Chapter 64.3

By afternoon, the train conductor came to find Lu Yu and said there was a sleeper berth available. After all, as people got off, others got on, and sleeper berths were always being occupied. It was a relief to have one available, especially during the holidays when more people were traveling. Jiang Nian asked Zhang Xiao to lie down, and Zhu Jun stayed there to look after her.

At the next stop, some passengers got off, but even more people got on. Many people crowded into the carriage, sitting or standing. A family of three approached Jiang Nian’s side. Seeing the empty seat opposite Jiang Nian, the man asked Lu Yu, “Are these two seats taken?”

Lu Yu replied, “One of them is taken. Let your wife and child sit.”

The man let his wife hold their eight-month-old child and sit first. Song Bai stood up and said, “Comrade, you can sit here.”

The woman was holding an eight-month-old baby in her arms. She felt a little embarrassed when she heard Song Bai’s words. The man said thank you and asked his wife to sit in Song Bai’s seat with the child. Song Bai sat in Zhu Jun’s seat. The two men who sat next to him last night got off the train and were replaced by two old men. They started talking as soon as they got on the train.

Inside the carriage, amidst the cries of children and the noisy crowd, Jiang Nian sat by the window with her legs bent, arms around her knees. She listened to the two elderly men next to her speaking in fluent Dongshi dialect. The more she listened, the more she liked their accent.

“In those days when I climbed the mountain, oh, the snow was so heavy. It was up to my waist. I lifted a leg and snow filled my pants. You have no idea. I even saw a big tiger.”

“Oh my, look at you! Still talking about big tigers. I’ve encountered bears and wild boars.”

Jiang Nian bent her head without blinking, listening intently to the two elderly men talking about their experiences in the mountains. She was so absorbed that she didn’t hear Lu Yu and Song Bai speaking to her. Song Bai looked at Jiang Nian’s bright eyes. Especially when the old man talked about single-handedly fighting a tiger, she smiled broadly, unable to contain her laughter.

He couldn’t help but lose himself for a moment.

“Sister-in-law.”

Lu Yu leaned closer to her, almost biting her ear if it weren’t for others around: “Are you hungry?”

Jiang Nian finally came to her senses, shaking her head: “Not hungry.”

Then she lowered her head again, feeling that Lu Yu had caught her gaze.

Lu Yu: …

The way those two talked was like a sketch, and everyone nearby was listening intently. Occasionally, someone would chime in, creating a lively atmosphere throughout the carriage. When Jiang Nian heard about the tiger snapping a tree trunk, she paused and asked, “Grandpa, how did you escape from the tiger’s mouth?”

The old man saw a fair-skinned young girl speaking like his granddaughter and clapped his hands, saying, “Hey, then listen to Grandpa tell you all about it.”

The old man talked endlessly, only stopping at dusk with a smack of his lips: “That’s enough, that’s all in the past.”

To tell the truth, listening to the two old men bantering back and forth, Jiang Nian felt time passing quickly.

Zhu Jun had not come over all along. In the evening, Jiang Nian ate a little casually and went back to sleep. Lu Yu and Song Bai sat together, letting Jiang Nian stretch her legs and sit, covered with Lu Yu’s coat. At night, neither Lu Yu nor Song Bai slept much. Lu Yu was worried that Jiang Nian’s legs would get bumped by someone, so he got up from time to time to protect her.

Song Bai watched Jiang Nian’s head gradually lean towards the table and quickly reached out to push her back.

But soon after she fell asleep, Jiang Nian slid down, curling up and covering herself tightly with Lu Yu’s coat.

Song Bai: …

Lu Yu: …

Lu Yu arranged Jiang Nian’s shoes and looked at her curled up in the narrow seat, truly wondering how she managed to sleep like that. Wrapped up in a small bundle, she curled up there.

In the quiet late night in the carriage, Jiang Nian turned over in a daze. Suddenly feeling a void behind her, before she could exclaim, Lu Yu’s arm caught her. The man lowered his eyes, looking at her sleepy eyes, quickly kissed her nose when no one was looking, “Go to sleep, I’m watching over you.”

Jiang Nian was still groggy, turned over and continued sleeping.

Song Bai’s outstretched hand stiffened before withdrawing, watching Jiang Nian cover her head again with her clothes, really afraid she would suffocate herself.

When it was bright and early in the morning, the voice of the train conductor rang loudly in the carriage, saying that they had arrived at Dongshi city.

Lu Yu opened his coat and saw Jiang Nian’s eyelashes flutter a few times before she opened her eyes: “We’ve reached the station. Get up and put on your scarf.”

Jiang Nian’s voice was nasal from just waking up: “Okay.”

She squinted, still a bit dazed sitting in her seat. After wrapping her scarf, she followed Lu Yu and the others out of the station. As soon as she got off the train, she shivered from the cold. Then she saw a vast expanse of white snow, beautiful and snowy everywhere.

Dongshi was much colder than where she had been staying, obviously on a different level in terms of temperature.

Jiang Nian felt like she was freezing all over as soon as she got off the train. Lu Yu took out his winter coat from his bag and draped it over Jiang Nian: “Putting this on should help.”

Lu Yu’s coat was wide and long enough to cover her knees. Jiang Nian wrapped herself tightly in the coat, puzzled as she saw Lu Yu and Song Bai with their collars unbuttoned. She asked, “Aren’t you two cold?”

Lu Yu said, “It’s alright.”

Song Bai added, “We’re fine.”

Jiang Nian: …

She was bundled up like a bear.

Zhu Jun and Zhang Xiao were waiting for them outside the train station, where the ground was covered in snow. Jiang Nian walked with difficulty, and Lu Yu reached out to hold her arm, helping her along with his strength.

“Sister Jiang.”

Zhang Xiao waved to Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian was bundled up so thickly that she looked like a ball, with only her head exposed. Her forehead and ears were freezing. She waved back at Zhang Xiao, her breath visible even through the scarf covering her mouth. Zhang Xiao was also wearing Zhu Jun’s thick coat.

“Let me carry you.”

Seeing Jiang Nian struggling to walk, Lu Yu handed the large bag to Song Bai. Jiang Nian quickly shook her head, “No need, I can walk.”

Lu Yu was still injured, and she didn’t want to burden him.

“Song Bai, Jiang Nian, Deputy Commander Lu—”

“Zhu Jun, Zhang Xiao!”

Far away, Feng Mei’s laughter could be heard, “Hahaha, Jiang Nian, why are you bundled up like a ball? You’re cracking me up, hahaha.”

Jiang Nian looked across the road. There were two horses pulling a large sled, and Feng Mei was wearing a thick cotton coat, a large black hat covering her ears tightly, and a thick scarf around her neck. She waved at them, and if it weren’t for Feng Mei speaking, Jiang Nian wouldn’t have recognized her.

“Sister Feng——”

Jiang Nian shouted happily, and Zhang Xiao echoed her.

Feng Mei jumped down from the sled and walked over. There was a man sitting in front of the sled, probably a soldier.

Jiang Nian shook off Lu Yu’s hand and said, “I can walk by myself.”

Then she tightly wrapped herself in Lu Yu’s padded coat and ran over, stepping deeply and shallowly. However, before she reached them, her feet slipped on the snow, and she fell on her bottom. This made Feng Mei burst into louder laughter, and Zhang Xiao, supported by Zhu Jun, couldn’t help but laugh too.

Jiang Nian: …

She blushed deeply. Just as she was about to sit up on her own, Lu Yu came from behind, pinched her waist, and lifted her up, asking with a smile, “Did you hurt yourself?”

Jiang Nian quickly shook her head, “It’s okay.”

She was wearing thick clothes, so she didn’t feel much pain.

Song Bai couldn’t help but laugh, “Sister-in-law, slow down a bit.”

“Oh my goodness, you nearly scared me to death.”

Feng Mei ran over and hugged Jiang Nian, both of them dressed warmly, which made the scene particularly comical.

“Let’s go, let’s go back quickly.”

Feng Mei pulled Jiang Nian along and said to Zhu Jun, “Make sure Zhang Xiao is okay and doesn’t slip.”

Zhu Jun said, “Sister Feng, rest assured.”

Feng Mei led Jiang Nian to the sled and said to her, “You don’t know, I’m not used to this place either. It’s so cold. A short walk outside could freeze my butt into eight petals.”

She took out two woolen hats from a large pocket, gave one to Jiang Nian, and handed the other to Zhang Xiao. “I knew you guys wouldn’t think to bring hats. When I first came, I didn’t think of it either. My ears almost froze off.”

Feng Mei chattered on, and Jiang Nian listened quietly, then smiled, “Sister Feng, I have to admit, listening to you talk non-stop, I feel quite at home.”

Feng Mei sighed, “I find you even more comforting. You don’t know how tough it is in Old Song’s environment compared to our place. It’s in the mountains, you see. Even just going to the supply and marketing cooperative would take half a day’s journey. The snow in the mountains is heavy and cold. Fortunately, when we came here, we brought all the vegetables from the cellar, or else just buying vegetables would cost a lot.”

Dressed warmly, Feng Mei climbed onto the sled and sat in the front, then tried to pull Jiang Nian. Jiang Nian lifted her heavy coat and was about to reach out, but Lu Yu lifted her onto the sled and said, “Sit facing backwards so the wind doesn’t blow on your face.”

Jiang Nian smiled, “Okay.”

Zhu Jun lifted Zhang Xiao onto the sled, then sat at the front with the others. Song Bai and Lu Yu sat at the back, sheltering the three women in the middle from the wind. Jiang Nian shivered all the way, her teeth chattering.

It’s… too cold…

Lu Yu looked back at Jiang Nian, seeing her shivering, but there were no more padded coats in the bag. So he asked Song Bai, “Did you bring the padded coat?”

Song Bai said, “I brought one.”

He took out the padded coat, looked at Jiang Nian and Zhang Xiao curled up together, and draped it over them. Song Bai’s gaze lingered on Jiang Nian’s red, frostbitten face for a few seconds, then he chuckled, “Sister-in-law, your cheeks are as red as apples.”

Jiang Nian: …

On the way back, Lu Yu and Song Bai jumped off the sled to push it from behind on the uphill sections, then sat back on it when they reached flat ground. It took three hours from the train station to Commander Song’s place. Feng Mei said that Commander Song had prepared the sled as soon as he received Lu Yu’s telegram, and the soldiers from the battalion rushed over before dawn.

Song Xiangdong and Song Xianghong clamored to come out, but Commander Song didn’t allow it. It was too cold along the way, and they might catch a cold. If Commander Song didn’t have a meeting today, he would have come over with Feng Mei.

The houses here were clustered together, each with wooden lattice doors and low walls. Many rows of houses faced each other. Commander Song’s family lived in the frontmost house. Song Xiangdong heard the jingle of bells outside and ran out with Song Xianghong. They saw Song Bai and the others and happily opened the wooden lattice door and ran out.

“Second Uncle !”

Song Xianghong rushed over and was lifted up by Song Bai, who pinched his rosy cheeks. “Have you missed your uncle?”

Song Xianghong said, “Yes!” Then he asked, “Second Uncle , what happened to your face? Why is it so bruised?”

Song Bai coughed lightly, “It’s nothing.”

Zhu Jun carried Zhang Xiao off the sled, and Jiang Nian stood up, supported by the sled. Suddenly, her lower back tightened, and she stumbled into Lu Yu’s sturdy chest from behind. The man held her waist and whispered, “Let me carry you down.”