The next day, Wang Hong got up early and made dumplings for Sun Yafei, stuffed with lard and cabbage.
Uncle Guan harnessed the ox cart himself and drove it to the door of Wang Hong's house.
The oxcart must have been wiped clean and is much cleaner than before.
Li Dahe silently put the two large bags of luggage on the oxcart. He squinted at Sun Yafei, remained silent for a while, and said, "Go there and do your best. Call if you need anything."
He was like an old father who was about to send off his children for a long journey. There were ten thousand things he wanted to say in his heart, but only a dry sentence came to his lips.
Wang Hong put her arms around Sun Yafei's shoulders, put her other hand on her shoulder bag, and said, "The dry food and the letter of introduction are all in the bag. Please look carefully. I put two eggs in the bag for you. The rest is in the luggage roll, don’t sleep on the street, don’t show your wealth, keep an eye on your luggage, serve your own snacks, and don’t trust anyone when you go out.”
Sun Yafei's heart was heavy, she pursed her lips and nodded gently.
She tried her best to hold back her tears, not wanting to remain in tears when she said her final goodbye.
"Okay, let's get on the train. We won't be able to catch the train in a while." Uncle Guan sat on the bullock cart and said in a low voice.
"Well, yes, let's go." Wang Hong sniffed and let go.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"
Before Uncle Guan could raise his whip, Principal Wu's voice came from afar.
Principal Wu trotted over, holding a brand new kettle in his hand.
Sun Yafei had just sat firmly when she saw Principal Wu and wanted to get out of the car, but she held her down.
Principal Wu put the kettle into Sun Yafei's arms and said with a smile: "I made the mung bean soup early in the morning and took it with me to drink on the road."
Sun Yafei had held back the tears she had been crying all morning and then fell down.
'The daughter of a capitalist also has to drink mung bean soup. '
It was her first day at Shili Brigade, and Principal Wu served her a bowl of mung bean soup with a smile like this.
"Stop crying, kid. Let's go quickly. Come back and see if everything is okay."
Principal Wu wiped the tears from her face, smiled and waved to her.
"Principal, Aunt Wang, Captain..."
Sun Yafei held the kettle and looked at the people in front of her, crying.
Uncle Guan looked back, sighed, flicked his whip, and drove her away.
The oxcart moved slowly, and the doors of every house opened one after another, and familiar faces appeared at the door.
They waved their hands at her and said some instructions, asking her to call if she had anything to do, asking her to go to the corps to unite her comrades, and asking her to come back and see if she was fine... If she said she would come back again, she would not be allowed to work.
The villagers followed the oxcart and wanted to see her off a little longer.
When the oxcart turned around the big tree at the entrance of the village, the villagers stopped.
Sun Yafei said with a trembling voice: "Uncle Guan, please stop for a moment..."
Uncle Guan sighed again and stopped the car.
Sun Yafei jumped out of the car before it stopped. She looked at the people who had tried hard to warm her and knelt down as soon as her knees went weak.
She bent down and touched her forehead to the ground.
She didn't know how she could repay them, but she knew that she really couldn't bear to leave here.
Even though she only stayed here for less than a month, she truly regarded this place as home.
She knelt for a long time, her tears smashing into the dust, and she cried until she couldn't stand up.
In the end, it was Uncle Guan who pulled her up from the ground.
He said: "Okay, my dear, let's go. If you delay any longer, you're going to miss the train... You can come back whenever you want. It's not like we won't see you again."
Sun Yafei was dragged onto the bullock cart by Uncle Guan.
The oxcart moved away, and gradually, she could no longer see the faces of the villagers clearly.
But she knew that these people, these things, and this memory would never be forgotten in her life.
From now on, she will have two families.
It was already evening when Sun Yafei arrived at the Corps.
The people who picked her up at the station were the company commander of the ninth company and the female platoon leader.
They were very kind to her. The platoon leader told her that a bunk had been reserved for her in the dormitory and made noodles for her.
This made Sun Yafei's hanging heart relax a little.
Sun Yafei was assigned to the Ninth Company. It took nearly an hour to ride from the station to the Ninth Company. It was a long way.
On the way, the platoon leader told her many things to pay attention to in Beidahuang. Including but not limited to not running around, especially at night, because you may step on bottomless water bubbles; you must not leave the sickle, not only for work, but also for self-protection...
Sun Yafei tried her best to remember, and after the platoon leader had finished speaking, she asked: "Platoon leader, do you know a lesbian named Guan Manling?"
The platoon leader was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
She looked at the ninth company commander, smiled and said to Sun Yafei: "You have to ask comrade the company commander for this, he is more familiar with it!"
"Ahem, what are you talking about?" The company commander's dark face turned red. He touched his nose uncomfortably and turned to look out the window.
Sun Yafei didn't know what was going on and looked confused.
The platoon leader smiled and said to her: "Manling and you are in the same dormitory. She is the monitor of your class. You will see her in a while."
"Really? That would be great."
Sun Yafei felt that this was the only good news she got today.
When we arrived at the Ninth Company, the company commander helped carry Sun Yafei's luggage to the door of the women's dormitory and left. He looked like he was running away, as if he was afraid of being caught and laughed at by the platoon leader again.
When the female educated youths in the dormitory heard the sound, they ran out in droves, clapped their hands and smiled and said welcome.
Sun Yafei didn't expect that there would be more than ten people living in such a dormitory, and she suddenly became cautious: "Hello everyone, my name is Sun Yafei..."
"Hello, Sun Yafei." Guan Manling took a step forward, smiled and held her hand, "My name is Guan Manling, and I am the monitor of the second female class. You can come to me if you need anything in the future."
Sun Yafei looked at Guan Manling's handsome and handsome face and nodded repeatedly.
"Here, I just cooked the noodles for you. Eat the noodles first when you come in." Guan Manling said, pulling Sun Yafei into the house.
Sun Yafei was surrounded and ate a bowl of noodles, then pulled Guan Manling and asked softly: "Squad leader, do you know Lin Nianhe?"
Guan Manling was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "We know each other, what's wrong?"
"She asked me to bring you a letter." Sun Yafei quickly found a flat letter from her bag and handed it to Guan Manling.
Guan Manling took the letter and did not open it directly. Instead, she asked first: "Are you from the Shili Brigade?"
"Yes." Sun Yafei nodded obediently.
"Um..." Guan Manling frowned, and after hesitating for a moment, she asked, "How is Xie Yufei doing lately?"
"He..." Sun Yafei thought about the turmoil of the past two days and spent a long time talking. Finally, she could only bite the bullet and say, "He is still alive."
Guan Manling: "..."
She immediately tore open the envelope and hurriedly read the letter.
Lin Nianhe's letter was not long. He first informed Guan Manling about Xie Yufei's current situation: he had troubles, made mistakes, and drank too much, but he finally recovered.
Guan Manling breathed a sigh of relief after reading this paragraph, raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and continued to read the letter.
(End of chapter)
