Return to the small mountain village in 1986

Chapter 600 Traveling in a Green Car

In mid-March of the Gregorian calendar in 90, on a sunny day, Gao Mingcheng followed Deng Wanwan and others on a train to the provincial capital.

Although there is a train station in the county, this railway line cannot go directly to the capital, so they have to take a train to the provincial capital first, and then buy tickets from the provincial capital to the capital.

There was no online ticket purchase at the moment. People had to queue up locally to buy tickets. When they got off the train and went to the ticket purchase location, they were surprised by the huge queue.

When buying tickets in the county, it is relatively easy to buy train tickets because there are few people and it is now past the busiest period of Spring Festival travel.

But it is really difficult to buy a train ticket in a big city like the provincial capital!

Wang Xun was accustomed to this. He had rich experience in buying tickets, so he said to Gao Mingcheng and others: "You guys find a place to rest, and I will queue up to buy tickets!"

As he said that, after observing, he chose a team with a relatively small number of people to stand in.

Gao Mingcheng looked at the long queue in front of him. With his eyesight, it was difficult to see the conductor at the front. I thought to myself, Wang Xun would be lucky if he could buy a ticket within two hours!

So he said to Deng Wanwan: "Let's go to a nearby restaurant and sit down to eat. After dinner, I will replace Brother Wang in the queue."

Deng Wanwan had no objection and agreed directly.

Under the leadership of Gao Mingcheng, they found a restaurant and ordered a few dishes.

Seeing that he squeezed out not long after, Wang Xun couldn't help but laugh.

While eating big mouthfuls of fried noodles, he said to Gao Mingcheng: "Can't you squeeze in? Haha, this is not bad. When I bought tickets in the capital, I queued for six hours! It was cold at that time Very, I was wearing a thick cotton coat and a hat, but I didn’t dare to speak, and when I spoke, my mouth breathed white!”

"Hey, okay!" Deng Wanwan responded.

Because it was not a meal, there were not many people in the store. After explaining to the boss that they had to wait for their relatives who were queuing up to buy tickets, the boss agreed to let them sit here and wait.

Half an hour had passed from the time they ordered to finishing their meal, and half an hour later, Wang Xun didn't seem to have moved much forward!

It takes about three hours to take a bus from the county to the provincial capital. They had eaten before going out and were not very hungry now. However, there were many people, many luggage, old people and children, so they had to wait outside for a few days to enjoy the air. hours, it would be very difficult.

There was no way, Gao Mingcheng could only give up the idea of ​​going to the front to take a look.

Gao Mingcheng wanted to go to the front to see the situation, but he didn't expect there were so many people that he couldn't squeeze in! And everyone cast a wary look at him, fearing that he would jump in line. At the same time, there were people at the station maintaining order, and scoldings sounded from time to time.

Under the gaze of the people around him, Gao Mingcheng stood in the team, while Wang Xun walked away with the bowl.

People who brought food and water with them immediately took out the food to eat, which made it difficult for those who didn't bring food and had to endure it.

After Gao Mingcheng was full, he took a bowl of freshly fried fried noodles and prepared to go to Wang Xun.

"Wanwan, just stay here and don't run around. I'll deliver food to Brother Wang." Before leaving, Gao Mingcheng confessed.

Gao Mingcheng had good eyesight and found the person quickly. He handed the fried noodles to Wang Xun and said: "Brother Wang, you eat the fried noodles first, and I will go to the front to check the situation."

After standing for more than half an hour, Wang Xun was really hungry, so he started to eat big.

Although Deng Wanwan's parents are very old, this is the first time they have traveled away from home for half their lives. Therefore, they looked timid, and when they learned that the food was expensive, they also felt pain in their faces. Finally, Deng Wanwan After some persuasion, I ate some.

Because he knew Wang Xun's position before, Gao Mingcheng walked to that position.

"Brother Wang, go find a place nearby to sit and eat, and I'll line up for you." Gao Mingcheng said.

This bowl of fried rice noodles was filled with meat and eggs, and it was freshly cooked, so it was fragrant and attracted many people's attention. Some even had stomach growls.

Gao Mingcheng has already told Wang Xun the name and location of the restaurant. When Wang Xun finishes eating, he can sit there and rest for a while.

Besides, they don't have any shortage of money. Even if the restaurants near the station are more expensive, they can still afford them.

After waiting in line for a while, the people in front began to move forward, so Gao Mingcheng followed suit.

Queuing was actually quite boring, so Gao Mingcheng simply looked here and there. His eyes wandered among the various crowds.

Later, he got bored, so he started chatting with people around him. He knew many local dialects, so it would not be too difficult to communicate with people from all over the world. Besides, most of the people who showed up at the provincial capital station were people from their own province. , only a few people from other places transfer here.

After waiting in line for another hour or so, suddenly Gao Mingcheng's team moved forward quickly. Gao Mingcheng felt strange and stepped forward to look forward. Now he could see the conductor from a distance. It turned out to be a large family. They queued up to buy tickets together, so once they got their tickets, they all left at once.

Some people bought tickets and left, and naturally there were also people who had just queued at the end of the queue, making the queue still look very long, like a long queue.

Fortunately, half an hour later, it was finally Gao Mingcheng’s turn to buy a ticket!

"Hello, I want to buy a ticket for train number 191 to the capital. I want seven hard sleeper tickets!"

Gao Mingcheng explained the situation succinctly. After the conductor quoted each fare, he lowered his head and took the money from his bag.

The conductor was a skilled worker and quickly counted the ticket money and then handed the ticket to Gao Mingcheng.

The moment Gao Mingcheng got the ticket, he couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, the Beijing-Kowloon Line is not connected yet. To go from the provincial capital to the capital, you must bypass the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway. The distance between the two is about 2000 kilometers. Calculated at 48 kilometers per hour, it takes 41 hours!

If the train encounters an accident on the way, it may take longer. After all, it is not uncommon for trains to be delayed.

Squeezing out of the crowd, Gao Mingcheng walked towards the previous restaurant.

"I bought the ticket. The train will depart at 21:34 and we will arrive in the capital at noon on the third day!" Gao Mingcheng took out a ticket and handed the rest to Wang Xun to keep.

The ticket Gao Mingcheng bought was for a couchette. He was lucky and could still buy it. If he couldn't buy it, he could only buy a seated ticket. Once he bought a seated ticket, he might be able to buy an unseating ticket!

At that time, the whole family stayed in the car for more than 40 hours, which was really a lot of suffering!

Wang Xun took a look at the ticket and said with a satisfied smile: "Just buy a hard sleeper!"

Although the tickets were bought, there were still several hours before boarding the bus, so everyone could only wait patiently.

After dark, the temperature also dropped a lot. Deng Wanwan thoughtfully wrapped her coats tightly around the two children, lest they get cold.

Deng Wanwan's stepson was originally naughty, but he was frightened by the rumors of corpses floating in the lake and looking for a scapegoat, so he looked gloomy. However, her stepdaughter is quite well-behaved and is willing to call Deng Wanwan mother.

Human feelings are like this. If you like me, then I will definitely like you to some extent. So Deng Wanwan and her stepdaughter kept holding hands. Judging from their expressions, they looked like their biological mother and daughter.

After finally staying up until nine o'clock in the evening, people taking their train can start queuing to check in.

There are a lot of people queuing up, but among them there are several people who have bought entry tickets. Those holding entry tickets can help their relatives carry their luggage into the station, and then get off and return after the luggage and people are put on the bus.

Although Deng Wanwan and the others have tried their best to streamline their luggage, they still have a lot of luggage, half of which is for food.

We have to stay in the car for more than forty hours, so we naturally need to prepare some food in advance.

Because they were old and young, Gao Mingcheng offered to help them get a bag.

After checking in with the queue of people and entering the station, Gao Mingcheng quickly found the train number and the carriage he was riding in, and led Deng Wanwan and the others towards the carriage.

There were not too many people in the hard-seat compartment they were going to, but the doorways of those hard-seat compartments were packed with people! Some people even climbed in through the car window with the help of relatives and friends!

After arriving at the carriage, Gao Mingcheng took his middle berth ticket and quickly found the corresponding place.

Among the seven tickets he bought, there were two lower berths, three middle berths and two upper berths. Gao Mingcheng naturally wanted the lower berth, but since Deng Wanwan and the others were old and young, he chose a middle berth.

Although they bought the tickets at the same time, the seats were not together. Gao Mingcheng and their tickets were separated by a small distance.

After Gao Mingcheng put down his things, he breathed a sigh of relief.

When they got on the train, it was already half past nine in the evening. By ten o'clock in the evening, the pale fluorescent lights in the sleeper car would go out, leaving only the dim light of the night light under the small table in the middle of the spring seat in the narrow aisle, as if it was about to Like an extinguished candle.

At this point, it was time to go to bed, so Gao Mingcheng took out the toiletries from his bag and prepared to go to the open water room at the end of the sleeper car to brush his teeth and wash his face.

Although when he was at home, he told Duomei that he only needed to bring two changes of clothes, Duomei who packed his luggage still brought him a lot of items, including toiletries and some food.

The weather is cold now, and even if you bring food in the car, it will not spoil easily, so Duomei boiled twenty eggs for him and bought some braised vegetables and bread snacks.

As for water, Gao Mingcheng bought bottled mineral water in a store near the provincial capital station.

Bottled mineral water has a long history. Laoshan Bottled Mineral Water Factory was established in Qingdao as early as 1930. It was the only bottled mineral water manufacturer in my country until the 80s. But at that time, the products were in glass bottles, the product was single, and the price was expensive.

But after entering the 1990s, mineral water in plastic bottles will become all the rage! It is considered a "fashion" for people to hold a bottle of Kuangquan water while traveling, which brings convenience to people when going out. Therefore, mineral water advertisements can be seen everywhere.

He bought bottled mineral water, but Deng Wanwan's parents brought an enamel cup with them on the train. There was a hot water supply on the train, so they could use the enamel cup to drink the water.

Gao Mingcheng quickly washed up, went to the toilet again, walked to his own bed in the rickety carriage, and then prepared to climb into bed to sleep.

The light was dim now, so it wasn't suitable for anything.

While he was washing, the others were also getting ready to wash and go to bed.

But not long after, a conductor came over and asked them to exchange their tickets. This was a treatment only available for hard sleepers. When they were about to get off, the conductor would remind them again and exchange their previous tickets back so that the passengers could get off with their tickets. .

Amidst the repeated sounds, Gao Mingcheng slowly fell asleep, while one of his hands remained on the luggage bag.

There is a thick stack of cash in this duffel bag!

Not only him, but other people in the carriage also carried their valuables with them. Even when they were sleeping, they would hold them tightly or put them under their heads, keeping them alert at all times.

In the early hours of the morning, there was gradually no sound in the carriage. Most people fell into a deep sleep. Even those who were awake did not dare to make any sound.

At this moment, someone suddenly held a flashlight and shined a light on the beds one by one.

When the flashlight's light shone on Gao Mingcheng's body, he opened his eyes reflexively, and then shot a peanut in his hand towards the light source.

"Ouch!" The peanut hit the young man holding the flashlight in the face, causing him to cry out in pain.

At this time, some people were awakened by the light and heard the screams, so they got up one after another. Soon someone loudly asked the young man what he wanted to do.

When the young man saw this, he quickly apologized and said that he was looking for a bed.

"Have you found him?" Gao Mingcheng sat up and stared at the young man with a sinister look.

There are all kinds of people on the train, and pickpockets and human traffickers are the most annoying people.

"Found it, found it." The young man did not dare to provoke public anger. As he said this, he walked away dejectedly. Seeing him leaving the carriage, others did not know that the young man must not have any good ideas!

So some people cursed a few times, and some people lay down to sleep again, but they hugged the duffel bag tighter.

After a small episode, it was a peaceful night.

Time flies when people are sleeping. When the early morning light shines through the car window, Gao Mingcheng opened his eyes immediately.

His bed was a middle berth, and the middle berth occupied most of the car window!

Here, you can easily see the scenery outside the window, but it is also easily affected by the light, making it difficult to sleep during the day.

Soon after he woke up, other people woke up one after another, and the carriage that had been quiet all night became lively again. However, Gao Mingcheng got up early and washed up early, so no one competed with him for the water tap.

And when more people wake up, it will not be easy to use water!

If you meet someone who washes up very slowly, you will have to wait a long time!

It was the first time for Deng Zhiyong and his wife to go out and they knew nothing about the situation on the train. Deng Wanwan carefully introduced them to the layout of the carriage, and then led them to wash up and go to the toilet. As for the two children, Wang Xun took care of them. .

After everything was sorted, they called Gao Mingcheng to come over and eat.

Mother Deng opened several cans and bottles and said to Gao Mingcheng with a smile: "These are the side dishes I made myself. They are used with porridge, steamed buns, and bread. They are the best!"

Gao Mingcheng took a quick look and saw a lot of side dishes, including the common buckwheat heads, dried radish, grapefruit peels, and a bottle of roasted dried fish with black bean sauce, which was put in a lot of oil and chili. It looked delicious!

(End of this chapter)