Back To The 80s-Chapter 218 - 228: The Way Home_1

"I’ve had a bit of stuff going at home, how have you been doing recently?" Lu Zhanguo poured Liu Hongbing a glass of water before starting the conversation.

"Surprisingly well, there seems to be a big reshuffle in the military region this year, have you folks received the news?" Liu Hongbing asked in a low voice.

Lu Zhanguo nodded, "There’s a whisper of that."

"Will you be transferred as well?"

"Can’t say for sure, but likely so." Lu Zhanguo frowned a bit.

"Heard from the grapevine that this time, we might end up being transferred together again." Liu Hongbing said, a bit excited.

Liu Hongbing ordered a pot of hand-grabbed meat and a few side dishes. After dinner, he would be taking the train, hence there was no alcohol involved.

Chatting idly, eating slowly, Liu Hongbing was slightly apprehensive of Gu Xiaobei’s appetite. While he was chatting with Lu Zhanguo, Gu Xiaobei kept her head down and kept eating.

After finishing his meal with his friend, Jiang Jiahua left the private room, and couldn’t help but turn his gaze towards Gu Xiaobei’s table once again.

Gu Xiaobei was seen holding a cup, sitting quietly next to Lu Zhanguo, every now and then glancing over at Lu Zhanguo, eyes filled with love and happiness.

Jiang Jiahua wasn’t sure how he felt, he sighed lightly and exited the restaurant with his friend.

After dinner, Lu Zhanguo really did order another portion of hand-grabbed meat, packed into two aluminum containers.

Liu Hongbing suggested buying some flatbreads from the nearby farmers market: "Their flatbreads are pretty famous, and they don’t get hard if kept for a couple of days, should be good for your journey."

Lu Zhanguo thought about it and decided to buy some flatbreads for the road, then purchased a few apples from a vendor.

The train to the Capital City wasn’t starting its journey here, instead, it came all the way from X Province from the west. By the time it arrived at the provincial capital station, it was already packed with passengers.

Fortunately, Liu Hongbing managed to get two berth tickets. Lu Zhanguo, pulling Gu Xiaobei, managed to squeeze through the crowd and board the train.

The corridor of the hard sleeper coach was also packed. The conductor tried to clear out the crowd, but to no avail.

With great effort they managed to reach their berths, only to discover on one berth was a young woman cradling a baby, and on the other, an old woman was sitting.

The older woman noticed Lu Zhanguo and Gu Xiaobei lingering in front of the berths and felt a bit embarrassed, so she got up, "Oh, these are your berths. We were just sitting here for a bit."

The young woman with the baby in her arms also got up, seeing the crowd in the passage, Lu Zhanguo said in a stern voice, "You can stay seated."

He then sat Gu Xiaobei down by his side. After the ordeal of getting to the berths, Gu Xiaobei was all sweaty and had taken off her scarf, afraid to take it off too quickly for fear of catching a cold.

Lu Zhanguo put the luggage on the shelf, the food on the table, and then took off his military coat and sat down.

The elderly woman was now sitting across from them, sizing them up. She couldn’t resist asking, "You two are soldiers, right?"

Lu Zhanguo simply nodded, not uttering a word.

"Soldiers sure do have nice perks. Whenever you travel, you get to ride on sleeper berths." The elderly woman said with a smirk.

Gu Xiaobei was beginning to dislike this woman. Although they got their tickets through connections, they still paid for them. Besides, when Lu Zhanguo and his peers were risking their lives to protect everyone, no one seemed to mention that.

"How much do you earn in a month?" The elderly woman insisted on asking.

"Zhanguo, I want an apple. Could you wash one for me?" Gu Xiaobei diverted Lu Zhanguo’s attention just to avoid being badgered by the woman.

After Lu Zhanguo left with the apple, the elderly woman’s attention shifted back to Gu Xiaobei: "You don’t look very old, do you?"

The older woman, Sun Erhui, was taking her daughter-in-law, Jia Xiu, to visit relatives in the Capital City. Sun Erhui was a classic example of a petty person filled with resentment. Seeing Gu Xiaobei and her husband, Lu Zhanguo, dressed well and having sleeper tickets had triggered her envy.

Gu Xiaobei stayed silent. She was very familiar with this type of person from her work environment; all sorts of people wearing all sorts of masks, expertly hiding their emotions, unlike Sun Erhui proudly displaying her resentment and envy for all to see. It was too easy to see through her.

Seeing that Gu Xiaobei remained silent, Sun Erhui continued down her line of questioning: "Looks like your man is much older than you. Couldn’t be he’s on his second marriage, could he?"

Gu Xiaobei was slightly annoyed, showing no emotion on her face, she replied, "Auntie, we’re not acquainted."

Stunned, Sun Erhui remained silent. When Lu Zhanguo returned with the washed apple, he wiped it dry with a clean handkerchief before handing it to Gu Xiaobei. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Seeing this, Sun Erhui snorted and became even more certain. Undoubtedly, this Lu Zhanguo was in his second marriage and was naturally spoiling his new young wife to the best of his ability.

The conductor came around again checking tickets and asking people to move to their designated seats. Sun Erhui retorted, "Comrade, it’s not that we don’t want to move to the hard seat section, but look at it, wouldn’t we be squashed to death? We’re an old lady and a young mother with a baby."

The conductor was helpless. Indeed, the hard seat compartments were heavily crowded, even the restrooms and sinks were occupied, let alone the aisles. Some people were even sleeping under the seats. Trying to move around was unthinkable, let alone finding a place.

Gu Xiaobei realized that Sun Erhui intended to stake claim to their berth for the long haul.

The conductor finally managed to send some young, stronger individuals to the hard seat compartments, then locked the doors to the dining and hard seat compartments, leaving behind only those with children or elderly. Then he warned repeatedly, "The train is crowded, remember to look after your belongings during bedtime." After the reminder, he returned to the staff room.

Sun Erhui was pleased, feeling as though she’d secured the berths herself, she said to her daughter-in-law Jia Xiu, "Great, we can comfortably stay in these berths for three days the whole way to your aunt’s place in the Capital City."

If it weren’t for the fact that they also had a baby with them, Gu Xiaobei would’ve immediately asked them to move, ungrateful creatures!

Lu Zhanguo tried to comfort Gu Xiaobei, gently patting her hand, "You rest first."

"What about you?"

"I’ll just lean against the wall, it’s alright. Go to sleep." Lu Zhanguo arranged the pillow, allowing Gu Xiaobei to lie down, and covered her with a blanket.

Gu Xiaobei was disgusted by the thought of the pillow and blanket, which had been used by countless others, so she spread a towel over the pillow and only pulled the blanket up to her chest, then covered her upper body with her own coat.

Sun Erhui lay down herself, making Jia Xiu, who was holding the baby, sit at the bed’s edge.

With scorn in her heart, Gu Xiaobei turned over and curled up to make enough space for Lu Zhanguo.

The heating on the train wasn’t the best; frost began to form on the windows as it moved into the late hours of the night.

Seeing that Gu Xiaobei was curling up from the cold, Lu Zhanguo took off his military coat and covered her with it.

Jia Xiu watched, her heart filled with jealousy. Ever since she had given birth to a daughter, her husband and mother-in-law had been treating her with indifference. Her mother-in-law didn’t even spare her daughter a glance.

Although the stated reason for visiting her mother-in-law’s cousin in the Capital City was to visit relatives, Jia Xiu knew the real intent was for the cousin to find a family to give the baby away to. When they returned to the village, they would simply say the child was lost and then try for another.

After quickly freshening up the next morning, Gu Xiaobei took out some flatbreads and pickles stored in a can, sharing them with Lu Zhanguo as they had a simple meal.

Across them, Sun Erhui watched, drooling over their food. She glared at her daughter-in-law, Jia Xiu: "Put the baby down and fetch me some hot water."