Previous
Fiction Page
Next
Font Size:
Chapter 16: Going to the Army Base
Gu Shiqing’s words greatly satisfied Lin Banxia. She gave him an approving glance.
“Battalion Commander Gu is right. What I said earlier was mistaken. But my family visit leave is about to end, and I’m also planning to return to the base in the next couple of days. Why don’t we go together? That way we can look after each other on the road.” Zhou Shiyu continued.
“I won’t be able to look after you.” Gu Shiqing rejected her flatly.
Indeed, he truly couldn’t. Gu Shiqing’s rank entitled him to buy a sleeper ticket. Although he had always casually bought a hard seat ticket in the past and just made do, this time was different—Lin Banxia would be going to the base with him. So he had purchased sleeper tickets.
Zhou Shiyu, however, did not have the rank for that and could only buy a hard seat ticket.
“Banxia, let’s head back. Mom has probably already finished cooking.” Gu Shiqing said to Lin Banxia.
Lin Banxia nodded.
She had no desire to ride the train with Zhou Shiyu. A two-day-and-one-night journey was long enough, and to have to endure Zhou Shiyu’s annoying face along the way would be pure torment.
The married couple began walking forward. Knowing that Lin Banxia did not walk as quickly as he did, Gu Shiqing deliberately slowed his pace.
Zhou Shiyu took two quick steps after them. “Battalion Commander Gu! You haven’t taken the fruit and canned goods!”
Lin Banxia turned back and glanced at her. “Keep them for yourself and eat them slowly.”
Zhou Shiyu watched the retreating backs of Lin Banxia and Gu Shiqing. Her teeth clenched so hard she nearly ground them to pieces. After a moment of thought, she turned and ran toward the train station.
She was going to buy a train ticket—on the same train as Gu Shiqing!
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
At home, Xu Minzhi had once again made Lin Banxia’s favorite dish: sweet and sour spare ribs.
Not only that, over the past two days, she had been teaching Gu Shiqing how to make sweet and sour spare ribs too. After all, once Lin Banxia was at the army base, she would no longer get to eat her mother’s cooking.
Gu Shiqing had bought tickets for a train leaving the next afternoon. Before their departure, Lin Banxia gave everyone in the compound a round of pulse diagnoses.
That day, Gu Honglang and Xu Minzhi both took leave from work to see them off at the train station.
“Banxia, remember to write us after you arrive.”
“Shiqing, you must take good care of Banxia on the road. Don’t let her suffer, do you hear me?”
“Banxia, if Shiqing dares to bully you, just tell Mom and Dad—we’ll take care of him for you!”
To be honest, seeing Xu Minzhi and Gu Honglang like this made Lin Banxia feel reluctant to leave them.
“Dad, remember to eat the medicinal food daily. I’ll prepare another batch and mail it to you when the time comes. Mom, the medicine I gave you—be sure to take it. After a period of time, your constitutions will greatly improve.”
The train was about to depart, and the conductor began urging the passengers to board quickly.
Reluctantly, Lin Banxia and Gu Shiqing boarded the train. Gu Shiqing carried bundles of bags in both hands, and at the same time used his body to shield Lin Banxia, protecting her from being jostled by others.
Lin Banxia took note of this and, in her heart, gave Gu Shiqing another point.
Tsk, good-looking and attentive—he really was a celestial-grade man.
Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the sleeper car. Once they got inside, it no longer felt crowded.
When they reached their assigned spots, Gu Shiqing first put their luggage away and let Lin Banxia take the lower bunk, while he took the upper one.
He instructed: “If you need anything, just tell me. Mom and Dad prepared some food for us, but the train also provides hot meals. If you feel like eating, I can go and buy something.”
“Alright.” Lin Banxia nodded.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
On the other side, Zhou Shiyu was also on this train.
When she rushed to the ticket counter the previous day, she deliberately told the ticket clerk that she was a friend of Gu Shiqing’s and wanted to buy a ticket for the same train as him.
Although there were many people buying tickets, Gu Shiqing’s striking appearance made him especially memorable. The ticket clerk clearly remembered which train he had booked, giving Zhou Shiyu the opportunity she needed.
However, the hard seat and sleeper cars were entirely different. In those days, only people of a certain rank were eligible to purchase sleeper tickets. Most passengers had to sit in hard seats. As a result, the car Zhou Shiyu was in was extremely crowded.
Fortunately, she had arrived early and managed to snag a seat.
The train had already started moving. When it was time for dinner, Zhou Shiyu took out the lunchbox she had prepared in advance.
Inside were dishes she had specially made before departure, including braised pork, which gave off a rich and tempting aroma. She hadn’t even tasted it herself, saving it entirely to give to Gu Shiqing on the train.
She wanted Gu Shiqing to clearly see how virtuous and capable she was. That lazy, greedy Lin Banxia, who couldn’t even cook—how could she possibly compare?
Her father was a chef at a state-run restaurant, and her own cooking skills had been learned under his guidance. She had full confidence in her culinary abilities—one hundred percent!
Although Gu Shiqing had said before that he had hands and feet and could take care of himself, he was still a man—what man wouldn’t want a woman who knew how to care for him, who could tell when he was cold or warm?
Gu Shiqing only said such things because he had never experienced what it was like. If he had, he would know how wonderful it felt.
With this thought, Zhou Shiyu was in excellent spirits.
She stood up with the lunchbox in hand and made her way toward the sleeper car.
However, when she reached the entrance to the sleeper car, a train attendant stopped her and asked: “Hello, comrade. Did you purchase a hard seat ticket or a sleeper ticket? If you don’t have a sleeper ticket, you can’t enter the sleeper car.”
Zhou Shiyu quickly explained: “Comrade, I have a friend in the sleeper car. It’s dinner time now, and I’m just bringing him a meal. Can’t you make an exception?”
The train attendant didn’t believe a word of it. Excuses like ‘I know someone in the sleeper car,’ ‘I’ll just be there for a moment,’ or ‘I’m delivering food’—he had heard them a thousand times before.
If she really had a friend in the sleeper car, why didn’t they buy a sleeper ticket for her as well? That way, she wouldn’t have to suffer through the crowding in the hard seat section.
The real reason was simple: she hadn’t been able to get a sleeper ticket and wanted to sneak into the sleeper car any way she could.
He had been a train attendant for several years now—how could he not have seen people like this before?
“No exceptions, Comrade. Our train provides meals; your friend won’t go hungry. You’d best go back now.” the train attendant said coldly and firmly.
Zhou Shiyu grew anxious and reached out to tug at the attendant. “Why are you so unreasonable? I really am here to see a friend. I’ll leave immediately after giving him the food—I won’t linger!”
The train attendant glared at her. “Comrade, it’s not appropriate to be pulling and grabbing like this! If you keep this up, I’ll have to call for backup!”
Seeing that the attendant firmly refused to let her through, Zhou Shiyu stomped her foot in frustration.
But there was nothing she could do. Furious and fuming, she turned around and stormed back to her seat.
Only when she got there did she realize that her original seat had already been taken by a burly, broad-shouldered man.
“This is my seat…” Zhou Shiyu said softly.
The man scowled and snapped: “You say it’s your seat, so it must be yours? Try calling it and see if it answers you. If it does, I’ll admit it’s your seat!”
What shameless hooliganism!
Zhou Shiyu, after being blocked at every turn, was so angry her eyes turned red. She grabbed the arm of a nearby auntie and pleaded: “Auntie, please say something. Tell him I was sitting here just now, wasn’t I?”
The woman gave Zhou Shiyu a glance. Earlier, when she had tried speaking to Zhou Shiyu, the girl had responded coldly and dismissively—and now she wanted her help?
The auntie turned her face away and said: “I fell asleep as soon as I got on the train. When I woke up, this comrade was already sitting beside me. How would I know who sat here first?”
“You—!”
Zhou Shiyu burst into tears on the spot, furious and humiliated.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
In the sleeper car.
Lin Banxia had taken a nap, and when she awoke, she noticed a numb sensation in her arm. It was probably due to sleeping in an awkward position that had put pressure on it.
“Hiss…” Lin Banxia inhaled sharply.
From the top bunk, Gu Shiqing immediately asked with concern: “What’s wrong?”
Lin Banxia explained: “Slept in the wrong position—my arm’s gone numb.”
Without hesitation, Gu Shiqing flipped himself down from the upper bunk and said: “Let me help you—”
He hadn’t even finished saying “massage” when he saw Lin Banxia press a few points lightly along the numb arm with her fingertips.
Then she looked up and smiled at him. “I’m fine. I pressed the Hegu acupoint and the Quchi acupoint. It’s not numb anymore.”
She even took the opportunity to demonstrate to Gu Shiqing where exactly the Hegu and Quchi acupoints were, adopting the tone of a patient teacher:
“The body’s acupoints are quite miraculous. Take the Hegu acupoint, for instance—it dispels wind and relieves surface symptoms, promotes circulation of qi and blood, and helps regulate lung and large intestine functions. Massaging the Quchi acupoint frequently benefits the skin and reduces the likelihood of acne.”
Gu Shiqing: “…”
Though his wife looked impressively knowledgeable, he had just missed a perfect chance to give her a hand massage.
Previous
Fiction Page
Next
stillnotlucia[Translator]
Hi~ If you want to know the schedule of updates, please visit the Novel's Fiction Page and look at the bottom part of the synopsis! Thank you so much for reading my translations! ૮꒰˵• ﻌ •˵꒱ა PS. You can also read my translations in my PATREON