Chapter 14: The Bus in the 1980s

The concept of time travel is quite absurd. I’ve heard that some books have incredible settings; whether the characters awaken or travel through time, changing things is very difficult.

Small matters can be altered, but at significant turning points, there are always various ways to lead you back, ultimately bringing you to a predetermined conclusion no matter how hard you try.

Zhang Tingyuan’s death can be considered a crucial turning point; it is precisely because he died that the plight of the true daughter can be highlighted, and the greatness of the female lead Ye Bingyu introducing her to the cleaning job can be showcased.

If Zhang Tingyuan hadn’t died, would that prove that the setting of this book could be changed?

Lin Bingwei felt restless, unable to calm down no matter what she did, but if she did nothing, she kept thinking about this matter.

It truly felt like a year in a day.

She didn’t know how many times she had paced around the room, but when she glanced at the old clock on the wall, she realized that only twenty minutes had passed since she received the news.

Sigh! It was unbearable.

She needed to keep herself busy, so Lin Bingwei tidied the bed and decided to serve Zhang Tingyuan like an ancestor, making sure he didn’t die.

As an injured person, he definitely needed a better bed to sleep on.

She wiped down the room inside and out, ensuring everything was disinfected.

Especially the floor, which needed to be cleaned thoroughly since she would likely be sleeping on it.

Fortunately, the Zhang family had once been well-off, and the floor was solid wood.

However, it was either dirty with stains or peeling paint.

Wait, she suddenly remembered that there was an old Luohan bed in the storage room.

After cleaning the floor, she would go fetch the Luohan bed.

Her mother-in-law, Li Yurong, returned with her grandson, Zhang Jianguo, and saw Lin Bingwei bent over scrubbing the floor.

She exclaimed, “Oh, Weiwei, why are you torturing yourself scrubbing the floor? Just sweep it; it’s fine. Get up; you can’t clean it like this.”

It was precisely because they didn’t maintain it, usually just sweeping it occasionally, that the floor had become so dirty.

Lin Bingwei turned to her and said, “Mom, Zhang Tingyuan is coming back tomorrow; I need to tidy up the house.”

“Ah? Tingyuan is coming back tomorrow?”

“Yes, the post office just sent someone to say that someone from the army called. He’ll arrive at the train station at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon.”

Li Yurong was overjoyed, repeatedly saying, “That’s great! I’ll go buy some meat and kill a chicken. The New Year is approaching; he must be coming back specifically to celebrate it.”

Seeing her so happy, Lin Bingwei didn’t mention that Zhang Tingyuan was injured.

Now, she also didn’t mention Lin Bingwei scrubbing the floor; she took out her tools to clean the spider webs in the house and tidy up the clutter in the yard.

Her younger son hadn’t come home for the New Year in several years.

The two chatted while working, with Zhang Jianguo helping by passing things and occasionally managing to say a few words.

Li Yurong laughed, “His uncle will be so happy to know he can talk now. Weiwei, this is all thanks to you; we appreciate it.”

Lin Bingwei smiled, “You’ve said it several times already; please don’t mention it again.”

Her father-in-law was at a ceremony a bit far away and wouldn’t be coming back that night. He would be staying at the family’s place for several days.

That evening, they made a simple dinner and went to bed early.

The next morning, her mother-in-law came to wake Lin Bingwei up.

When she opened the door, she found that Li Yurong was already dressed and ready to go.

“So early? I haven’t made breakfast yet.”

Li Yurong laughed, “What breakfast? Hurry up and get ready; I’ll take you to the city to eat.”

“Ah?”

She continued, “There’s no market in town today, so we can’t buy anything good. The three of us will go to the city to shop. Didn’t you say last night that you would go pick up Tingyuan? After we buy what we need, I’ll take Jianguo back first, and you can wait there for Tingyuan to come back with him.”

“Oh, okay.”

Li Yurong cheerfully added, “Make sure to wear the new clothes you bought a few days ago.”

Lin Bingwei: “…”

At this moment, there really weren’t any good clothes. The outfit she had was bought in town with money and fabric coupons, and the style was quite limited. It was just a festive red cotton jacket paired with a white sweater.

This style was probably the popular choice among young women this year, and soon it would be common to see the same outfit in the village.

Fortunately, the new cotton jacket was warm, and the color looked good on her, so it didn’t look too bad when worn.

After changing into her clothes, Lin Bingwei styled her hair into a long braid at the back.

This was also a trendy hairstyle nowadays.

Her hair was thick and black, and the thick braid made her neck look slender, complementing her small, fair face.

Li Yurong was very pleased with her appearance, affectionately saying, “My daughter is truly beautiful; that little rascal Zhang Tingyuan is getting a great deal.”

These words came from Zhang Tingyuan’s own mother.

It took less than two miles to reach the main road from the village. Despite the road being bumpy, it was the main route into the city, where there were buses.

Usually, there were two buses in the morning and two in the evening, but with the New Year approaching and many people going into the city to buy goods, an additional bus was added, making it three.

Li Yurong got up early to catch this bus.

There was no choice; the family only had one bicycle, and with three people needing to go, Lin Bingwei couldn’t carry all of them, so they had to squeeze onto the bus.

By the time the bus reached Zhangjia Village from the starting point, it was already full, but the three of them managed to squeeze in.

Not only were they packed together, but the first bus also had people selling chickens, ducks, and geese, which was frustrating as they had to squeeze in with the poultry.

The various smells were simply unbearable.

To protect her and Zhang Jianguo, Li Yurong had them stand next to the door, while she spread her arms behind them to block the people coming from the back.

As the bus started moving, some fresh air blew in through the window, making it a bit more bearable.

However, it didn’t take long before the bus stopped again to let on more passengers.

Lin Bingwei was a bit speechless; how could more people possibly fit?

Originally, they were at the door, but with this new wave of passengers, they were pushed to the middle of the bus, and the door wouldn’t even close, so they just left it open, with a few people hanging onto the door.

Just when they thought it was over, another wave of people came, and someone finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Driver, we can’t fit anymore, really can’t fit!”

The driver replied, “What do you mean you can’t fit? Just push yourselves further in; there’s plenty of space inside for more people.”

“Where is there space? I’m surrounded by chickens; they’re going to suffocate!”

“Oh come on, you people, you didn’t buy tickets for the chickens. Why did you bring them on board? Just put all your chickens on the roof.”

“The chickens are at the back; everyone in front has to get off for them to get out. It’s such a hassle.”

“Whose chickens? Whose chickens?”

An old man answered, “My chickens.”

The driver said, “Old man San, quickly shove your chickens out the window and hang them on the window. There are still many people in front who need to get on; everyone, lend a hand and hurry up.”

“No way, no way! What if the chickens run away? Who will take responsibility for that?” The old man firmly refused.