Opening her eyes to look, Jiang Tang saw that it was the female comrade sitting next to her arguing with a mother and child.
The older sister with the child was dressed in coarse cloth garments, wore her hair braided into a long plait, carried a cloth bundle in one hand, and held a child of around five or six years old by the other.
Apologizing, the mother said, “I didn’t mean anything else by it. This seat genuinely belongs to me—I have the ticket right here.”
Rolling her eyes, the female comrade sitting in the seat retorted, “Who knows where you managed to get a fake ticket from? This seat is mine.”
Glancing at the ticket in the mother’s hand, Jiang Tang could tell it didn’t look fake at all.
“Since you can’t sort it out yourselves, why not call the train conductor over to take a look?”
Other onlookers nodded in agreement.
Before long, the conductor arrived and checked both tickets.
“I’m sorry, Comrade, you purchased a standing-room-only ticket. This seat belongs to this female comrade here.”
Once the conductor finished speaking, the female comrade sitting in the seat rolled her eyes at her, stood up reluctantly, picked up her leather suitcase, and left.
She even cast a glare at Jiang Tang on her way out.
Jiang Tang couldn’t help smiling to herself. Sure enough, traveling out in the world let you encounter all sorts of people—someone could occupy someone else’s seat and still act completely self-righteous.
As soon as the mother with the child sat down, she pulled a boiled egg out of her bag and shoved it toward Jiang Tang.
“Comrade, thank you for speaking up for me. This is my first time riding a train, and with a child in tow, I don’t understand many things. Please accept this egg as a token of my gratitude—you simply must take it.”
Noticing their clothing and styling, Jiang Tang figured they must have come from a village, so she asked casually, “Are you two going to visit family?”
The older sister shook her head. “My parents-in-law have both passed away, so my husband wrote a letter asking me to bring the child to the military post to find him, so our family of three can live together.”
So they were heading to accompany the troops as well.
Without asking further, Jiang Tang felt an instinctive sense of closeness toward this simple, down-to-earth older sister since they were both military dependents.
Back in her past life after going down to the countryside, she had also encountered kind older sisters willing to help her.
Seeing the little boy staring intently at the egg in her hands and swallowing his saliva, Jiang Tang handed the egg over to him.
“Want to eat it?”
The little boy pressed his lips together in silence, looking not at Jiang Tang, but toward his mother.
Looking at the little boy with a stern expression, the older sister said, “I haven’t shortchanged you at home, so why are you acting like you’re starving like this?”
Even so, she still fished the last remaining egg out of her bag and handed it to her son: “Here, eat it.”
Then, turning an apologetic gaze to Jiang Tang, she said, “Comrade, I’m so sorry. Our boy is a bit greedy and just loves eggs. This one was meant for you—please don’t stand on ceremony with me.”
Unable to refuse, Jiang Tang had no choice but to accept it for now.
Once the little boy finished eating the egg, Jiang Tang pulled out two White Rabbit creamy candies and handed them over.
Though the older sister tried to decline out of embarrassment, this time it was Jiang Tang who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Through this polite back-and-forth, the two of them ended up chatting much more freely.
The older sister shared that her name was Lin Xue, and she had been married to her husband for ten years—they had grown up together as childhood sweethearts.
Later on, her husband enlisted in the military and left home, leading to long periods of separation. Seven years ago, when her husband returned home on family leave, they conceived a child together.
Her husband had wanted her to come accompany the troops much earlier, but she couldn’t bear to leave her ailing mother-in-law behind, so she had stayed home to care for her.
It wasn’t until her mother-in-law passed away three months ago that her husband—unable to return in person—wrote her a letter instructing her to pack up and join him at the post.
As Lin Xue spoke of her husband, Jiang Tang could see her eyes sparkling with absolute adoration.
“My husband treats me wonderfully, and his whole family is good to me. My own parents passed away ages ago, so I’m truly fortunate to have them.”
Jiang Tang could easily tell that Lin Xue and her husband shared a deeply loving bond.
Still, she didn’t ask where Lin Xue’s husband was stationed, content to let this be a chance encounter between travelers.
A day passed quickly. Throughout the trip, Lin Xue periodically pulled out homemade pancakes with meat sauce and apricots for Jiang Tang to eat.
In return, Jiang Tang shared her own cookies, candies, and melon seeds with the mother and son.
When the train finally reached its destination and Jiang Tang prepared to get off, she discovered to her surprise that Lin Xue was getting off at the exact same station.
Carrying very little luggage herself, Jiang Tang grabbed one of Lin Xue’s bundles to help her out and disembarked together.
Stepping out of the station, Jiang Tang spotted the military post’s truck.
Just as she was about to walk over and ask, she saw Xiao Xun stepping down from the passenger side of the truck.
“Comrade Xiao?”
Having already spotted her, Xiao Xun walked right up to Jiang Tang and smoothly took the suitcase from her hand: “Was the journey smooth?”
Nodding, Jiang Tang acknowledged that although riding a two-day green-skinned train was quite tiring, her body was still young enough to handle it without issue.
Tossing the suitcase into the truck bed, Xiao Xun said, “A few other comrades are also heading to the post; let’s wait here for a moment.”
Holding her child’s hand, Lin Xue looked hesitant and nervous as she wanted to ask a question.
Before she could speak, Xiao Xun took the initiative: “Are you Comrade Lin Xue?”
A bright look of recognition crossed Lin Xue’s face as she nodded repeatedly.
“Regiment Commander Cui gave me instructions. Since he was tied up with an urgent mission, he asked us to come to the station to pick you up.”
Only then did Jiang Tang realize what a coincidence this was—Sister Lin Xue happened to be heading to the exact same military post to accompany the troops as she was.
And to top it off, Sister Lin Xue’s husband was a regiment commander!
Lin Xue finally let go of her nervous reserve: “So you’re Comrade Jiang’s fiancé! How wonderful.”
Just then, several other people walked over. After confirming they were all heading to the 21st Regiment, they boarded the truck as well.
Having not seen him for a few days, Jiang Tang looked Xiao Xun over. He seemed slightly more haggard than before, yet somehow even more handsome and striking.
Casually pulling a White Rabbit creamy candy out of her pocket, Jiang Tang handed it directly to Xiao Xun: “Here, have a piece of candy.”
Another soldier in green uniform standing beside Xiao Xun blurted out, “Our leader doesn’t like—”
Before he could even finish the sentence, he watched in shock as Xiao Xun peeled open the candy wrapper and popped the creamy sweet right into his mouth.
Since the candy came from his fiancée, how could Xiao Xun possibly not like it?
Watching Xiao Xun chew on the candy with his cheeks slightly bulged, Jiang Tang found a surprising trace of cuteness etched into his sharp, angular features.
If there weren’t outsiders present—and if she and Xiao Xun hadn’t officially received their marriage certificate yet—she would have loved to reach out and poke Xiao Xun’s cheek.
Just as she was smiling, a familiar voice cut through the air.
“Is this truck heading to the 21st Regiment?”
Turning her head to look, Jiang Tang saw it was none other than the female comrade who had been seated next to her on the train.
Upon receiving an affirmative response, Zheng Jiahe cast a disgusted look at the truck before reluctantly hoisting her leather suitcase into the back.
Catching sight of Lin Xue and her child, she didn’t bother hiding her blatant eye-roll.
“How unlucky—running into the two of you again. What bad luck.”
Lin Xue wasn’t someone who would simply swallow insults in silence. Noticing the curious stares from the surrounding people, she asked, “Comrade, you were the one occupying my seat on the train, so why are you acting like seeing us is bad luck?”
Zheng Jiahe scoffed with utter disdain: “You both smell. Do us all a favor and keep your mouths shut—you’re stinking up the place.”
Lin Xue’s face alternated between red and white. With days of continuous travel and no proper bathing facilities available, she indeed didn’t smell particularly fresh.
Yet everyone was in the same boat—whoever traveled long-distance didn’t end up looking and smelling like this?
Realizing that Zheng Jiahe simply had it out for her and wishing to avoid causing trouble for her husband right upon arrival at the military post, Lin Xue chose to bite her tongue and say nothing more.
Little did she know that the moment she fell silent, Zheng Jiahe only grew even more relentless with her nagging.