Chapter 62: Buying Tickets

As soon as Cui Ju saw the bottle of chili sauce, her eyes lit up.

“Bai An, I want some.”

Bai An poured some chili sauce onto Cui Ju’s flatbread. After tasting it, Cui Ju exclaimed in delight, “It’s delicious! Did Aunt make this?”

She then gave Wan Qing a thumbs up.

Wan Qing smiled.

In Bai An’s family, only she loved spicy food, so Wan Qing specially made chili sauce for her.

Seeing Bai An and Cui Ju enjoying the chili sauce so much, Lu Jin’an curiously said, “Give me some too.”

With the bright red chili and the golden flatbread below, Bai An hesitated and said, “But this is a bit spicy.”

“That’s fine.”

Seeing that Lu Jin’an insisted on trying some, Bai An reluctantly poured a little on top.

Lu Jin’an looked at the vibrant color, paused for a moment, and took a taste.

“Cough cough cough.” The pungent flavor overwhelmed his senses, and Lu Jin’an couldn’t stop coughing.

His face turned red from coughing, and Bai An handed him her water cup. “It is a bit spicy.”

Lu Jin’an took a big gulp of water, barely managing to suppress his urge to cough again. Looking at the large amount of chili sauce in Bai An’s hand, he nodded in admiration.

“Impressive.”

Bai An chuckled and asked Lu Demin, “Dad, where are we going?”

“First, let’s go to the station.” Lu Demin looked at the dark surroundings and calculated the time. “We should be able to catch the earliest train.”

“And after we get on the train, where will we go?” Bai An felt a bit uneasy; it was her first time experiencing the outside world.

Lu Demin smiled and held Wan Qing’s hand, saying, “Before we came here, your mom and I had our own house, so we plan to return to our previous home.”

Hearing this, Lu Jin’an looked at his parents with some anticipation. Returning to their old home made him both happy and hopeful.

“Even though we haven’t been back for so many years, we still have some property in the city.” Wan Qing looked at the children and said, “The reason we haven’t returned is that we wanted to contribute to the country and respond to national policies, but now that this situation has arisen…”

“There’s no choice but not to go back.”

Lu Demin sighed, “I hope when we return, the house is still the same as before.”

Bai An was curious about where her parents’ old home was and asked, “So are we heading north or south?”

“We’ll see when we get there. It’s been a long time, and I’m not sure myself.” Lu Demin laughed heartily, “Maybe I’ll even remember how to get back.”

He indeed felt a bit confused.

When Bai An’s family arrived at the station before dawn, tired and looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, everyone felt a bit uneasy.

“Dad, I’ll go buy the tickets.” Lu Jin’an reassured them, “Buy five tickets. Dad, you write down the address for me first, and then you all wait for me there.”

Lu Demin agreed and handed Lu Jin’an the address he had prepared, cautioning him, “Be careful.”

Lu Jin’an nodded, turning to see Bai An’s fair face with her sparkling big eyes looking at him. His heart was suddenly tugged gently by something soft.

“Bai An, let’s go.” Lu Jin’an ruffled Bai An’s hair and said with a smile.

Bai An waved her hand at him, saying, “Go ahead.”

Once Lu Jin’an disappeared into the crowd, Bai An pointed to the nearby open space and suggested, “Didn’t Brother say we should wait for him here? It might take some time, so let’s sit and wait.”

When Bai An sat down in the open space holding Cui Ju’s hand, Wan Qing and Lu Demin stood anxiously beside them.

“Mom, Dad, Brother won’t be back that quickly; let’s sit down and wait.”

Lu Demin thought for a moment and agreed, reassuring Wan Qing, “Let’s sit for now.”

Wan Qing sat next to Lu Demin, holding his hand with worry as she said, “Lu Jin’an is going so far for the first time; I’m a bit worried about him. I should have just let you go with him.”

“What would you do if I went with him? There are so many people here, and if we all went together, you might get separated, and I’m worried Lu Jin’an might not be able to protect you.” Lu Demin patted Wan Qing’s shoulder comfortingly, saying, “Don’t worry; Lu Jin’an is very smart. I trust him.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, Da Zhuang went to find Lin Zhixia to go to Bai An’s house together.

At first, Lin Zhixia wanted to refuse, but Da Zhuang said it was Bai An’s request, so she followed him.

When they first saw the empty courtyard, her mind was a bit muddled; she couldn’t understand how Bai An’s family had managed to tidy up so neatly in such a short time. It was as if they were fleeing, yet they could take so many things with them.

But looking at the pile of grain inside the house, Da Zhuang and Lin Zhixia widened their eyes in surprise.

Da Zhuang rubbed his eyes vigorously, his voice trembling slightly, “It seems that this is what Bai An’s family left for us.”

Lin Zhixia remained silent; she didn’t want to take these things, but Da Zhuang said, “Bai An said they left this for us for a reason. Even if we don’t take it, people from the village will come to take it.”

“With this grain, we can each take half and get through this disaster well.”

Listening to Da Zhuang’s words, Lin Zhixia no longer hesitated. She silently carried the grain that belonged to her back to her home. In the meantime, Da Zhuang wanted to talk to her about it, but she always responded with silence.

She knew she felt guilty and uneasy about what had happened last time; one could say they were not human, but Bai An’s family repaid enmity with kindness. She felt she was becoming less and less deserving of Bai An.

If Bai An knew Lin Zhixia’s current thoughts, she would definitely roll her eyes.

To her, that grain was nothing; giving it away didn’t represent anything significant.

“Why hasn’t Lu Jin’an come back yet?” Wan Qing anxiously searched for Lu Jin’an’s figure in the crowd.

Bai An looked over there and said, “Mom, don’t worry. Brother just left not long ago.”

But Wan Qing was still a bit uneasy, wondering if Lu Jin’an might get lost, be abducted, or deceived, not even considering that Lu Jin’an was a tall guy at over six feet.

“He’s back, he’s back.” Bai An saw a dark figure in black clothing approaching, “Brother is back with the tickets.”

Wan Qing quickly stepped forward, looking worriedly at the approaching Lu Jin’an, asking, “Did anything happen?”

“No.” Lu Jin’an raised the five train tickets in his hand and said, “The train leaves in an hour; we can wait inside.”

Bai An took one of the tickets from Lu Jin’an and examined it closely, thinking about how much these five tickets cost.