Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 196 Leaving Harbin

Jingxian breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down in her seat. Her eldest son, Li Ronggang, looked at her with admiration: "Mom, you're amazing! You finally managed to shut that old lady up. I wanted to tell her to leave, but I just couldn't bring myself to say it."

Jingxian waved her hand: "You two young men are hard to talk to. If you're too lenient or too harsh, people will easily find fault with you. I'm a woman, so at worst I can throw a tantrum and act like a spoiled child. It's much easier for me than for you. We still have seven or eight hours before we arrive at the station. We still have a long way to go."

The rest of the journey went smoothly. The three of them tried to drink as little water as possible and didn't want to go to the toilet—the toilets on trains in the summer were truly… well, they wished they could avoid going altogether. Finally, they arrived at their station, and the family of three got off the train. At this moment, Li Rongqiang spoke with a hint of relief:

"Thank goodness we mailed all our luggage out. We only brought some personal clothes. If we had brought them on the train, we don't know what we would have done. Who would have thought there would be so many people at this time?"

After leaving the station, the three of them first went to the station's restroom to take care of their business before entering the ticket hall. After asking around for directions, they finally made their way to the stationmaster's office on the third floor.

After knocking and entering, Jingxian explained his purpose, and the stationmaster immediately realized: "Who is the person buying tickets?"

"He Zhijun, my brother-in-law."

The stationmaster nodded: "This is your ticket, for the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. Please pay attention to the time and don't be late. This is five hundred yuan for you. Please check it and sign here if there are no problems."

Zhang Jingxian looked at the five hundred-yuan bills in his hand, confirmed that there was no problem, and quickly took the pen to sign his name in the column next to his name in the notebook. After both parties confirmed that there was nothing wrong, the family thanked him repeatedly and left the stationmaster's office.

"Mom, how come you still have money?" Li Ronggang asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Your aunt was worried that we wouldn’t have enough money to spend and that staying in a cheap hotel wouldn’t be good enough, so she wired us money to find a hotel. This is your aunt’s kindness. Come on, let’s go ask around and find a nice hotel to stay in for a couple of nights. Tomorrow we’ll go out for a walk. It’s rare for us to go out.”

Jingxian finally felt relieved after receiving the train ticket and began to think about having fun.

Outside the station, a chaotic mix of tricycles and buses was blocking the way, and a cacophony of touts clamored around them. Jingxian instinctively knew he had to leave as soon as he saw them. He grabbed one of his sons' arms with each hand and managed to squeeze through. Turning his head, he saw the crowd surging towards the people exiting the station behind them.

"Let's move further away from here and ask someone for directions. The hotel can't be too close to here, or there will be too many people, but it also can't be too far away, since we need to take a bus the day after tomorrow, and it will be inconvenient if it's too far."

She walked and stopped, asking questions every few steps. Perhaps because she had a kind face, she met a kind-hearted old lady who told her which bus to take and that there was a good hotel after six or seven stops.

The family of three arrived at the hotel entrance following the old woman's directions. Seeing the tall gatehouse, they hesitated for a moment, looking at each other, wondering whether to go in or not, as the price seemed quite high.

The lobby manager saw the three people hesitating at the door and quickly came out to greet them, smiling and asking softly, "Are you looking for a place to stay? Our hotel rooms are large and clean, and we also provide free breakfast with a wide variety of options. In Harbin, our hotel ranks among the top three, so it's definitely worth the money."

"Um, could I ask how much a room costs per night?" Zhang Jingxian asked, sounding somewhat unsure of himself.

The lobby manager smiled knowingly: "A standard room is 80 yuan a night, and a double room is 100 yuan a night. For the three of you, it's 180 yuan a night, which is already very affordable. Breakfast is free, with 20 or 30 kinds of food to choose from."

The two brothers clicked their tongues: "This price is really not cheap. If we stay for two days, it will cost almost a month's salary of my dad."

Jingxian hesitated for a moment. It was going to cost nearly 400 yuan, which wasn't cheap. He was about to suggest looking at other places when he turned around and saw the curious and amazed looks on his two sons' eyes as they gazed at the hotel's luxurious lobby. He gritted his teeth and finally decided to stay.

My sister-in-law said she wanted to broaden the horizons of the two kids, so let's splurge a little. We paid for two days' rent and a deposit, and only 40 yuan of the 500 yuan was left in change. The 100 yuan deposit would be refunded when we checked out.

Once inside the room, they finally understood why it was so expensive. The room was large; the standard room had two single beds, and the double room had one double bed. You could tell at a glance that the mattresses must be very soft.

Both types of rooms have a bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink. I've only ever seen this kind of environment in Hong Kong dramas, and it's always in the homes of the wealthy. But now, this hotel feels almost the same as those places, no wonder the room rates are so high.

"Put your things inside first, wash up, and Mom will take you out to eat later. It's almost one o'clock, you must be hungry." Jingxian was most concerned about the two children.

The two brothers shook their heads: "Mom, I'm not hungry. How about we eat later? We're so tired from the long car ride. I want to sleep for a while. You go and eat something first. We can eat right after we wake up." Rongqiang looked at his older brother, who seemed a little sleepy, and said.

Jingxian nodded: "Okay, you guys rest first, I'll come find you again tonight." She left the children's room and returned to her own room, which wasn't far away. After putting her things away, she originally planned to wash her face and then go out to buy some food, but after washing her face and looking at the soft bed, she didn't feel too hungry. Maybe she should lie down and rest for a while before going to find something to eat.

A thought flashed through her mind, and she readily took off her shoes, changed into her pajamas, and lay down. She had only intended to lie down for a short while, but unexpectedly, she fell asleep immediately. Hmm, the bed was indeed too comfortable to sleep in. When she opened her eyes again and glanced at her watch, wow, it was almost four o'clock. She had slept for nearly three hours.

After getting up and getting ready, she went out to knock on her two sons' bedroom door. The door opened as soon as she knocked: "Mom, you're awake. Shall we go have dinner? We're hungry."

Zhang Jingxian nodded: "Okay, Mom will take you out to eat."

"Mom, how much money did we bring with us this time? Don't spend too much." Although Rongqiang is the younger brother, he has the heart of the head of the family.

Jingxian laughed and said, "I only had five hundred yuan on me. I transferred the remaining three thousand yuan directly to your aunt. I didn't expect your aunt to also prepare five hundred yuan for us. So, we have enough money."

Now the two kids were really relieved. The three of them went for a stroll around the hotel. It has to be said that the hotel is located in a fairly bustling area. There is a night market in the alley next door, and quite a few food stalls have already been set up.

They were selling noodles, fried rice, casseroles, barbecue... and surprisingly, there was a wide variety of food. The group walked around, buying and eating as they went. Ronggang, being a rather particular young man, initially tried to persuade them to take the food back to their hotel room, as it wouldn't look good to eat on the street.

But seeing his mother and younger brother enjoying their food, he eventually succumbed and started eating as he walked. Surprisingly, it actually tasted quite good.

After strolling around the night market from front to back, the three of us were almost full. We bought two more bowls of wontons from a stall, shared them among ourselves, and were satisfied.

After a satisfying meal, they returned to the hotel to rest. Lying on the soft bed, Rong Gang couldn't help but peek at the mattress under the quilt. Rong Qiang asked, somewhat puzzled, "Brother, what are you doing?"

"Let me see what's on the bed. It's quite soft and comfortable to sleep on. If it's not too difficult, I'll get a couple of beds for my aunt's family. It's more comfortable than sleeping on a hard bed."

Ronggang isn't very good at academics, but he's incredibly talented at handicrafts. He can make everything from large items like doors, windows, tables, and chairs to small items like cotton handkerchiefs. He uses the sewing machine at home more often than Jingxian does.

After looking at it for a while, he shook his head: "I don't know where to buy this kind of sponge. As long as we can buy the sponge, we can cut it ourselves, cover it with cotton cloth, and it will be a mattress. I think it should be similar to this one."

Rong Qiang also pressed it: "They should be quite different. Sponges are so soft, this one has firmness."

"Yes, there is a difference, but I can't completely tear it down. It's good enough that it's still somewhat presentable. Once we're settled, if we really do what Auntie said and lease a plot of land specifically for raising chickens..."

"Once we make money, we'll buy these mattresses directly. Using foam cut from thinner material is a cheaper way. We'll see how it goes then." Rong Gang was quite shrewd.

Jingxian had no idea what his two sons were discussing. He was sitting on the bed when he took out five hundred yuan from the zipper pocket of his underwear, pulled out a hundred-yuan note and put it in his wallet, then stuffed the rest of the money back in before he felt at ease.

People who go out at this time like to wear underwear with hidden pockets to hide some money for safety. If it is put in a clothing pocket, it is easy for someone to steal it. They do not want to cause trouble when they go out, so they simply hide it.

The next day, when they went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, they were amazed by the dozen or so dishes available: "This is really good food. We couldn't make this much at home."

Steamed buns, fried dough sticks, tofu pudding, soy milk, rice porridge, millet porridge, eight-treasure porridge, fried rice, fried noodles, boiled eggs, tea eggs, fried eggs, steamed egg custard, and several side dishes...

Anyway, all three of them were very full. After leaving the restaurant, Rong Qiang rubbed his stomach and said, "I think we can just have dinner. I probably can't eat lunch anymore."

Rong Gang nodded with a smile: "Indeed, I've eaten a lot too, I can hold out until tonight."

Jingxian ate quite a bit, and as soon as they left, they asked the front desk if there were any places to see nearby. The front desk recommended that they turn left after leaving the hotel and walk a short distance to St. Sophia Cathedral, which is considered a landmark in Harbin. There are many white pigeons in the square near the cathedral, so they can play there.

There are also some restaurants nearby with a foreign flair, some of which are run by Russians. They're not too bad during the day, but there are performances in the restaurants at night, with singing and dancing, making it quite lively. I recommend having dinner there so you can also watch the song and dance performances.

After asking around, the group started strolling along the road. As for the church, none of them were Christians, so they didn't go in. However, the architecture was indeed very exotic and beautiful. There were many white pigeons in the square, but Jingxian was rather disgusted by them, as they pooped too much and it was hard to wash off.

The mother and her two children walked around the square. Some of the food was quite novel, so they bought some. The sausages and smoked chicken tasted good. They sat at a table at the entrance of the shop and asked the shopkeeper to cut the smoked chicken and sausages for them. They ate them one piece at a time, which was very pleasant.

The group of people, who had never enjoyed such a leisurely and satisfying meal, finally realized the true meaning of life. "If only we could always eat like this," Rong Qiang exclaimed.

Jingxian laughed: "I wish I could too. My biggest dream is to sit on a kang (heated brick bed) with all kinds of snacks and biscuits around me, and eat whatever I want. That would be the happiest day of my life."

Rongqiang rarely showed such a relaxed smile after the college entrance examination: "Mom, don't worry, my older brother and I will work hard to help you achieve your wish as soon as possible."

At that time, none of them expected that the day they were looking forward to today would be achieved in less than ten years. By then, they would have had enough of meat, let alone cookies and snacks. Good days were indeed not far away.

Around 10 a.m. on the third day, the mother and her two children packed their luggage and checked out of the hotel. They got back their 100 yuan deposit, and Jingxian specifically asked the front desk to help him exchange it for change and put it in his wallet before leaving.

It takes more than 30 hours to get to Haishi by train, so we need to prepare enough food. We first bought some sausages and smoked chickens and packed them separately: "Take these two pounds of red sausages and these two smoked chickens to your aunt to try. We'll eat the remaining pound of red sausages and one smoked chicken on the way."

"Let's buy some apples to take with us. There's nothing else we need to bring. Let's buy food from the dining car later. I remember the dining car is between the sleeper and hard seat sections, so it shouldn't be too crowded." Jingxian discussed this with her two sons at the smoked meat shop. The children had no objections and left it to their mother's decision.

After buying their things, they took a bus to the train station. They preferred to wait at the station rather than have the bus wait for them. Since they had time, they decided to just go directly there.

Upon arriving at the train station, we first went to a small restaurant near the station entrance for lunch. Each of us had a plate of dumplings and ate our fill. Then we ordered a bowl of dumpling soup to help digest our food – it was so comforting.

After dinner, we went straight to the waiting room at the train station. When the train arrived, the platform announced the train number, and the three of us quickly took our tickets and went through the ticket check. We didn't have much stuff, so we boarded the train quickly and found our sleeper compartment. Fortunately, it was a four-person compartment, and the three of us took up most of it, leaving only one upper berth.

The two brothers each occupied a lower bunk. Jingxian also sat on the lower bunk first, and would climb up to sleep when he got sleepy. Otherwise, going up and down would be quite inconvenient. The only advantage was that the upper bunk was quiet and relatively safe.

Until the train started moving, the empty berth remained unoccupied. Being able to lie down was much more comfortable than being able to sit. At first, I enjoyed the scenery, and when I got tired, I lay down and closed my eyes to rest. It was quite comfortable.

In the evening, the two sons said they wanted to go to the dining car for dinner. After looking around, they came back dejectedly: "Mom, I looked at the food in the dining car. It didn't look very appetizing, and it was quite expensive. A meal cost five yuan, and I felt like I could eat two portions, so we didn't buy any."

Jingxian understood the children's situation. It was their first time going out, and even he felt the price was too high, let alone them. Back home, a boxed lunch would cost only 1.5 yuan and would be quite good.

"Your aunt said there are instant noodles on the train, and the price is relatively affordable. However, you have to find the food cart that the train attendant is pushing. Go and look for it. If you find it, buy five boxes. Two boxes each for you two, and one box will be enough for me," Jingxian instructed.