1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 8 On the train

Chen Fusheng's older sister is named Chen Guizhi, and she is five years older than him.

She works as a nurse and has two children after marrying Wang Yao, Chen Fusheng's brother-in-law.

Today is the day Chen Fusheng and his group set off, and his sister's family arrived early this morning.

However, only the older sister went to Harbin with them; her brother-in-law, Wang Yao, and his two nephews came to see them off.

It's worth mentioning that my brother-in-law, Wang Yao, is also a teacher, a middle school math teacher.

As for the two nephews, the older one is a girl named Wang Xue, who is 7 years old this year, and the younger one is named Wang Long, who is 3 years old this year.

"Auntie, Auntie, Mom said you're pregnant too, right?"

As soon as the two children arrived, they liked to stick to their aunt and ask her all sorts of questions.

"Yes, Auntie is pregnant too. You'll have to take the baby out to play with him/her, okay?"

"Yeah."

The two siblings took turns answering questions and asking questions:

"Auntie, is the baby in your belly a boy or a girl?"

Chen Fusheng's voice suddenly interrupted at this moment.

"You two, guess whether your aunt is having a boy or a girl?"

"I guess it's a younger brother." "A younger sister!" "A younger brother." "A younger sister."

Seeing the two siblings arguing about this, Chen Fusheng smiled and ruffled their hair. Then, seeing that everything was packed, he suggested, "There are only two hours left before the train departs. I think we should go to the train station."

"Yes, stop dawdling at home, if you're going to wait, go to the train station."

"Remember to take your luggage with you."

Linjiang Residential Area is not far from Jiangcheng Railway Station, only a little over three kilometers away. However, they had a lot of luggage, so walking there would definitely be inconvenient. Fortunately, there is a bus that goes directly to the railway station right at the entrance of Linjiang Residential Area, which saved them a lot of trouble.

"The train is coming."

In those days, family members were allowed to see people off at the train platform, so Chen Fusheng's brother-in-law Wang Yao and his two nephews did not leave until they had seen them onto the train.

Because it's more than 2,000 kilometers from Jiangcheng to Harbin, and there's no direct train, requiring a transfer in Beijing, they wouldn't arrive until the afternoon of the third day at the earliest. The only good news is that these long-distance trains offer sleeper berths, so Chen Fusheng naturally bought sleeper tickets for his family.

Some people might ask, why not take a plane if it's so far?
That's a good question. There are indeed flights from Jiangcheng to the Northeast. Chen Fusheng had inquired about it before, but he couldn't buy a ticket.

Because airplanes in this era were not meant for 'ordinary people'.

In Chen Fusheng's usual impression, the hygiene conditions on trains in this era were very poor, and there was a strange smell when you boarded the train.

But after experiencing it firsthand, I found it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.

Perhaps it's because they bought sleeper tickets.

Perhaps it's related to the low winter temperatures.
Maybe……

But no matter what, it's definitely best to have no odor like this now.

Wu Qiutong and Li Mei are both from Beijing. After graduating from high school in 75, they were assigned to work in a collective commune called Xiahe Village in Hubei Province. With the implementation of the policy for educated youth to return to the city in the past two years, they have also been given the opportunity to return.

This time, I took the same train home as Chen Fusheng and the others, and even shared the same sleeper car.

That's not the point. The point is that before they boarded the train, they went to a bookstore and bought a lot of books to pass the time on the way.

One of them was a magazine called "Fangcao".

"Li Mei, I highly recommend you take a look at this issue of Fangcao magazine. There is a very vivid and touching short story in it."

"What's the name of the novel? Let me look... Oh dear, I don't think I bought 'Fangcao' (芳草). Right, what magazine is this? I don't think I've heard of it before?"

Chen Fusheng and Liu Xiaoli's beds were right across from theirs, so they inevitably overheard their conversation. The couple exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly at each other.

At this moment, the two female educated youths who had returned to the city did not notice the meaningful smiles of the young couple and continued to be engrossed in their conversation.

"This is the first time I've heard of the magazine *Fangcao*, but the short story *Bullfighting* on the front page of this issue is definitely worth reading." Li Mei then asked, "Who wrote it?"

"Let me see, the author's name is Fusheng."

"I've never heard of it either."

“I haven’t heard of it either, but judging from the writing style of ‘Bullfighting,’ it must be an older writer.”

"Cough cough~"

"Pfft~"

Upon hearing himself described as an aging writer, Chen Fusheng couldn't help but cough twice, while Liu Xiaoli burst into laughter.

Then, Wu Qiutong and Li Mei gave him questioning looks.

Chen Fusheng explained:

“Um… I overheard you discussing this issue of Fangcao. My husband and I have also read this issue, so perhaps we can exchange ideas.”

Liu Xiaoli tried hard to suppress her laughter and echoed, "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Really? You've read 'Bullfight' too?" Wu Qiutong had just finished reading the novel and was eager to share. Hearing that Chen Fusheng and his wife had also read it, she was excited and wanted to discuss the plot with them.

However, Li Mei quickly interrupted, "Wait...wait a minute, can you guys stop discussing the plot and wait until I finish watching it before we discuss it?"

"Sure," Chen Fusheng nodded and smiled at Li Mei.

At the same time, as an author, he is not really willing to discuss the plot with readers, but he doesn't mind explaining "Fragrant Grass" to the two of them.

"I just heard you say you didn't know 'Fangcao' (芳草). Have you ever heard of 'Jiangcheng Literature' (江城文学)?"

“We’ve been working in the countryside in Hubei for the past few years, so of course we’ve heard about it.”

"Actually, Fangcao is the original Jiangcheng Literature and Art, they just changed the name. And it's mentioned on the cover of this issue, you may not have noticed."

After Chen Fusheng reminded them, the two women quickly took a look and found that it was indeed the case.

After breaking the ice, the two sides did not fall into the awkwardness of not being able to find topics to talk about, but instead chatted naturally.

“I noticed you boarded the train at Jiangcheng Railway Station. Are you locals from Jiangcheng?”

Liu Xiaoli replied, "My husband is from Jiangcheng, and I am from Harbin."

"So you're going to Harbin? That seems pretty far."

"no way."

Liu Xiaoli smiled and asked in return:

"And you? Are you educated youth sent to the countryside?"

"Yes, my name is Wu Qiutong, and her name is Li Mei. We are both from Beijing. In 75, we were assigned to work in a brigade in Hubei. In the past two years, the country has issued a policy for educated youth to return to the city, and it's finally our turn."

"You can go home and reunite with your family now, congratulations."

"Sigh, I heard that the city can't accommodate so many of us educated youth returning to the city. I don't know what will happen to us after we go back this time."

Wu Qiutong skipped the topic and glanced at Liu Xiaoli's stomach, asking, "Comrade, you're pregnant, right?"

"Yes." Liu Xiaoli gently touched her slightly protruding belly and then looked up to introduce herself: "My name is Liu Xiaoli, and my husband's name is Chen Fusheng."

Chen Fusheng?
Wu Qiutong felt that the name was familiar.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she looked at Chen Fusheng with some surprise and said, "What a coincidence, your name is only one character different from the author of this piece called 'Bullfight'."

Chen Fusheng laughed and said, "Is it possible that Fusheng is actually me?"

After he finished speaking, he watched as Wu Qiutong and Li Mei performed a transformation in their expressions, from doubt to shock, right in front of him.

(End of this chapter)