfere, but let me tell you, Meng Baichuan is dead. Death absolves all debts. Even if you still hate him for ruining your daughter back then, that hatred should dissipate now."
Old Master Song remained silent with a somber expression.
How much did he hate it?
When I suddenly learned that my daughter had dropped out of Tsinghua University and eloped with Meng Baichuan, giving up her promising future, I was deeply saddened.
As a father, he both hated his daughter for being rebellious and immature, and resented Meng Baichuan for ruining his daughter.
His daughter should have been a star student at Tsinghua University, a leader in the laboratory, and a genius in the research institute.
However, because of Meng Baichuan, the eighteen-year-old girl gave up her promising future and ran away to a village in the mountains to marry Meng Baichuan and have a daughter.
Heaven knows how furious Old Master Song was when he finally learned that Song Fenfang and Meng Baichuan had eloped back to his hometown.
That anger burned within him until he and his eldest son went to Mengjiatun and saw Song Fenfang, who should have had a bright future, dressed like a village woman, holding a child while urging Meng Baichuan to hurry up and cook.
She was very hungry while breastfeeding her baby.
To this day, Mr. Song still dares not recall that scene, his daughter who was intelligent from a young age, spoiled, and had obsessive-compulsive disorder.
At that time, he was disheveled and wearing an oversized short shirt. The front of the shirt was soaked with milk stains that had seeped through and were almost dried.
But she didn't have time to care.
She was just wrapped in her clothes and holding her child, urging Meng Baichuan, who was cooking alone in the yard, while her mother-in-law was still cursing behind her.
Saying she's spoiled is ridiculous. What woman who's breastfeeding doesn't live like that? She eats four meals a day and still complains of being hungry. Is she a reincarnated starving ghost?
They themselves had never cursed their daughter like that. As long as she was willing to eat, he and his wife would never say an extra word.
Not to mention, his daughter had just given birth and was still breastfeeding, yet she was treated like this.
At the time, Song's father didn't know what he had done; he felt a mix of hatred, resentment, heartache, and sorrow.
So what did he do in the end?
Together with Song Zhan, they kidnapped Song Fenfang. Song Fenfang refused to leave and was even more reluctant to abandon her child.
However, Song's father refused and forcibly had Song Fenfang tied up in the car.
As for Meng Baichuan, who was carrying the child and trying to catch up, he was stopped by Song's father. He just stood there calmly, his eyes red, and his tone restrained, "Meng Baichuan, you once said that you would give my daughter happiness."
"Is this the happiness you gave her? Disheveled and unkempt. If she ate an extra meal while breastfeeding, your mother would chase her around and scold her for miles?"
"Meng Baichuan, is this really what you're doing to bring happiness to my daughter?"
"Instead of wanting to ruin her life, you want to drag her down to hell with you, to make her live the worst, most miserable life?"
Song's father still remembers Meng Baichuan's ashen face at that time.
But he didn't stop there. He said, "You can give me the child. Our Song family can afford to raise this child."
He reached out to ask for it, but Meng Baichuan didn't give it to him. He also remembered his words at the time, his throat choked with tears, "Uncle Song, Yingying is the only thing I care about in this life."
"You can take Fragrance with you, but please leave the child with me."
His relationship with Song Fenfang was purely by chance, and he treated every day they spent together as if it were his last.
One is a privileged young woman, the other a demobilized soldier; they were never on the same page.
Mr. Song didn't get the child. He looked down at the child, who was quite good-looking. However, because his father was Meng Baichuan, he also felt disgusted by him.
Meng Baichuan wanted the child, and without any hesitation, he gave the child to Meng Baichuan.
His daughter has a bright future, but she has already gone astray. He cannot let her go astray again because of another child.
Thinking back to those days, Song's father's eyes reddened slightly. He said to his beloved, "Peihuan, even if it happened all over again, I would still do the same thing."
"Fenfang's future was ruined once by Meng Baichuan, and it cannot be ruined a second time by the child."
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Song trembled. "What a tragedy! What a tragedy!"
Her hands, which were tidying up, fell limply to her sides again.
She wanted to see Meng Yingying, but she didn't dare to. The child who was once in swaddling clothes had grown up.
Song Fenfang was wrong, Meng Baichuan was wrong, and the entire Song family was wrong.
But that child is innocent.
*
Xiangyi Hospital.
Zhao Yueru has been hospitalized here for thirteen days, and her symptoms are gradually improving.
When Dr. Ning came to check on Zhao Yueru, he took the opportunity to examine her again, checking her pulse and then looking at her belly. "Good, the pregnancy is stable now, you can be discharged."
"But remember when you get back, don't let the pregnant woman lift heavy things or do any strenuous work. If possible, let her stay in bed as much as possible."
After considering it for a moment, Zhou Jingsong asked, "Dr. Ning, is it still suitable for my wife to come back to Harbin with me to be stationed with the military?"
Dr. Ning, "How far is it from here to Harbin?"
“Three days on the train,” Zhou Jingsong added. “If it were a sleeper berth, not a hard seat, she would just lie down after boarding and wait for the team’s vehicle to pick her up after she got off.”
Dr. Ning thought for a moment and said, "In principle, there is no problem. Her pregnancy is going well. She is four and a half months along and will soon be five months along. If you want to go with the military, you can do so during this period. I would not recommend that you go after seven months."
Dr. Ning was clearly very responsible; he had considered all aspects.
Zhou Jingsong got the answer he wanted. He thanked Dr. Ning and waited for Dr. Ning to leave.
Zhou Jingsong then went to discuss with Zhao Yueru, "Yueru, the station is close to the hospital, only a ten-minute walk away. How about we go to the station ahead of time?"
Mengjiatun is a full 30 miles away from Xiangyi Hospital, and it takes a long time to get there, whether by bicycle or tractor.
This was very unsafe for Zhao Yueru, who was heavily pregnant and could give birth at any time.
Zhao Yueru hesitated for a moment, "I need to tell Yingying first, so she won't be unable to find me when she comes back."
Although Zhou Jingsong frowned, he still chose to respect Zhao Yueru's idea.
“Her phone number is on the envelope,” Zhao Yueru said. “Could you help me take the religious items out of my luggage?”
Zhou Jingsong hummed in agreement, went to his luggage to find an envelope, and handed it to Zhao Yueru without looking at it closely.
Zhao Yueru missed the envelope, and it fell to the ground. Zhou Jingsong picked it up and saw the address.
Zhou Jingsong paused, "The team stationed in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province?"
Zhao Yueru nodded, took the envelope, and then said, "Yingying's childhood betrothed is from the Harbin troupe, and the cultural troupe she joined is also from Harbin."
Zhou Jingsong suddenly said, "I'm also from the Harbin team—"
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