Chapter 61 The Thief
The young people who got on the bus had endless things to talk about, exchanging information until their throats were dry.
Song Lubai took the enamel mug to the car to get water. When she got to the connecting area between the carriages, she saw a man standing straight as a pine tree in front of the small window, looking out.
From the side, his nose was too prominent, and his naturally straight back made him look very energetic.
She tentatively called out, "Comrade Wei?"
The man turned his head to the side, revealing his resolute face beneath the brim of his hat.
Wei Yang was somewhat surprised, clearly recognizing her.
Seeing her smile, he also smiled slightly. "Don't you have a job? Why are you going to support the border regions?"
Song Lubai retorted, "Then why are you on this train? I've seen your ID. Are you on some kind of mission?"
Wei Yang shook his head and said succinctly, "I applied to be transferred to Xinjiang Province, and I'll escort the supplies there with me."
Song Lubai said, "I originally had a job, but after watching that movie, I had the idea of going to the frontier, so I impulsively signed up."
Song Lubai's reasons for going to XJ were mostly personal, but she couldn't say that out loud.
Besides, she can't just tell people she doesn't know well about her family problems.
Although Wei Yang's reasons for applying to go to Xinjiang Province were simpler than Song Lubai's, they were still somewhat related to his family.
Both of them had family matters that they were not comfortable discussing with outsiders, so their meeting here was a kind of fate, and they found they got along well.
Wei Yang then inquired about Li Guangming's condition, and nodded slightly when Song Lubai informed him that Li Guangming had almost recovered.
Song Lubai thought of Liu Mei's family and asked, "I heard that the people who harmed Li Guangming were sent to XJ. Comrade Wei, do you know if they can return to their hometowns after their labor is completed?"
Wei Yang shook his head firmly: "As far as I know, those who are sent down to farms are not allowed to return to their hometowns. This has been the case for the past few years, but the future is uncertain."
Seeing her furrow her brow, he added, not understanding her meaning, "However, it's not absolute. You can use connections to transfer your household registration back, but it's very troublesome."
Song Lubai nodded and then asked, "Do you know where we'll be taken when we get to XJ?"
As the person in charge of this train, Wei Yang had a general idea of the situation of the several groups of people who would be boarding the train.
After Wei Yang found out which division's commercial department she had reported to, he said, "The place you're going to is called Shicheng. This train goes directly to Shicheng, but I don't know exactly where you'll be assigned once you get there. Xinjiang Province is very, very large. The distance from Urumqi to Shicheng is several provinces away compared to the Central Plains."
Song Lubai pondered the name "Stone City," feeling that the name itself suggested a barren place made entirely of stone.
She was surprised: "It's that far?"
The two talked for a while longer, then Song Lubai felt hungry and said, "Thank you, Comrade Wei. I'll head back now."
Wei Yang nodded and entered the other carriage.
At this time, most people in the carriage were eating, while a few who were feeling carsick and unwell were lying listlessly on their seats.
Song Lubai's mother prepared pancakes for her.
There are two types of flatbread: one is dry flatbread that is baked directly in a pan without oil, and the other is oil-fried flatbread with a crispy outer layer.
Her mother explained that dried biscuits could be stored for a longer time, while fried biscuits couldn't outlive dried biscuits, so the fried biscuits had to be eaten first.
The flatbreads were made from a mixture of wheat flour, corn flour, and sorghum flour. They were neither particularly outstanding nor stingy among the group's meals.
After a satisfying meal, people inevitably feel drowsy and doze off. The train stops, and another group of people board carriage number seven, bringing life back to the once dull and listless carriage.
Since we were all from the same province and had similar accents, we easily hit it off and chatted together.
As evening fell and everyone was half asleep, another group of people came up.
The accents of this group were completely different from those of Song Lubai and her friends' hometown. When they talked amongst themselves, Song Lubai had to guess what they were saying.
When I had tidied up my things, the entire carriage was almost full, with only a few empty seats left.
When there were fewer people, some could even occupy three seats and lie down, but that's impossible now.
There were many people, but at least there were empty seats, and since there was no need to pay for the tickets, no one complained.
Once everyone was settled, the carriage fell silent once more.
It was probably past midnight when, while Song Lubai was in the restroom, another group of people got on the bus.
Song Lubai stood at the connecting point between the carriages, waiting for this group of people to finish boarding.
Another forty-odd people arrived, and carriage number seven was already full.
The team leader called out, "One person, one seat. If you don't have a seat, find an empty seat at either end of the carriage. Let's all hang in there and persevere."
Song Lubai looked around and saw that even the aisle was full of people, and her original seat had been squeezed out.
She didn't want to sit on the ground and get her clean military uniform dirty, but she couldn't go back and ask someone to give up their seat.
Just as I was about to sit down against the carriage wall, I heard a voice behind me.
"Comrade Song, please come and sit here."
Wei Yang entered carriage number seven and said to the people sitting on the floor in front of him, "Six more people can come here, all of them must be women. They can't stay here during the day, but they can stay overnight. They can't touch the goods inside."
Song Lubai thought there were seats in the carriage over there, but it turned out there were just empty spaces without any goods piled up.
On the open ground lay a dusty, drab regeneration cloth, while the other end was crammed full, covered tightly with a black cloth, obscuring what was piled inside.
Although there were no seats, the open space was large, and Song Lubai could stretch out her legs while lying down. She sighed comfortably as soon as she lay down.
However, the longer she lay on the ground, the colder she felt, and the more uncomfortable her back became.
Unable to sleep, she tossed and turned, so she simply sat against the carriage wall. In her drowsy state, she saw someone sitting at the carriage entrance, their head against the wall, but their back still ramrod straight.
I stayed up all night like that, and when I woke up it was already dawn. The train made an emergency stop and we were getting some water.
Song Lubai walked past the girl who was still fast asleep on the ground, took out her large cloth bag, and prepared to take out her toothbrush and toothpaste.
She took out her toiletries, only to find that her red scarf and little leather shoes were missing from her bag.
She carefully checked to see what else was missing, and after searching, she discovered that the two boxes of Friendship Cream were also gone.
She silently put her bag back, took her toiletries, found Wang Haiquan, and told him what had happened.
Wang Haiquan frowned, then quickly straightened his face. "Go wash your face first. Don't worry, I'll find a way to get your things back."
After Song Lubai finished washing up and returned, she saw the four team leaders talking. Then Wang Haiquan stood up and said to everyone in Mandarin: "Some comrades in the carriage have lost something. Everyone should check now. If you have anything missing, report it. We will make a record. Don't make things up, and don't be afraid to speak up. Report the situation to us truthfully. After the record is completed, the thief must put the item at the carriage connection before 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. If anything is missing or does not match our record, then everyone will have to open their bags and be searched."
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