Wei Dai, half-believing her, added, “Oh, and one more thing. Just bear with it on the train. Take a shower and change your clothes when you get to the capital.”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes and replied, “Do you think I’m a fool? Of course, I want to shower and change, but there’s no way to do that on a train.”

She glanced at her watch, realizing it was time to leave.

If she didn’t leave now, Wei Dai would keep nagging.

So, she leaned over to kiss her daughter, and seeing the expectant look on Wei Dai’s face, she gave him a quick kiss too, after checking to make sure no one was around.

Wei Dai blushed slightly. It was broad daylight, and even though no one was around, he still felt a little shy.

His ears burning, he changed the subject: “If you buy a badge, bring me one too.”

Wen Jiajia sighed and patted his chest, “Don’t worry, I won’t forget you.”

Then she got in the car, waved with a smile, and said, “Goodbye.”

Wei Dai responded, “Be careful on the road.”

He felt a bit sad, mostly because this was the first time his wife had seen him off from home. Now he understood how she felt every time she saw him off.

But the sadness didn’t last long, because the little one in his arms was squirming around.

He heard his daughter babbling “Ahhh” and saw her looking anxiously in the direction where her mother had left.

She pointed at that spot with tears in her eyes.

It was as if she was saying, “Follow her!”

Feeling heartbroken, Wei Dai took her to pick flowers, trying to distract her.

——

Wen Jiajia arrived at the train station and boarded the train with her team at 9:50.

There were a total of nine people on the team, but only seven were in the same carriage. The other two were in a different carriage, looking after the products.

Because there were so many people, they couldn’t book sleeper berths.

Wen Jiajia was filled with dread as soon as she got on the train. Oh my God, she would have to sit on a hard seat for at least two days! Her poor backside!

Fortunately, even the leaders were sitting in hard seats, which made her feel a bit better.

If the leaders had been comfortably lying down while she was sitting there obediently, she would have been furious.

As the train started moving, Wen Jiajia took a seat by the window.

While there was a breeze near the window, the sun was shining brightly, making it very hot.

But as noon approached, the sun shifted to the other side, giving her some relief.

For lunch, Wen Jiajia had shrimp cakes brought from home. Her cousin had made them early in the morning. Since there was no meat at home, she used extra shrimp from the wild lake.

She had brought quite a lot, with over ten pieces left in the lunchbox—enough for dinner.

The time on the train seemed to stretch endlessly, so in the end, Wen Jiajia took out a book to read.

What kind of book? A Chinese textbook.

Some Chinese content needs to be memorized, and this boring train ride was the perfect time to focus on it.

“Why are you suddenly studying Chinese?” Director Gao asked, curious. He thought Wen Jiajia was reading something trivial, but when he heard her mumbling quietly, he moved closer and saw that it was indeed a Chinese textbook.

Wen Jiajia made up an excuse, “My nieces are in school now, so I have to tutor them. I need to review the material.”

Director Gao said, “Wait, isn’t your niece only five or six years old? Or maybe seven? Anyway, she’s not in middle school yet.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “I’ve already gone through all the elementary school books, so middle school material should be a breeze.”

“Okay.” Director Gao thought Wen Jiajia was talking nonsense but had no proof.

Wen Jiajia continued to recite.

The Chinese textbooks from that era were quite different from those a few decades later, so her memories from her previous life weren’t much help.

The train rattled on, and this time, no one disturbed her. They soon arrived in Haishi.

One group of passengers got off the train, and another group got on.

Wen Jiajia took the opportunity to stretch her muscles, then looked at the night view outside and sighed. It truly lived up to its nickname, the Magic City.

It was late at night, yet the city lights were still bright.

The lights on the train were dim, so after nightfall, she stopped reading and leaned her head against the window, thinking about home.

It was around seven o’clock.

What was happening at home?

Zhong Huisheng was probably cleaning the kitchen. She loved cleanliness and had to clean the kitchen every day, not feeling at ease until there was no grease or debris on the stove.

Wei Dai was likely washing clothes while trying to coax their daughter. By this time, her mother should have been holding her, but since she wasn’t there, Xiaomei was probably crying loudly again.

Her cries were so loud that even the family living farthest away would hear them and come running to ask what was wrong.

What could be the problem? She missed her mom.

Wei Dai had no choice but to move the crib out and put their daughter in it, hoping that his constant chatter would help quiet her down.

And what about the two sisters? Wen Chun and Wen Xuan had just finished their baths. They seemed very comfortable without Wen Jiajia around. They could finish their homework in more than ten minutes, keep the radio on, and even eat snacks at will.

Both sisters had started losing their baby teeth, and Wen Jiajia was always worried about them getting cavities, so she strictly controlled their sugar intake.

They were only allowed to eat two candies a day. If they ate one more, it would be deducted from the next day’s allowance.

Before leaving this time, Wen Jiajia even counted the number of candies.

The two sisters didn’t dare challenge their aunt’s authority, so they just ate their shares for the next two days.

Wen Chun took the tin box of candy out of the cupboard and placed it in the aunt’s room. Then she ran to the doorway and said to her uncle, who was washing clothes, “Uncle, please help me hide the tin box and give it back to us the day after tomorrow!”

She was afraid that she and her sister wouldn’t be able to resist sneaking some tomorrow and the day after.

Wei Dai replied, “Okay!”

He promised to hide it so well that they wouldn’t be able to find it even if they turned the house upside down.

While life at home was quite comfortable, life on the train was anything but.

For the first time, Wen Jiajia caught a thief in the act, so she immediately became alert and stood up to watch.

It turned out that a young man had his money stolen from inside his clothes. While he was cautious enough to put his money inside his clothes, he was also careless enough to do so in such hot weather. Who did he think he was fooling?

Even Wen Jiajia could have noticed the lining in his clothes if she had paid close attention for a few minutes.

After all, people were wearing thin short-sleeved shirts in July, and it was easy to see if there was anything underneath.

“It’s better to keep money in your pants,” Wen Jiajia muttered to Director Gao next to her.

Men tend to be more sensitive about certain areas in their pants, so keeping money nearby would be safer.

It’s not embarrassing to do this while traveling.

Director Gao understood what Wen Jiajia meant and nodded.

Fortunately, the man soon realized that his money was missing and shouted out, blocking both ends of the car to prevent anyone from leaving.

At that moment, the train conductor arrived and began checking on everyone around the man, causing a commotion.

“If this continues, we’ll conduct a thorough search!” the conductor warned.

In such situations, personal freedom is limited, and everyone has to empty their pockets.

Another conductor asked if anyone had moved around recently, urging people in the nearby rows to report on each other.

Wen Jiajia was curious and asked, “Even if they find the money, how can they prove it belongs to the owner?”

Director Shen smiled and explained, “Everyone knows their own money. They often remember specific creases or marks on the bills.”

“…”

Embarrassed, Wen Jiajia realized she didn’t know that. But she resolved to start paying more attention to her own money in the future.

Director Shen added, “Also, we often mark the money and tickets we carry to prevent them from being stolen and not being recognized. If you don’t believe me, just wait and see. Although that young man was panicked, he seemed confident.”

Sure enough, after some inspection, they found the stolen money on the person next to him.

Before he even retrieved his money, the man said, “There’s a five-pointed star on one of the bills, with the character ‘Yu’ written next to it—that’s my last name!”

The details matched, so the conductor returned the money and tickets to him and took the thief away.

Wen Jiajia was amazed to learn how much there was to consider when traveling. She had thought that as long as she kept her luggage close and hid her money well, she would be safe.

But without marking her belongings, it would be hard to prove ownership if something were stolen.

Feeling more knowledgeable, Wen Jiajia relaxed since the people in her row and the row opposite were all from her factory, and she drifted off to sleep.

Surprisingly, she slept soundly.

When she opened her eyes again, it was almost dawn. A streak of white appeared in the sky outside the window, indicating that daybreak was near.

The once noisy carriage was now exceptionally quiet, with only faint whispers occasionally breaking the silence.

Wen Jiajia really needed to use the restroom but held it in.

There’s no way around it—sitting by the window has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is ventilation. No matter what smells might arise in the car, the breeze from the window helps clear them away.

Another benefit is that you won’t be disturbed. People looking for a seat tend to choose spots near the aisle.

Finally, if you’re surrounded by friends, sitting by the window is safer since you don’t have to worry as much about someone stealing your luggage and money at night.

The downside is now.

It was very inconvenient to get out. The people next to her were all asleep, and Wen Jiajia didn’t want to wake them up; that would be rude.

She held back her urge until the person next to her woke up, then finally got up to go to the restroom.

Afterward, she went to buy breakfast.

When she returned and asked others if they were going to buy breakfast, and they said they would get it later, she felt relieved.

The breakfast options on the train were limited. After looking around for a while, Wen Jiajia only found two buns to eat.

She ate while walking and filled her kettle with hot water. By the time she got back to the carriage, she had only one bite of bun left.

With a full stomach and enough sleep, she resumed her studies.

Today, she continued memorizing her Chinese textbook. She had thought about bringing her political science book, but it felt awkward to recite politics on the train.

If she claimed to be tutoring her niece in Chinese, reciting politics would seem odd.

So, Wen Jiajia spent the entire morning memorizing the text and then standing up to recite it again.

By noon, she had a rare craving that reminded her of the fourth class in the morning back when she was in school—she was starving!

When the lunch hour came, Wen Jiajia and a few others rushed to the dining car and immediately ordered the pork rice.

She was smart, having learned in the morning that there would be pork rice for lunch, so she arrived just in time.

As a considerate subordinate, Wen Jiajia also reserved meals for the two leaders, who were still sitting and watching their luggage.

The pork with bamboo shoots was very popular and sold out quickly. Wen Jiajia was just glad she had acted fast.

The sun rose and set twice during their journey.

After seeing the magnificent sunrise twice from the train, Wen Jiajia and her group finally arrived in the capital.