Starting a new chapter in life

As the train started moving, it swayed and slowly drove away from Jiang City. This was a slow train, stopping at every station. People got on and off at each station one after another. It wasn't as fast or as quiet as the direct military trains we had taken before. There were children crying, men chatting, and chickens and ducks quacking. The sounds were noisy and the smells were chaotic.

Fortunately, their tickets were for four-seater trains, and since there were fewer people, they were near the window. Jingyan and Jinghuan opened the window and stuck their heads out slightly to alleviate the discomfort of the crowded train. As evening fell, the noise gradually subsided, and snores rose and fell. Jingyan and Jinghuan leaned against the window and began to doze off.

Sitting next to Jingyan was a young man who looked to be no more than twenty years old. He was probably fast asleep, as his head was resting on Jingyan's shoulder. Jingyan woke up from her sleep, looked at him, and gently pushed his head away with her hand. As soon as she let go, his head came back to her shoulder.

Peng Chunhai happened to open his eyes, thought for a moment, and then woke the man up. The man opened his eyes and saw that he was leaning against Jingyan. He quickly sat up straight, feeling a little embarrassed. Peng Chunhai gestured for Jingyan to switch places with him. Jingyan nodded and sat down next to her fourth sister. Peng Chunhai leaned against the window and turned to the man: "You can lean on me to sleep."

The man smiled gratefully at him: "Thank you, comrade." He gently rested his head on Peng Chunhai's shoulder and closed his eyes. Peng Chunhai, with his head against the window, also fell asleep. In the morning, Jing Yan moved her head off Jing Huan's shoulder, rubbed her eyes, turned her neck, stretched, and opened her sleepy eyes to see the man opposite her looking at her curiously.

She touched the corner of her mouth to make sure there was no drool, and asked, "What are you looking at?"

The man asked somewhat shyly, "You're good-looking. Do you have a boyfriend?"

Jing Yan gave an awkward smile and said, "I'm married. It's a military marriage."

The man's expression shifted from shyness to embarrassment: "I'm sorry, you don't look very old, I didn't expect you to be married already."

"fine."

Peng Chunhai came in from outside the carriage and said to Jing Yan, "Awake? We'll arrive at the station in about two hours. There's a tap over there, why don't you go wash up first?"

Jingyan nodded and took out a towel, toothbrush, and toothpaste from her pocket. "I'll go wash up first, and you can go after I come back?"

Peng Chunhai nodded. After Jing Yan returned from washing up, he put away her towel and toothbrush, and handed her toothpaste. Peng Chunhai took it, found his own, and went to wash up. He then came back and changed Jing Huan's toothpaste. The three of them finally finished their hygiene problems.

Peng Chunhai said, "When we get to Chiayi, let's find a place to have breakfast first, and then ask for Third Sister's address."

Jingyan nodded in agreement: "Okay, we'll have a mailing address so we won't have trouble finding it."

As the train pulled into the station, passengers preparing to disembark began to move, some grabbing their luggage, others packing their food and drinks. Jingyan and her companions had brought few things and quickly finished. The man sitting next to them looked at them and asked, "Have you arrived at your destination?"

Peng Chunhai nodded: "Yes, we've arrived. How many stops are left?"

"I'm going to the final stop. Are you visiting relatives?"

“Yes, my third sister married into this family, and we happened to have some time and opportunity recently, so we came to visit.” Peng Chunhai answered casually, glancing out the window and seeing the platform. He quickly said, “Jinghuan, Jingyan, let’s go to the carriage door. We’re about to enter the platform.”

The three turned and left without looking back.

As soon as we reached the carriage door, the train began to sway and slow down. After a short while, the train stopped, the train attendant opened the train door, lowered the passenger stairs, and shouted loudly, "Let passengers off first, then board. Don't block the door!"

The three were swept off the train by the crowd and followed the flow of people out of the platform. When they reached the exit of the train station, they were dumbfounded.

Everyone left with a destination in mind. Some were there to pick people up, while others set off alone. But none of them could figure out which way to go, so they just stood there dumbfounded. When the crowd dispersed, Jingyan saw the railway staff at the exit preparing to close the gate. She quickly stepped forward, took out an envelope, and said, "Comrade, could you help me see which direction we should go to get to this place?"

The woman was quite helpful. She carefully looked at the address and said, "Comrade, this address isn't in Jiamusi City. It's in the company below. Just follow this road, turn right at the end, and there's a bus station there. When you get there, just ask the ticket seller which bus the 12th Company needs to take."

"Thank you, thank you so much!" she exclaimed repeatedly, expressing her gratitude.

The woman waved her hand, locked the gate, and entered the station.

Jingyan came back and said, "Let's go that way. That's the road to the bus station. If we happen to pass by a supply and marketing cooperative or a state-run restaurant, we can eat something. If we don't, we'll talk about it when we get to the bus station."

Peng Chunhai slung his bag over his shoulder and followed closely behind Jing Yan. The three of them walked along the main road. There really wasn't much to see along the roadside. The gravel road was uneven except for being a bit dusty. They didn't see a state-run restaurant until they were almost at the bus station, around a corner. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. When they arrived at the door, they found that the storefront was small and there weren't many people inside. After entering, Jing Yan smiled at the cashier girl and asked, "Do you still have food?"

The little girl was knitting with her head down when she heard this. She looked up at the three of them and shouted towards the kitchen window, "What else is there to eat?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a man with graying temples poked his head out of the window: "It's past lunchtime. If you want to eat, I can only make you some noodles and braised noodles, is that alright?"

Jingyan nodded quickly: "Okay, okay, we'll have three big bowls."

The man looked at the little girl and said, "Give me the money!" before pulling his head back inside.

The little girl looked at Jingyan and said, "Three big bowls of noodles, three liang per bowl, plus egg sauce, it costs six mao in total, plus a jin of grain coupons."

Jingyan quickly paid with the money and the little girl took the money and looked at it. She smiled and turned back to the kitchen, saying, "Uncle Han, give them more noodles. They're national food coupons."

"Okay!" came the reply from the kitchen.

The three sat down, and Jinghuan whispered, "Are these national grain coupons really that useful? They even give you extra noodles."

Peng Chunhai replied to her: "It must be because national grain coupons are rare. Apart from the government and the military, other people can only get local grain coupons, which are highly restricted and therefore rare and valuable."

The green pepper and egg noodles were served. After mixing them and taking a bite, the noodles were very chewy and the sauce was well-made. Jing Yan had a big appetite and finished the whole bowl of noodles. Jing Huan had a smaller appetite and only ate about half of it. Peng Chunhai finished the rest. After they were full, they headed towards the bus station.

Upon entering the passenger station hall, Jingyan took the letter of introduction to the ticket window to inquire. The ticket seller checked and found that the last bus to Twelfth Company was in half an hour. How many tickets did she need?

"Three tickets, could you tell me what time the earliest bus back from the 12th Company is? And what time is the latest one?"

"There are only two buses a day, one at 7:15 AM and the other at 4:30 PM. Remember to go to the bus station early when you're coming back. It's better for people to wait for the bus than for the bus to wait for people," the ticket seller reminded her. "It costs two yuan and seventy cents in total."

After handing over the money and receiving three tickets, Jingyan said to Jinghuan, "We still have to wait half an hour. There are only two buses a day, so we're pretty lucky."

“Going out is such a hassle, involving both trains and transfers, it’s so exhausting,” Jing Huan said.

"That's why purchasing staff at major factories are paid so much these days. It's because they suffer when they go out to work; it's all hard-earned money," Peng Chunhai said casually.

“Jingyan, we should only stay at Third Sister’s for about two weeks this time. Our letter of introduction only allows for a little over a month. After we go back from here, I’ll stay with you for a couple of days to relax before leaving. Traveling by car is tiring.” Jinghuan discussed with her.

"it is good."

The train arrived, and the conductor called out through a megaphone: "Tickets for those going to the 12th Company, come here for ticket inspection!"

The three of them rushed toward the sound and showed it to the conductor, who pointed to the dilapidated bus at the door: "That's the one, hurry up."

The three of them hurriedly got into the car and found a row of seats in the back. The two sisters sat inside, Peng Chunhai sat on the outside, and Jing Yan casually opened the car window: "Finally, we're seated."

Jinghuan looked at the seats inside the bus and said softly, "This bus isn't any newer than the buses in our village. I thought the ones over there were pretty dilapidated."

Jing Yan nodded: "Something is better than nothing."

A short while later, the conductor boarded the train, counted the number of passengers, and called out, "Everyone's here, let's go!"

The car started moving slowly. Jingyan was drowsy. Occasionally, someone would stop midway, and the car would brake suddenly. Sometimes, someone would wave to flag the car down, and the car would brake suddenly again. After getting on and off for more than an hour, we finally arrived at our destination.

"The 12th Company has arrived. Everyone get off the bus. Don't forget your things," the conductor reminded them. There were only six people left on the bus. After getting off, the doors closed and the bus drove away, leaving behind billowing yellow dust and thick black exhaust fumes. Jing Yan held her breath for a while, only daring to breathe when she could see the dust settling on the gravel road.

Peng Chunhai slung his bundle over his shoulder and looked at Jing Yan: "Which way do we go?"

Jingyan looked around; her memory of the past was too distant to be clear. Seeing a passerby, she quickly stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, do you know how to get to this address?"

The man, who looked to be in his forties, was delighted to be called "Big Brother" by the young girl. He took the envelope, thought for a moment, and said, "You're going to the company headquarters. Head north, there's a row of red brick houses. Go there and ask someone for directions. It should be nearby."

"Thank you, brother."

Jing Yan turned to look at Jing Huan and Peng Chunhai, who smiled at her. The three of them continued walking, and finally arrived at the red brick building. Jing Yan's long-dormant memories began to resurface. She went straight to the middle door and knocked: "Excuse me, where does Company Commander Li Sijun work?"

The person inside looked up at her upon hearing this: "What do you need Commander Li for?"

"I am Company Commander Li's sister-in-law. I came to see my third sister, who is Company Commander Li's wife."

The man quickly stood up: "Ah, you're a relative of Company Commander Li? He's here to oversee the autumn harvest. He went to the fields with our company's statisticians. Why don't you come in and sit down and wait? Judging from the sky, he should be back soon."

The three men sat somewhat awkwardly at the office conference table. Everyone else was busy, but the three of them seemed out of place. This awkward atmosphere didn't last long before they heard someone outside greeting them: "Company Commander Li, Statistician Yuan is back? Company Commander Li, it seems like you have some relatives visiting. They're waiting for you at the brigade headquarters."

"My relatives? Okay, thank you." A male voice came in, followed by two figures entering the room. All three looked at the person who entered in unison. As soon as Li Sijun entered, he saw the three people at the conference table and a bundle on the floor. He forced a smile on his dark red face: "You were looking for me?"

Jingyan looked at him and the person beside him, Yuan Changsheng? Her husband from her previous life. At this time, he should have been at the most successful in his life. He had a certain say in the company. Later, the collective ownership system was disbanded, and he was laid off. He was unwilling to make a living by farming and looked down on the small money from small businesses. He insisted on doing big things, reselling firewood and liquor. In the end, he met the wrong person and was swindled out of everything. He had a good appearance and was 1.8 meters tall, but he was a person who was ambitious but unrealistic.

Turning her gaze from him to Li Sijun, Jingyan said, "My name is Zhang Jingyan, and this is my fourth sister, Zhang Jinghuan..."

"Are you Jingxian's sisters? Shouldn't you be in Liaoning Province? How did you get here? The autumn harvest there shouldn't be over yet, right?" Li Sijun knew they were his sister-in-law, so his attitude immediately became warmer.

“My husband was transferred to Jiang City for work, so I came with him. My fourth sister and brother-in-law were worried about me coming alone, so they asked the village chief for leave and brought me here. After I settled in, I saw that I still had some time, so we came together to visit my third sister and my two nephews,” Jing Yan explained.

Li Sijun raised his wrist and glanced at his watch: "I'm almost off work too. Come on, I'll take you home. Jingxian will be very happy to see you." After saying that, he looked at Yuan Changsheng: "Changsheng, please work hard to organize today's data. I'll need this data when I report to the authorities after the autumn harvest."

"Yes, Company Commander." Yuan Changsheng was very polite. He was quite attractive to the young girls. The two girls in the office blushed and stole glances at him. Jing Yan suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and followed Li Sijun. Jing Huan and Peng Chunhai also quickly grabbed their things and followed.

When Li Sijun first met his two younger sisters, he didn't know what to say, so he remained silent. When he got home, he pushed open the courtyard gate and called out, "Jingxian, Jingxian, come and see who's here!"

"Look, look, what are you looking at? Why won't the stove light up? Sijun, come and take a look." The voice of the third sister came from inside the house.

Jingyan and Jinghuan exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly. Jinghuan whispered to Jingyan, "Third sister has been married for six years, how come she still hasn't learned how to start a fire?"

Jing Yan smiled and said, "Because someone spoils me."

Upon hearing the sound, Li Sijun quickly entered the house. As soon as Jingyan and the others entered, they saw that the fire in the stove was already burning. "Sijun, you're really amazing! I've been trying to start a fire for ages but it wouldn't light, but you got it burning right away."

Li Sijun chuckled: "Are you getting ready to cook? Didn't I say I'd cook when I got back?"