Oranges on the Night Train
The train rumbled along with a clattering, clanking racket that filled the carriage. Everyone had to speak much louder than usual to be heard.
Some of the young people heading to the countryside started chatting, momentarily easing the sadness of parting.
Chu Mo was shut out from all the bustle. His world was silent.
The air in the carriage bothered him, so he kept his mask on as he sat in his seat. His bangs were a little long, covering his eyebrows. The eyes beneath them were ringed with a faint flush, and his amber gaze was unfocused, hazy as if he were drunk.
There was no sadness in Chu Mo’s eyes, only longing and anticipation, along with a trace of worry.
He was thinking about Chu Yuechuan.
If he was the only one whose life had changed, and Chu Yuechuan’s hadn’t, then Chu Yuechuan was only nineteen now.
What was he doing at this moment?
As Chu Mo sat lost in thought, someone gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. He turned and saw a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy sitting opposite him. The boy had dark skin and an honest-looking face.
Chu Mo recognized him. He lived in the same family housing block, not far from the Chu family’s place. His name was Xin Leiqiang.
Chu Mo hadn’t talked to him much before, only seen him a few times.
The only reason he remembered Xin Leiqiang’s name was that before Chu Mo left, Father Chu had wanted to make sure someone would look out for him in the countryside. He’d taken Chu Mo around to meet and greet some of the young people in the neighborhood who were also going. Xin Leiqiang had been one of them.
“Chu Mo, don’t sit there daydreaming by yourself. Talk with everyone. We’re all from the same place, so we should stick together, share the good times and the bad. If you’ve got anything tasty in your bag, take it out and share. That’s how we’ll get closer.” Xin Leiqiang spoke in a joking tone, gesturing with his hands and pointing at the bag in Chu Mo’s arms.
His gestures weren’t proper sign language, but they got the gist across.
Xin Leiqiang lived close to the Chu family. He’d heard that over the past few days Father Chu had been trading for all sorts of ration coupons and buying plenty of good things, and he couldn’t help eyeing Chu Mo’s bag hungrily.
His family had lots of brothers and sisters, and they didn’t have it as good as the Chus. He hadn’t been given the kind of provisions Chu Mo had.
Chu Mo understood what he was saying. There was food in his bag.
Qian Guixiang had told him to get along with the others traveling with him. Sharing food was one way to do that, and people would be more willing to help him if he did.
But Chu Mo had no desire to get close to someone he didn’t particularly like.
He blinked, then lowered his head and opened his bag. From inside, he took out a small pouch.
Xin Leiqiang’s eyes lit up.
Chu Mo slowly opened the pouch. There was no food inside, only several packets of medicine, a row of long needles, and a needle knife with a flattened blade at the tip.
Qian Guixiang had worried Chu Mo might get sick with no one around to treat him, so Chu Mo had asked his parents to buy him some prepared medicines, a few medical books, and this little acupuncture kit. He would teach himself to treat his own illnesses.
He’d had some knowledge of medicine in his past life, so he hadn’t bought the supplies at random.
When Chu Mo opened a paper packet and took out a dark pill, the eager look on Xin Leiqiang’s face crumbled.
“He doesn’t understand a thing. I said all that for nothing. How are we supposed to communicate?” Xin Leiqiang muttered in complaint.
Chu Mo looked at him, his wide eyes innocent.
“Xin Leiqiang, he can’t hear you,” said a pretty girl with a neat, ear-length haircut.
“That’s right. Xin Leiqiang, you keep asking him to share his things, but why don’t you share yours? Take out your food and he’ll understand,” another girl, her hair tied in a ponytail, chimed in.
Chu Mo was surprised that the two girls had spoken up for him.
In his memories, he’d been very withdrawn and had no friends. He’d gone to a school for deaf and mute students and rarely interacted with people his own age.
“He hasn’t said a word. I was just being nice and saying hello, trying to help him fit in,” Xin Leiqiang said, trying to defend himself.
“There are plenty of ways to fit in. He doesn’t have to share his food,” said the girl with the short hair, who had just spoken up for Chu Mo.
Her name was Yu Weihong. She came from a two-income household, and her father was a manager at the steel plant.
Xin Leiqiang looked like he wanted to argue, but when he remembered who she was, he pursed his lips and fell silent.
He hadn’t expected the girls to butt in. Rather than be lectured, he decided to keep quiet.
Chu Mo saw it all but didn’t care.
He’d been twenty-four before his rebirth. The people around him now were all kids in his eyes.
After they finished talking, Chu Mo took a pill from the medicine packet and swallowed it, then put everything away and went back to staring into space.
The boys picked up their conversation again. The two girls ignored them and chatted among themselves.
A little while later, Yu Weihong went to get a thermos of hot water. After topping up the other girl’s cup, she tapped Chu Mo on the shoulder.
“Would you like some hot water?” She pointed at his cup.
Chu Mo took out his thermos, and Yu Weihong filled it up for him.
“Thank you.” Chu Mo took the notebook from his pocket and wrote a note to Yu Weihong.
Qian Guixiang had cut and sewn the notebook for him. It was about the size of his palm and a finger joint thick, with the pen tied to one side by a cord, so he could use it to communicate with people who didn’t know sign language.
“You’re welcome. Your handwriting is beautiful! This makes it so much easier to communicate. I was wondering how I was going to talk to you.” Yu Weihong smiled. Worried he might not understand, she gestured as she spoke.
Chu Mo wasn’t good at communicating, but the two girls were so friendly that he answered whatever they asked him.
The boys looked on with a trace of envy.
They’d tried striking up conversations with the girls, only to get polite, distant replies. Why were they so friendly to Chu Mo?
How could a boy who couldn’t speak be so popular with girls?
Yu Weihong hadn’t met Chu Mo before. It wasn’t until he got thirsty and pulled down his mask to drink that the two girls saw his face clearly.
Their faces turned red at once.
The boys looked a little strange, too.
Chu Mo had always kept a low profile. He’d gone to a different kind of school from everyone else, and because he was allergic to dust and pollen, he wore a mask whenever he went out. Even though they lived in the same family housing block, all the others knew about him was that he was deaf and mute, seemed a little dazed, and had nice eyes. They couldn’t really picture what he looked like.
Seeing him from so close was a shock.
His face was even fairer and more delicate than the two girls’. He was as exquisite as someone out of a painting.
A boy could look like that?
In those days, men and women alike mostly wore dark clothes: blue, army green, black, and the like.
Chu Mo’s hair was a little long, covering his ears and eyebrows, which made him look even more delicate.
If they hadn’t already known he was the Chu family’s second son, they might have thought the beautiful person in front of them was a girl.
Chu Mo slowly drank a few sips of the nourishing tea that soothed the lungs and eased his thirst, then put his mask back on.
When dinnertime came, everyone took out the food they’d brought and ate it with hot water.
Chu Mo had a small appetite and hadn’t packed much staple food. His provisions were easy to digest: a few steamed buns made with fine flour.
Of the others, only Yu Weihong had brought food made with fine flour. Everyone else had coarse-grain buns and cakes.
Xin Leiqiang eyed the bun in Chu Mo’s hand and swallowed hard before taking a few bites of his own, made from a mix of whole-wheat and corn flour.
After they’d eaten their staple food, Yu Weihong took out the glutinous rice cakes she’d brought and shared them around, one small piece each.
Chu Mo had a good impression of Yu Weihong. After eating one of her rice cakes, he reached into his bag and took out his own snacks.
Chu Mo got motion sickness easily, and the side effects of motion-sickness pills were severe. Qian Guixiang had gone out of her way to find him some oranges to take along. They were a rare treat.
There were two in his bag. Chu Mo took them both out, keeping only the peel and one segment for himself. He asked Yu Weihong to give everyone else a segment each.
As soon as the oranges were peeled, their fragrance spread through the carriage, making people’s mouths water.
The more considerate boys, who were too embarrassed to take them for nothing, offered to trade their own fruit candies or biscuits. The others simply ate their share.
Chu Mo didn’t mind. He lowered his head and smelled the orange peel, then put his mask back on.
Xin Leiqiang glanced at Chu Mo and silently swallowed again.
Looking at Chu Mo’s slender, pale wrist, he thought it would snap if anyone squeezed it. Still, they had a long road ahead, and Chu Mo was bound to need his help sooner or later.
They’d boarded the train a little after four in the afternoon, and it was dark before long.
A trip that would take only six or seven hours in the future took seventeen or eighteen now.
Around ten that night, the carriage quieted down as everyone grew tired.
The train noise didn’t keep Chu Mo awake, but sleeping in a seated position was uncomfortable, and his sleep was fitful.
After a miserable night, he woke in the morning feeling sore all over, as if his body had rusted. His throat was a little dry and sore, and his head felt heavy and dizzy.
He didn’t need to take his temperature to know he had a slight fever.
The carriage was crowded and not cold. Chu Mo had even covered himself with his padded coat, head and face included, but after a whole night of tossing and turning, his body had still given in.
He had no choice but to rummage for the medicine he needed.
This body needed even more careful tending than the one he’d had in his past life.
The others had had a rough night, too, and looked even worse than Chu Mo. Unlike him, they hadn’t covered up, and after a night in the carriage, their faces were all coated in black soot.
There was coal dust along the railway, and whenever the windows were open, it blew inside. After a whole night, it had left their faces visibly blackened.
Yu Weihong was no exception.
They all laughed at one another.
“How come your face is so clean? Your skin is lovely.” Yu Weihong had wiped her face clean, and when she saw that Chu Mo’s face looked even paler than it had the day before, she couldn’t help envying him.
Chu Mo gave her a helpless smile. This was the pallor of illness. He didn’t want to be this pale.
Chu Mo’s smile left Yu Weihong frozen for a few seconds. She quickly looked away.
She was grateful that Chu Mo wore his mask most of the time.
After a quick wash and a little food that morning, Chu Mo was feeling unwell and didn’t pay attention to what the others were saying. He leaned forward and dozed for a while. After enduring another couple of hours, he felt Yu Weihong give his shoulder a light tap.
“We’re getting off soon. Oh, and remember, if you get to choose your brigade, don’t pick Taohuagou Brigade. Shuangshui Brigade is the best.” When Chu Mo opened his eyes, Yu Weihong handed him a note. It was a conclusion the others had reached based on what each of them knew.
Yu Weihong had passed the information along to Chu Mo.
Chu Mo paused, then thanked her.
The teacher leading their group called for everyone to get off. Chu Mo gathered his things and followed the others off the train with his bag.
The temperature outside was several degrees lower, and the air was much drier than in Fengcheng, where Chu Mo had been living.
Chu Mo put on his coat and went to find his luggage.
Some of the boys who’d shared Chu Mo’s oranges were decent enough to come help. They tied his luggage onto a wheeled rack, and as Chu Mo pulled it along, someone helped push. Xin Leiqiang pitched in a little, too.
They’d arrived at Maoyuan County Station. After taking attendance, the teacher split the fifty or sixty people who’d come together into five groups. The groups found the officials from their respective communes, who took them onward by bus.
Chu Mo was headed to Qinghe Commune. The ten or so people traveling with him were the ones who’d been sitting together earlier.
They took a bus to Qinghe Commune.
Compared with the relatively smooth train ride, the bus jolted and swayed over the rutted roads. The bumps made Chu Mo feel as though his whole body was falling apart.
Meanwhile, Qinghe Commune had received word, and several brigade leaders had come to meet the new educated youth.
With the autumn harvest approaching, the brigades had heard that another batch of educated youth was coming, but they were no longer as eager to welcome them as before.
Quite a few of the young people from the cities were spoiled. They brought trouble, couldn’t work, and ate plenty.
But the assignments had already been made, so they had no choice but to come and meet them.
“There are twelve educated youth in all. Your seven brigades can divide them up, at least one for each. Once you’ve decided, come over and register,” the person in charge at the educated youth office told them.
It was also a way to ease the burden. Every brigade had to take in educated youth.
Hearing this, the brigade leaders knew what to do.
If they were allowed to choose, they would naturally pick the strong ones who could work hard and endure hardship.
When the bus stopped outside the Qinghe Commune compound, the brigade leaders heard its horn and came out to greet the newcomers.
Most of the people who got off seemed to be in reasonably good spirits, but one of them was shaking as if with chills. If the person beside him hadn’t caught him, he would have fallen getting off the bus.
It was Chu Mo, who’d been tormented by the bus for over two hours.
He felt as though his whole body was about to give out. If the thought of seeing Chu Yuechuan hadn’t kept him going, he would have passed out.
Once off the bus, he didn’t even bother with his luggage. He sat down on a stone block at the entrance to the commune compound to catch his breath.
Seeing Chu Mo in his mask, looking so sickly he might topple over in a breeze, the brigade leaders immediately crossed him off their lists.
Yu Weihong called one of the boys over to help unload Chu Mo’s luggage, then went to check on him.
Chu Mo waved a hand to show he could manage, then got up, went to his luggage, and pulled it along as he followed the others into the commune compound.
In the meantime, the sharp-eyed brigade leaders had already settled on their choices and hurried over to claim them.
Before long, everyone had been assigned. They registered with the person in charge at the educated youth office and began the paperwork.
The only one left without a place was Chu Mo, resting off to one side.
He swallowed a pill, but still felt awful. He wanted to sleep, but they were at the final stage of the assignment process, and he could only force himself to stay alert.
After resting for a good while, he finally looked around carefully and recognized someone in the crowd.
It was the leader of Taohuagou Brigade, Uncle Zhong, whose full name was Zhong Maosong.
In his past life, Chu Mo had lived in Taohuagou for several years. Uncle Zhong had looked after both him and Chu Yuechuan.
Excited to see a familiar face, Chu Mo wanted to go over and greet him, but someone tugged at his arm.
“You don’t have anywhere to go. Come with me to Shuangshui Brigade. I’ll look out for you.” Xin Leiqiang had found some paper and a pen and written the words for Chu Mo to read.
Xin Leiqiang was tall, dark-skinned, and looked honest and sturdy. The brigade leaders had decided he looked strong and hardworking, which made him a popular choice.
He’d negotiated with the leader of Shuangshui Brigade: if he was going there, Chu Mo had to come with him.
The Shuangshui Brigade leader was in a bind. He wanted a strong worker, but taking on a frail one as well gave him pause. He only agreed after Yu Weihong made the same promise.
Chu Mo had a general idea of how the assignments worked. Shuangshui Brigade had a river running through it and was the best-off brigade nearby. If he were an ordinary educated youth, he would naturally want to go somewhere with better conditions.
But he had come here to find Chu Yuechuan. Of course he had to go to Taohuagou Brigade.
Chu Mo shook his head at Xin Leiqiang and Yu Weihong, who stood beside him looking faintly hopeful.
“You’re not coming? No brigade has taken you. Where are you going to go?” Xin Leiqiang frowned and hastily wrote out the question.
“Taohuagou Brigade,” Chu Mo wrote.
“What? Taohuagou Brigade?” Yu Weihong blurted out in surprise.
She’d given Chu Mo the note earlier, and he’d read it. Why would he still choose Taohuagou Brigade?
“Sorry. I have a distant relative in Taohuagou Brigade. Thank you both!” Chu Mo wrote another line, stood, and gave Yu Weihong a slight bow before heading over to Zhong Maosong.
Yu Weihong wanted to say something, but Chu Mo had already left. Disappointment showed in her eyes. She’d already registered, so it wasn’t easy to change her assignment. Besides, Taohuagou really was too harsh a place. She wasn’t going to switch just because she felt a little fondness for Chu Mo.
Xin Leiqiang frowned. From what he’d heard, Taohuagou Brigade was no place for a person to live. The land was barren and yields were low, water was hard to come by, and they didn’t even have a tractor. They had to plow with oxen and rely mostly on manual labor.
Switching to Taohuagou Brigade just for the little he could get out of Chu Mo wasn’t worth it.
Chu Mo didn’t know how hard life could be. With his soft skin and delicate build, he probably wouldn’t last a few days before asking to transfer to another brigade. Then Xin Leiqiang would get his chance.
Xin Leiqiang didn’t say anything else.
Zhong Maosong was growing worried. Taohuagou Brigade was so poor that the dozen or so educated youth had probably looked into it beforehand. Not a single one had chosen his brigade.
He didn’t want to take in educated youth either, but the person in charge at the educated youth office had said each brigade had to take at least one.
He hadn’t managed to claim a single one.
Just as Zhong Maosong was getting anxious, the skinny young man whom all the brigade leaders had dismissed approached him.
Chu Mo bowed to Zhong Maosong first, then showed him what he’d written.
Zhong Maosong was getting on in years and was long-sighted. He also knew only a handful of characters, so he couldn’t make out what Chu Mo had written. He had to ask another brigade leader to read it aloud for him.
“This young man chose your brigade. He says the Chu family in your brigade are his relatives, the Chu Yuechuan family. He also says he doesn’t need to stay in the educated youth quarters. He’ll live with the Chus, which will save you a lot of trouble,” a brigade leader with good eyesight explained to Zhong Maosong.
The wrinkles on Zhong Maosong’s face didn’t ease. If anything, they deepened.
By now, everyone knew Chu Mo’s situation.
Farm work didn’t require a silver tongue. Being unable to speak wasn’t a problem, and not being able to hear could be worked around as long as he could do the job. But he was so thin and frail, with no strength at all. That was the real problem.
With nobody choosing Taohuagou, Zhong Maosong could only grit his teeth and accept it.
Chu Mo soon completed the formalities.
As they watched him register with Taohuagou Brigade, the other educated youth shook their heads to themselves, while the other brigade leaders breathed a sigh of relief.
Before leaving, the educated youth lined up to use the commune’s phone and let their families know they were safe.
Chu Mo couldn’t speak, so he asked Yu Weihong to pass on word that he was safe.
Afterward, they each collected their transitional grain rations and prepared to leave.
The other brigade leaders had all come by tractor. Only Zhong Maosong had brought an ox cart. His brigade looked poor indeed.
Chu Mo didn’t mind. He said goodbye to the others, climbed onto Zhong Maosong’s ox cart, and set off for Taohuagou.