"Grandpa Wang"
"Alright, let's not talk about Shen Bowen. Let's talk about Zhou Tao, that girl. She took care of the old man when we were in the military hospital. The old man isn't an ungrateful person."
"Grandpa Wang, thank you on behalf of Uncle Shen and Aunt Zhou."
"No need to thank me, these are all I'm giving you. Oh, and there are a few prescriptions inside. Your Aunt Zhou knows how to use them; she joined the revolution a long time ago and knows these herbs are common roadside herbs. Keep them for future use."
"Okay, I'll talk to Aunt Zhou."
"Girl, be careful on the road. Nothing is more important than your own life. If something happens to you, they will blame you for the rest of their lives."
"Grandpa Wang, don't worry! I know what to do and I'll take good care of myself."
"That's good"
After returning, I still felt that I hadn't prepared enough, so I prepared some grains. I didn't dare to prepare rice or wheat flour, and I didn't even dare to prepare cornmeal. I prepared 50 jin of corn grits, 100 jin of dried sweet potatoes, 50 jin of sweet potato flour, and also packed in the few beans that were left in the space.
After looking around the kitchen, I prepared some sausages, a 20-pound jar of lard, and 10 pounds of coarse salt. Thinking they hadn't been there long and might lack anything, I also prepared a small pot, a ceramic pot, and other utensils. All of this was packed into two burlap sacks.
Fearing it might still not be enough, he prepared another bag of cornmeal, intending to see if there was a place to hide it near where Uncle Shen was currently living. If so, he would prepare more for him.
This trip is a one-off; who knows when the next one will be?
The next morning, early in the morning, he carried several sacks on a shoulder pole to the village entrance, and after waiting for a short while, he saw Grandpa Huang driving an oxcart.
When Grandpa Huang got closer, he saw the several burlap sacks beside him and said, "Child, what's this?"
"Grandpa Huang, I need to go to Tongshi to visit an elder. I heard he was wounded and retired from the army. I've been taking good care of him since my parents sacrificed their lives, and I feel uneasy if I don't go see him. Besides, I'm not the kind of person who forgets kindness. Now that he's wounded and retired, I should at least go and visit him, shouldn't I?"
"I was just thinking he'd just returned home from the army, and his family probably had nothing, so I prepared some things for him. You wouldn't believe how many packages we've received since we arrived, but nobody in our production team knows how many we've collected."
"Okay, we really should go and see them."
"So, by the way, Grandpa Huang, I'll have to trouble you to take me to the train station today."
"It's nothing, you can herd cattle anywhere."
"Are there any other people using oxcarts today?"
"No, it's just you. There are still some days until the autumn harvest. Everyone will go to town to buy some meat and such a couple of days before the harvest, so they can cook some meat and vegetables during the harvest. Otherwise, the harvest is so tiring, everyone won't be able to handle it."
"Oh, I see."
"No one's coming, let's go."
"Okay, then I'll load the sacks onto the oxcart."
We chatted with Grandpa Huang on and off along the way, mostly about the production team and which family in the city had been targeted by the government recently.
I don't know what to say about the people who are now leading raids on homes in the city every day. Although I don't know much about this period of history, I do know that they have been manipulated. But in this situation, it is impossible for them not to have some rational people to guide them. I'm afraid they are no longer listening to other people's advice and instead suppress the other party.
While chatting with Grandpa Huang on the oxcart, it felt like no time had passed before we arrived at the train station. Then I heard Grandpa Huang say, "Girl, things have been quite turbulent lately. Be careful on your journey."
After jumping out of the car, he said, "Don't worry, Grandpa Huang knows what he's doing."
"The old man will be back here waiting for you the day after tomorrow."
"No need, Grandpa Huang. He doesn't even know what time his train is the day after tomorrow afternoon."
"It's alright, it's the same wherever you herd cattle."
"Well, Grandpa Huang, if I haven't gotten off the train by 5 pm the day after tomorrow, please don't wait here. If I come back late, go to Uncle Zhou's house and have him take me home."
"Can"
"I'll be going now."
Let's go.
Instead of rushing to buy tickets, he first found a secluded spot and quickly put his belongings into his storage space. Carrying several sacks on the train was inconvenient and too conspicuous.
After finishing, seeing that no one was around, I went to the station entrance and asked about buying tickets: "Hello comrade, a single spark can start a prairie fire. I'd also like to buy a train ticket to Tongshi."
"Chinese sons and daughters are full of ambition; they prefer military uniforms to feminine adornments. Do you have a letter of introduction?"
"The future is bright, but the road is tortuous."
"All reactionaries are paper tigers. That's good, let me see it."
"Surrounded by countless enemy troops, I remain unmoved. Okay." He then took it out of his bag and handed it to the other person.
A moment later, the other person handed me the letter of introduction and train ticket, saying, "Where there is oppression, there is resistance! The next train is in fifteen minutes."
"Study hard and make progress every day. Thank you, comrade."
"Serving the people"
Now, no matter where I go, the first thing I say when I talk to someone is a quote from a famous Chinese proverb.
I waited on the platform with my canvas bag for less than 20 minutes until the train arrived at noon. This train was only a few minutes late, which was already considered good.
I bought a seat ticket and found a seat not long after boarding the train. Fortunately, the seats around me were still empty.
These days, it's already quite difficult for these people to find empty seats on the train to Beijing. However, this train that passes through Tongshi departs from Baishi, which is much farther from Beijing than other places. So even if they want to go, they can't all go; they can only send representatives, which means there aren't many people.
I had barely sat down when a few young people wearing red armbands came up. They were clearly representatives from near Beijing. Seeing that they hadn't noticed me, I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.
It only takes about 5 hours by train from Fusong County to Tongshi. Let me take a nap first!
These young people started talking about what they were going to do after they got to Beijing as soon as they boarded the train!
"Qian Weidong, do you think we'll be able to meet when we get to Beijing?"
"It definitely can."
That would be wonderful!
"Zhou Hongdong, what about you? Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I'm thinking about who we should look for after we get to Beijing."
"You're right. By the way, Qian Weidong, you've contacted the representatives from Beijing. What did they say?"
"We've managed to get in touch, but there are just too many comrades coming to Beijing to meet the Great Man recently, so finding accommodation is proving difficult."
"Liu Weiguo, didn't I hear you have relatives in Beijing? Do you know where they live? We could stay with them for a while."
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