Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Train Ride

Haishi Railway Station

People who were seeing someone off could enter the platform at this time. Meng Zhongyan carried two suitcases and handed them to Meng Yufei in the train through the train window.

Father and Mother Meng stood outside the car. Mother Meng kept giving instructions, "Fei Fei, you have to take good care of Qin Qin. Even when you go to the toilet, you must keep your eyes open. And be alert when you sleep at night."

Meng Yufei sat on the berth holding Xia Qinqin, nodding as she listened to her mother's words.

Father Meng said, "I've asked your uncle Zhou to contact the station. If you have any questions, please find the security guard of this train."

"Okay, I understand. The car is about to leave, you guys should go back." Meng Yufei nodded.

Meng Zhongyan looked at his father and said, "Dad, let me and Qinqin go alone. The train will take more than 20 hours. Otherwise, I will go with them."

Hearing him say this, Meng Yufei hurriedly said, "Forget it, you just got to work, don't make trouble. I've already called your brother-in-law to tell him the train number and time, and he will pick you up at the station when the time comes."

Mother Meng said, "I will have your brother mail your books and some clothes to you in two days. Remember to pick them up at the post office then."

The two boxes that Meng Yufei brought on the train only contained a few clothes and other light items. The heavier items would be sent directly by mail when the time came.

Xia Qinqin was lying on the window. At the moment, she thought she was just going out to play. She didn't know why the adults were so sad. She stretched out her little hand and held Meng Mu's hand and said, "Grandma, I will come back to accompany you after I see Dad."

Mother Meng smiled, lovingly stroked the little girl's soft hair, and said caringly: "You can't lean out of the window when driving. Close the window. It's windy outside."

Buzz!!!

The whistle sounded at the station, and the staff on the platform urged those who had not yet boarded the train to hurry up and reminded those who were seeing off the train to pay attention as the train was about to leave.

Clank, clank.

The green train started moving.

Meng Yufei looked out the window at her family members on the platform, seeing them moving further and further away until they were out of her sight.

"Big sister, where are you going?" A middle-aged female voice interrupted Meng Yufei's sad mood of parting.

The middle-aged woman sitting on the berth opposite was with a boy of eight or nine years old. Seeing that Meng Yufei also had a child, she started a conversation with her.

Meng Yufei said: "Go to Qiongzhou."

"Oh, that's quite far. How long will it take to sit there?"

"More than twenty hours."

"Tsk tsk, I originally thought that seven or eight hours was long enough for me to go to Nanshi, so I just bought a sleeper berth. I didn't expect you would have to sit for more than twenty hours. Are you going to visit relatives? My mother's home is in Nanshi, and this time I'm bringing the kids back to celebrate my mother's birthday." The woman said a lot of things, she was a talkative person.

While listening to her talk, Meng Yufei took off Xia Qinqin's shoes and put her on the bunk. Xia Qinqin had never been on a train before, so she looked around with some curiosity.

"I went there to follow the army."

The woman was surprised: "Oh, you are a military family member."

Suddenly, everyone became much more enthusiastic, and they respected and trusted the military personnel more.

The woman's name was Zhang Qiaofen, and she was a worker at the Haishi Textile Factory. Both of them had children with them and they looked after each other along the way.

Xia Qinqin was playing with an iron nine-ring puzzle while listening to her mother chatting with the aunt opposite. However, it was basically the aunt who was talking, and Xia Qinqin didn't understand what many of the words meant, but she still listened with great interest.

"What are you playing?"

Suddenly, a child's voice was heard above her head. Xia Qinqin looked up and saw the seven or eight-year-old boy walking towards her, his eyes fixed on the nine-linked ring in her hand.

"Xiaojie, what are you doing? Don't bully your sister." Zhang Qiaofen hurriedly called to her son.

Xiao Jie pointed at the Nine-Ring Chain and said, "I want to play this, too."

Zhang Qiaofen said: "Then you should ask your sister if she is willing."

Xiao Jie nodded, turned to look at the pretty sister in front of him, and asked in a gentle voice: "Sister, can you let me play with this?"

Xia Qinqin nodded and handed it over generously, "Okay."

The two children sat side by side and started playing. Xia Qinqin was already playing this game when she was three years old, lying on her grandfather's knees. She solved the nine-piece puzzle in a few moves, which made Xiaojie look at her with admiration.

Xia Qinqin raised her lips with pride, and enthusiastically taught Xiaojie how to play, as if she, a younger child, was playing with an older child.

In the evening, Zhang Qiaofen and her group arrived at the station, but Xiaojie was reluctant to get off the bus. "I still want to play with my sister. Let's take my sister home with us."

As he said this, he tried to hold on to Xia Qinqin but was dragged away by Zhang Qiaofen.

After the mother and son left, Xia Qinqin whispered to Meng Yufei, "I don't want to go with them. I want to stay with my mother."

Meng Yufei smiled and touched her. Xia Qinqin smiled and asked, "Mom, I'm so good, do you want to reward me with a candy?"

"Okay, since you've been so well behaved today." Meng Yufei took out a White Rabbit milk candy from her bag.

"Thank you, Mom!" Xia Qinqin quickly took it with her little hands, skillfully peeled off the outer paper packaging and put it in her mouth.

The car stopped in Nanshi for five minutes and then started moving slowly and steadily again.

There are four bunks in this carriage. No one is sleeping on the bunk where Meng Yufei and her daughter are sleeping. The man on the bunk opposite is a man who got on from the previous stop. He is in his thirties and is carrying a briefcase. He must be on a business trip.

After he came in, he went straight to the bunk to pick up a book and read without saying anything. At this time, he poked his head and said, "Comrade, from the way you speak, you must be from Haishi. I also went to Haishi on a business trip two years ago."

Meng Yufei said nothing, but took out a military green flat water bottle from her backpack and fed water to Xia Qinqin.

The man continued, "Hey, comrade, where are you going? Let's see if we are on the same route."

Xia Qinqin looked up high, unable to see the man on the upper floor, but her instinct told her that she didn't like this strange uncle. She said crisply, "My mother and I are going to look for my father. My father is a great hero, very powerful."

The man said, "Oh, looking for dad."

Meng Yufei frowned, ignored the man, bent down and asked her daughter: "Are you hungry?"

Xia Qinqin touched her stomach and said, "Yeah, I'm hungry."

Meng Yufei picked up her daughter and prepared to go out to buy lunch boxes. She turned around and saw a train attendant standing at the door and knocking. He said to her, "Sister Meng, you must be hungry. I got two lunch boxes from the dining car. Eat them while they are hot."

The conductor was a young man in his early twenties. He came in with two lunch boxes in his hands and a smile on his face.

Meng Yufei said hurriedly: "Thank you, comrade, we are preparing to go to the dining car to eat, but one portion is enough for the two of us."

"Sister Meng, you can just call me Xiao Zhou. Eat your meal first, and I'll go get you some hot water." As she said that, she put the lunch box on the small table next to her, picked up the kettle on the table and went out.

The man on the opposite berth had stopped talking when the police officer came in. He said in a low voice, somewhat embarrassedly: "Comrade, do you know the police officer on this train?"

Meng Yufei said coldly: "Why, do you need to see him for something? Just wait for him to come back and talk to him yourself."

"No, nothing, just asking, hehe." After saying that, the man picked up the book and lowered his head to read it attentively.

Meng Yufei opened the lunch box. The aluminum lunch box was not big, but it was filled with dishes. Half was braised pork with cabbage, and the other half was stir-fried shredded potatoes, with rice at the bottom.

"Wow, it smells so good."

Xia Qinqin went to the small table and sniffed. She had never eaten food in this kind of lunch box before. She would talk to her good friends in kindergarten about it when she got back. She saw the world on this train trip.

Meng Yufei took out iron chopsticks from her bag. Nowadays, tableware is a must for people going on long trips.

There was still steam coming out of the lunch box. Meng Yufei said, "Qinqin, come here and sit down. Eat your meal while it's hot." Then she picked up the chopsticks and fed her daughter.

Officer Xiao Zhou soon brought back the hot water and put it on the table, saying, "Sister Meng, I'm going to go out and patrol the train compartments first. I'm on night duty tonight. The train attendant lounge is next door. Just call me if you need anything."

"Thank you, Comrade Xiao Zhou." Meng Yufei smiled and stood up to see him out of the carriage.

Xia Qinqin was originally looking forward to the lunch box out of curiosity, but after taking two bites she shook her head and refused to eat any more.

Meng Yufei didn't force her. She took out a few dry biscuits and gave them to her, letting her eat them with hot water. At least she filled her stomach.

I ate the food in the lunch box and then washed the lunch box with boiling water.

At night, the carriage became quiet. Apart from the rhythmic clanging of the train, the only sound that could be heard was the snoring coming from the bed opposite.

Xia Qinqin refused to recognize her bed and fell asleep in it. However, Meng Yufei couldn't sleep. She lay on the bunk, staring at the watch on her hand, watching the second hand tick by.

This watch was given to her by Xia Junshan when they got married. It is a Rolex with a silver calendar. It cost her more than 800 yuan, which was Xia Junshan's annual salary at that time.

Xia Junshan was born and raised in the countryside and had lived a hard life since childhood. After joining the army, all his food and drink were provided by the army, and he had no other expenses on a daily basis.

However, he was very generous when it came to spending money on Meng Yufei. He was the kind of person who would never spend more than 90 cents on a dollar, and he gave all his salary to Meng Yufei before they got married.

Meng Yufei still forced him to keep ten yuan on him every month. It would be inconvenient to do anything without money, so he saved this money every year to buy things for his wife and daughter and send them to them.

Meng Yufei thought: Whether as a husband or a father, Xia Junshan is a very good person. I chose him for this reason. Now it seems that my original vision was correct. However, people's hearts are fickle. Can he remain unchanged?

Just as I was daydreaming, a slight creaking sound suddenly came from the quiet carriage.

The sound is very light and short, and you can't hear it at all if you don't pay attention.

Meng Yufei's eyes narrowed, and she looked towards the door of the carriage, vaguely seeing a figure standing there.

It has been an hour since the last stop, so it is highly unlikely that this person is a passenger in this carriage. Meng Yufei lay on the bed expressionlessly, wondering what the figure was trying to do.

A figure tiptoed in, his footsteps were almost inaudible. It was only because Meng Yufei had good hearing and was awake that she heard his movements, otherwise she would not have noticed him.

The luggage in the sleeper compartment is usually placed under the small table at the head of the bed. The visitor was obviously very familiar with the structure of the compartment. He walked straight to the luggage and took the suitcase smoothly.

When he felt the leather texture on his hand, he was delighted. It was not an ordinary person who could use such a box these days.

Now we can slaughter a fat sheep!

Just as he raised a smile, his wrist was grabbed by someone. He felt a sharp pain and reflexively let go of the suitcase.

A clattering sound woke up the man in the upper store opposite. He opened his eyes in confusion and saw a stranger standing downstairs, being grabbed by the cold-faced beauty in the lower store opposite. There was also a fallen suitcase in the aisle.

"Here, what happened?" he asked in confusion.

Meng Yufei glanced at him and said, "Catch the thief."

"Thief?!" The man sat up in surprise.

The stranger struggled hard to break free and suddenly took out a knife from his other hand and stabbed at her. Meng Yufei dodged to the side and kicked him in the right leg. When he bent over in pain, she quickly snatched the knife away.

Seeing that the stranger was trying to run, Meng Yufei pushed him to the ground with her backhand and stepped on his back with her right foot. The stranger shouted angrily: "Let me go! I just walked into the wrong carriage, why did you hit me!"

The sound of the fight between the two attracted the conductor Xiao Zhou, who ran over quickly. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Sister Meng, who had been speaking in a low voice a few hours ago, now pressing someone to the ground with a cold face.

"Sister Meng, what happened?" Xiao Zhou asked hurriedly.

Meng Yufei explained: "This guy came in at night to steal things," looking at the knife on the ground, "and he even brought a knife into the car."

Xiao Zhou's face immediately turned serious. He took out handcuffs from his waist and handcuffed the man. He turned to Meng Yufei and said, "Sister Meng, you are not hurt, are you?"

"No." Meng Yufei shook her head.

Xiao Zhou said: "I didn't expect Sister Meng to be so skilled."

Meng Yufei tucked the hair around her ears with her hands and smiled, "When I was a child, I was in poor health, so my father asked someone to teach me some boxing techniques to keep fit. I didn't expect to use them today."

The thief was a thin young man who kept making excuses after being handcuffed. Xiao Zhou picked up the knife on the ground and said to him, "You can explain these things when you go to the police station."

"Sister Meng, I'll take him to the lounge and lock him up, then hand him over to the police station at the next stop."

Meng Yufei nodded, "Okay."

After the people left, the man on the upper floor seemed to react and said dryly, "Comrade, thank you so much, otherwise our things would have been stolen."

Meng Yufei glanced at the man indifferently, and the man seemed to think of how she had just hit someone, and his body subconsciously shrank.

The accident ended quickly and the carriage returned to silence. Meng Yufei looked at the little girl on the berth. She was not affected by the movement just now and was still sleeping soundly.