With improved mood, the continuous rain started to appear poetic in Zhou Jiao’s eyes. Such a beautiful season would be wasted if spent cooped up at ho growing mushrooms.
Seduced by the beauty of the plan, Zhang Guoqing resolutely picked up his son and followed his wife rrily on the route to the provincial city.
Upon reaching the provincial station, Zhang Guoqing realized that they hadn’t yet decided their destination. For safety’s sake, he bought train tickets going north, planning to wander their way along the route as a family.
They boarded the train and searched for seats. Zhang Guoqing noticed sothing unusual as they entered. The flow of passengers was massive; the compartnts were packed. Compared to their trip last sumr, the crowd was overwhelming.
Zhang Guoqing let Zhou Jiao and their son sit inside while he keenly listened to the discussions around them and observed everyone’s attire.
A middle-aged man across from them looked at their family of three and smiled: "Are you two taking the child to visit relatives? Where will you get off?"
Zhang Guoqing gave him a thumbs up, "Uncle, good eyes! My cousin is getting married, and we can’t miss it. Even in the rain, we have to go. Uncle, are you heading ho or on a business trip?"
The man laughed heartily at the complint, "Going ho. I just got back from the South, and I’ll be ho in three hours. Ah, finally going ho. Living away is really tough."
Soone next to him, curious, asked, "South? Where’s that? Wow, you’ve got guts, venturing within the pass. I’ve never been beyond the pass in my life."
The middle-aged man, seeing soone his age looking envious, humbly waved his hand and laughed, "Nothing worth ntioning. If you want to go out, just find a car and head back south; you can definitely venture beyond the pass. I go on business trips to the South every year, I’m used to it. This ti I went the furthest. You know the noble province, right? That’s where I went."
"How’s that place? Can you get used to the food? Our unit transferred several people from the South a few years ago, their way of eating is really different from ours."
The middle-aged man looked around and said in a low voice, "That place is so poor that even the rats don’t go in the house. There was a flood last month, so I ca back first."
"Tsk tsk...Really pitiful. It’s been raining here for a long ti too. The sky seems to be leaking. How long have you been out this ti? You know this year the harvest is poor here, right?"
The middle-aged man shook his head, "I left in March, so this is considered an early return. Usually, I co ho after the first snow. Brother, tell , how’s this place now? My wife writes but never ntions it."
Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao exchanged glances and silently listened to their chat.
"...You guys are lucky. Your place wasn’t hit as hard as ours by the disaster. I left just last week, and I don’t know how things are now. Do you know what’s being supplied in our city?"
Hearing this, Zhang Guoqing abandoned his thought of going further north. With a young child, he planned to get off at the next big city for a two-day rest.
Seeing Ping’an getting sleepy, he took him into his arms and gently patted him. Unintentionally, he noticed a child in the aisle looking enviously at his son. The child was so thin it was just skin and bones. Zhang Guoqing sighed inwardly, another child suffering. Fortunately, it’s sumr; what if it were winter and the child was barefoot?
He lowered his head and listened carefully to the child talking to a man, recognizing a Lu Province accent.
"Grandpa, I’m hungry."
"Once we find your dad, you’ll have food. Drink water, water will fill you up."
Zhang Guoqing heard only suppressed sounds of a woman scolding the child and two older children possibly stopping their mother from hitting the young boy.
Perhaps because he was a father himself, hearing the child’s restrained cries of hunger made Zhang Guoqing’s nose sting. He took a slow breath and glanced down the aisle.
An old man had his back to him, and there were several tightly packed bundles beside him. This should be a family with decent conditions. Four or five children squeezed together, hidden by the old man, only showing their black feet like African children.
Looking further down the aisle, Zhang Guoqing saw many people with children, explaining the crowded car.
The two middle-aged n opposite, after so interaction, had started drinking. Perhaps seeing the child had fallen asleep or was not suitable to overhear, they deliberately lowered their voices. Even without listening closely, it was clear they were discussing the poorly dressed passengers, different from the average crowd in the compartnt.
Zhou Jiao, holding a book, glanced indifferently at the two n opposite, lowered her head and continued reading. She really couldn’t understand why n had so much to talk about and were so noisy. Since she boarded, she hadn’t seen these two stop, and now after talking themselves out they took swigs of alcohol.
After more than three hours, an announcent ca through the loudspeaker signaling the station arrival.
Zhang Guoqing signaled to Zhou Jiao, who nodded. He stroked his awakened son, took out his coat, and put it on him. Once the train stopped, everyone began moving towards the exit.
As he stepped out of the compartnt, Zhang Guoqing swiftly shoved two pounds of food vouchers and a piece of money into the hand of the child who had cried hunger earlier, squeezing them hard. Seeing the child’s stunned expression, he didn’t have ti to take another look and quickly pulled Zhou Jiao away.
If the child cried out, they wouldn’t be able to leave.
He hadn’t intended to act irrationally in such a setting, but the words ’I’m hungry’ reminded him of the orphanage in his childhood.
Zhang Guoqing didn’t know that as he handed the food vouchers to the child, the child’s grandfather happened to see and quickly covered the child’s mouth, tears in his eyes as he watched them leave.
Even if he did know, he would just smile. He acted on his heart, not for others’ gratitude. He only wished the child wouldn’t go hungry while searching for his father.
After leaving the station, the couple and their child boarded a bus, found a guest house not far from the downtown area, and settled in. After freshening up, Zhou Jiao stayed with the child in the room to rest.
Zhang Guoqing went alone to the guest house lobby to inquire about the local specialties and customs, then took a stroll outside. With a general idea in mind, he brought back so purchased snacks to the room.
Zhou Jiao fed their son, laid down for a while, and smiled when she saw him co in, "What did you find out, Mr. Inquisitive?"
"Silly wife, eat first and see how it tastes. I’ll tell you as you eat."
"Ping’an, would you like to eat so more?"
Seeing the child shake his head, knowing he was full, Zhang Guoqing said, "You two will love this place, especially the abundance of fruits here. The local economy is mainly based on fruit trees and crops."
His light-hearted description made Zhou Jiao and Ping’an smile widely. Seeing his wife and son smiling, Zhang Guoqing felt content.
There’s too much suffering in the world; it’s important to seize happiness when it cos.
Rain has brought a bountiful harvest to the fruit trees, yet storage issues deprived the locals of major inco. A greater challenge follows – the autumn harvest. How much of their crops, soaked by rain, can the locals actually harvest?
"If heaven has feelings, it too would grow old. The true essence of life is enduring the vicissitudes of ti."
Zhang Guoqing felt lancholic as he road the city streets with Zhou Jiao and the child.
The rain began to fall intermittently. Sotis a drizzle, sotis a downpour, occasionally a ray of sunshine, isn’t life just like this?
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