Chapter 14: Departure

Hua Youcai was still trying to remember what he was doing when his daughter’s big eyes fixed on him.

“Dad, when are we leaving?”

He slapped his head. He’d completely forgotten.

But he couldn’t admit it. “Daughter, I thought about it all night, and I think it’s best not to set a date in advance. Let’s pack our things right away, and we’ll leave the next day. Isn’t that a good idea?”

Hua Yuanyuan…Was that even an idea? And a good one?

Was this father too casual?

No need to buy train tickets in advance, just carry everything to the train station. Amazing!

Not something ordinary people would do.

“Let’s say, let’s say, we pack tomorrow, and we’ll leave the day after?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Okay.”

So, under Hua Yuanyuan’s command, the Hua family began packing their luggage.

She remembered that the original owner bought train tickets to Beijing from a scalper.

Train tickets were hard to come by, so it was easier to just pay a little extra to a scalper, and hopefully get sleeper berths.

Hua Youcai’s idea was to take everything they could, and Hua Yuanyuan thought the same.

Hua Fangfang didn’t need to offer an opinion; she just followed instructions.

They fried all the freshly slaughtered pork and chicken, making jerky.

Raw meat took up a lot of space, but after frying, they could wrap it in kraft paper and tie it with string.

Marinated with salt, star anise, soy sauce, and Sichuan peppercorns, it tasted great.

They took meat, seasonings, salt, and half a jar of soybean oil.

They didn’t take soy sauce and vinegar.

They couldn’t take the winter vegetables, cabbage, radishes, and potatoes stored in the cellar.

They took a lot of grain, but left the vegetables behind.

Because grain was more expensive than vegetables.

If they lacked any tools for working, they would borrow them from their brothers.

They would borrow things like kitchen knives and basins, and buy kraft paper for packing from the village store.

…

On the evening of the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Hua family was ready.

The three Hua brothers gathered at the third brother’s kang again, their faces heavy.

“Third brother, have you thought it over?”

“Let’s think about it again. We’ll be in a strange place, and it will be harder than at home.”

“Yeah, third brother, why did it have to come to this?”

…

The brothers meant well, and Hua Youcai listened with a smile.

His excuse was that he was taking his daughter and son out for a trip, and maybe they would come back someday.

Finally, the eldest brother, Hua Youwei, spoke.

“Alright, stop persuading him. Don’t worry about things at home. Just write a letter back when you settle down.”

“Mm-hmm, big brother, don’t worry.”

…

At 2:30 in the morning on the twenty-first day of the twelfth lunar month, the Hua family got up.

When they opened the door, snowflakes were falling from the sky.

In Xinghua Village, it snowed from October until April of the following year.

It snowed every few days, and people were used to it.

It would be strange if it didn’t snow.

The horse-drawn carriage quietly stood at the door, and they loaded their luggage onto it, one load at a time.

The three Hua brothers wanted to send them to the train station, but Hua Youcai stopped them.

It was freezing cold; they shouldn’t bother.

If they didn’t have a horse-drawn carriage, he would have asked his brothers to help.

The horse-drawn carriage took them to town, and Brother Ma had already arranged for a tractor.

They would switch to a tractor in town and go directly to the city’s train station.

They would be traveling by vehicle the whole way, which was convenient.

If they had to carry everything themselves, he wouldn’t have taken so much.

Food, clothing, bedding, pots and pans, thermoses, washbasins…they took everything they could.

They let their brothers take home the vegetables from the cellar that they couldn’t take, so they wouldn’t go to waste.

The eldest brother said he would look after things at home, so Hua Youcai felt relieved.

He also told his brothers that no matter who asked, they should say they were visiting relatives.

Only after the horse-drawn carriage was out of sight did the three brothers go inside, thinking of helping to clean up.

They found that there was nothing much to clean up, just a few pieces of old furniture, and everything that could be taken had been taken.

“This is the first time I know that third brother is so thrifty.”

Hua Laosi couldn’t help but complain.

“Hahaha, third brother is thrifty, you don’t know that he’s the poorest among the four of us brothers.”

Hua Laoer’s mouth almost reached the sky.

“Hehe, he just eats all his money.”

On the stove were three packages of fried meat wrapped in oiled paper, and three basins of the oil used to fry the meat.

Everyone recognized their own basins. Hua Youcai was treating his brothers to a better meal.

“Big brother, come and see, is this for us?”

Hua Youwei had already seen it and nodded.

“Big brother, do you think Yuanyuan really got so much money from the Wang family?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Hua Youwei scolded Laosi. They hadn’t asked the third brother, but the whole village already knew.

It was good that they left. In the past few days, people in the village not only liked to go to the Wang family, but also came to talk to the Hua family.

The third brother always locked his fence from the inside to prevent people from entering, but it couldn’t stop people from shouting outside.

They saw the bulging bags tied to Hua Youcai and Hua Fangfang.

…

The three Hua men arrived at the train station just as dawn broke.

There was a pile of luggage in front of them, and they watched the people coming and going in the station square.

The ticket windows were already lined up at this hour, but Hua Yuanyuan stopped her father who was about to join the queue.

“Dad, let’s pay extra and buy from a scalper.”

“Okay, let’s pay extra.”

If they couldn’t buy tickets themselves, they would have to stay at a guesthouse, which would also cost money.

Before they even asked, someone came to solicit business.

The person was bundled up tightly in an old army coat and cotton hat, his face red from the cold.

Wang Dali asked everyone, “Where are you going, sir?”

He carefully looked at the three of them. They really had a lot of luggage.

“Beijing.”

“Sleeper berths, and early entry to the station.”

Hua Yuanyuan quickly added that standing or sitting tickets were too uncomfortable.

“Yes, sleeper berths.”

Hua Youcai followed his daughter’s words. His daughter was more experienced than him.

Hua Fangfang stood straight like a sentinel, his eyes fixed on the luggage.

Wang Dali was a little excited. This was a big deal, and he was determined to get it.

“How much?”

“15.6 yuan per ticket, plus 10 yuan extra, that’s 25.6 yuan.”

Hua Youcai was unhappy. Ten yuan extra, and that would be thirty yuan for three tickets.

“Daughter, forget it. Let’s just queue up, it’s too expensive.”

Before Hua Yuanyuan could speak, Wang Dali became anxious.

“Sir, it’s a bit expensive, but there’s no way. Cheaper tickets are unavailable. Tickets for busy routes are doubled, I’m not overcharging…”

“Thirty yuan, that’s a worker’s monthly salary, enough to support a whole family.”

“Sir, you don’t know how tight tickets are during the Spring Festival travel rush…”

…

Hua Youcai and Wang Dali haggled, neither giving an inch.

The price could only be lowered slightly; there wasn’t much room for negotiation.

Hua Youcai discussed with his daughter whether to buy one sleeper berth ticket and two hard seats, which would be much cheaper.

Hua Yuanyuan firmly opposed this. The train was chaotic, and she said she was afraid, and they had to stay together.

They settled on eight yuan extra, and wouldn’t budge.

That’s how scalpers were, Hua Yuanyuan knew.

After receiving the tickets from Wang Dali, Hua Youcai went to the station staff to confirm that they were real tickets before paying.

Wang Dali had made a big sale and was in a good mood.

Before the train departed, he came to the waiting area as promised and helped them board the train early.