The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

Chapter 125: I'll exchange it for 3 yuan more.

Sitting in the sleeper car, Bao Ya was panting heavily; it was so crowded. She hadn't expected the sleeper car to be this cramped.

At this point, people don't even look at which carriage they're boarding; they just squeeze on as long as there's a door.

Liao Chunhua was still shaken; her heart was pounding. If Bao Ya hadn't been holding her back, she might have lost her.

Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yuan put their luggage under the sleeper berths, and Jiang Cheng also told them to find a place to call him when they got to the army base.

Bao Ya and Liao Chunhua were too busy to pay attention to him at the moment, their eyes fixed on the scenery outside the window.

It was Liao Chunhua's first time riding a train, and everything was new and exciting to her, while Bao Ya was curious about this era.

They thought everything would be cheap, but the train tickets were surprisingly expensive; their three sleeper tickets cost them over sixty yuan.

"Mom, it's nothing. I'm going back now. Remember to call me when you get there. If you're not comfortable there, my brother will come back when he's almost fully recovered."

He was genuinely worried about his mother, and he still remembers the scene where his mother was so upset by his eldest daughter-in-law that she cried uncontrollably.

"Okay, I understand. You can go back now."

Liao Chunhua was too busy taking it all in at the moment to pay him any attention. With Bao Ya around, she felt reassured; she hadn't learned how to deal with Aunt Liu in her entire life.

Jiang Cheng gave Jiang Yuan a few more instructions and then tried to walk towards the car door, but he couldn't squeeze through at all, so he simply opened the window and climbed out.

The loudspeaker's voice echoed across the platform, and the steam locomotive, billowing thick white smoke, rumbled loudly. The train pulled out of the station and slowly accelerated.

Jiang Tao's unit isn't too far away, located in the western part of Dong Province. It takes about twenty hours by train, and they should arrive by tomorrow afternoon.

By this time, most of the passengers in the carriage had found their seats and were unpacking their luggage.

Jiang Yuan took out the small bag where they had put their food and handed it to Bao Ya. He put the rest on the luggage rack and then took the tea mug to fetch water.

"Auntie, this is it. Your bed is in the middle bunk."

A flight attendant led an elderly woman and a child to their compartment. The older woman looked to be about sixty years old, older than Liao Chunhua. She was wearing a gray, diagonally-buttoned jacket with neat patches on the collar and cuffs.

The little one, about seven or eight years old, was wearing a newly made outfit. His eyes darted around as soon as he arrived, finally settling on the bag in Bao Ya's hand.

"Oh, thank you so much, comrade. If it weren't for you, my grandson and I wouldn't have been able to get on the bus."

The old lady smiled broadly at the flight attendant, her face blossoming into a chrysanthemum.

"Auntie, please don't be so polite. It's what we should do."

The old lady showered the flight attendant with compliments, making the attendant beam with joy. The flight attendant helped her organize her luggage and filled a can of hot water before leaving.

The old lady immediately stopped smiling as she turned her head, and her eyes were full of criticism as she looked at Bao Ya and Liao Chunhua.

Bao Ya's heart skipped a beat. Was she really going to encounter the worst kind of people on trains in those period novels? It seemed like she was missing out on everything.

Just then, Jiang Yuan returned with water, placed the teacup on the table, and sat down next to Bao Ya. The old lady immediately came over.

"Young man, this is your bed, right? My bed is up there. Would you mind switching with me?"

This almost made Bao Ya laugh in anger. She had been sitting in that bed for half a day, and that old woman had been glaring at her earlier. She turned around and wanted to switch beds with Jiang Yuan.

"No change."

Before Jiang Yuan could speak, Bao Ya interrupted, saying, "Ignoring her and trying to take advantage of her? Dream on."

To everyone's surprise, the old woman glared at Bao Ya and started yelling.

"What's it to you? I'm talking to this young man, why are you interrupting?"

"This is my bed, his is on top. You can switch with him for the top bed."

Bao Ya pointed to the middle bunk above, the old woman gritted her teeth, and then turned to Liao Chunhua:

"Look, little sister..."

"No way! My mother has trouble walking, don't even think about taking advantage of her."

Before she could finish speaking, Bao Ya interrupted her, saying she'd better find another bed to change to, so she wouldn't be an eyesore here.

"you……"

The old woman's chest heaved with anger. She had never met such a cunning girl before, and she was determined to teach her a lesson today.

"Young lady, how about we switch? Look at me, my legs aren't good, I can't climb up here."

"If you can't get up there, why buy a middle bunk? It would be much better to buy a lower bunk."

Bao Ya's answer was irrelevant; to others, she seemed like she was just being nosy and had nothing better to do than provoke this old woman.

"Can't you be a little more considerate and switch places with me? Can you bear to see us, grandpa and granddaughter, in such a predicament?"

"What's so difficult about this, ma'am? We farmers have seen it all. We're even riding trains now, what's so difficult about that? Are you dissatisfied with your life now?"

What's going on here? I just wanted to switch bunks with her, how did it get into talking about dissatisfaction with life?

"Young man, why don't you switch places with this old lady? It's inconvenient for them, one old and one young, to get up and down. How can young people have such low awareness?"

Suddenly, someone watching the commotion next door couldn't help but interject. Bao Ya lifted her eyelids and looked at the bespectacled man leaning against the railing, talking to her.

"If you're so noble, why don't you switch with her? Why are you criticizing me? I bought my own ticket, and you just casually swapped it with me? How can you be so shameless?"

The bespectacled man blushed deeply after being teased by Bao Ya, and said angrily:

"I... I don't have a lower bunk, do I? If I did, I would definitely switch with her."

"Oh, so you don't have one? I thought the train belonged to your family. How about this, the middle berth and lower berth are three yuan apart, you help her pay the difference, and I'll switch with them."

Seeing that someone was standing up for her, the old woman wasn't in a hurry anymore and stood aside to watch the commotion. When the bespectacled man turned to them, wanting to ask if she could give them three yuan back, she frowned and looked pitiful, determined not to pay.

"What's wrong? You act all righteous when you're being generous with other people's money, but when it comes to your own, you're reluctant to spend it. You really have a big face."

Bao Ya retorted ruthlessly. The bespectacled man, provoked by her words, reached into his pocket, pulled out three yuan, and handed it to Bao Ya.

"Can we change it now?"

"Yes, you can."

Bao Ya reached out and took the money, putting it in her pocket. Turning to the old woman, she said:

"This bed is for you, please sit wherever you like."

Seeing Bao Ya's decisive action, the bespectacled man almost lost his composure. The old woman, on the other hand, looked regretful; if she had been given the three yuan, she wouldn't have traded it.

The bespectacled man lost three yuan while watching the commotion, and now he felt a tightness in his chest, so he angrily went back to his bed to sleep.

Bao Ya gave Jiang Yuan three yuan to buy a boxed lunch. The boxed lunches on the train didn't require food coupons, and she wanted to try them anyway.

Liao Chunhua watched Bao Ya's actions with excitement in her eyes, and her original anxiety was greatly relieved.