Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 197 Jingxian Arrives in Haishi

After the two brothers agreed, they went to look for it in each carriage. Summer vacation was almost over, and the train was crowded, especially the hard-seat carriages. Not only were the seats full, but the aisles were also packed with people. No wonder the train ticket carts weren't moving; they were really too crowded to move.

The two of them struggled to move through two or three carriages, but it was so difficult to move that they had to turn back. This time, as they passed the dining car, they saw a vending cart that had returned from somewhere and was restocking.

Rong Gang quickly stepped forward and asked, "Hello, do you have instant noodles?"

The attendant, who was squatting down to stuff goods into the vending cart at the bottom, stood up upon hearing the voice: "Yes, we have some, two yuan a bowl, how many bowls do you want?"

The two brothers exchanged a glance, somewhat surprised: "Five bowls, please." After saying that, Rong Gang took out ten yuan from his pocket and handed it over.

The flight attendant took the money, took out five bowls of instant noodles and handed them to Rong Gang. Rong Gang took them and looked at them. Hmm, braised beef noodles. He had just turned to leave when the flight attendant called him back.

"Um, instant noodles need to be soaked in boiling water, otherwise they won't dissolve properly and won't taste good, which would be a waste. Which carriage are you in? I'll have a colleague bring you some boiling water later."

“We’re from the sleeper car.” Rong Gang took his seat number and turned to leave.

A moment later, the sound of the vending cart's wheels rolling could be heard, followed by the standard vendor's cry: "Beer, liquor, mineral water, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sausages, and instant noodles! Just shout if you need anything!"

The call was repeated only three or four times before reaching the door of the mother and her two children's sleeper compartment. The call stopped, and a flight attendant carrying a thermos of hot water came in: "Do you want to make the instant noodles you bought in the dining car? I brought hot water."

Rong Gang looked up and saw the flight attendant who had sold him the items. He quickly stood up and said, "I want some, I want some."

The three of them quickly lifted the lid and squeezed all the seasoning packets into the flatbread. The attendant then added water one by one. "After soaking for three minutes with the lid on, it should be ready to eat. See if you need anything else. I'll be off duty after walking around the sleeper car. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Are you going to get off in both the hard-seat and sleeper carriages?" Rong Qiang asked curiously.

The flight attendant smiled and shook her head: "Generally speaking, we mainly operate in the hard-seat carriages. There are more passengers there, and since everyone is sitting and can't sleep, it's easier to sell goods."

We don't usually come to the sleeper berth area. Most people bring their own food, and if they get bored, they just lie down and sleep. They don't like us coming to sell things; they think it's noisy.

People here usually go directly to the food truck if they want to buy something. If you hadn't bought instant noodles from me today, and I hadn't been thinking of dropping off some hot water and stopping by, I wouldn't have come over at all.

After filling five bowls of instant noodles with water, the flight attendant pushed the sales cart further inside, her calls echoing in a loop as she went, pausing occasionally to indicate that someone had bought something.

It was the first time any of them had eaten instant noodles. To be honest, the aroma of the cooked noodles was quite strong as soon as they opened the lid, and the noodles were also quite chewy. Although they didn't taste as good as the ones they cooked at home, they were pretty good for a trip.

We took out the sausages and smoked chicken, and the three of us ate instant noodles with them, thoroughly enjoying our meal.

The next morning, they made do with the biscuits from their bags and the water from their military canteens for breakfast. Around noon, the sales cart came again, and Rong Gang stopped it and bought five more boxes of instant noodles. Seeing that there were ham sausages, Rong Gang asked curiously, "These are different from the ones we bought in Harbin."

The flight attendant quickly realized what he was talking about and laughed, "Harbin's red sausage is delicious and has a lot of meat, but it's not easy to preserve. In this weather, it's good if it can last for four or five days. But the ham sausage produced by this meat processing plant can last for at least eight or nine months, and up to a year without spoiling."

"What did they add to it?" Rong Qiang asked, puzzled.

The flight attendant laughed and shook her head: "It's probably not. Apparently, it's an improvement in packaging technology that isolates the meat from air and slows down spoilage, but I don't know the specifics. However, the taste is indeed quite good."

It tastes quite different from regular sausage. If you're interested, would you like to buy a couple to try? They're 1.5 yuan each, which isn't exactly cheap.

Rong Gang shook his head: "We still have some we brought ourselves. We'll see if we want to try some after we finish eating."

Jingxian could tell at a glance that the two kids were just being curious again, so he took out three yuan from his pocket and handed it to them: "Then buy two for them to try."

The flight attendant happily took the money and the goods. The two young men blushed. They really didn't want to eat them. Why was their mother treating them like children? But in the end, they followed their hearts and accepted the sausages.

The instant noodles were ready, and the sausages were opened. Both children wanted Jingxian to have the first bite. Jingxian couldn't refuse, so he took a small bite from one. Mmm, it really tasted delicious.

This smell can be detected even one or two hours after lunch, whenever you burp. It seems to be easier to promote than red sausage, after all, it has a longer shelf life.

On the afternoon of the third day, the train announced that it was about to arrive at Haishi Station, and told passengers to prepare to disembark and not to forget their luggage.

No one had entered their room the entire way. Based on the number of people Rong Gang and his group had seen in the hard-seat carriages, no one expected that the sleeper carriages were actually not full.

Thinking about it again, it's understandable. A sleeper ticket is almost three times the price of a hard seat, so it's normal for many people to be reluctant to spend the money. For example, if their younger sister hadn't bought the ticket for them, they would have only bought a hard seat and wouldn't have considered a sleeper.

It seems like the younger sister's family is determined to take full advantage of her fame.

Upon arrival at the station, after the train came to a complete stop, the group of people carried their bags off the train and followed the flow of people out. Just as they exited the ticket gate, they saw a large sign standing there, which was indeed very eye-catching among the crowd of people waiting to pick up passengers.

"Zhang Jingxian, your sister is here to pick you up!" The bright red lettering stood out against the white background of the sign. And since it was held up so high, even if Rong Gang didn't point and shout that her aunt had come to pick her up, she could still see it. She wasn't blind; she could see that the people picking up passengers around the sign were rather sparse.

Nowadays, people don't really care about losing face. The reason they stood a little further away was because they thought the board must be quite heavy, and it was dangerous for a woman to hold it with one hand; what if she lost her strength and it fell, hitting someone nearby?

If the bleeding leads to hospitalization, that's fine; at least you can earn enough for hospitalization and nutrition fees. But if it's just bruises, then the damage was for nothing, so naturally, no one wants to get too close to avoid suffering.

Jing Yan happily picked up her third sister and two nephews, led them out of the train station, and seeing that they didn't have much luggage, she didn't help them. She found a tricycle and took them directly to the pier.

“You must be tired from the long journey, Third Sister. Let’s go home first. After a few days of rest, I’ll take you out to explore Haishi again,” Jingyan said to Jingxian while queuing to buy boat tickets.

Jingxian nodded: "That's all for later. Has your brother-in-law gone to work? Does your family know we're coming? Before, they would only call to let us know we were safe, and I never really asked around. Now that you're bringing three people home all at once, don't your in-laws have any objections?"

Jingyan, you're someone's wife now. If it's inconvenient for us to stay at your house, you could rent a place to live separately, and then visit each other more often.

Jingyan waved her hand confidently: "You don't need to worry about that. My in-laws are all very nice. My house is big. You'll stay in Xiaoli's room, and Ronggang and Rongqiang will stay in the kang (heated brick bed) that Grandma used to live in."

My in-laws live in Yangzhou, not here. It's just my husband, my three children, and Sister Wang at home. Sister Wang cooks for us; she's been with us for over ten years, practically family. Please don't feel awkward.

"You're not incapable of doing housework, so why did you hire someone to cook? Back then, things were much stricter. Capitalists were prone to making mistakes, so you're lucky you weren't caught."

Jingxian couldn't understand why the family needed to hire someone to do chores. They were just ordinary household chores, which she could easily do herself. Why waste money on that? But since it was her sister's life, she couldn't say too much, though she couldn't help but mutter a few words.

Jingyan understood her thoughts. If her grandmother hadn't come to live with her back then, she wouldn't have been willing to hire anyone. However, as life got better and better, she got used to it. But her family would probably find it hard to accept this kind of thinking.

"Back then, my grandmother lived with my husband and me. We hired Sister Wang mainly to help with housework, cooking, and taking care of my grandmother. You don't know, Zhijun's grandmother came from a well-to-do family."

She's very particular about her lifestyle, especially when it comes to food. With my cooking skills, if I hadn't asked Sister Wang for help, Grandma probably would have really gone back to the nursing home.

"Why doesn't Grandma live with you? Did she go to Yangzhou?" Jingxian didn't know about his grandmother's passing; Jingyan hadn't mentioned it.

“He passed away at the end of last year at the age of eighty-seven. It was a happy death. In his last two or three months, he moved to Yangzhou City, saying that he wanted to pass away at his son's house and be buried with his grandfather.” Jingyan’s voice was somewhat somber. Even though more than half a year had passed, Jingyan still couldn’t help but feel sad whenever she mentioned it.

Seeing his sister like this, Jingxian knew that his sister had a really good relationship with her husband's grandmother. After all, Jingyan was a straightforward person, and if her husband's family hadn't treated her very well, she definitely wouldn't be so sad.

He gently patted Jingyan on the back, "It will all pass."

After disembarking, Jingyan led them home in about fifteen minutes. As soon as they entered the courtyard, Jingxian and his family stared wide-eyed: "Jingyan, your house is so big and impressive! Isn't this the kind of house that officials and the super-rich live in that you see on TV?"

Jingyan led the person into the house and said with a smile, "This is not true. My family paid for it. Only those who live in this compound without paying are capable. They are all top researchers or those who have made significant contributions."

"It's not easy to buy it here."

“Well, Zhijun is an intellectual and a technical backbone. Plus, his family has been in the military for three generations, so he has some background. That’s why he was able to afford to buy this place. That’s why I said my house is big. Isn’t it big? There’s really enough room for the three of you.” Jingyan reassured her.

After settling their luggage, the package they had mailed earlier hadn't arrived yet, but the money order had. Jingyan handed the money order to Jingxian: "Tomorrow I'll take my third sister to the bank to open an account and deposit the money."

Jingxian naturally had no objection: "Tell me more about raising chickens when you mentioned it on the phone. I've raised quite a few at home before, so I have some experience. If we can find a suitable house for raising chickens, it would be a good option."

"There probably aren't any suitable houses around here. My idea is that we could ask the local neighborhood office if we can rent or buy any vacant land. Actually, I'd prefer to buy a piece of land and build our own chicken coop."

Don't cage the chickens; free-range chickens have better meat quality. It's getting late, so after dinner you can rest. Tomorrow we'll explore the island together.

You'll also need to sign confidentiality agreements and other guarantees at the neighborhood committee office. I'd also like to remind you to avoid those areas on weekdays, otherwise you might get caught.

Upon hearing that they might be arrested, Jingxian immediately became nervous: "Where exactly is this place? How can getting close to it lead to trouble?"

"The factories on this island are all state-owned enterprises, and they are not like those outside. They are more focused on the military industry, so the level of secrecy is quite high. Otherwise, you would think that it is not easy to go out to purchase goods on the island, and you can make money no matter what you do. So why are there no large chicken farmers?"

The residents here are either factory workers or their families. Almost everyone has something to do, so why would they need to do these things? If Zhijun hadn't been promoted in the factory these past few years, even if I wanted you to come here, I wouldn't have been able to; you weren't qualified.”

Jingxian then felt a bit more respect: "Alright, let's go sign the agreement early tomorrow. I will definitely avoid the place you told me about in the future, and I will never cause trouble for my brother-in-law."

Seeing her sister looking very nervous, Jingyan was amused: "Don't be nervous. Unless they're spies or something, ordinary people generally won't go that way. It's quite far from our living area, so don't worry."

Sister Wang came out of the kitchen: "Jingyan, dinner is almost ready. Call the children out, and we can eat as soon as Zhijun gets off work."

Jingyan pulled Sister Wang over and introduced her: "This is my third sister, and her two sons, Ronggang and Rongqiang. They will be living with us from now on. Rongqiang will be studying at our home for a year during his senior year of high school. Please take good care of him."

Sister Wang greeted them politely, saying, "What are the accommodations arranged for you? I'll prepare the bedding later."

“My two nephews are staying in Grandma’s room, and my third sister is staying in Xiaoli’s room on the third floor.”

"Okay, I'll move my bedding over there later. I clean the room every few days, so it's not dirty," Sister Wang said readily.

A short while later, He Zhijun got off work and went home. His three children came out of the study on the first floor, and Teacher Shen came out with them. Seeing the new faces in the house, she smiled and asked, "Are we having guests again?"

He Zhijun nodded: "This is Jingyan's third sister and her two nephews. The younger nephew is Rongqiang, right? He's studying at our high school for a year. Although the senior year is very demanding, if you have time, Teacher Shen, could you please tell me if there are any short lessons that would be suitable for him to relax?"