Starting a new chapter in life

When Jinghuan and Peng Chunhai returned home after work in the evening, they smelled the aroma of food in the air as soon as they entered the house. Peng Chunhai was a little puzzled: "Didn't you say that my sister can't cook? This smells really good."

Jinghuan was even more puzzled: "Don't I know my own sister? It's good enough if she can cook well, why would she care about the taste? Come on, don't you get tired of guessing? Just go inside and see for yourself."

The two put their farm tools down by the door of the warehouse, then went to the east room to change out of their work clothes, fetched water to wash their faces, and then went to the main house. As soon as they entered, they saw He Zhijun cooking in front of the stove, and Jing Yan setting bowls and chopsticks on the table inside the house.

Jinghuan suddenly realized, "I knew my sister didn't have such good skills. Turns out it's my brother-in-law. Jingyan made the right choice. With your excellent skills, she'll be very lucky in the future."

He Zhijun looked up and smiled: "Fourth sister, brother-in-law, try my cooking today. If you think it's good, you can let Jingyan come with me to the Great Northern Wilderness. I promise that I will cook whenever I have a holiday. Jingyan can eat in the canteen normally."

The last dish was ready, and the group sat down together. He Zhijun's cooking was on the lighter side, but it was still very delicious. After the meal, Jingyan mentioned that she wanted to ask her fourth brother-in-law to take her to the Great Northern Wilderness, help her settle in, and then come back. Peng Chunhai readily agreed. Thinking that it was a rare opportunity to travel far away in this day and age, he wanted to take Jinghuan with him. Although Jinghuan also wanted to go, she felt that it would be too expensive with another person, so she was still hesitant.

He Zhijun made the final decision: "Go ahead. I'll talk to the logistics department and ask them to book a couple more train tickets. Fourth sister and brother-in-law, you should talk to the village chief in advance and ask him to help you get a letter of introduction. I can also ask my comrades to help me buy the return tickets. You don't need to worry about these things. Just take good care of Jingyan. I was very worried because I couldn't help her settle down back then, but now that you're with me, I can finally rest assured."

Jinghuan didn't refuse much: "Okay, my brother-in-law will buy our round-trip tickets, and we'll pay for them ourselves."

"Fourth Sister, you're being too polite. I asked you to help take care of Jingyan, how could I let you pay for it yourself? Don't worry, your brother-in-law can afford the train tickets. We don't know what the situation is over there yet, and the money is all with Jingyan. Don't be stingy when you get there, spend what you need to spend. I won't give Jingyan my allowance for the next two months, but I'll cover the ticket bookings and everything else." He Zhijun was very generous.

Jingyan watched their discussion without interrupting, and only spoke up after they had made their decision: "Fourth Sister, when I leave, I'll take a few sets of clothes and two bedding sets. I'll pack the rest of my things, and once I'm settled over there, you can mail them to me when you come back."

“There are three of us going. It’s not difficult to carry them over, but mailing them would cost money.” Jinghuan was reluctant to part with the money.

“There will be a lot of people on the bus, and we might have to transfer buses when we get there. It’s a long journey, so we can’t carry light loads. We should only bring enough for short-term use. If we get caught up in the rush on the way, the cost of losing a bag is much higher than the postage. Don’t you think that makes sense?” Jing Yan advised.

If it were the old her, she would have preferred to exhaust herself rather than pay for the postage. But having a second chance, she has come to a more open mind. Rather than having her whole family suffer and carry heavy loads, she would rather travel light and simply, and at the same time, enjoy the scenery along the way.

Jinghuan often listens to Jingyan. Since her younger sister thinks mailing is better, she just listens to her.

“Once we move out, Fourth Sister and Fourth Brother-in-law should move to the main house. My household registration will remain in the village for now. We’ll see where he ends up later, and then I’ll transfer my household registration and grain ration records to him,” Jingyan instructed.

Jinghuan nodded: "This is our home. You can come back whenever you want. Jingyan, remember, you always have a way out. Fourth Sister's place is your way out."

At the end of September, Peng Chunlai and Jing Yan's time working in the canteen came to an end. After receiving their last month's wages, they no longer needed to come to work. During this time, Chunlai's family had been helping her find connections, and things were looking up for her job.

There was an office job at the county flour mill. The girl who originally had the job was from a family that favored boys over girls. They wanted to give her job to her younger brother so that she could take his place and go to the countryside. She was scheduled to leave in mid-October.

Her parents chose the Northwest as the place where she was to be sent to work. They heard that the sandstorms there were particularly bad and the environment was harsh. The resettlement fee in other places was only thirty or fifty yuan, but the resettlement fee there was as high as one hundred yuan. The family chose that place in order to get that little bit of resettlement fee.

When she found out about this, she was heartbroken. She had worked this job for two years, earning thirty-six yuan a month, and she had handed over every penny. Now her parents and younger brother wanted to devour her last piece of flesh and blood. She made a desperate decision and told her colleagues at the factory about it, wanting to secretly sell her job, take the money to the Northwest, and never contact her family again.

Her colleagues felt sorry for her having such a family background. Since she had made up her mind, they helped her find buyers among their relatives and friends. Sure enough, Peng Chunlai got a job. He sold the job for 800 yuan. On the last day of September, the two went to the factory together to complete the handover procedures. The girl then went to the educated youth settlement and applied to move up her departure time.

The registrar at the educated youth settlement knew her secret and immediately booked her a train ticket for the next day. When Chunlai went to work in the county town, the girl had already quietly left and gone to an unknown future. But no matter how harsh the environment was, she could still get by after leaving her family who made her suffer.

Jingyan went to work in the village with her fourth sister. The work points she earned were recorded under her fourth sister's name. She was strong and ate well every day, so she could get eight centimeters a day, which was a full centimeter for a woman. Although she got a lot of work points, it was really tiring. When Sister Liu came to deliver the train ticket, Jingyan felt that she had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

She never wanted to work in the fields, neither in this life nor the last. Jinghuan felt helpless seeing her grinning from ear to ear. She didn't think farming was hard. Everyone gets tired, and it only lasts a few months. She couldn't understand where her sister's half-dead state came from. She was clearly willing to put in a lot of effort when working.

After checking her train ticket, she learned that she was leaving early the day after tomorrow. After finishing work, she went to the village chief to get a letter of introduction. Jingyan had a special canteen work permit approved by the army, so she could go directly with the army. All she needed was a letter of introduction from Jinghuan and Peng Chunhai. The village chief had watched the two girls grow up, and he was worried about Jingyan going alone, so he readily granted her a month's leave. When she returned, it would be about time to calculate work points and distribute grain.

On the day of departure, everyone got up very early. Jinghuan specially made dumplings, saying that there is an old saying: "Dumplings before departure, noodles upon arrival, let's eat dumplings today." Even though they got up in the middle of the night to prepare, they still made quite a lot.

After the three of them finished eating, they packed the leftovers into two large aluminum lunchboxes. After checking the doors and windows, Peng Chunhai carried a large bundle, Jing Huan carried the food and water bottles they would take on the road, and Jing Yan carried the three of them's change of clothes. They also distributed the money and tickets they would need on the road among the three of them. The bankbook and the remaining money and tickets were sewn into the inside of their underwear, so that they could not be taken out unless the seams were removed. This way, they would definitely not lose them.

The three of them headed straight for the military base under the cover of night. When they arrived at the gate, Sister Liu was already waiting at the gate. She led them inside and found a military truck. The three of them got into the truck bed and stood against the side of the truck. More and more people got on after them, most of them carrying military backpacks. Sister Liu explained to Jing Yan, "This truck is mainly for transporting logistics personnel. The three of you will stay in the canteen."

Jingyan turned her head and looked around: "Why don't I see Chef Lin, Xiao Zhou, and the aunties?"

"They were taking the canteen's ingredients and equipment with them, so they weren't on the same train as us. When we got to the station, they put the canteen's things in the train's freight car and then came to meet us in the carriage. We were all in roughly the same carriage," Sister Liu explained.

"This train..."

"Yes, this train has been chartered by the military. It's a specially approved military train, and tickets aren't sold to ordinary people, so safety is guaranteed. It doesn't stop along the way and goes directly to Harbin. I didn't expect to be able to get a military train this time. I originally thought that being able to buy tickets in bulk was already a favor, but we've really hit the jackpot this time. At least we won't have to keep stopping and starting. The journey, which was originally expected to take more than three days, should only take about two and a half days if everything goes smoothly." Sister Liu said happily.

Jingyan was also happy. Soon the truck bed was full of people. Then she heard a voice say, "It's full, let's go!" The truck started and drove away from the military area, swaying and bumping.

There are advantages to having a lot of people standing together; at least when passing through bumpy sections of road, no one will fall. Supporting each other is reassuring. The train's starting station is Jinshi, and the truck drove directly to Jinshi Station. It took about two hours to get there, and by the time we arrived at Jinshi Station, it was already dawn.

Everyone filed down and then lined up in a very disciplined manner. This action left Jingyan and the other two dumbfounded. Jingyan looked at Sister Liu and asked, "Sister Liu, which line should we stand in?"

Sister Liu smiled and said, "We can just stand on one side and follow them into the station later. Just don't fall behind."

After everyone had lined up, the person in charge counted the number of people again. Once he confirmed that there were no mistakes, he shouted, "Everyone, pay attention! We are about to enter the station. Take your tickets, keep the formation, and enter in order."

The group then began to move in an orderly manner. Jingyan and the other three also took their tickets. She turned to look at Sister Liu and asked, "Sister Liu, where is your luggage? Why is there only a backpack?"

“My husband Zeng is carrying my luggage. Those of higher rank will have someone to help them check in their luggage, so I don’t have to worry about it. Anyway, the luggage will be delivered directly to his assigned accommodation. When your son He’s rank rises in the future, you will also be able to enjoy this kind of military dependent treatment.”

Jingyan smiled and said, "We brought a lot of food. If we get hungry, we can eat together. We made dumplings this morning. They should still be warm by the time we get on the bus. Sister Liu, have some to fill your stomach."

Sister Liu laughed: "That's good. We left too early today, and the canteen was already prepared last night, so everyone is hungry. Old Zeng told me to go to the dining car to buy food when I got on the train, but the dining car usually only serves food during mealtimes. I thought I would be hungry until noon."

They chatted as they moved with the group. Once they entered the station, they saw a green train parked on the platform. Each carriage was marked with signs: "First Regiment, Third Regiment..." Sister Liu quickly found the "Logistics" sign on the license plate and waved to Jingyan: "Jingyan, over here!"

Jing Yan quickly called out to Jing Huan and Peng Chunhai, "Sister Liu has found our carriage, this way, let's go!"

The group ran and stumbled to the logistics carriage, had their tickets checked by the attendant standing by the carriage door, and finally boarded the train. They found their seats, Peng Chunhai put his luggage on the luggage rack, and then put Jing Yan's large backpack on it as well. Jing Huan put the food on the small table, and the three of them, along with Sister Liu, sat down at a four-person table. They breathed a long sigh of relief after they sat down.

Jingyan and Jinghuan were seated by the window. She rolled up the train window; the early sun was rising, and fresh air drifted into the carriage. The train slowly pulled away from the station with a clattering sound, heading towards its next journey…

After the train started moving, Jinghuan took out the aluminum lunchbox from that morning, along with four pairs of chopsticks. They shared the lunchbox, and soon finished the dumplings. Sister Liu patted her stomach, a satisfied look on her face: "It feels so good to be full!"

Jing Yan looked around and saw that everyone in the carriage had started eating breakfast. Some were munching on pastries, while others were eating steamed buns with hot water, which was enough for them. However, she didn't see anyone else from the canteen. "Sister Liu, aren't Chef Lin and the others in this carriage?"

Upon hearing this, Sister Liu also got up and looked around. "You sit here, I'll go for a walk."

She went out for a while and came back smiling, holding a lunchbox in her hand. She sat back down and said, "Chef Lin and the others went to the dining car kitchen. There were no dining car staff assigned to this military train, so they took over. We can just go to the dining car to eat later. Here, this is what Chef Lin gave us. He said it's braised beef from the south. Let's try it later."

At noon, the group went to the dining car and each ordered a bowl of noodles. They ate with the beef that Chef Lin had given them and were very satisfied. "It really tastes like our cafeteria!"

After dinner, Jingyan greeted Chef Lin and the others. She wanted to go to the kitchen to help, but Aunt Xing sent her away: "This place is not like our army base. The kitchen is too small to fit so many people. Besides, the few of us are enough. You should go back and sit down. Once we get there, you won't be able to slack off."

Jing Yan had no choice but to return to the carriage with the others. She lowered the curtain hanging by the window to block some of the sunlight outside, and as the carriage swayed, she leaned her head against the carriage wall and slowly fell asleep.