They drove in silence until they reached the train station entrance.
Zhou Runqing parked the jeep in a military-controlled parking space. His bodyguard, Xiao Liu, waved his military region pass to the officer on duty at the guard post and shouted, “Comrade, leave the car here. The military region’s orderly will come to pick it up this afternoon.”
The officer on duty glanced at the license plate and pass, saluted, waved, and didn’t ask any further questions.
As Lin Yuqiu got out of the car, she glanced at the two people who were familiarly getting their luggage from the back seat, making her seem like the more unfamiliar person.
Feeling a mix of emotions, I walked ahead without waiting for the others behind me, heading straight for the station’s ticket gate and obediently queuing at the back of the crowd.
Before Zhou Runqing had even finished collecting his luggage, he noticed her hurried figure entering the station. He gave a helpless smirk and made a face at the guard, Xiao Liu.
Xiao Liu understood immediately and quickly caught up, whispering a reminder: “Sister-in-law, you’re in the wrong line. We’ll go through this passage.”
Lin Yuqiu immediately turned around and saw the man walking over with his luggage, one hand in his pocket, a smile on his lips, and a hint of teasing doting in his eyes.
Lin Yuqiu’s cheeks flushed instantly, turning bright red. Especially when she caught a glimpse of Li Shiyun behind the man, with her gentle, sweet, knowing smile, she bit her lip in embarrassment, her eyes filled with the regret of being so incredibly embarrassed.
She calmly walked to another passage and followed the man into the station.
Guard Xiao Liu, holding the ticket, led the way and quickly found the carriage.
Once inside the carriage, the guard, Xiao Liu, looked away, clearly sensing that something was amiss with the atmosphere as he gazed at the three people in front of him.
He quickly handed the tickets to the regimental commander, his tone a little flustered: “Commander, the tickets are for soft sleeper berths, one lower berth and two upper berths. Please arrange them as you see fit.”
“I’ll go put my luggage down first.”
Without waiting for Zhou Runqing’s reply, he slipped away as if his feet were greased, afraid of leaving behind any embarrassing scene.
Lin Yuqiu looked at the sleeper car. It was a private compartment with a soft and thick mattress. There was a thermos on the table, and the bed was clean and tidy.
She glanced at the beds and suddenly heard the man behind her point to the lower bunk opposite her and say in a low voice, “Shiyun, you sleep on that lower bunk.”
When calling out to Xiao Qingmei, his tone was quite familiar.
A pang of sadness welled up inside Lin Yuqiu, but she didn’t show it on her face. She pursed her lips.
Li Shiyun smiled and nodded, her eyes crinkling, “Okay.”
Zhou Runqing turned around and deftly lifted Lin Yuqiu’s luggage onto the luggage rack, then casually put Li Shiyun’s military-style cloth bag on it as well, his actions thoughtful and considerate.
As Lin Yuqiu watched, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind: just as Zhou Wanyi had said, he took care of everyone in the same way.
Zhou Runqing placed Lin Yuqiu’s small suitcase next to her lower bunk before lowering his voice and softening his tone: “You sleep on the upper bunk, and I’ll sleep on the lower bunk, so we can keep an eye on each other if there’s any noise at night.”
Lin Yuqiu didn’t respond and sat silently on the edge of the bed.
At this moment, two people in railway uniforms suddenly walked to the door of the cubicle, with polite smiles on their faces: “Comrade, when checking your ticket, we found that your family member’s identity registration shows that they come from a capitalist family.”
“According to regulations, you need to go to the duty room to sign a corroborating document of your political affiliation. It will be done soon. Please come with us.”
Lin Yuqiu’s face turned pale instantly, and she looked at the man beside her with fear and unease.
Zhou Runqing put his arm around her shoulder, his magnetic voice carrying an undisguised tenderness, and whispered in her ear, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere in the carriage, just wait for me to come back.”
Lin Yuqiu nodded obediently, watching the man leave behind the two comrades.
Meanwhile, Li Shiyun watched as the man she had once been inseparable from, who had grown up with her, leaned close to his new wife and whispered in her ear.
I’ve never seen such an intimate gesture before.
In that instant, a pang of sorrow, like dense needles, gently pierced her heart.
But she had no right to be jealous.
Li Shiyun took a deep breath, suppressed her surging emotions, and put on a perfectly timed smile. She looked at Lin Yuqiu and said calmly, “Yuqiu, this is just routine work for the railway department, just going through the motions. Don’t worry about it.”
Lin Yuqiu breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly looked at Li Shiyun opposite her, and felt a strange sense of goodwill because of those words.
At this moment, the guards put down their luggage and brought over the breakfast that the regimental commander had ordered to be prepared.
“Sister-in-law, the regimental commander brought you breakfast. Eat it quickly. I packed it in a thermal container for you all the way, and it’s still warm.”
Lin Yuqiu went to the sanatorium as soon as she got up in the morning. Her stomach was still empty and rumbling. She looked at the breakfast the man had prepared.
A bottle of milk, a white steamed bun with honey filling, and a boiled egg.
A warm feeling suddenly flowed through my heart.
Guard Xiao Liu took the thermos from their cubicle to fetch water, but as soon as he reached the connecting area between the carriages, he was stopped by two auxiliary police officers.
“Comrade, this is a routine inspection. Active duty military personnel need to register their personal equipment. Come with us.”
The guard, Xiao Liu, couldn’t refuse and had no choice but to go along.
Inside the carriage, only Lin Yuqiu and Li Shiyun remained.
Lin Yuqiu nibbled on a steamed bun and drank milk, while Li Shiyun sat opposite her, tidying up the bed.
The atmosphere became very quiet.
Li Shiyun suddenly chuckled and said, “Yuqiu, do you remember? I saw you before at the General Hospital of the Army.”
Lin Yuqiu looked up at her and nodded: “I remember.”
A hint of surprise flashed in Li Shiyun’s eyes, and her tone became lighter: “So you still remember. It’s really not easy for a young girl like you to take care of your bedridden mother.”
Suddenly, she asked in a joking tone, “By the way, how did you and Runqing meet?”
Before she could finish speaking and before Lin Yuqiu could even open her mouth, the door to the cubicle was suddenly pushed open.
Two men in green uniforms from the neighborhood watch team burst in and bolted the door shut.
The leader stared at Lin Yuqiu, his tone meaningful: “Miss Lin, come with us immediately, our boss wants to see you.”
Lin Yuqiu’s face turned pale instantly. She immediately became alert and took a step back. Nowadays, the Lin family is heavily suppressed because of their capitalist status. Only a group of people would deliberately call her Miss Lin to humiliate her.
She was about to call out to the guard, Xiao Liu, when the leader stepped forward and covered her mouth.
“Don’t shout! If you dare make a sound, we’ll immediately tell the joint defense team that your mother is a fugitive capitalist and that you got on the bus with the officer to try and escape to an island to lay low!”
“At that time, you won’t just be dragging down your mother, who’s lying half-dead in the nursing home, but also your promising military officer husband!”
Lin Yuqiu’s face turned even paler. She struggled angrily, but the two men tied her hands and stuffed a towel into her mouth.
The two didn’t even think about going through the car door. They rushed straight to the window, ripped off the window latch with a clatter, and tried to push Lin Yuqiu out.
Lin Yuqiu saw someone running towards her on the tracks outside the car window, ready to help her, and her heart sank to the bottom.
In an instant, it kicked and struggled desperately, crying and screaming.
Li Shiyun, who was above the bed, witnessed this scene. Still shaken and with a look of pity, she gripped the bedsheet tightly and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Help! Someone’s trying to kidnap me!”
The man in the lead suddenly turned around, glaring at Li Shiyun with a forced smile, then pulled a knife from his back and slammed it into the iron bars of her window with a clang.
“Mind your own business,” the man said coldly. “Otherwise, this knife won’t discriminate!”
Li Shiyun trembled instantly at the sight of the knife tip so close to her, shrinking back in fear, and could only watch helplessly as Lin Yuqiu was taken away.