Nie Bozhao didn’t lose his temper with his son, but he said sternly, “If you say that again, I’ll send you back to Qi Sxiang.”

“Maybe she ran off and left us already. I heard some wife say last night that none of the girls from Qi Sixiang are any good. She might just be here to scam us for money. She never thought about cooking or washing diapers for us.” Nie Weimin, unable to find any hope from his father, began to think the worst.

From morning until now, he hadn’t eaten a single bite.

His stomach was growling with hunger.

Xiao Chen’s green canvas bag was lying on the woven sack, with the aroma of fried flatbreads wafting from it.

But since Er Dan and San Dan had eaten too much in the morning, and Dad had just eaten two pieces, only three were left.

If they ate any more, the flatbreads would be gone.

Nie Weimin, torn between craving the fried flatbreads, wanting to be stubborn, and feeling wronged and sad, stared longingly at the canvas bag.

He couldn’t help but shrink into his chair and, like a little girl, started crying softly.

….

With 168 yuan that her mother had given her, plus the 20 yuan leftover from the dowry, Chen Lina now had a total of 188 yuan.

In the 1970s, this was a considerable sum of money.

Nie Bozhao was more willing to talk about his youthful struggles from his past life, but he always kept his family history a secret, never mentioning it.

Although Chen Lina had only spent one day at the Nie family’s house, she could already tell that Nie’s mother was hard to get along with.

Of course, how could a mother who had sold her son for fifty dollars be compared to someone who had raised her own child by hand?

She even hid the kids’ clothes—how could one expect her to treat Nie and his sons well?

In the morning, He Lan’er’s fried flatbreads had made the four men’s faces shiny with oil, but those flatbreads would only last today.

From tomorrow on, they would have to take a train for three days and two nights to reach Wuyima.

What would they eat during that time?

When they reached Wuyima, what if Nie Bozhao’s house was completely empty?

What would they use then?

After leaving the train station, Chen Lina went straight to the state-run store, where she used her ration tickets to buy two large cans of milk powder and two large cans of wheat milk essence, which were essential for the children.

Then she turned and wandered to the back of the station.

No matter the era, there are always people who walk the crooked path.

In the 1970s, there was a group of people known as “speculators”—they specialized in getting their hands on goods that were hard to find in state-run stores.

They could also acquire high-priced items like sugar and biscuits.

The train station sold to travelers coming from all directions, and these people hid behind the station, making quite a profitable business.

“Comrade, would you like some candy? Genuine White Rabbit, Red Shrimp Cookies, all from Shanghai Food Factory,” one of the speculators saw Chen Lina and immediately made a gesture, like a spy meeting, and they both understood without words.

“How much?”

“Two yuan per pound for White Rabbit,” the speculator held up two fingers.

“Two yuan? Comrade, a pound of meat only costs one yuan now.”

“We’re speculators, taking risks with our lives. Isn’t life worth more than meat?”

“I’ll take two pounds. How about one yuan and eighty cents?” Chen Lina spoke with a standard local accent, sounding like a local.

The speculator, hearing her speak the local dialect, immediately agreed, “Alright, one yuan and eighty cents is fine. Business is slow these days, comrade.”

Chen Lina then picked a large tin of biscuits and two pounds of sugar, putting everything into a large woven bag.

Just as she was about to leave, she turned back and asked, “Comrade, what’s that? Let me take a look.”

It was a red paper package with a golden yellow chicken on it, and a large line of text: “Egg-flavored instant noodles,” with the Shanghai Food Factory logo below.

“This is the best item I have here. When I bought it from the traffickers, it cost me four yuan a pack. But people here don’t recognize its value, so it hasn’t sold. If you want it, I can sell it to you for three fifty per pack.”

Though instant noodles would later be considered junk food, back then, they were a rare treat.

Shanghai Food Factory’s instant noodles were made with egg noodles and fried in vegetable oil.

Chen Lina had eaten a packet when she was young and never forgot the taste.

“I want five packs, but I can only give you two and a half yuan. If it’s more than that, I really don’t have the money,” Chen Lina said pitifully, handing over the few Mao bills she had in her hand.

The vendor, who couldn’t sell the goods, was eager to get his money back.

He frowned and waved his hand, saying, “Alright, alright, a big clearance sale, just take them all.”

In total, Chen Lina spent 16.5 yuan, but all she got was just a little bit of food.

Taking the money out of her pocket, she clicked her tongue and sighed. “Small money really doesn’t last long.”

As the train was about to leave, Chen Lina hurried and finally returned, carrying a large woven bag.

“Comrade Xiao Chen, hurry up! If you don’t leave now, the train will depart!” Nie Bozhao was holding one bag in his arms, his shoulders and back covered with more bags.

The so-called “train-storming” scene was quite similar to an assault on Shangganling.

The man was striding ahead, and the woman was pulling the children along behind.

The train cars were packed with people, and just looking at the heads sticking out, Chen Lina’s hair stood on end.

After squeezing for three days, she feared they might suffocate on the train.

However, once they found their compartment and got on board, everything suddenly quieted down.

Nie Bozhao had bought a soft sleeper ticket, which cost more than twenty yuan, and without an official recommendation letter from an employer, it was usually difficult to purchase.

As for the small soldiers, because they were responding to the leader’s call, advocating hard work, frugality, and rejecting capitalist extravagance, they preferred to squeeze into the hard-seat cars, packed like sardines, rather than step into a soft sleeper.

So, while the front cars were packed with people, the soft sleeper car was only occupied by a few people, all staff from major organizations, making it quite peaceful.

After a long bus ride, the three soft sleepers finally gave the children a break.

Er Dan and San Dan climbed up to the top bunk and started playing with pillows.

Nie Weimin remained serious, sitting on the bottom bunk, not eating, not drinking, and staring straight ahead.

He looked most like Nie Bozhao, with the same nose, eyebrows, and eyes.

The father and son seemed to be in a bad mood, and their angry expressions were identical.

One was a middle-schooler, the other a disgruntled youth, and Chen Lina thought to herself, these two really made a perfect match.

“What did you buy?” Nie Bozhao asked.

Chen Lina opened the woven bag and took out a box.

She opened it with a clink, and Er Dan immediately poked his head down from the upper bunk. “Mom, these are biscuits, biscuits!”

“I didn’t have a biscuit ration. Where did you buy these from?” Nie Bozhao was stunned, and Er Dan nearly fell off the bed trying to grab a biscuit.

Chen Lina gave Er Dan three pieces, San Dan two, and when it was Nie Weimin’s turn, she gave him four pieces.

But Nie Weimin sniffed and turned his face away. “I don’t want any.”

Chen Lina closed the box, took a bite herself, and started munching on the biscuits.

The biscuits of that era didn’t have many artificial additives, and the milk flavor was quite pure.

They were crispy and crumbled nicely—truly delicious.

Then, Er Dan exclaimed, “This is milk powder, this is Red Shrimp Crisp, oh, and this is the Big White Rabbit milk candy!”

The bag was full of snacks for the three children.

“You can only have one piece of candy a day. If you eat the Red Shrimp Crisp, you can’t eat the Big White Rabbit, and vice versa. Little Nie, do you want some?”

Nie Weimin loved Big White Rabbit candy the most, but at that moment, he was too embarrassed to eat it and insisted on not touching it.

Chen Lina didn’t say anything, dividing the snacks among the children, tying up the woven bag, and shoving it under the bed.

The train rattled along.

Chen Lina and San Dan slept in the middle bunk, Nie Weimin took the upper bunk, while Nie Bozhao and Er Dan slept on the lower bunks.

Just as Chen Lina was about to fall asleep, she woke up by Nie Bozhao.

There were actually few people in their carriage, and the three empty bunks across from them were noticeable.

Chen Lina was a bit startled when she saw Nie Bozhao standing.

“Comrade Xiao Chen, come down, let’s talk.”

Chen Lina rubbed her eyes and sat up. “We can talk when we get to Umai. The train’s shaking too much and it’s noisy. My head’s about to ache; I need to sleep.”

“You spent at least twenty yuan today, didn’t you? The money I gave you before?”

“Yes, but not quite twenty. It was about sixteen or seventeen,” Chen Lina said, trying to stretch her legs.

But the sleeper was too short, and her long legs were awkwardly bent.

“You shouldn’t spoil the children like that, and you shouldn’t waste money. Also, I feel like your ears are clear, your mouth isn’t twitching, and your mind doesn’t seem messed up. And your legs… long, straight, and swift when you walk.”

“Why do I feel like your mind’s the one that’s messed up? The way you talk, you’re just pretending,” Nie Bozhao threw out all the questions he had been wondering about during the trip.

Chen Lina, half asleep and half awake, smiled at the serious man, hands on his hips like a stern cadre.

He was wearing a shirt, and while sleeping, he had unbuttoned it, revealing a hint of muscle and his bronzed skin.

His deep-set eyes were quite striking—he was handsome, no doubt about it.

“Then tell me, if I’m a twenty-year-old girl with my mind intact, why would I follow you with three kids all the way to the Gobi Desert? What am I after?” Chen Lina winked at him, lying on the middle bunk.

Nie Bozhao, who still had a sense of propriety, blushed instantly.

He was so easy to tease when he was younger.

“Dad, I need to pee,” little Sandan said, wiggling in Chen Lina’s arms.

As soon as he said it, she handed him over to Nie Bozhao.

The little guy was quick about it, and with a whoosh, he peed all over Nie Bozhao.

At that moment, Nie Weimin, starving, started crying from the upper bunk.

First, it was a whimper, then a louder cry.

Chen Lina was about to comfort him when Nie Bozhao held her back. “Don’t mind him, let him cry for a while.”

“Your son, you make the decisions,” Chen Lina thought to herself. “These three sons of yours are definitely troublemakers and will become a menace to society. To educate them properly, you really need to be strict.”