Chapter 14: Going Home (Two-in-One)

Back at the guesthouse, Song Suisui's racing heart finally settled down.

Despite her boldness in venturing into the black market on her own, she was still a little frightened.

When it was time for dinner, Song Suisui wandered around outside for a bit and arrived at the agreed-upon location before the trading time arrived.

The place Tao Zhu had arranged to meet her was a dilapidated courtyard house in the suburbs. After checking the surroundings and confirming no one was around, Song Suisui performed some camouflage on the traces and placed the 100 bolts of cloth she had obtained in the open space.

Once Tao Zhu arrived with her people and inspected the goods, the two parties completed the transaction—one hand passing the money, the other passing the goods—and went their separate ways.

...

Since she was heading back today, Song Suisui didn't wander aimlessly; she simply went to the state-run restaurant to buy some food to store in her Space.

Once the steel was loaded onto the truck and transported away, Song Suisui would also be heading back.

As soon as the time came, she shouldered the army-green backpack she had brought, grabbed the sack filled with local specialties and gifts, and walked toward the railway station.

It seemed there were also educated youths from the capital heading to the countryside today, so the station was quite crowded.

Song Suisui finally managed to squeeze into the waiting room from the crowd, and after waiting a while, her train arrived.

The return trip was, as usual, a sleeper ticket.

This time she had managed to get a lower berth, which was perfect for sliding a sack of belongings under the bed.

However, when Song Suisui arrived at her carriage and found her berth, she discovered someone was already in it.

She took a look and said, "Excuse me, Auntie, this is my berth."

"Just because you say it's yours doesn't make it yours. Is your name written on it?"

Sitting in Song Suisui's berth was a middle-aged woman with a mean-looking face; opposite her sat a clean and handsome young man.

"Auntie, sleeper tickets have specific berths assigned. The ticket I bought has this berth number written on it. It's not appropriate for you to just occupy it like this."

"You young girls... you just don't know how to respect your elders. I'm at such an age, and you don't even know how to yield a little."

"If you want this seat, you can pay me the difference."

Song Suisui glanced at the middle berth, which was unoccupied, thinking this auntie might be in the middle berth; she wasn't strictly set on the lower one.

But this auntie clearly had no intention of paying the difference.

Hearing Song Suisui's words, she glared at her and said, "Little girl, a person should have a conscience. You're so young and already trying to extort people. How did your parents teach you!"

Hearing this, Song Suisui thought to herself, *Heh.*

She already understood this woman's character and couldn't be bothered to waste words. After giving the woman a look, she picked up her luggage and walked away.

Seeing her leave, the auntie said to the young man opposite her with a triumphant look, "Jianxi, see? Mom was right. This way, we even save the cost of a sleeper ticket."

The auntie lay down on the bed blissfully.

Naturally, Song Suisui wasn't backing down; she simply didn't want to argue with a fool.

Instead, she decided to let a professional handle this.

Thus, she found the conductor and explained the situation.

By the time Song Suisui and the conductor returned to her seat, the auntie was already sprawled out brazenly on Song Suisui's berth.

"Comrade, you saw it yourself. This auntie has been occupying the seat and refuses to pay the difference. I'm at a loss!"

Song Suisui spoke with a face full of grievance.

A soft and beautiful young girl versus a middle-aged woman with a face like a blooming chrysanthemum—plus, the girl actually had a valid ticket—the conductor naturally sided with Song Suisui.

"Sister, which berth is yours? This berth belongs to this young lady. If you want to swap with her, you have to pay her the difference. If you don't want to swap, get out immediately."

In this era, there was no concept of "the customer is king."

The conductor's attitude was far from polite.

Unfortunately, no matter what the conductor said, the auntie refused to budge or pay the difference to Song Suisui. Seeing the auntie's shameless behavior, the conductor remained calm.

The conductor was a woman who looked to be in her thirties; she had worked on trains for over a decade and had seen all sorts of eccentric characters.

Therefore, she stepped forward to issue a warning, ordering the auntie to vacate the berth immediately, or else she would call the railway police to take her to a small compartment on the train for a "chat."

In these times, everyone admired soldiers but was somewhat afraid of the police.

However, having already secured the seat, the auntie was unwilling to give it up, and the two sides entered a stalemate.

Just then, two middle-aged men arrived. Their berths happened to be the middle berths on either side of this one.

Song Suisui saw that the two people in the upper berths were already in their places, having just been peeking down to watch the commotion.

Now, both middle berths were occupied by others; the left side of the lower berth belonged to Song Suisui, and the right side belonged to the handsome young man.

Didn't this mean the auntie didn't have a sleeper ticket at all?

*Oho~*

The conductor realized this as well and demanded that the auntie quickly produce her ticket for inspection!

The auntie hesitated for a long time, looking guilty.

Song Suisui let out a mocking chuckle. "Could it be that this auntie is a fare dodger?"

With the commotion, many people gathered around to watch the spectacle.

Ultimately, the train manager had to come personally. Only under the authority of the railway police and the train manager did the auntie finally pull out her ticket.

In truth, it wasn't even a sleeper ticket, but a platform ticket.

Her behavior constituted fare dodging, and her son simply stood by, allowing his mother to make a scene without stepping in to help or even acknowledging her as his mother.

His eyes even held a look of impatience and disdain, as if thinking, *She's truly embarrassing me.*

Song Suisui instantly felt a dislike for such people.

Selfish, giant infants were the most terrifying!

In the end, the matter concluded with the auntie being kicked out to the hard-seat carriage.

Since she hadn't bought a proper ticket, she ended up paying just enough to get a standing-room ticket.

From beginning to end, her son remained silent.

Once the matter was resolved, Song Suisui successfully reclaimed her berth. However, since someone had been lying there, even though she wasn't a germaphobe, the thought of that auntie having occupied it made her feel unlucky.

So, after stuffing her sack under the bed, she pretended to rummage through her army-green backpack.

Finally, she took an inconspicuous gray bedsheet out of her Space.

After re-making the bed, Song Suisui didn't spare a single glance at the man opposite her; she simply took out a Little Red Book and began flipping through it casually.

Because of the uproar, the atmosphere in the compartment was somewhat silent.

Furthermore, including Song Suisui, there were only two girls in the compartment.

One girl was in the upper berth, but she had merely watched the commotion before going back to lie down.

As for the two in the middle berths, they appeared to be cadres on business trips; they were older and not particularly social.

There were no social butterflies here, so it was best for everyone to just not talk.

Song Suisui had boarded the train in the afternoon. As the sky gradually darkened, she took an aluminum lunch box from her backpack, which contained the steamed buns and braised meat she had bought from the capital's state-run restaurant.

After eating dinner, Song Suisui washed the lunch box and refilled her thermos with hot water.

When she returned to her berth, she found that the auntie, who had been kicked to the hard-seat carriage by the conductor, had returned.

Upon seeing her, the woman couldn't help but launch a series of sarcastic remarks at Song Suisui.

*Heh~* Did Song Suisui intend to indulge her?

Of course not. So, whatever sarcasm the woman threw at her, she threw it right back, word for word.

Finally, the auntie's son seemed unable to watch any longer.

He couldn't help but say, "Comrade, my mother has already returned the berth to you. You're being so unreasonable; aren't you afraid you won't be able to marry anyone!"

"Pfft~" Song Suisui laughed.

She was naturally beautiful; even in dusty, inconspicuous clothes, her beauty could not be hidden.

"Returned? What kind of joke is that? This berth was originally bought with my money. How could she 'return' it? And which eye of yours saw me being unreasonable? If you're blind, go to an ophthalmologist.

Even if you are blind, you still have ears, right? Didn't you hear that it was your mother who started the trouble first?

Also, do you live by the seaside? Why are you sticking your nose in so much? Whether I get married or not is none of your damn business!"

Song Suisui unleashed a rapid-fire verbal barrage against the man.

After finishing, she felt like she hadn't quite performed to her full potential!

It seemed she was indeed better suited to using her fists!

But given the current situation, since they were engaging in a war of words, hitting them directly would make her look like the aggressor.

However, if they kept nagging, she would definitely show them the power of "Sister Sui" from the Xinghai City Textile Factory family compound!

Having been verbally shredded by Song Suisui, the man's face turned pale. Finally, he squeezed out a sentence: "Women and petty men are truly difficult to deal with!"

"Heh~ Isn't this 'petty man' also crawled out of a woman's womb? By that logic, aren't you insulting your own mother!"

As she spoke, Song Suisui looked excited. "Oho~ Brother, I didn't realize you had such great self-awareness!"

Song Suisui's words caused the onlookers to burst into laughter.

Even the people in the middle and upper berths of the same compartment couldn't help but chuckle.

The man was so angry that his face turned green.

Seeing her son being bullied, how could the auntie let Song Suisui off?

For a rural woman, if she couldn't win with words, fighting was a basic move. The auntie lunged at Song Suisui, flailing her arms and legs.

Song Suisui showed no fear and swiftly raised her foot to kick.

With a loud *thud*, the auntie was kicked flying.

Seeing this, the onlookers' jaws nearly dropped.

After all, Song Suisui's appearance was quite deceptive.

Everyone thought she was a soft, little white rabbit, but she was actually a temperamental rabbit!

"Aieee~ Murder!"

After hitting the ground, the auntie clutched her stomach and began wailing.

Song Suisui watched her calmly. She knew exactly how much force she had used with her own kick.

Since this auntie still had the energy to plot against her, it seemed her kick had been too light.

At this moment, the train manager arrived, leading the railway police and the conductor.

It turned out someone had been worried and had specifically gone to fetch the train manager.

After arriving, the manager inquired about the situation.

Seeing that it was this auntie causing trouble again, the manager ordered the railway police to take her away.

"I'm not leaving! Why should I leave? That brat hit me, and none of you are standing up for me! Just you wait, I'll file a complaint against you as soon as I get off the train!"

The auntie shouted fearlessly.

Hearing this, Song Suisui felt like applauding her!

"Train manager, I wonder if there are any vacancies in the soft sleeper section? Can I pay extra to switch to a soft sleeper?"

Song Suisui didn't want to encounter that auntie again, so she specifically asked if she could switch.

Without a second thought, the manager refused, "I'm sorry, Comrade. Please rest easy here; we guarantee that the other party will not be allowed near you again."

Hearing this, Song Suisui wasn't particularly disappointed. In this era, soft sleepers were high-end carriages, reserved specifically for certain officials.

Since she couldn't change her seat, Song Suisui simply decided to act as if that "low-life" man opposite her didn't exist.

She hadn't spoken very quietly to the manager, so the man had heard her request to change berths.

Seeing her get rejected, he couldn't help but curse her maliciously in his heart.

Song Suisui: *I am immune to all poisons; curse away!*

After the manager gave the man a stern reprimand, he left.

Because of the manager's criticism and warning, for the remainder of the journey, the man and his eccentric mother did not bother Song Suisui again.

This allowed her to have some peace, so Song Suisui no longer thought about changing berths.

...

When Song Suisui stepped off the train with her backpack and sack, she realized that in such a short time, she had already come to consider Xinghai City her home.

After exiting the station, Song Suisui saw a young man who looked somewhat similar to Song Bai.

The moment she saw him, countless fragments of their time together flashed through her mind.

She raised a smile and waved at him, "Second Brother!"

Song Tong stepped forward to take the sack from Song Suisui's hands, using his other hand to rub her head.

"My sister has really made something of herself!"

After returning and hearing about his two sisters, his only thought was: "Our little sister is freaking awesome!"

Originally, the whole family had been worrying that they would be forced to go to the countryside because they didn't have jobs, but before long, they had solved the job issue themselves.

He had to admit, they were indeed his biological sisters.

"Second Brother, when did you get back?" Song Suisui brushed his hand away and asked as she walked beside him.

"Last night. When I heard from Mom that you were coming back today, I applied to come pick you up. How's that? Your brother is pretty reliable, right!"

"Mm-hmm~ Very reliable! So, did you bring anything good back from your business trip for us?"

"Of course! When has your brother ever gone on a long trip without bringing you something good?"

Song Tong looked quite proud of himself.

Because he had to pick up Song Suisui, Song Tong had borrowed Song Bai's bicycle.

In any case, he wouldn't get tired from walking a bit.

When the two arrived home, the surroundings were quiet, so they saved a lot of time from being stared at by neighbors.

Upon returning home, after drinking half a cup of water, Song Suisui plopped down on a stool and slumped over the table, looking exhausted.

Seeing this, Song Tong let out a strange laugh. "Suisui, you're too weak! Do you want me to go to the Northeast next time to find some ginseng to tonic you up?"

"Bah, you're the weak one! I'm just mentally exhausted, okay!"

She sized up Song Tong. Although he and Song Bai looked alike, there were slight differences.

At the very least, the difference in skin tone was quite large.

Because he was a heavy truck driver and often traveled, Song Tong looked about two shades darker than Song Bai.

Thus, one could distinguish the two brothers just by their skin tone.

In the evening, when the rest of the Song family saw Song Suisui, their faces were filled with smiles as they showed her concern.

Song Jianjun even inquired about her work situation, and only felt relieved after confirming she had completed her task.

After all, this was his daughter's first time handling procurement on her own; he was worried that if she made a mistake, the director of the machinery factory's procurement department would have a bad impression of his youngest daughter!

Song Suisui had no idea Song Jianjun could overthink like that; she was currently being pulled aside by Ma Xiumei to ask about things in the capital.

In the eyes of Ma Xiumei's generation, the capital was the place they longed for.

Because the capital had the most handsome male gods in all of China!!!

(End of Chapter)