After leaving the Xu household, Xu Xi went to find her uncle, the production team leader, to get a letter of introduction. Her uncle didn’t say much, just slipped her ten yuan and told her to take good care of herself.
On the ox cart heading to the county town, Xu Xi opened the cloth bundle her mother had pressed into her hands as she left.
Inside lay a stack of money and grain ration coupons, along with two still-warm eggs.
Xu Xi counted the money—it totaled one hundred and seven mao and five fen. It must have been pooled together by Mother Xu and her three brothers.
She felt tears welling up. The Xu family was too good to her. In this unfamiliar era, they were her only source of warmth.
There wasn’t much Xu Xi could do to repay them right now. Just before leaving, she had added a generous amount of Spirit Spring Water to the water vat in the kitchen, hoping it would keep them healthy.
Arriving in the county town, Xu Xi first stopped by the roadside for a bowl of wonton soup to fill her stomach.
She then bought over a dozen steamed white flour buns to munch on during the train ride in case she got hungry.
Hearing that life on the island was harsh and supplies were scarce, Xu Xi hesitated, wondering if she should stock up on anything. So, she headed to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Using her grain ration coupons and money, she bought some flour and rice, and also treated herself to two new sets of clothes.
As an art student, Xu Xi had an eye for beauty and was tired of wearing patched-up old clothes.
In the fitting room, she changed into a loose-fitting light blue floral blouse paired with black straight-leg trousers, looking clean and spirited.
If it weren’t for her prominent belly, she would have loved to try on a skirt.
After changing, Xu Xi made her way to the train station.
The station was bustling with people. Vivid red slogans were painted on the walls, and the attire of those around her was distinctly of the era—Dacron shirts and blue work clothes were everywhere.
Vendors sold large bowls of tea for three fen each, twisted dough sticks wrapped in oiled paper, and some carried wooden boxes to exchange grain ration coupons or mend shoes.
Protecting her belly, Xu Xi finally managed to squeeze her way to the ticket window.
“Comrade, I’d like a sleeper ticket to Pingsha County for today.”
Given her pregnancy, sitting on a hard seat would surely be uncomfortable, so she decided to spend a bit more on a sleeper ticket.
The ticket clerk glanced up at her, then looked down to flip through the train schedule. With a quick stroke of the pen on the cardboard ticket, she tore one off and handed it to Xu Xi.
“Departure is at noon, twelve o’clock. Don’t be late.”
Xu Xi took the ticket. “Got it.”
While waiting for the train, she spotted a vendor selling twisted dough sticks passing by and suddenly craved some. She spent six fen to buy two sticks.
Once on the train, Xu Xi found her lower berth. Sitting there, she could look straight out the window at the scenery.
When hunger struck, she took out the twisted dough sticks to eat. The aroma of oil and flour wafted straight into her nose.
Just as she was enjoying her snack, a woman’s surprised voice came from beside her.
“Oh, comrade, your twisted dough sticks smell so good.”
Xu Xi turned to look. The woman stood in the aisle, appearing to be in her fifties or sixties, dressed simply.
The woman stared for a moment at Xu Xi’s slightly rounded belly, then shifted her gaze to the twisted dough sticks in her hands.
Seeing Xu Xi look over, she forced a kind yet somewhat embarrassed smile.
“At my age, I’ve never even tasted twisted dough sticks. Could I trade you half of one for my pancake?”
As she spoke, she rummaged through her bundle and pulled out a pancake.
Since this was a stranger, Xu Xi remained cautious and politely replied, “I’m not interested in trading, thank you.”
The woman stood awkwardly in place, gritted her teeth, and said, “Miss, I don’t need half, just give me a small piece. My pancake is really delicious. Why don’t you try it first?”
Xu Xi still refused.
A man sitting diagonally across from her suddenly spoke up, “Little girl, this auntie just wants a taste of the fried dough twist. Why don’tt you swap with her?”
Once someone took the lead, others followed suit.
“Yeah, you look like a kind-hearted girl. Why are you so stingy?”
“Exactly. Doesn’t our society promote unity and friendship nowadays? If I had a fried dough twist, I’d swap with the auntie.”
The murmurs around her grew louder and louder.
Xu Xi suspected she was being morally coerced.
Unfortunately, she had no morals to speak of.
Right in front of the middle-aged woman, Xu Xi devoured the fried dough twist in two or three bites.
After finishing, she even blinked innocently at the woman.
This infuriated the middle-aged woman, but there was nothing she could do about Xu Xi. She could only leave in a huff.
Xu Xi stared intently at her retreating figure and noticed that as she passed by the man who had first stirred things up, she secretly slipped something into his hand.
So they knew each other?
Recalling how the woman had insisted on swapping food with her, Xu Xi suddenly had a terrifying suspicion.
Could they be human traffickers? She had heard that train stations were full of traffickers who specialized in kidnapping women and children.
She must have been targeted by the middle-aged woman and the man as soon as she boarded the train.
A wave of fear washed over Xu Xi. If she had been greedy and eaten the pancake the woman offered, she might have ended up being sold like livestock.
But now she had no evidence to report them to the train police.
Xu Xi dozed off in a daze but soon felt thirsty and decided to take a sip of water.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the middle-aged woman sitting diagonally across from her, enthusiastically chatting with a young girl about something.
The girl looked shy and was probably an educated youth heading to some village brigade.
Suspecting that the woman was targeting this girl, Xu Xi didn’t hesitate. She immediately got up to find the train police.
Fortunately, the train police in this era were quite responsible. Upon hearing about the possible traffickers, they followed Xu Xi right away.
The middle-aged woman was sitting close to the young girl, her face plastered with excessive enthusiasm. She asked the girl about her age and chatted about trivial matters.
The girl responded awkwardly, completely unaware of what was happening around her.
While the woman chattered away, desperately trying to distract the girl, the man sitting in front of them subtly raised his eyes, his gaze quickly scanning the surroundings.
Seeing that no one was paying attention, he swiftly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small packet of white powder.
Just as he raised his hand to pour the powder into the girl’s water bottle, a slender, pale hand tightly gripped his wrist.
The man was startled and instinctively looked up, his eyes meeting Xu Xi’s.
“What kind of powder is this? What are you trying to do to this girl?!”
A flicker of panic flashed in the man’s eyes as he tried to pull the powder back. “Mind your own business, you bitch!”
The train police officer quickly stepped forward from behind Xu Xi, firmly seizing the man’s wrist and twisting it backward.
“Don’t move! Police!”
The man struggled to resist, but the officer pinned him against the table, rendering him immobile.
The woman beside him turned pale with fright and stood up, ready to flee.
Seeing this, Xu Xi shouted after her retreating figure, “Catch the traffickers!”
Human traffickers were universally despised, no matter the era.
Hearing Xu Xi’s shout, the enthusiastic crowd rushed forward and pinned the woman to the ground.
Both the woman and the man were taken away by the train police for investigation.
The young girl finally snapped back to reality, her face filled with fear as she looked at Xu Xi with lingering dread.
Thanks to this female comrade, otherwise she would have been drugged and abducted by the traffickers.