My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 4: A Difficult Journey

Dinner was the same as lunch, consisting of the steamed buns and pickled vegetables they had brought. The only difference was that Brother Zheng brought them a pot of hot water.

After thanking Brother Zheng and seeing the person off, the two ate steamed buns and pickled vegetables with hot water. When you're hungry, anything tastes good, and steamed buns made from two kinds of flour are a good thing to eat. After filling their stomachs and tidying up a bit, they lay down on the bed fully clothed. They were exhausted after a long day and fell asleep in no time.

I don't know how long I slept, until there was a loud knocking on the door. I opened my eyes and asked, only to find out that it was Grandpa Zheng knocking.

Grandpa Zheng reminded them from outside the door that it was getting late and they should get up so they wouldn't miss the bus. Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying didn't have watches and didn't know the time. They asked and found out that it was already 5 a.m., and there was only one hour left before the long-distance bus departed.

They quickly got up, washed up briefly, slung their bags over their shoulders, and went out. They thanked Grandpa Zheng and Brother Zheng again and said goodbye. The two headed towards the long-distance bus station in the still dark night.

When I arrived, the long-distance bus station was already bustling with activity. There were quite a few people catching the early bus. I asked around and bought two tickets to the provincial capital. I managed to board the long-distance bus before it departed at six o'clock. I found a seat and sat down. The bus left on time not long after.

The long-distance bus swayed and rattled as it left the county town, heading towards the provincial capital, hundreds of miles away. The road from the county town to the provincial capital wasn't actually that far. In later times, it would only take three or four hours by highway. But now, there were no highways to speak of. The only roads were national and rural roads, and these national roads were far from what we would have in later times. The roads were difficult to travel on, and the bus had to stop frequently, with passengers getting on and off along the way.

Although Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were very tired and sleepy, they dared not sleep on the bus, which was their first time traveling far from home. This long-distance bus was different from Grandpa Zheng's donkey cart. The people getting on and off the bus were a mixed bag. If someone took their luggage by chance, they would have nowhere to cry. So the two looked after each other and endured the whole day.

It wasn't until evening that Zhou Jiye and his companion, who had been on a long-distance bus for more than ten hours, finally arrived in the provincial capital. After getting off the bus, the two, who were almost falling apart, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Where is this train station?

Standing at the provincial capital's long-distance bus station, Zhou Jiye looked around blankly.

"You're asking me? You'll have to ask someone. Come on, let's ask the staff at the long-distance bus station." Lin Ying pointed to the brightly lit waiting room at the station. This isn't the future, and there's no mobile phone navigation. This is their first time here, so how would they know anything about this?

The two went to the waiting room and asked the staff. They learned that the train station was not far from the long-distance bus station. After leaving the long-distance bus station, they walked north and crossed the street to the train station, which was only a ten-minute walk away.

After thanking the other person, the two left the long-distance bus station with their luggage and quickly found the train station following the directions. At the train station, they found the ticket office, checked the train schedule posted on the wall, and finally found the train from the provincial capital to Shanghai.

"A ticket costs 14.2 yuan?"

Lin Ying frowned when she saw the ticket price. She hadn't expected train tickets to be so expensive. She knew that the monthly salary of an ordinary full-time worker was only 27.5 yuan. An ordinary farmer wouldn't earn that much in a year.

One person pays 14.2, two people pay 28.4. This amount is more than a month's salary for a regular worker. Although they had money with them when they came out, they didn't expect it to be so short-lived. Luckily, they didn't stay in a hotel last night and made do with a place at the grain station.

Even if it's expensive, I still have to buy a ticket. I can't just hop on the train and skip the fare, can I? It takes more than 30 hours to get from the provincial capital to Shanghai, and it's almost two days. It's impossible not to buy a ticket.

Lin Ying gave Zhou Jiye a wink, and Zhou Jiye nodded in understanding. The two carried their luggage to a corner, put it down, and Lin Ying was inside while the tall Zhou Jiye stood completely outside. Facing the corner, Lin Ying reached into her bosom and fumbled around, pulling out a wad of cash, counting it, and stuffing the extra money back in before turning around.

Protecting Lin Ying, the two squeezed to the ticket window, handed over the letter of introduction and money, and bought two tickets to Shanghai for the next morning.

After receiving the tickets, the two huddled together, examining them. Train tickets were different from those of later generations. In their time, paper tickets were no longer used; an ID card was all that was needed to board. Even printed tickets were different from those of today. The tickets of today were small, hard cards, barely wider than a finger, with the words "Provincial Capital Railway Station" printed on them. There was a line of numbers on the left and another line of four numbers on the right, presumably for anti-counterfeiting purposes. In the middle, there was only a thin piece of paper with the departure date, train number, carriage, and seat number printed on it. It looked as rudimentary as it could be.

After buying the ticket, I glanced at the clock hanging in the ticket hall. It was 9 p.m., and there were still several hours before departure.

It was their first time in the provincial capital, and since they were unfamiliar with the place, they didn't think about finding a hotel nearby for the night. Since they were already at the train station, they figured they might as well just go into the waiting hall and make do for the night.

Besides, the area around the train station is a mixed bag and not safe to begin with, so there's no need to go there for safety reasons. After discussing it, the two of them carried their luggage into the station, found a spot closest to the ticket gate, filled a mug with hot water, used their luggage as a backrest, ate two steamed buns with pickled vegetables, and chatted idly for a while. Soon, the two of them leaned against each other and fell asleep.

They didn't sleep well at all that night, waking up and falling asleep intermittently in the noisy waiting room. They finally made it to dawn and, seeing that there was still some time before departure, they went to the side to wash their faces with cold water. After they finished washing up, it was finally time to depart. Since the provincial capital was the first stop, they were on time and boarded the train on time. After finding their seats and putting their luggage away, Zhou Jiye let Lin Ying sit in the window seat inside while he sat on the outside. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The train journey from the provincial capital to Shanghai takes a full thirty-two hours, and if there are delays along the way, the time is unpredictable. This means that Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying will have to spend at least two days and one night on the train. Sitting for such a long time is practically like putting their butts to a pulp.

They were lucky, as they managed to get seats on the first train departing from the provincial capital; otherwise, standing tickets would have been unbearable. At first, the train was quite energetic and even a little curious about this era's trains. However, it didn't take long for the monotonous train ride to become unbearable. The constant clattering and rattling was deafening, the carriages were noisy and chaotic, and the lingering smells of smoke, sweat, stench, fish, and other indescribable odors mixed together made them dizzy and lightheaded.

For safety reasons, the two of them stayed in their seats at all except when they went to the toilet. Even when they went to the toilet, they went separately, leaving one of them to watch the luggage.

They endured this for more than ten hours until they couldn't take it anymore. They fell asleep together and slept soundly for a long time. Zhou Jiye was finally woken up by the urge to urinate.

When he woke up, he felt his shoulder was wet. He turned his head and saw Lin Ying sleeping soundly with her head on his shoulder. Her mouth was slightly open, and she would smack her lips every now and then, drooling all over the floor, as if she was dreaming of something delicious.

"Wake up! Hey! Wake up!" Zhou Jiye nudged Lin Ying and called out twice in a disgusted tone.

Lin Ying, with her eyes closed, not only didn't wake up, but instead leaned closer to him, hugged his arm tightly, and mumbled something under her breath.

Seeing her like this, Zhou Jiye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He reached out and gently patted her cheek twice, then called out in her ear, "Wake up! We're here!"

These words were more effective than anything else. Lin Ying instantly opened her eyes, her gaze blank. She subconsciously raised her hand to wipe her mouth, looked around before coming to her senses. "We're in Shanghai?"

"Shanghai? If you keep sleeping, you'll be in Albania!" Zhou Jiye said irritably.

Where to now?

"I heard on the radio that we've just passed through Central China Province, and are still far from Shanghai."

"Then why did you call me? It's still early, let me sleep a little longer." Lin Ying said irritably, and continued to tug at Zhou Jiye's arm, looking like she wanted to keep sleeping.

"I'll sleep later, I need to pay the water bill first, I'm about to burst. And look at this, my dear, can't you sleep a little more gracefully? You're drooling all over the floor."

Following the direction Zhou Jiye was pointing, Lin Ying finally noticed a puddle of water on his shoulder. Lin Ying blushed slightly, but quickly returned to normal.

"Why are you being so particular about these things when you're out and about? Does it make you look like you care about hygiene? Go on, go on, come back soon." Lin Ying waved her hand and shifted her position.

Zhou Jiye twisted his stiff neck and was about to get up to go to the toilet, but before he could even stand up, his expression suddenly changed.

"Fuck!"

"what happened?"

"I've been robbed!" Zhou Jiye touched his left pocket, his face turning black. He didn't know when his pocket had been ripped open and was completely empty.

"Did you lose money?" Lin Ying asked nervously. When they left, the two of them had divided the money into two parts for safety. One part was on Lin Ying and the other half was on Zhou Jiye. Could it be that the thief grandpa had taken all of Zhou Jiye's money?

"The money wasn't lost; it was all hidden in my underwear pocket. But I bet the thief mistook the wad of toilet paper I had in my pocket for money and took it," Zhou Jiye muttered with a bitter face. Hearing this, Lin Ying's expression softened, but then her eyes lit up, and she suddenly screamed and cried out, "Damn it! Thieves! There are thieves on the train! My husband's money is all gone! How am I supposed to live now?!"

She cried and cursed, tears streaming down her face, and occasionally slapped her thigh like a country woman. Her shouting instantly brought the dimly lit carriage to a boil in the middle of the night, and everyone was jolted awake and instinctively looked in their direction.

"What are you doing?"

"Are you stupid?! What if the thief comes back to retaliate if we don't yell a few times? Besides, this thief even steals toilet paper, so someone else in the carriage must have been robbed too. Making a big fuss about this won't do any harm!" Lin Ying said to Zhou Jiye while wailing.

Zhou Jiye's eyes lit up instantly, and he understood. He hadn't expected Lin Ying to be so quick-witted. This was really the right thing to do. What if the thief came back if they weren't scared away? He was lucky to have his toilet paper stolen just now, but what if the money in his underwear pocket had actually been taken? Wouldn't he regret it to death?

Immediately, Zhou Jiye, with a mournful face, also started cursing. As he cursed, he stood up and showed everyone his ripped trouser pocket, repeatedly cursing that the thief deserved to die a horrible death, not only stealing money but also ruining his perfectly good pair of trousers.

Everyone couldn't help but cast sympathetic glances at Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying. Just then, someone in the carriage suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"My money! Mine was stolen too!"

"Holy crap! My purse was slashed, and all the money and documents inside are gone!"

"I had mine stolen too!"

"Me too! You damned brat! May your son be born without an anus!"

……

Cries and curses filled the carriage. Several people had lost their belongings. After such an incident, the other passengers who had been sleeping all the way were no longer able to sleep. They hurriedly checked their luggage and valuables. Those who found that their belongings had been stolen naturally cursed loudly, while those who had not suffered any losses secretly rejoiced. The entire carriage was extremely noisy.

Soon after, the train conductor and police officer arrived at the scene. They were helpless upon seeing what had happened. Similar incidents were all too common on the train, occurring several times a day. Although the conductor and police officer patrolled each carriage, thieves were impossible to prevent. Unless they caught them in the act, there was nothing they could do.

But since so many people were robbed today, the necessary procedures still had to be followed. The train police officer inquired about the situation, registered everyone who had lost their belongings, and then solemnly warned everyone not to be careless on the train and to always be vigilant against thieves. After that, he left without resolving any of the issues.

And so, the person who lost the money could only accept their bad luck and continue cursing the thief on the train. The others were also still shaken. After what happened, no one dared to sleep anymore. Looking around, they felt that all the strangers around them seemed like thieves.

After such a terrible incident in their carriage, the rest of the journey was much safer, and nothing else happened until the train reached its final destination, Shanghai.

The speed of trains in this era is truly frustrating. What used to take only a few hours on a high-speed train now takes more than thirty hours, and it also has to stop at stations frequently. With all the delays along the way, by the time the train arrived at the old North Station of Shanghai, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying had already been on the train for two days and two nights.

(End of this chapter)