The next day, at dawn, the couple packed their things and went out. The two children were still asleep. Jiang's mother made dumplings for them with the remaining meat and boiled some eggs for them to take with them on the road.
Jiang's mother and Jiang Lian personally sent the two of them to the village entrance. Qin Man did not wear her new clothes, but her old clothes.
Jiang Cong also asked her why she didn't wear it, and she said:
"We have to take such a long train ride, and there are all kinds of people on the train. I don't want to dress too ostentatiously. What if I accidentally get it torn or dirty?"
Her concerns were understandable. Her face was indeed not ordinary, so she should not show off too much.
"Be careful on the road, and remember to call the village to report your safety when you arrive. This red envelope is for the two of you, for good luck, and to wish you a smooth and safe journey!"
Before the young couple got into the car, Jiang's mother stuffed a red envelope into Qin Man's hand.
"Mom, we have money!" Qin Man refused.
"I told you, it's for good luck, it's not much!" Jiang's mother gave him a reproachful look.
"Take it. We'll use it to honor our parents when we have money in the future!" Jiang Cong said.
Qin Man then reached out and took it.
The bus started, and Jiang Cong waved goodbye to his family from the window.
The two have embarked on a long journey since then. What kind of life will greet them?
We arrived at the long-distance bus station in the county and bought bus tickets to the train station in the city. The ticket was RMB 1.50 each, which was RMB 3 for two people.
The red envelope given by Jiang's mother contained a total of twelve yuan and eighty cents. The number eight is very auspicious.
The long-distance bus took three hours to reach the city. After getting off the bus, Jiang Cong took Qin Man to the noodle restaurant at the bus station to eat two bowls of noodles to fill their stomachs, and then found a place to stroll slowly to the train station, spending fifty cents for the fare.
It was already one o'clock in the afternoon when she arrived at the train station. Before she even got on the train, Qin Man felt her buttocks aching from sitting.
Jiang Cong's alma mater is not in this city, but in the provincial capital. It takes fifteen hours to take a train from this city to get there. There are only hard seat tickets. Jiang Cong took his ID card to the window to buy a ticket, which cost four yuan and fifty cents.
Qin Man looked at the black and white photo of herself on her ID card. Her name was Jiang Xiaozhu. In this era, the national emblem on the back was not in the upper left corner, but in the middle.
She looked at herself in a daze and couldn't help but laugh.
This ID photo is really ugly. I'll change it back when I have time.
Her ID card is quite special because she was not reported missing and was considered an illegal resident before. In a real sense, the Jiang family adopted her.
So she and Jiang Cong don't have a marriage certificate, they are just de facto husband and wife.
Nowadays, there are many couples who do not have a marriage certificate. This means that they have already had a married relationship and have children. If they want to divorce in the future, they only need to agree to divorce.
The ticket was for three o'clock, and there were still nearly two hours left, so Jiang Cong went to buy some food, including a bag of shaqima, a bag of steamed buns, and some baked cakes. He brought his own large-capacity water bottle, which he could fill up at the canteen for two cents before getting on the bus.
For almost two hours, I waited bored in the waiting hall, and there were people sleeping, lying, or sitting in various positions on the long train.
It was hot and humid, and there was a smell of stinky feet in there.
In the future, we have cell phones to kill time, but now we can only sit there and feel sleepy.
After waiting for a long time, they finally got on the train. It was crowded. Jiang Cong carried the luggage and let Qin Man carry the cloth bag. He protected her from behind to prevent anyone from bumping into her or taking advantage of her.
There were a lot of pickpockets on the train at this time. Qin Man protected her bag with both hands. It contained the money that supported her and Jiang Cong's livelihood, and she couldn't afford to lose it.
I finally squeezed into my seat, and there was a fat auntie already sitting there, holding a two-year-old baby in her arms. The baby was dirty and had a runny nose.
"Auntie, this is our seat, please give way!"
The aunt looked at her reluctantly, then pouted and said:
"Wait a minute, I'm going to feed my grandson some saliva!"
Okay, Qin Man is quite knowledgeable about accidents. Seeing that she was holding the child, she didn't say much and just waited on the side.
The aunt took out water slowly to feed the child and hesitated for a long time until the people behind her started to urge her.
"Hurry up, there are people behind us!"
She also realized that this aunt was just lagging behind in her seat.
But she was not easy to talk to: "Don't rush me, this lady has been occupying my seat to feed the child water, and I have no place to sit!"
"Hey, why are you occupying someone else's seat when you don't even have a ticket? Hurry up, we still need to find seats!"
The person behind became impatient and urged the aunt.
"That's right, why do you always take advantage of others!"
There are many people like this on the train, they just take advantage of their age and status to bully others.
The aunt's face was covered with bruises, but she finally got up reluctantly, holding the child.
"Isn't it just sitting for a while? Why are you so stingy? She's such a pretty girl, how can you be so unsympathetic?" The aunt even started to criticize Qin Man.
Jiang Cong frowned and looked at the aunt with some displeasure. The aunt finally shut up. He put the luggage on the storage rack above and then pulled Qin Man to sit down.
Fortunately, we bought two window seats, so the three of us didn't have to squeeze together. Qin Man sat inside and Jiang Cong sat outside.