Chapter 3: On the Train

Li Lin felt a bit embarrassed after hearing her father’s teasing. She pulled away from his embrace, wiped her tears, and then hugged her mother before smiling and saying, “Everything’s packed. Let’s go.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Li Donghai replied, taking a large gulp of water from his enamel mug. He turned and grabbed the luggage, signaling for his wife and daughter to follow.

Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, they bumped into the Liu family, who had also just come out.

Li Donghai muttered under his breath, “What bad luck.”

“Director Li, Accountant Zhao, are you taking Linlin to the train station? Great, we’re going there too. Let’s go together!” Liu Zhigang, seeing the family downstairs, greeted them with a smile.

“No need, we know the way,” Li Donghai responded with a flat expression. He then called out to his wife and daughter, urging them to hurry. After leaving the house, they placed their luggage on the bicycle, and while pushing it, Li Donghai quietly warned his daughter, “When we get there, be careful of Liu Lan. She looks fine on the surface, but she’s really quite nasty underneath.”

“I know, Dad.”  

Li Lin didn’t need her father to remind her. She already knew that when she got to the countryside, she’d need to keep an eye on Liu Lan. The girl was the sneaky type—quiet, but capable of causing trouble. That alone showed how bad she was.

Meanwhile, Liu Lan, carrying her luggage and a small bundle, glared with jealousy at the Li family ahead of her, who were chatting and laughing as they made their way to the station.

Why did the Li family treat Li Lin so well, even though they were both going to the countryside? They’d not only packed so many things for her but were constantly reminding her about this and that.

But as for her own family?

Her parents had only sent her to the train station to show off in front of the Li family. They hadn’t prepared any extra clothes for her, and even the settlement fee for her time in the countryside had been reduced.

What kind of parents were these? Why wasn’t she part of the Li family instead?

If Li Lin had known what she was thinking, she would’ve told her one thing: “The farther you go, the better.”

—

About an hour later, they arrived at the train station.

Li Donghai and Zhao Chunmei, their eyes filled with tears, sent their daughter off to the platform.

“Mom, Dad, wait for my letter! I’ll come back to visit you whenever I can,” Li Lin said, taking the items from her parents’ hands. As the train whistle blew, she turned and quickly boarded the train.

She found an empty window seat, and as the train started to pull out, she shouted toward the platform, “Take care of yourselves at home! Don’t make me worry!”

“We know!”  

Li Donghai and Zhao Chunmei shouted back, their voices full of emotion.

Once the train had fully pulled away with the sound of the wheels clicking along the tracks, Li Donghai called for his wife to leave the station. Ignoring the people still talking to him, he hopped on his bicycle and took Zhao Chunmei back to the factory where he worked.

Li Lin, after she could no longer see her parents, looked at the curious people around her and smiled softly.

She glanced at the train ticket in her hand and, with a sigh, struggled to find her seat. As she passed someone sitting across from her, she muttered under her breath, “What bad luck.”

“Comrade, let me help you with that,” Zhang Qinghua, who had been eyeing Li Lin since she boarded, noticed her struggling with her luggage. He quickly stood up and offered to help.

“No need.”  

Li Lin wasn’t interested in the thin, unremarkable man in front of her, so she turned him down bluntly without any hesitation.

“Uh…”  

Zhang Qinghua didn’t expect to be rejected and stood there awkwardly, scratching his head, not knowing what to do.

“Comrade, sit down. You’re blocking me from getting to my seat,” Liu Lan, who had been observing the situation, suddenly spoke up in a sweet, almost too perfect tone. She smiled gently at Zhang Qinghua and urged him to sit.

“Alright,” Zhang Qinghua replied, giving the girl who had come to his rescue a grateful smile.

Why did he need rescuing, though?

Because Liu Lan was sitting on the outside, and he couldn’t block her from view. What she’d said wasn’t exactly helping him—so who was it really helping?

Li Lin put her things down and glanced over at the two talking and laughing together. She couldn’t help but notice that Liu Lan was quick to gather personal details about people. In just a few minutes, she’d already figured out a lot about their family backgrounds and the number of people in their households.

Li Lin realized that she’d need to be cautious around Liu Lan from now on. This girl seemed like someone who would quietly poison the well, always lurking in the shadows, waiting to cause trouble. It was enough to make anyone uneasy.

Just as Li Lin was processing all of this, a voice broke her thoughts. “Comrade, hello, I’m Hu Yingying.”

Hu Yingying was seated next to her. When Li Lin had first boarded, she’d felt a strange familiarity with the girl. Now that they were seated, Hu Yingying smiled and introduced herself.

“Hello, I’m Li Lin,” Li Lin responded, returning the smile as she greeted the girl politely.

“Hu Yingying, nice to meet you,” Liu Lan said, overhearing their exchange. She stopped talking to Zhang Qinghua and turned toward Hu Yingying, offering her a smile.

“Hello.” Hu Yingying gave a simple response before lowering her head, seemingly uninterested in continuing the conversation.

Liu Lan noticed this and clenched her fists, though her face showed a hint of grievance.

Seeing that, Zhang Qinghua, who had been chatting with Liu Lan moments earlier, couldn’t stand it anymore. He frowned and spoke up, his voice a little too harsh. “Comrade Hu, what’s the matter? Liu Lan is trying to greet you, and you’re ignoring her?”

“Qinghua, don’t stir up trouble,” one of Zhang Qinghua’s companions said, pulling at his sleeve, trying to calm him down. “She’s already spoken to her, let it go.”

Zhang Qinghua, however, wasn’t about to listen. “It’s not stirring up trouble. Look, Hu Yingying was all smiles when she greeted her, but Liu Lan gets nothing in return. Does she think this is her own home?”

At that, everyone nearby turned to watch the drama unfold.

Suddenly, “Slap!”

“I didn’t think this was my home. First of all, I don’t have to talk to anyone I don’t want to,” Hu Yingying said, standing up, clearly irritated. She slapped Zhang Qinghua across the face.

“You dare hit me?” Zhang Qinghua, stunned and holding his sore cheek, stared at her in disbelief.

“Yeah, I hit you. What’s the matter? My father works for the committee. If you keep talking to me like that, I’ll write home and have them come after your family,” Hu Yingying said proudly, her head held high. She looked down on him with clear disdain.

Zhang Qinghua, hearing this, clenched his fists. But after a moment of thought, he relaxed and sank back into his seat, his face dark as he muttered not a word.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” Hu Yingying asked, sitting back down and giving Li Lin an apologetic look.

“No, you did great. At least no one will dare mess with you now,” Li Lin replied, impressed by the girl’s strength. She liked how Hu Yingying didn’t waste words and could take action when needed.

The two quickly hit it off and became good friends.  

As for Liu Lan, who had heard Hu Yingying mention her father worked for the committee, she had considered going over to strike up a conversation. But seeing the two girls so engrossed in each other’s chat, she was forced to sit there, seething with jealousy, waiting for her moment.