He stepped in to help her resolve the issue, but he didn't utter a single word of objection until he saw her board the train that was now heading far away.
Actually, I had already stopped crying halfway there. I kept telling myself to be strong. My parents were soldiers. They sacrificed for the country. They were heroes. I am the son and daughter of heroes. How could I shed tears?
Seeing Uncle Shen and the others leave, I sat alone in the sleeper berth on the train, quietly watching the things outside the window. I felt how fast time had passed. I had been in this world for almost fourteen years. So many people and things around me had changed. I had long since come to regard myself as one of them, experiencing life in this era and feeling the enthusiasm of people for life.
The train departed quickly, and the journey from here to Fusong County, Baishi City, Jilin Province, would take nearly two days. Fortunately, Uncle Shen had used his connections to reserve a sleeper berth for me, so I didn't have to squeeze into a hard seat. Besides, very few people travel by sleeper berth these days; there are no tickets for sleeper berths, they're reserved for relevant departments. To get a sleeper berth, you need connections.
This put my mind at ease. Seeing that no one was coming, I quickly put the food that Aunt Zhou had prepared into my spatial storage. I had also put the two envelopes that Uncle Shen had given me into my spatial storage a long time ago.
Because I got up early and ate early this morning, I was a little hungry, so I ate an egg first. After all, it's still early before lunchtime, and I was worried that someone might come over later.
Having nothing to do in my sleeper berth and seeing that no one was coming, I quickly locked the door from the inside and took out the two envelopes Shen Bo had given me. One contained national grain coupons, weighing exactly 100 jin (50 kg), which I put back untouched; I didn't plan to touch them. Picking up the other envelope, I ignored the money coupons inside and checked the details. It listed almost all the leaders living in the military compound. I recognized them all, which made things easier. Once we arrived, I'd see if I had any local produce or anything, and mail some to each family. These people, whether in the military now or in civilian life, were invaluable assets. Besides, I couldn't just take and not give! They were taking care of the children of martyrs, and while I didn't have much power now, I could afford to give them some local produce. And besides, I wasn't ungrateful; they were helping me, so I should do my best to repay them, shouldn't I?
There are 285 yuan in here, and 200 jin of national grain coupons. It can be said that they left over from their mouths. They gave me so much grain because they were afraid that I would not be able to endure the hardships of rural life and would not have enough to eat. If I eat this sparingly, it can last me a year. So I can't be an ingrate.
After you've finished looking at them, quickly tidy them up and put them in your space.
I took out my account book and started calculating how much money I had. Besides the gold bars my parents left me, I had 60,000 yuan and 4218.59 yuan left. Seeing this, I knew I had 218.59 yuan available. I had three bicycle coupons, four radio coupons, five sewing machine coupons, and 886 industrial coupons (plus the 800 coupons my parents had saved and some I'd accumulated from selling things, though I'd used some recently). These were basically useless in the countryside, but I couldn't be without them, so I'd leave them. I also had national grain coupons; besides the ones Uncle Shen gave me this morning, I still had 400 jin (200 kg) left. Most of these were saved by my parents, and some I'd earned from selling eggs, though they were mostly local coupons. I'd used them all to buy snacks and stored them in my spatial storage.
After calculating all this, he lay there thinking. With all this stuff and the food in his spatial storage, he could have lived without doing anything before the reform and opening up. But things couldn't be that simple. First, what would others think about where his food came from? Even with his subsidies, they weren't inexhaustible, were they? Besides, he wasn't that kind of person, was he? There was another important matter: he had to be prepared for the possibility that Uncle Shen and Aunt Zhou might be sent to the countryside. He would definitely take care of them secretly then. So, once they arrived in the countryside, he had to work hard like the other commune members, earning work points and food, and trying to integrate himself into the community. Only then would he have a voice when Uncle Shen and Aunt Zhou came. Even if Uncle Shen and Aunt Zhou could stay in the city, he didn't want to mix with the other educated youth; he could only try to integrate into the community.
Besides, the grains grown in this space are somewhat mixed now, so it's impossible to focus solely on selling grains. Moreover, selling a large quantity of grain at once in a small county town would be suicidal. However, there are quite a few chickens in the space, so I can sell eggs. Although eggs aren't expensive, even a small fly's leg has meat, right? I can't sell too many at once; I'll just sell a little each time I go to collect my subsidies. I plan to save the eggs until after the reform and opening up. At that time, everyone will have money, money will be easier to earn, and the market will be more open. That way, everyone will benefit.
When we changed trains, two young people came into the sleeper compartment, but we weren't very familiar with each other and they didn't greet us. They kept an eye on their belongings, picked up their textbooks and started reading or sleeping.
And so, I arrived in the county town by train without any major incidents. I originally thought there weren't many educated youths who had gone to the countryside in 1964, but after getting off the train and seeing all those young comrades carrying so much luggage, I realized there were just too many people. I quickly stood behind them, and when I saw a large truck coming, I quickly followed the signs and boarded one of the buses.
Don't underestimate me just because I'm small; I'm strong! Besides, when I got off the train, I put all my heavy stuff into my space in the sleeper berth. All that stuff outside is just blankets and stuff that take up space.
Sitting in the truck bed, being small, I could hear everything without needing to say much. After a while, I learned that this large group was heading to the farm and happened to be passing through the commune, so they gave us a ride. However, it wasn't a short distance from Fusong County to the commune; the truck took almost two hours. I had already put my watch into my spatial storage when I got off the train. I'm not old, and I didn't dare show it off, afraid someone would covet it. Sitting in the truck, swaying back and forth, I almost threw up.
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