The train journey from Su City to Liaoning Province took three days and two nights. In those days, only public officials could purchase sleeper tickets.
All the Educated Youth heading to the countryside had hard seats. Shen Jingyao was relatively lucky to have snagged a window seat.
At least she could enjoy the scenery outside the window; otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to pass the time during these three days and two nights.
The noisy chatter in the carriage was giving her a headache, so she leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes to rest.
The carriage was filled with Educated Youth heading to the countryside. Some of the more outgoing ones had already started introducing themselves.
Since her school days, Shen Jingyao had particularly disliked the self-introduction segment.
She lifted her eyelids for a quick glance, then turned her head to look out the window.
Sometimes, it felt like the more you didn’t want something, the more it happened.
Just then, a somewhat haughty female voice rang out, “Comrade by the window, we’ve all introduced ourselves. Only you haven’t spoken yet.”
“While we were all introducing ourselves, you remained silent. Don’t tell me you’re antisocial.”
Hearing that the remark was directed at her, Shen Jingyao frowned and turned around, her bright, expressive eyes fixed on the girl.
The girl was wearing a fashionable Bulaji dress, with two thick braids in her hair. She had a fairly decent appearance, but the way she looked at others felt rather unpleasant.
“Who said I have to introduce myself? You do your thing, why bother about me?”
“Whether I’m antisocial or not is none of your business!”
Shen Jingyao retorted bluntly. She couldn’t stand people like this, who acted as if they were the center of the world and thought they could dictate everything.
“You!”
Yang Hongjuan was furious. Feeling that Shen Jingyao had humiliated her, she wanted to step forward and argue.
But her posture suggested she was ready to pick a fight.
Shen Jingyao wasn’t afraid of her. Back when she first arrived at the Zhou family, her health was weak, so Uncle Zhou sent her and A Yan to learn Taekwondo together.
Although her current physique wasn’t as good as before, she could still handle a female comrade without any problem.
Song Xiaolan, who was with Yang Hongjuan, quickly pulled her back. “We’re all Educated Youth heading to the countryside together. There’s no need to be so confrontational.”
Yang Hongjuan still wanted to say something, but Song Xiaolan shot her a meaningful look. It was clear that the girl by the window wasn’t someone to be trifled with.
Besides, Yang Hongjuan was in the wrong from the start—whether to introduce oneself or not was that girl’s prerogative. If this continued, it would only make everyone look bad.
Yang Hongjuan sat back in her seat, fuming. Song Xiaolan looked at Shen Jingyao apologetically. “Comrade, I’m sorry.”
Shen Jingyao wasn’t the type to press an advantage. She gave Song Xiaolan a thoughtful glance. “It’s fine.”
Then she sat back down and continued gazing out the window, though she couldn’t help wondering what the relationship was between this girl and the other one, since she had stepped in to apologize.
Song Xiaolan felt helpless. Yang Hongjuan was the daughter of her father’s superior. Their families had arranged for them to go to the countryside together, and Song Xiaolan had been asked to look after her.
The Yang family knew their daughter had a sharp tongue and often offended people.
In exchange for Song Xiaolan’s help, they promised to assist her in returning to the city someday.
It was for this promise that Song Xiaolan had intervened.
At the same time, she felt as though she had taken on a hot potato. This was only the first day—she could only hope Yang Hongjuan would behave herself in the future.
For a moment, the carriage fell into silence. No one had expected the girl who looked delicate and pretty to have such an unyielding attitude.
Shen Jingyao paid no mind to what others thought; all she wanted was to quietly go to the countryside and find A Yan to be with him.
Soon it was noon, and people in the carriage took out their dry rations to begin lunch.
Shen Jingyao pulled out the white flour pancakes Mother Shen had made for her, stuffed with a filling of meat and vegetables.
With one bite, the savory aroma instantly filled the entire carriage.
The girl sitting next to her swallowed hard, muttering under her breath, “Mmm, it smells so good.”
Yang Hongjuan also took out the meat buns she had brought and handed one to Song Xiaolan. “Eat.”
Everyone around looked enviously at Song Xiaolan—they wished they could have meat buns too.
Soon, the air was thick with the scents of meat buns and stuffed pancakes, as if competing with each other.
Yang Hongjuan bit fiercely into her bun, her eyes fixed intently on Shen Jingyao.
It was as if she were saying, “You have white flour pancakes to eat, but I have meat buns—neither of us is outdoing the other.”
Shen Jingyao ignored her gaze and leisurely enjoyed her meal.
She carried a water flask with her, one that her Second Brother had sent from the army.
Before she left, Mother Shen had filled it with brown sugar water. She opened it and took a sip—so sweet.
Seeing her drink, Yang Hongjuan quickly set down her bun and took a sip from her own flask.
She frowned. Why was it just plain water? Had her mother forgotten to add sugar?
After finishing lunch, Shen Jingyao reached into the bag holding her lunch box and stored it in her Space.
Over the past few days, while Mother Shen was away, she had experimented and discovered that the Space preserved temperature—whatever went in remained exactly as it was when taken out.
With the poor air circulation on the train and such a long journey ahead, she was afraid her food would spoil.
The train clattered on, heading north, picking up more passengers along the way.
That evening, Shen Jingyao went to the train’s restroom, and just as described in novels, it was exactly as she expected.
The moment she stepped in, a foul odor assaulted her senses, and there was barely any space to stand.
She slipped into her Space, took care of her needs, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and then emerged.
Outside, the queue had grown impatient, with someone banging on the door, “Hurry up in there! I can’t hold it much longer!”
Shen Jingyao opened the door and stepped out to see a long line of people waiting.
An older woman in line, seeing it was just a young girl, said nothing more and quickly pushed past Shen Jingyao to get inside.
Shen Jingyao returned to her seat, leaned back, and closed her eyes to sleep.
The next day, sunlight streamed in through the window.
Shen Jingyao rubbed her eyes and shifted, only to realize how sore her neck was and that her bottom had gone numb.
She glanced around—everyone else was still asleep. Seizing the moment, she went to the restroom, freshened up in her Space, and came out.
That day, the chatter in the carriage noticeably quieted. Everyone was clearly feeling the physical exhaustion.
Even Yang Hongjuan, with her usually nonstop talking, fell completely silent. She looked as wilted as frostbitten eggplant.
Shen Jingyao spent most of the day leaning by the window, gazing outside. The smell in the carriage grew increasingly unpleasant—a mix of sweat, foot odor, sourness, and the fermenting scent of food. By dinnertime, she had completely lost her appetite.
She took an apple from her bag (from the Space). The fresh, crisp scent of the apple temporarily overpowered the nauseating smells around her.
The final night was particularly difficult to endure. Shen Jingyao ached all over, unable to find a comfortable position no matter how she sat.
She barely slept through the night, only managing to rest with her eyes closed.
Finally, at two o’clock in the afternoon on the third day, they reached their destination: Liaoyang County.