Chapter 13: Jumping on a Train

“Leng Hui, why are you squatting in this alley early in the morning? Counting ants?”

Leng Hui was leaning lazily against the wall, soaking up the sun. Hearing the boy’s voice, she merely lifted her eyelids to glance at him, too lazy to acknowledge him.

Jiang Jingtao walked up close to Leng Hui and realized that the spot where she was standing was a three-way intersection. He walked forward a few steps and peered down each path, but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

“Are you waiting for someone here? Waiting for whom?”

“Who I’m waiting for is none of your damn business. Get lost, don’t block my sunlight.”

Leng Hui shoved Jiang Jingtao, who was blocking her, aside with a look of irritation.

Jiang Jingtao didn’t get angry; instead, he grinned and leaned back toward her. “You don’t seem very happy today. Is it because Aunt Tang’s health hasn’t recovered? Or did they not feed you at home?”

Leng Hui looked at the noisy boy in front of her, her brows knitting together slightly.

Seeing her remain silent, Jiang Jingtao acted as if he understood her perfectly and continued on his own: “Looks like it’s neither of those things.”

“Hey, let me tell you something. I heard from the neighborhood committee that they’re organizing a group of educated youth to go down to the countryside for re-education this May. You’re turning eighteen this year, right? I suggest you hurry up and have your parents find a way to get you a job, even a temporary one will do, so you don’t end up being forced by the committee to sign up for the countryside.”

Down to the countryside?

In the few days since she had transmigrated here, this was the first time Leng Hui had heard this term.

It couldn't help but remind her of the original story: Tang Lin was injured in this car accident and didn't receive timely treatment; after falling into a coma, she never woke up again.

Without her mother’s protection, and with a father who was a mama’s boy, the Leng family eventually pushed Leng Hui out, making her take the family’s quota for the countryside.

A young girl raised in the city, she had never known the hardships of manual labor and suffered greatly in the countryside. By the time she finally managed to return to the city, she discovered her father had remarried and found a stepmother who had already given birth to two sons for him.

"A stepmother means a stepfather," the saying was absolutely true.

Returning to the city seven or eight years later, Leng Hui was considered an "older" young woman. She wanted to find a partner of similar age, but the decent ones were already married, and the younger ones wouldn't look at an "old maid" like her. She was truly stuck in an awkward position.

In the end, for the sake of profit, the Leng family married her off to an abusive man. Leng Hui guessed the ending must have been miserable.

Because she hadn't finished the book.

Of course, after her mother died, in order to avoid going to the countryside and failing to find a job, she had gone on a few blind dates, but unfortunately, none of them worked out.

The fate of the original owner in the book gave Leng Hui the most intuitive feeling: she had been dealt a great hand, only to play it into a complete disaster.

“Given your family’s conditions, your parents certainly won’t let you go to the countryside. Are you saying this to me now just to mock me?”

Leng Hui said this because Jiang Jingtao’s parents were both cadres, and their positions were not low.

Jiang Jingtao shook his head. “Tsk tsk, your mouth is so unforgiving. When will you ever talk to me nicely?”

“Go die somewhere else.”

Leng Hui pushed him away, noticing that Leng Mei and the boy from yesterday had appeared again. This time, they were pulling a flatbed cart as they headed out of the alley.

Jiang Jingtao curiously poked his head out from behind her. “Huh? Qi Da and Leng Mei. Were you waiting for them here?”

Leng Hui stepped back and hid in a recessed corner of the wall; Jiang Jingtao followed suit.

Ensuring they couldn't be seen from outside, he asked in a whisper with an exaggerated expression: “Is that cousin of yours two years younger than you, or one? So young and she already knows how to find a boy to date? Are you here today to catch them in the act?”

Leng Hui glared at him: “Catch them in the act of your head! Get lost, don’t get in the way.”

Jiang Jingtao quickly stepped back a few paces, looking a bit shaken. “I’ve noticed your temper is especially bad today, like you’ve eaten gunpowder. You explode at whoever you see. Tell me, how did I offend you today? I came all the way here to tell you some news, and you still don’t give me a pleasant look. Leng Hui, I find you really hard to please.”

“Hey, hey, don’t go, I haven’t finished talking yet.”

Leng Hui followed Leng Mei and Qi Da from a distance, trailing them through the streets and alleys. Jiang Jingtao realized Leng Hui was tailing them and immediately stopped talking, following her footsteps with excitement in his eyes.

Eventually, they followed the pair to the outskirts of town.

Leng Hui turned to ask Jiang Jingtao: “Is there a coal yard in these outskirts?”

Jiang Jingtao didn’t understand why she asked, but he shook his head. “No coal yard. About ten miles further is the Dalongtang Production Team. These hills in the suburbs, all the way to the Dalongtang border, are all under the jurisdiction of the forestry farm.”

The forest farm’s woods were mostly planted with cedar trees about ten years old, arranged in rows. It was easy to get lost in such a forest. Leng Hui didn’t know what Qi Da and Leng Mei wanted to do here.

If they were here to get coal, there was no coal yard.

Crossing a ridge, they looked down at the winding railway snaking along the foot of the mountain. Before long, a coal train came rumbling by at high speed.

As it passed a curve at the foot of the mountain, the train slowed down.

Leng Hui and Jiang Jingtao stared at each other; they probably had a guess in their hearts, and now they were waiting for confirmation.

“Look, there are quite a few people sitting in that forest.”

Leng Hui followed the direction Jiang Jingtao pointed; there were many figures moving in the forest below.

Leng Mei and Qi Da, who had arrived later, entered the woods. Judging by their calm pace, it was certain that this wasn't their first time doing this.

Leng Hui felt a bit restless. In the apocalypse, whenever there were supplies, regardless of anything else, it was "finders keepers," and everyone would go scavenging—whatever you could get was yours.

“Jiang Jingtao, whose coal is on that train?”

“The state’s, of course. Who could get this much coal privately nowadays?” Jiang Jingtao looked at her as if she were an idiot. “Did you bump your head a few days ago? How could you ask such a stupid question?”

The state!

Leng Hui pursed her lips, finally suppressing her restless impulses. She secretly reminded herself that this wasn't the apocalypse. This world had its own order, and she couldn't just seize supplies by force like she did back then.

They didn't have to wait long before another train came from the distance. Judging by the open-top carriages, it was highly likely this was another coal train.

As soon as the locomotive turned the sharp curve, the figures hiding in the forest ran out.

She had only read descriptions of train-hopping in books; this was her first time seeing it in reality. The people below were performing their own versions of "the eight immortals crossing the sea," each showing their unique skills.

Some ran alongside the train for a stretch before grabbing a hold and climbing up.

Others jumped up in one go, grabbing onto the train.

Once they were on the carriages, they threw coal chunks out. The coal fell like raindrops, and those who hadn't climbed up picked the coal into baskets, making it easy to transport later.

Division of labor, tacit cooperation.

“Tsk tsk tsk, this train is moving too slowly. At that speed, I think I could climb up too.” Jiang Jingtao curled his lip and turned to ask Leng Hui: “They’re undermining the foundations of socialism. Should we go report them?”

(End of chapter)