128: Chapter 128: Train 128: Chapter 128: Train Chen Hai’s train ticket was merely a regular seat ticket.
In those days, trains were still those ordinary green ones without air conditioning.
Apart from being slow, once the carriage got crowded, the smell became somewhat unpleasant.
On Chen Hai, apart from the seven thousand yuan for information consultation fee he received, he also had the living expenses and tuition fees his parents gave him when he left home.
Originally, Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian planned to give him two thousand yuan.
However, Chen Hai felt he could make money, and after much persuasion, he convinced his parents to give him only one thousand yuan, and he left home directly.
He had spent some in the past few days, but he still had over seven thousand yuan on him.
Of course, his money was mostly stuffed into the woven bag that held his bedding, while in his pockets, he definitely had more than just a few hundred yuan, certainly more than a few coins.
These green trains definitely had sleeper berths.
Chen Hai had wanted to spend more money to buy a direct sleeper ticket to the Capital City.
But it was only after he inquired at the ticket counter that he realized the sleeper berths on the train were reserved for officials – even if a country boy like him had the money, they wouldn’t sell him a ticket.
Comparing his ticket with the seat numbers, Chen Hai found his seat; he had just settled his luggage and sat down when the train slowly started moving.
The train seats were arranged with a central aisle, with two seats on one side and three on the other.
Chen Hai’s seat was on the three-seat side, where two young girls were already sitting beside him.
Sitting opposite him were a middle-aged man and woman, as well as a young man who looked like a student, bearing some resemblance to the middle-aged man.
Today was the twenty-sixth of August, the last few days of the school season.
Chen Hai didn’t know what was happening in the other carriages; he only knew that his carriage was virtually full.
Some travelers, because they had bought standing tickets or had boarded without a ticket, had no seats and could only find a place to squat temporarily.
“Baby, are you thirsty?
Do you want to drink some water?”
“Baby, are you hungry?
There’s fruit in the bag, and your favorite bread – if you want to eat, I’ll get it for you!”
The speaker was the middle-aged woman sitting opposite.
Right now, she was doting excessively, fussing over the young man beside her.
It appeared she was the wife of the middle-aged man, and the young man was probably their son.
“Mom, I’m not thirsty, nor am I hungry!”
“Also, I’ve told you, I’m already an adult, can you not call me ‘baby’ in public?”
With a grimace, the young man declined.
Seeing Chen Hai and the two girls looking at him with odd expressions, he wished he could crawl into a hole.
“I’m your mother, if I don’t care for you, who will?”
“Even if you get married and have kids, in my eyes, you’ll still be my baby!”
With a glare, the middle-aged woman retorted.
After a few words, the young man found himself unable to respond; he glared back at his mother then simply closed his eyes and pretended to be dead.
Chen Hai kept his head down and said nothing, but the two girls sitting beside him couldn’t suppress their laughter and ‘pfft’, they let out a laugh.
“My son just graduated from high school this year, and he got into Capital University of Finance!”
“At home, my wife spoils our child a lot, and it’s his first time traveling far from home, so we parents definitely worry.
We had no choice but to accompany him there ourselves!”
“Looking at your age, you must still be students, right?
Are you also heading to Capital City for school?”
The middle-aged man across from them shrugged his shoulders and greeted Chen Hai and the others with a smile.
“Uncle, my name is Ye Qingqing, from Meizhou in Yuedong.
I’m a sophomore at Tsinghua University!”
“This is my good friend Liu Chang.
She’s a junior, but she attends Capital Political and Legal University, not Tsinghua like us.”
“Liu Chang is from Xichuan.
She interned at a company in Yang City over the summer holidays, and since we hit it off at first sight, we agreed to travel back to Capital City together!”
…
The speaker was one of the two girls next to Chen Hai, the one with the short hair.
While they spoke, Chen Hai even turned his head to take a look at the two girls.
He had to admit, both girls were quite pretty—at a conservative estimate, they should at least be on the same level as Lin Lan.
The short-haired girl who called herself Ye Qingqing seemed more outgoing; her smile was very sweet.
With her long hair draped over her shoulders, the girl named Liu Chang seemed more demure, possessing a tranquil beauty.
Upon hearing that Liu Chang was a senior at their Capital Political and Legal University, Chen Hai took a few extra glances at her.
“Tsinghua University?
Capital Political and Legal University?
Both are prestigious institutions.
Here, have some fruit!”
The middle-aged man was very chatty, taking out several apples and pears from a plastic bag by his feet and placing them on the table in front of them.
After gesturing for Liu Chang and Ye Qingqing to help themselves, he then turned his gaze to Chen Hai: “Young man, what about you?
You look like a student too, right?”
“I’m also traveling far from home for the first time, to study in Capital City!” Chen Hai smiled and nodded.
“When I look at you, young man, I can tell you’re not someone to be confined to a small pond.
Which school did you get into?
It wouldn’t happen to be the same as my son’s, would it?”
People who are good at socializing often say things that sound very pleasant, and this middle-aged man seemed to be just that sort.
Chen Hai himself was wearing yellow rubber shoes and clothes that had been washed to the point of being almost white, with the only saving grace being the absence of patches.
He didn’t know where he appeared not to be confined to a small pond; clearly, the middle-aged man was just being polite.
However, despite this, Chen Hai felt somewhat gratified to hear such words!
“I got into just an ordinary college.
Prestigious institutions like Capital University of Finance are beyond my reach!”
Chen Hai glanced at Liu Chang next to him and modestly demurred.
To tell the truth, considering the rankings of Yanhuang Country’s universities, Capital Political and Legal University is actually a bit more prestigious than Capital University of Finance.
He didn’t directly reveal the name of the university he was attending, simply to avoid giving Liu Chang the wrong impression that he was trying to ingratiate himself with her.
“What do you mean by ‘beyond your reach’?
Being able to go to Capital City for university means you are a top student!” The middle-aged man laughed heartily in response.
As the group chatted, the train picked up speed, pulled by its long whistle, and roared out of Wuling Station, beginning to race along the rails.
From here to Capital City, the train would travel for nearly twenty hours and would only enter the Capital Territory by the middle of the next day.
The long journey could be especially hard to endure if one simply sat there foolishly.
As they conversed, Chen Hai and the others on the seats began to get to know each other better.
Not only were they doing so, but the same was happening among other passengers as well.
After a few sentences, those who were initially strangers began to warm up to each other, and bursts of laughter occasionally erupted from within the carriage.