Qiao Lanshu and Qin Yuanzheng boarded the train heading to the Great Northwest together.
Because Qin Yuanzheng was a military officer and enjoyed certain privileges, he had managed to buy two soft sleeper tickets.
In those days, although trains were divided into soft and hard sleepers, the soft sleepers were mostly reserved for government officials, military personnel, or foreign guests. It was very difficult for ordinary people to buy them.
The soft sleeper compartments had doors, and inside were upper and lower bunks, totaling four beds.
Qin Yuanzheng had bought exactly one upper and one lower bunk. Sitting on the two opposite beds were two young men. They wore suits and ties, wore glasses, and looked gentle and refined, like cadres sent out for work.
The four of them simply exchanged glances and greeted each other. Carrying a large bag, Qin Yuanzheng only casually looked them over and did not speak to them.
However, when the two men saw Qiao Lanshu, they couldn't help but take a few extra glances at her.
The weather was getting warmer, so Qiao Lanshu was dressed lightly. She was fresh and beautiful, with large eyes and a cherry-like mouth. Her thick black hair hung loose, making her neck appear even more slender and fair, and her faintly exposed collarbones were quite eye-catching.
Moreover, having given birth just a few months ago, her figure was more voluptuous and charming than before.
That was why the two young men on the opposite beds stared at her a bit longer.
Holding a water bottle in one hand and a bag of dry rations like flatbreads and biscuits in the other, Qiao Lanshu walked straight to her bed upon entering, paying no attention to the two men opposite them.
Qin Yuanzheng, dressed in plain clothes, noticed this. After all, he was inherently sharp, especially when it came to his wife.
He quietly stepped behind Qiao Lanshu, using his broad shoulders and back to shield her completely from view.
Resting a hand on her shoulder, he said softly to her, You sleep on the top bunk, and I'll be right below you. Call me if you need anything, understand?
Qiao Lanshu had also wanted to sleep on the top bunk, considering there were two strange men opposite them.
She smiled and nodded, Okay.
With that, she stepped onto the iron ladder and climbed up in two steps.
Qin Yuanzheng stood below. He was tall; standing there, his shoulders were almost level with the upper bunk.
He watched Qiao Lanshu get up and sit comfortably before placing their luggage on the rack beside the bed.
Originally, Qin Yuanzheng had wanted to share the lower bunk with Qiao Lanshu.
But he was a big man, and the bunk was very small; it couldn't possibly fit two people.
If they squeezed in, his wife definitely wouldn't sleep well. It was a train ride of over ten hours, and she needed a good sleep.
Plus, with two young men opposite them, Qin Yuanzheng felt even more uneasy.
He watched as Qiao Lanshu, holding her water bottle and biscuits, finished tidying up the upper bunk.
Qin Yuanzheng asked in a low voice, Do you want to sleep for a while now?
After all, Qiao Lanshu had only given birth a few months ago. Her body probably hadn't fully recovered yet, and she usually took afternoon naps.
Qiao Lanshu reached out her hand and said, Hand me one of the books I brought. I'll read for a bit first.
Qin Yuanzheng opened his luggage bag, pulled out a high school textbook, and handed it to her.
Then, watching Qiao Lanshu lie down and start reading, he turned his head to glance at the two men opposite them.
He noticed that the two men were occasionally stealing glances at Qiao Lanshu.
Qin Yuanzheng's face immediately darkened.
He remained silent for two seconds, then pulled out his own bedsheet from the lower bunk. Standing up, he tied the bedsheet to the upper bunk, creating a makeshift curtain for Qiao Lanshu.
Qiao Lanshu knew Qin Yuanzheng was doing this because of the men opposite them.
Sitting on the top bunk, she smiled and teased deliberately, Thank you, brother.
Qin Yuanzheng...
Qin Yuanzheng shot her a warning look and muttered, Rest well. By the time you wake up tomorrow morning, we'll almost be there.
Not calling him husband gave Qin Yuanzheng a slight mood swing.
Forget it, they were away from home. He wouldn't fuss over it with his little wife.
Besides, what was the point of her calling him that in front of outsiders? It was only exciting when she called him that in bed.
The two young men opposite them were engineers heading to the Northwest to participate in a bridge construction project. They were still very young, guided by their mentors, and could be considered young and promising.
The two sat on the lower bunk, looking at Qiao Lanshu's tightly curtained upper bunk, and then glanced at Qin Yuanzheng, who sat opposite them doing nothing but staring right back at them.
Although Qin Yuanzheng was wearing plain clothes, his aura was very intimidating.
With his arms crossed over his chest and his back straight, he neither ate nor drank, nor did he read. He just sat there, staring fixedly at the two of them.
His stare gave the two young men the creeps.
Fortunately, they knew that this kind of soft sleeper cabin couldn't be booked by just anyone.
There was a certain threshold to get in, and coupled with Qin Yuanzheng's imposing manner, they could pretty much guess that he was a military officer.
One of the young men greeted Qin Yuanzheng somewhat awkwardly, Hello there, comrade.
Qin Yuanzheng, with his arms crossed, glanced at him and nodded expressionlessly.
The two young men...
They could tell that Qin Yuanzheng didn't want to talk, so they didn't dare say much more.
Naturally, under Qin Yuanzheng's cold and stern gaze, they didn't dare steal any more glances at Qiao Lanshu. The two of them climbed into their respective beds and took out their books to read.
Seeing that they had settled down, Qin Yuanzheng ignored them.
He stood up and asked Qiao Lanshu in a low voice, Are you hungry? Do you still have water?
Qiao Lanshu nodded. There was still hot water in her bottle, and she had just eaten some biscuits, so she wasn't hungry right now.
She handed the bag of flatbreads to Qin Yuanzheng and whispered, Brother Zheng, you should eat something too. The flatbreads are cold, so have them with some hot water.
Qin Yuanzheng nodded, took the bag, and opened it to take a look. Seeing that there were indeed fewer flatbreads, he knew Qiao Lanshu had already eaten.
So he sat down below and started eating as well.
While they were eating the dry flatbreads on their side, the two young men opposite them went outside to fetch boiling water, then opened a packet of instant noodles and put it into the large enamel mug they carried with them.
After the instant noodles were brewed with boiling water, the aroma spread throughout the cabin.
The instant noodles smelled delicious. At that time, they weren't yet widespread and were quite expensive, costing about fifteen to twenty cents a packet.
They were considered a special supply food. Of course, with such a high price, even if ordinary people could buy them, they would be reluctant to spend the money.
Qin Yuanzheng had eaten instant noodles in the army, but he thought of how Qiao Lanshu had never had them. He was afraid she would be tempted by the smell of their noodles, and right now, he had nowhere to find any for her.
Therefore, while biting into his flatbread, Qin Yuanzheng glared fiercely at the two young men opposite him.
Sure enough, Qiao Lanshu was attracted by the instant noodles. She lifted the curtain, still holding the high school textbook, and looked at the two young men in surprise.
The two young men actually thought Qiao Lanshu and Qin Yuanzheng were brother and sister. After all, the age gap between them looked quite large, and they didn't really seem like a married couple.
One of the young men warmly asked Qiao Lanshu, Comrade, these are instant noodles. Would you like some?
As he spoke, he took out another unopened packet of instant noodles from his bag and handed it to Qiao Lanshu.
Qin Yuanzheng even stopped eating the flatbread in his hand, staring darkly at the man.
Qiao Lanshu smiled and shook her head. "Thank you, but no need. I'm already full."
The reason she had come out out of curiosity was that she wondered where these instant noodles had been bought.
Having lived two lifetimes, Qiao Lanshu had naturally eaten instant noodles before. In the future, during the economic boom, instant noodles would be considered unnutritious food, and they would be extremely cheap.
Although instant noodles would become ubiquitous later on, they were not yet.
Qiao Lanshu had never seen such a thing in the supply and marketing cooperatives in Longcheng.
She had seen minced pork noodles in the department store, but minced pork noodles and instant noodles were completely different things.
Qiao Lanshu declined the man's kindness and then pulled the curtain shut again.
She had noticed that the way the man was looking at her was a bit too enthusiastic.
At this moment, Qin Yuanzheng suddenly spoke up. He asked the young man opposite him in a fairly polite tone, "Comrade, how much is one packet of your instant noodles? Can I buy one from you?"
The young man opposite quickly replied, "Sure, they are fifteen cents a packet."
Saying this, he handed the instant noodles to Qin Yuanzheng.
Qin Yuanzheng gave him twenty cents, and the man insisted on giving him five cents in change.
Qin Yuanzheng politely declined it.
He said, "Thank you, comrade. My wife hasn't had instant noodles before, so this is a good chance for me to buy one for her to try."
The young man waved his hand. "You're welcome. If your sister wants to eat them, I have more here, I can even give you one for free."
Qin Yuanzheng suddenly gave a short laugh. He shook his head and said, "No need. I don't have a sister."
With that, he stood up, grabbed his enamel mug and the instant noodles, pulled back the curtain of the upper bunk, and said to Qiao Lanshu, "Wife, I'm going to make the instant noodles for you. Come with me."
He certainly didn't feel comfortable leaving Qiao Lanshu alone in this compartment.
Little did he know, as soon as he finished speaking, Qiao Lanshu climbed down from the upper bunk with a smile.
As if he couldn't wait, he lifted Qiao Lanshu down with one arm, making her face turn bright red.
The sweet couple opened the compartment door and headed to the boiler room to get hot water for the noodles.
They completely ignored the two young men they left behind.
The two young men watched them walk out with their arms around each other. They exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
They remained silent for a long moment before they started talking.
One of them whispered, "They are actually husband and wife? You've got to be kidding me."
The other said, "I really couldn't tell. That guy is almost old enough to be her father, isn't he?"
...
Fortunately, Qin Yuanzheng didn't hear these words, or he would probably have been furious.
He usually worked in the mining area, exposed to the wind and sun, so his skin was indeed a bit rough. He looked older than Qiao Lanshu, but surely not old enough to be her father!
As he took Qiao Lanshu to the boiler room to make the noodles, he said with some dissatisfaction, "Do we really look that mismatched? Did they actually believe we were brother and sister?"
Qiao Lanshu smiled and said softly, "They are just passersby. It doesn't matter what they think."
Qin Yuanzheng walked back carrying the noodles and said to Qiao Lanshu, "These instant noodles smell pretty good. Try some later. I had them when I was in the army. They're just okay, not as good as regular noodles."
Of course, instant noodles weren't as good as hand-rolled noodles. That went without saying.
It was only because they weren't widespread yet that they were sold at such a high price. Fifteen cents a packet was really too expensive!
The fried dough twists made in their food factory were only twenty cents a jin!
Qiao Lanshu muttered, "Just this once. Please don't ever buy this again. The money for one packet of instant noodles is almost enough to buy a jin of fried dough twists."
Fried dough twists were so delicious. The sweet ones had frosting and sesame seeds on them. One bite and they were fragrant and crispy, unbelievably tasty. They could be eaten as a staple food or as a snack.
A jin of fried dough twists would be enough for Qiao Lanshu to eat for several days.
The couple walked through the hard sleeper carriage, chatting as they carried the instant noodles, and returned to their soft sleeper carriage.
Qin Yuanzheng held the enamel mug in one hand and opened the door with the other, about to let Qiao Lanshu inside.
Then, he turned his head and saw that behind them was a three- or four-year-old child who had been following them since who knows when.
This little child was fair and chubby, with big, dark eyes and round, pudgy arms. The child looked like she came from a well-off family that lacked neither food nor clothing.
However, the child was wearing a worn, dirty dress, and the cloth shoes on her feet were covered in dust, making her look quite poor.
The child stared wide-eyed and unblinking at the instant noodles in Qin Yuanzheng's hand, sucking on her right index finger with a face full of longing.
Qin Yuanzheng: "..."
Qiao Lanshu also noticed the little child. Before she had children of her own, she didn't really pay much attention to kids.
She was rather indifferent to them.
But ever since she got pregnant, she started noticing children. Moreover, now that she was a mother and had An'an, she had developed a mother's tender heart.
Whenever she looked at little children, she found them adorable.
She looked behind the child but saw no adults.
So, she crouched down, looked at the child, and asked, "Little one, how did you end up here all by yourself? Where are your mommy and daddy?"
The child sucked on her finger, gave Qiao Lanshu a casual glance, ignored her, and continued staring at the enamel mug in Qin Yuanzheng's hand.
As she watched, the little child said, "Noodles, noodles smell good."
Qin Yuanzheng said expressionlessly, "You want to eat noodles? Go find your parents."
The child shook her head and said, feeling a bit wronged, "Zhuangzhuang's tummy is hungry. Noodles smell good."
Qiao Lanshu stood up and said to Qin Yuanzheng, "Is the child lost? How about we accompany her to look for her parents?"
Saying this, the two stared at the child for another moment.
Qin Yuanzheng, having no other choice, held the noodles and said to Qiao Lanshu, "Let's go. This child probably smelled the instant noodles in the hard sleeper carriage and followed us here. Let's take her back and ask around."
Qiao Lanshu nodded. She stepped forward, took the child's hand, and said, "Let's go, little one. Auntie will take you to find your parents."
The child didn't move. She stood stubbornly at the door of the soft sleeper carriage, staring eagerly at the enamel mug in Qin Yuanzheng's hand, her eyes full of intense longing.
At the same time, her stomach began to rumble.
Qiao Lanshu instantly felt that this little child was very pitiful.
She looked to be only three or four years old. For such a young child to have to travel a long distance with her family, and to be left starving!
She hesitated, then asked Qin Yuanzheng, "Brother Zheng, how about... we let her eat some noodles first?"
