Chapter 12: Missed the Train

Wang Li returned to the front of the restaurant.

“Auntie! Auntie’s back! Come eat!” Han Ya ran up and tugged Wang Li into the restaurant.

Carrying a large sack full of cotton-padded jackets and trousers, Wang Li headed straight to the room, ready to distribute the clothes.

For the Liu family and Sanniu’s family, she had bought blue cotton jackets and black cotton trousers. For Han Ya and Sanniu’s daughter, red floral cotton jackets with yellow trousers. For Sanniu and his son, she picked out gray jackets with black trousers. Liu family’s son got a long cotton robe—blue—because he’d been muttering along the way that he wanted to wear a robe to look dignified.

What puzzled Wang Li was that despite buying clothes for everyone, no one looked happy. She’d been busy all day and hadn’t had time to mind them.

After distributing the clothes, she quickly ordered food. The restaurant allowed room service, so she didn’t take everyone downstairs. She ordered a bowl of stewed vegetables and a steamed bun for each person and had them eat downstairs while her meal was delivered to her room.

Wang Li sat down to think things through. She needed to figure out how to get everyone to Shanghai safely. It would be better to travel with them—it’d provide some backup along the way. First, she’d sell the house tomorrow, then buy some travel-friendly food and supplies. She also planned to talk to the restaurant manager and see if he could help with getting tickets.

After dinner, the group gathered in Wang Li’s room. Liu family’s wife sobbed as she spoke to her.

“Laoye… the Young Master… my old man… they’re all gone. How am I supposed to go on?”

“We heard from the shop assistant at the sundry store that someone betrayed us the day the Young Master’s son had his full-month celebration. They said Second Young Master was a Communist.”

“When the puppet troops came to arrest Second Young Master, he wasn’t there. So they took away the Young Master and Laoye. My old man went to argue with them and got beaten to death on the spot by those puppet soldiers.”

“Their commander took over the Young Master’s home and tried to violate the Young Madam. She couldn’t take the shame and committed suicide afterward.”

The two of them sobbed uncontrollably. Liu family’s wife didn’t even know where her husband had been dumped.

Wang Li looked at them and said, “Enough crying. No one here knows who we are. If someone hears you wailing and slaps a label on us, we’ll all be doomed.”

She took a sip of water and continued, “There’s nothing we can do. We’re just common folk—we can’t fight against those people.”

“We should leave—go far away. Once we’re gone, no one will recognize us. Think it over tonight. Tomorrow I’ll speak to the kitchen and see if we can rent their space. We’ll steam all the rice, stir-fry the cornmeal with some oil, or make it into cakes. I have something to take care of in the morning. When you’re done cooking, go buy whatever you need for the trip. Whether we leave or not, we should be ready. Don’t carry anything useless. If it’s not necessary, sell it off. There’s no room for too much luggage on the train.”

After making arrangements, everyone returned to their rooms for the night.

The next morning, Wang Li gave the kitchen a silver coin and instructed the women to stay behind and prepare the food. She left a white bucket in the room, asking them to boil water and fill it—so they’d have hot water to drink on the road.

Wang Li left the hotel, hailed a rickshaw, and headed to Qiaotou Street. There, she found an agency that specialized in house sales. As long as you had a deed, selling was easy. Though the price was lower than market value, the agency would buy it directly.

When she returned to the hotel, Wang Li went to find Sanniu.

“Are you coming with me, staying here, or going back to the village? I’ve heard your wife going on and on about wanting to return to the village. Think it through. Once you decide, don’t come blaming me. I’m doing this because we’re all from the same village.”

After thinking it over, Sanniu decided to go: “Let’s go. I don’t know anyone here anyway. Following you, Madam, at least gives us a chance.”

“Good. Then come with me to check on the tickets. If we don’t get them in hand, I won’t feel at ease.”

“Let’s go.” The two of them headed out together to find Wang Gui Zi, the restaurant’s manager. Since Wang Li was a woman, she figured it was better for Sanniu to come along for support.

Back at the hotel, Liu family’s wife didn’t want to leave. She hoped to find her husband and give him a proper burial. She remained in sorrow. But her son wanted to go see the big city. Sanniu’s children also wanted to go with them.

Sanniu’s wife kept murmuring, “We’d be better off going back to the village. We don’t know anyone out here…” The group kept working while chatting.

By the time Wang Li returned, the women had finished cooking. The hot water was boiled and stored in the big bucket. But everyone was preoccupied—no one even noticed where that white bucket had come from.

After dinner, they all gathered in Wang Li’s room again. In the end, they agreed to go with her. Sanniu’s wife, however, was visibly unhappy.

Wang Li looked at her and said, “Don’t be upset. Taking you all along costs me more. All the expenses on the road, staying at inns, I even bought you clothes and now train tickets—this is all money. Tell me, which landlord’s family would spend this kind of money on their tenants? Don’t be ungrateful. I’m doing this because we’re the only few from our village left, and I value the bond we share.”

It was settled—they would leave in the morning.

The next day, Wang Li woke at dawn. Sanniu’s two kids were thrilled, chattering about finally getting to ride a train. His wife, though, kept grumbling, clearly reluctant to leave. She was worried she’d never see her father and mother again. Liu family’s wife was dragging her feet too, unwilling to go.

Wang Li was incredibly frustrated.

“If you don’t want to go back, then stay behind! Don’t make a face like I’m dragging you along to suffer.”

“If you want to go, then carry your own things properly, and sew your money into your clothes, understood?”

After saying this, she strode out first, and the others followed behind her.

Each of them was loaded up with a large, hand-sewn bundle on their back, a bag slung across their chest, and another hanging from their arms. As the saying goes: “Poor at home, rich on the road.” No one wanted to leave anything behind. Zhao Sanniu carried two quilts; silly Han Ya insisted on carrying Wang Li’s bedding and floor mat—which was essentially a blanket with an oilcloth sewn beneath it. She even had a small iron pot tied to her waist. Wang Li carried a bag of rice dumplings—about twenty of them—plus two jin of millet and cornbread. The rest of the food had been divided among them. Drinking water had been stored in the space.

And so, carrying all their bundles, they rushed to the train station.

Looking up—oh my god! It was a sea of people—so many that it was hard to see where the crowd ended. Would there even be enough room on the train?

Wang Li muttered to herself, “There’s no way all these people can fit…”

Sanniu glanced ahead. “If there’s no room, we’ll climb onto the roof.”

Wang Li thought, Yeah, right. Like I can climb up there…

As soon as they moved forward, they saw soldiers inspecting people. They were clearly looking for someone—checking each man carefully, flipping through their bags, comparing faces to photographs.

The people in the back, unaware of what was happening up front, kept pushing forward.

Some shouted, “Hurry! I dropped my money—stop pushing!”

Others yelled, “Move it! Why is this line moving so slow?”

Suddenly, a surge of people pushed forward, nearly knocking Wang Li over. Han Ya panicked and grabbed onto Wang Li’s arm.

“Auntie, I’m scared! I’m scared!”

Wang Li was scared too. The crowd behind them stretched endlessly, just like a herd of sheep back in the village. People were climbing onto the train roof, clinging to the doors—Wang Li and Han Ya were shoved back and forth, until they were pushed out of the crowd.

Just as they were trying to recover and push their way back in, the train started moving.

Ka-chunk… clang!
The train departed.

Even as it pulled away, people were still trying to climb on top. Han Ya started crying.

“Auntie! Auntie! What do we do? We got left behind!”

She kept shouting in distress.

And it wasn’t just the two of them—many people hadn’t gotten on. The station was in chaos—someone was yelling, “Er Ya, where are you?” while another shouted, “San Dan, get down from there!”

Wang Li and Han Ya also searched the crowd, looking for the Zhao family and the Liu mother and son. But after a long search, they couldn’t find them.

Worn out, Wang Li found a spot to sit down and catch her breath. After all, the others were from the countryside, used to hard labor. They had the strength to climb a train. Only she and Han Ya had stayed seated most of the journey, letting others do the heavy lifting—from Wutai to Taiyuan, it was Han Ya driving the cart while Wang Li sat in the back. She hadn’t suffered much.

Better to return to the inn for now.

When they got back, only one room was left. She booked it immediately. Tickets still needed to be sorted, but first, a hot bath and some rest. After freshening up, she ate lunch and then went to find the man who had helped them with tickets earlier.

“Mr. Wang, I didn’t manage to board the train today. Can you help me exchange the ticket for a later date?”

“If you didn’t board, then the ticket is void. If you want one for another day, I’ll have to ask around. Right now, almost all trains in Taiyuan are being requisitioned by the military. Civilian trains are rare—only one runs about every week. I’ll go check and let you know.”

“Alright, thank you! Here’s two coins as a tip—thank you so much for your help!”

Mr. Wang smiled and headed out.

That evening, he knocked on the door and entered the room to sit down. “Madam, there won’t be any tickets available for the next five days. I don’t have any military connections either. Maybe you can try asking around yourself?”