Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Family Reunion

"Attention, passengers: The train to Qiongzhou is about to arrive at the station. Passengers who want to get off please prepare in advance."

The train broadcast a reminder in fluent Mandarin.

Meng Yufei breathed a sigh of relief, finally arriving.

The train was originally scheduled to arrive at 10 o'clock this morning, but it stopped on the road for a long time due to a road failure in the morning. It is now almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon and has not arrived at the station yet.

"Qinqin, wake up, we've arrived at our stop." Meng Yufei gently rocked her daughter who had just taken a nap.

Xia Qinqin rubbed her eyes. After the journey of more than 20 hours, the lively and active girl now looked like a frost-bitten eggplant.

"Mom, I'm so sleepy~" Xia Qinqin whispered coquettishly, her big watery eyes filled with tears, and she looked like she was about to cry at any moment.

Meng Yufei picked up her daughter and patted her gently, coaxing her softly, "Qinqin, be good. Let's sleep after we get off the bus. Dad is waiting for us outside. Let's go find him together, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Listening to her mother's voice, Xia Qinqin nodded obediently.

The train arrived at the station and people getting off crowded at the door. Meng Yufei looked at the two suitcases in a dilemma. With so many people around, they must be worried about leaving the child behind and letting her walk alone.

Suddenly there was a knock on the window.

Looking up, Meng Yufei was surprised and happy, and hurried over to open the window.

"Why are you here!"

The person outside the window was Xia Junshan, wearing a green military uniform, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, looking very heroic.

Seeing Meng Yufei looking over, he grinned, revealing his big white teeth, and said with a smile: "Just hand the luggage to me through the window."

"Oh, okay." Meng Yufei quickly handed the two suitcases over through the window.

After thinking about it, he picked up Xia Qinqin and prepared to pass her over.

Xia Qinqin tightly wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and refused to let go. "Ah! Mom, no, no, I want to be with Mom."

Meng Yufei said, "Qinqin, this is dad. You've seen the photo, don't you remember? Can you go down through the window first? There are so many people at the door, it's very crowded."

Xia Qinqin just buried her head in her mother's arms, twisting her body and refusing, "No, no!"

Meng Yufei said helplessly: "Okay, if you don't want to go, then don't go. Mom will hold you." She looked up at Xia Junshan and said: "You wait here, I will carry Qinqin out of the car." After that, she turned around and left the car and walked towards the exit.

Xia Junshan raised his hand early to catch his daughter, and felt a little disappointed when he saw his daughter's rejection. However, when he thought about how he had only seen her a few times since she grew up, he couldn't help feeling guilty and sad.

On second thought, now that our family is finally reunited, there will be plenty of time to nurture our relationship, and I can't help but feel overwhelmed with joy.

Qiongzhou is the provincial capital after all, and there were many people getting on and off the station. The platform was crowded. The young couple, one carrying the luggage in front and the other holding the child in the back, had no time to talk and just kept walking forward with their heads down.

As I got out of the station, the air suddenly became much fresher.

Xia Junshan said, "I borrowed a car from a comrade-in-arms. He transferred to the Public Security Bureau here last year. He and I had a good relationship in the border area before, so I just wanted to ask him for help this time."

"Let's take a car to the pier first. We won't be able to catch the last ferry today. Let's stay overnight at the guesthouse at the pier and go to the island early tomorrow morning."

As he spoke, he led the mother and daughter towards a jeep parked on the side of the road. The person in the driver's seat saw Xia Junshan coming and the woman following behind him, and he knew that someone had been picked up.

He opened the car door and walked down, saying with a smile, "Old Xia, I've picked up my sister-in-law."

Xia Junshan introduced, "Brother Sun, this is my wife Meng Yufei," and then turned to Meng Yufei and said, "This is my comrade Sun Dahai."

When Sun Dahai saw Meng Yufei's appearance and dress, he thought to himself that it was no wonder that Old Xia was a famous henpecked man. Then he saw the pretty girl in his arms, whose eyes and eyebrows looked a bit like Old Xia.

He smiled and greeted, "Hello, sister-in-law. This is Qinqin, right? She has grown up so much now. I still remember that Old Xia used to show us his daughter's one-month-old photo."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Hello, Brother Sun, please come and pick us up." Then she said to her daughter, "Qinqin, call someone."

Xia Qinqin said obediently: "Hello, Uncle Sun."

"Well, it's getting late, let's get in the car."

The jeep started to drive. At first, the road in the city was fine, but when it was out of the city, the road gradually became bumpy and the car was shaking. Xia Qinqin fell asleep as soon as she got in the car. Meng Yufei hadn't slept for more than 20 hours. At this moment, she relaxed and couldn't help but nod her head down.

Just when her head was about to hit the car window, a big hand gently held her up, slowly put her head on his shoulder, and looked at the faint dark circles under her eyes with heartache.

When Xia Qinqin opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on an unfamiliar bed. She jumped up, turned her head and looked around, and saw her mother sitting at the table not far away, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing the noise, Meng Yufei, who was packing boxes, looked over to the bed and saw her daughter was awake. She smiled and said, "Are you awake? Are you hungry?"

Xia Qinqin asked curiously: "Mom, where is this?"

The lighting in this room was a little dim, and the color of the wooden furniture was obviously old. The paint was almost peeling off, and the tiles on the floor were spotted.

Xia Qinqin had never lived in a room with such conditions in her life.

"This is a guesthouse. We will rest here tonight and take a boat to our new home on the island tomorrow." Meng Yufei explained softly to her daughter.

Xia Qinqin asked: "What is a guesthouse?"

Meng Yufei said: "Well, it is to provide a place to sleep at night for people like us who come to a strange place."

Xia Qinqin thought for a moment and asked again, "So when we go to the island tomorrow, are we going to visit Dad's house?"

Meng Yufei paused while holding the clothes, turned to look at her daughter and explained: "This is Dad's home, and it is also our home. We are a family."

Xia Qinqin tilted her head and asked, "Then, is that also the home of my grandparents and uncle?"

“…”

Before I could figure out how to explain it, the door opened.

Xia Junshan came in with three lunch boxes. Seeing his daughter sitting on the bed, he smiled and said to her, "Qinqin, wake up. Are you hungry? Dad just went to the state-owned hotel to get food. Today, they have the specialty of their chef."

As he spoke, he put the lunch box on the table, and then he trotted back with the food still steaming hot.

He turned to Meng Yufei and said, "Don't pack your things yet, come and have dinner."

Meng Yufei took out her pajamas and put them aside. "I didn't expect it to be so hot here. I was wearing my winter clothes in Haishi, but I didn't know I didn't even need a coat here."

Xia Junshan quickly arranged the dishes for the three people and said, "I heard that it will be hotter here in the summer. Let's buy a fan and take it home later."

He walked to the bed and bent over and said, "Qinqin, Daddy will carry you to dinner, okay?"

Xia Qinqin looked at the strange yet familiar face in front of her, blinked, and nodded gently, "Okay."

Xia Junshan happily picked up his daughter, and his tough and cold features added a touch of softness. He turned around and gently placed his daughter on the chair.

"Thank you, Dad."

This was the first time Xia Qinqin called him daddy since they met, and it was also the first time Xia Junshan heard his daughter call him daddy. After so many years of hardships, Xia Junshan's eyes were actually a little sour.

He lowered his voice and whispered, "You're welcome."

Looking at his wife sitting opposite him and his daughter sitting next to him, Xia Junshan felt a sense of satisfaction he had never felt before.

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Today is the first time that our family of three have dinner together. Let's celebrate together."

As she spoke, she raised her hand as if holding a cup. Xia Qinqin immediately followed her mother's movements, raised her little hand to touch it, and shouted happily: "Cheers!"

After saying that, he turned around and said, "Dad, come and have a toast with us."

Xia Junshan smiled and raised his hands. The three hands touched together and said, "Cheers!"

…

the next day.

The family of three packed their luggage and checked out early.

The guesthouse was just opposite the pier, and it was only a few steps away from the waiting room. Xia Junshan went there and bought the earliest boat ticket to the island that day.

Meng Yufei wore a blue shirt, black wide-leg pants, and white Feili sneakers today. Her soft hair was casually tied into a low ponytail. This outfit was simple and light.

Xia Qinqin wore a white top with goose yellow floral patterns, blue denim overalls, and white children's Feili sneakers.

Xia Junshan held his daughter in one hand and carried two suitcases in the other, while Meng Yufei carried the shoulder bag across her body.

This family sitting in the waiting room attracted a lot of attention. Xia Junshan's military uniform was eye-catching, but because of the troops stationed here, everyone was used to wearing military uniforms. He attracted attention because of his tall stature and handsome appearance.

The most important thing is that the two people, one big and one small, standing next to him were wearing different clothes in the crowd of people wearing black, white and gray. Meng Yufei thought her outfit was simple, but in the eyes of the people here, it was very novel and fashionable.

What’s more, the three members of this family are all good-looking, which makes people unable to help but take a few more glances. Everyone loves beauty.

Sitting in the ferry, enjoying the comfortable sea breeze, Xia Junshan pointed to the faintly visible island and introduced it to the two people: "The one in front is Nanya Island."

Xia Qinqin tried to open her eyes wide, and saw a little mountain peak emerging in the distance. She said with some disappointment, "It's so small."

Xia Junshan smiled and touched Xia Qinqin's head, explaining: "It looks small now because we are far away. When we get closer, you will find that it is very big. There are nearly 20,000 people on the island."

Xia Qinqin didn't know what 20,000 meant, so she had no reaction to the number. Meng Yufei, however, was a little surprised. "So many people?"

Xia Junshan said: "There are more than 10,000 people in our division, plus the families who came with the army. There are also thousands of indigenous people on the island. You can calculate how many people there are."

Meng Yufei said: "That's a lot. I originally thought there were only soldiers and their families on the island. If there were islanders, life would be much more convenient."

Xia Junshan nodded and said, "Yes, the island is actually quite convenient. There are supply and marketing cooperatives, schools, and hospitals. By the way, many kinds of fruits and seafood here don't require tickets."

Meng Yufei's eyes lit up. In the era of planned economy, food, clothing and other expenses all depended on invoices. The Meng family was not short of money, and Meng Yufei had never worried about money since she was a child, but this invoice was very distressing.

Nowadays, if you can buy something without a ticket, it is more attractive than a discount, not to mention that it is seafood and fruit, which are rare things in the sea market.

Looking at the Nanya Island getting closer and closer, Meng Yufei felt more expectant.