Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 57: Homeward Journey (1)

The snow was heavy, and Yan Hui felt complicated as he walked on the road.

Looking at the wheel tracks at the door, Yan Hui knew that his uncle had already left, and that his home was not near the market. It was impossible for his uncle to be in the store at this time, so he didn't even have a chance to explain.

Yan Hui knew the location of his fourth uncle's house. He had also helped his fourth uncle move things. It was about 4 kilometers away from the market.

In the past, when the market was busy, my fourth uncle and his family would sometimes live directly in the store, but now they must have gone home, and on this snowy day, there would be no taxis running outside.

Are you going or not?
Yan Hui thought about this question as he walked.

In this temperature and on this snowy day, Yan Hui knew that it would take at least an hour and a half to walk there, and it would be very late by then, which would disturb his fourth uncle's rest.

And if you don't go.
Forget it, Yan Hui gritted his teeth and decided not to go.

He turned around and walked back, only to find that he had walked several hundred meters.

When he returned to the house, Yan Hui was in a bad mood, but then he thought that the situation would not get worse, so he fell asleep peacefully.

The next day, after Yan Hui got up, he went to his fourth uncle's shop early and explained the problem to his fourth uncle. However, his fourth uncle seemed to have forgotten about it and only told him to let him know in advance about such things in the future.

"Uncle, I was indeed inconsiderate about this matter and caused you and grandpa to worry. You'd better scold me." Yan Hui said sincerely.

After Yan Hui said this, Fourth Uncle's anger subsided a lot. He shook his head and said, "I went to see you yesterday, and seeing you there actually made me feel a lot more at ease. You should be careful when you go out. Oh, and that Xiao Guo, you should be careful when you hang out with him. I heard he was in jail a while ago."

"You know all this?" Yan Hui was a little surprised.

"After all, his father is a big shot in the market."

"He..." Yan Hui thought about it and nodded without further explanation, "Uncle, I understand."

"Uh-huh."

Fourth Uncle had something else to do, so he left after chatting with Yan Hui. Yan Hui didn't want to chat with Fourth Aunt either, so she took the initiative to follow Fourth Uncle out, and then found a place to buy two hot steamed buns.

The mornings in Northeast China are particularly cold in winter, and Yan Hui didn’t sleep well last night. He quickly finished his steamed buns and went to his second brother’s place.

The second brother had not arrived yet, so Yan Hui opened the door of a warehouse and wanted to wait for him there, but there was no place to stay.

It was neither possible to sit nor stand. If he didn't move, his body would soon freeze stiff. Yan Hui stomped his feet for a long time, but still no one showed up, so he could only lock the door and go back to the house.

The temperature in the room was still minus ten degrees Celsius, but fortunately Yan Hui had a charcoal brazier.

In fact, there were quite a few pieces of wood in the second brother’s warehouse, but Yan Hui couldn’t take them without asking, so he could only use what was in the house.

The wood was really not durable. Just when I felt a little warmth, the wood was basically gone.

Where to go next? This has become a problem.

It’s too cold, so cold that there is no place to stand.

He stayed in the house until after nine o'clock, when the fire in the charcoal brazier went out. Yan Hui then came out of the house and went to see his second brother again.

Fortunately, my second brother came and lit the stove in the store.

As soon as Yan Hui entered the house, he immediately went to the stove.

"You're the only one here during the Chinese New Year." The second brother greeted Yan Hui when he saw him.

"Uncle Li, do you have any work recently?" "Yes, but it's rare. Maybe two or three cars a week. Don't worry about it. If you need someone temporarily, I can just find someone."

"Well, Uncle Li, I've made up my mind. I'll go home in a few days and come back after the Lantern Festival next year." Yan Hui made the decision.

"Okay, then I'll do the math for you." The second brother nodded and took out the account book.

The second brother promised Yan Hui an extra income of 400 yuan a month. This amount of money may not seem like much when he is busy, but it is really a lot when he is free. You know, his moving fees for the whole month of December were less than 400 yuan!
"It seems like you won't come back in January and February, so there will be no money this month," said the second brother while calculating the accounts.

"That's for sure." Yan Hui nodded immediately.

The winter vacation in Northeast China is different from the holidays in ordinary companies. It can last for several months and no boss will pay wages.

"Well, including this 400, the total amount you've bet recently is 565. Wait, I'll count the money for you." The second brother said, took out a wad of money from his bag, counted it, and thought for a while, "Xiaohui, work hard next year."

Then, the second brother handed Yan Hui 800 yuan.

"Ah? What is this?" Yan Hui was stunned.

"The New Year is coming soon, please bring good luck to me when you go back." The second brother patted Yan Hui's shoulder affectionately.

"Thank you, Uncle Li!" Yan Hui took it with both hands. He thought to himself that when he came back next year, he would definitely bring something for his second brother.

"Go ahead, and be careful when you go home for the New Year this year." The second brother said with a smile.

Yan Hui still felt a little unreal when he left his second brother's place. After all, the money was really unexpected.

But at this moment he faced another problem: where to stay?

After thinking for a while, he decided to go find Lao Guo and Lao Song.

Old Song was still researching weapons. He wasn't satisfied with ordinary weapons anymore and had started making guns. Of course, these were just models, wooden models. Old Wu, who had always said he wanted to join the army, was also at Old Song's house, researching weapons with him.

Yan Hui came over mainly to rub the warmth of the stove, and also to read some of Lao Song's books. In the afternoon, Yan Hui and Lao Guo went out and bought tickets for a train four days later.

This time when he went back, Yan Hui bought a hard seat, took a train from Fengtian to Beijing, changed trains, and then took a straight train from Beijing to southern Fujian.

Holding the two white rectangular cards he had bought, Yan Hui carefully examined them to make sure that there was no problem with the ticket purchase before packing up the tickets.

According to the time on the ticket, he set off on the evening of January 6, arrived in Beijing the next morning, and then waited in Beijing until the evening. After traveling for two days and nights, he arrived home on the 9th.

Both tickets have seats, and I have to say that Yan Hui is really lucky.

When Yan Hui came, he could only buy tickets one station at a time, which means that he could only buy the next ticket at Yuzhang Station after he arrived in Yuzhang from southern Fujian.

In 1995, there were two major events in the railway system. One was an overall price increase, and the other was the implementation of railway network ticketing. This time, Yan Hui could buy a ticket from Beijing to southern Fujian directly in Fengtian.

After returning home, Yan Hui immediately went to his fourth uncle's house and showed him his ticket. Seeing it, his fourth uncle took out his phone and called the village. Although Yan Hui's family didn't have a phone, the village did. The fourth uncle called a wealthy family in the village and told them about Yan Hui's return. The family said they would help convey the message to Yan Hui's grandfather and then hung up.

"When you go back, remember to report to me that you are safe." Fourth Uncle reminded again.

"Uh-huh!"

(Please give me a monthly ticket, I will add more in the evening)

(End of this chapter)