The five siblings left pushing the cart in the middle of the night.
Only then did Zhao Tian sigh and go to sleep. The kids are grown now and don’t rely on the two of them as much anymore.
As for Zhao Qingxiang and the others, they arrived at Old Yang’s house before dawn.
"You guys are early, co on in quickly."
Old Yang, being older and needing less sleep, had been awake for a while.
"Uncle Yang, here’s a Winter lon."
"Alright, I’ll take it. I’ll go make so food. You stay for a al."
Zhao Yanping stood up, "Uncle Yang, let us make the al instead."
Old Yang didn’t stand on ceremony, as breakfast was just Winter lon porridge. After eating, Old Yang handed Zhao Qingxiang two dollars, but he refused it.
"Uncle Yang, we’ve eaten here, we can’t take the money."
This porridge had far more grain than the canteen’s. It was enough to fill them up.
Old Yang thought for a while, then handed over one dollar. "Take this. You still have ti, earn so corn buns so you can eat them on the road at noon."
"Uncle Yang, no need. We can eat when we get ho."
Old Yang shook his head, "Take it with you."
The three sisters stead a large pot of corn buns, and by this ti, it was already past eight. Only then did Old Yang lead the five of them over.
Old Yang arranged everything very quickly here at the Second Farm, which was in the city where Su Yuanyuan was located.
This made Zhao Yanli happy, her face full of smiles.
It wasn’t appropriate to say anything outside now, so they went back with Old Yang.
"Since you have ti, stay ho for a few days, but rember to co early to get the train tickets."
"Thank you, Uncle Yang."
"No need. Co see before you leave. Help pass a ssage to that little girl."
Of course, they agreed. Old Yang gave each of them five corn buns and let them go.
The five of them walked ho, not wanting to eat the buns.
"Big brother, should we go up the mountain tomorrow? There’s nothing going on now. We can just gather a few every day."
Everyone had money on hand now, so they were very keen on picking Winter lons from the mountain.
Zhao Qingxiang nodded. "Alright, let’s go tomorrow."
"We also need to scatter so Winter lon seeds, otherwise it’ll be a problem if there aren’t any next year.
These were left by Yuanyuan, and in the future, when we’re gone, maybe they’ll help others." By then it wouldn’t matter who they helped. Even if it was Uncle’s family, they wouldn’t be upset about it.
When the five of them got ho, it was ti for dinner. It was still the sa porridge, nothing else, and even the corn husks were floating in the cornal. There was really no choice, just having sothing to eat was already good enough.
The villagers still didn’t know that the five siblings were going to Jiangbei. In the villagers’ minds, Jiangbei was a terribly frightening place.
Zhao Qingxiang and the others were even more reluctant to say anything. So everything went on as usual.
Upon returning ho, Zhao Qingxiang went alone to his parents’ room and told them that the procedures to go to Jiangbei were settled, and they’d be leaving on the fifth.
Actually, Zhao Yanli wanted to leave imdiately, but everyone said that going too early would just leave them sitting around doing nothing, and it was particularly cold there, and they still didn’t know the exact circumstances. So they decided to wait at ho.
Zhao Tian didn’t know what to say, as all five children were leaving them.
"Mom and Dad, don’t worry. When you’re old and don’t want to move anymore, we’ll co to get you."
Neither spoke. They both felt upset inside. But they felt they owed the children, so they didn’t cause any trouble.
Zhao Tian waved it off, and Zhao Qingxiang went back to his room. He hadn’t rested well for several days and was very tired.
It was just the two of them left. "My dear, are we really going over there in the future?"
Zhao Tian said nothing. He wouldn’t leave ho, but saying anything now was too early.
Both were thinking about it, but neither said anything.
In the future, the siblings would climb the mountain, but they dared not go too deep anymore. They found a few things sparsely here and there, just enough to save for eating. They did find a lot of pine cones though.
Now having the leisure, they collected many pine nuts.
All were roasted, saved for eating on the train.
anwhile, Su Yuanyuan and Tan Shaoting, having a sleeper compartnt, were much more at ease. They didn’t go out for als, and the two of them enjoyed their als together, trying out different things daily.
The two of them swapped newspapers and books from Su Yuanyuan’s space, especially the legal books. Tan Shaoting read them twice over.
The three days passed quickly. They got off the train in the afternoon. It was really quite cold here, even more so than where they ca from.
"Are we really not staying in a hotel?"
"No. We’ll wait and stow away on the train. We’ll wait here at the station."
The two went around the simple waiting hall and made inquiries separately.
Based on gathered information, they found out there was a train at three in the morning.
"Let’s wait for that one. Sneaking into the carriages might not work. We should try to get onto a freight train car."
"Won’t it be too cold?"
"It’ll definitely be cold, but we’ll find a way to get into a compartnt then."
Though not as nimble as a swallow, they had improved a lot through cultivation.
Actually, Su Yuanyuan didn’t want Tan Shaoting to co along because of this. If it were just herself, she could hide in her space, avoiding the fear of being checked by train staff. Now the space had no ti restriction for her.
But with Tan Shaoting here, hiding in the space was not an option. So they had to be careful to avoid the crew.
They still had several hours, and with so few people in the waiting hall, staying inside would make them too conspicuous. So they went outside.
This place was in the middle of nowhere; looking at the desolate surroundings, the two were speechless, wondering where they could stay since it wasn’t just a matter of one or two hours.
They didn’t dare go too far, for fear of missing the train, and the next one wouldn’t be for another three days.
Unable to find a solution, they returned to the waiting hall again.
Soon, Su Yuanyuan had already asked. The train they’d arrived on was departing at eight the next morning. The two decided if anyone asked, they would say they were taking that train; otherwise, it would be hard to explain.
Wearing thick clothes, the two sat together. It was cold outside, and inside there was no heating, with few people around, so the waiting hall was just less windy than outside. The temperature was equally cold.
For lunch, the two decided on at buns, keeping it simple.
Tan Shaoting fetched two cups of hot water. After eating their fill, they leaned against each other; it was warr that way.
"Why don’t you put your legs on mine, and I’ll cover you with my coat?" Tan Shaoting thought the little girl must be cold, seeing her face wasn’t as rosy, and wanted to warm her legs.
Su Yuanyuan shook her head to refuse. She really wasn’t that cold; it was still bearable.
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