A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

"Sister, can you... help us?"

That voice, tinged with tears yet delivered in perfect Mandarin, touched the softest spot in the young woman's heart.

Lin Wenjun was completely stunned.

Her name is Lin Wenjun. She was a sent-down youth who was transferred from Beijing to a commune next to Hongqi Village three years ago. In this environment where everyone around her spoke with a heavy local accent, she hadn't heard such standard Mandarin for a very long time, let alone from the mouth of a little girl who looked only five or six years old and was covered in dirt!

This instantly gave her a strange sense of familiarity.

"Little sister, what's wrong?" Lin Wenjun quickly stepped forward, squatted down, and gently wiped away the tears on Su Nianci's face with a handkerchief. Her voice was so gentle it could melt your heart.

Before Su Nianci could answer, Old Wang sighed and briefly recounted the whole story, from how they were martyrs' orphans, to how they were abused by their relatives, and how they wanted to go north to join their father's comrades, but couldn't buy tickets because they didn't have a letter of introduction.

Lin Wenjun's eyes instantly reddened upon hearing this.

Looking at the two thin, pitiful children before her, she felt both pity and anger. Pity for their plight, and anger at the actions of those cruel relatives.

"This is outrageous! It's utterly immoral!" Lin Wenjun trembled with anger. Born into a scholarly family, her upbringing instilled in her a deep abhorrence of such bullying and betrayal.

She took Su Nianci's hand and asked softly, "Little sister, who taught you to speak Mandarin so well? It sounded so nice."

This is the key issue.

Su Nianci had already prepared her words. She lowered her eyes, tears still clinging to her long eyelashes, and said in a low voice, "My father... my father is a soldier. He used to work in Beijing. He taught me this from a young age. He said that I must study hard so that I can have a bright future."

This explanation is perfectly reasonable and flawless. It's perfectly normal for a soldier who has traveled all over the country to speak Mandarin.

Upon hearing this, Lin Wenjun felt an overwhelming pang of heartache. She could almost see a heroic father, before his sacrifice, placing such profound hopes on his daughter.

"Good child, truly a good child." Lin Wenjun patted her head, then stood up and said to Old Wang, "Uncle Wang, I'll take care of this!"

"What's it to you?" Old Wang was taken aback. "Wenjun, this is no small matter. Without a letter of introduction, no one can buy a ticket; that's the rule."

"Rules are rules, but people are flexible!" Lin Wen-jun's personality carried the stubbornness and idealism of young people of that era. "They are the descendants of martyrs. Now that they are in trouble, are we just going to stand by and watch them go down a dead end? What difference would we make from those wicked people who bully them?"

She paused, then took out a letter of introduction stamped with a red seal and some grain coupons from her canvas satchel and slapped them on the table.

"I'm on leave to visit relatives in Beijing, and this is a letter of introduction from my commune. Uncle Wang, could you please do me a favor and buy them two train tickets to the north in my name? I'll pay for it!"

Old Wang and the young patrolman were both stunned.

They never expected Lin Wenjun to go to such lengths for two complete strangers. You see, each person only gets one letter of introduction; once it's used, it's gone. She gave her spot to these two children; how would she return to the capital?

"Wenjun, have you gone mad?!" Old Wang exclaimed anxiously. "You've given them the letter of introduction, what will you do? You haven't been home for three years!"

"I'm fine!" Lin Wenjun's eyes were unusually firm. "If I can't go back, I can just wait another year. But if those two children stay here and are taken back by those wicked relatives, they'll die! Uncle Wang, my father always taught me that a person must have a conscience. If I just stand by and do nothing today, my conscience will never be at peace for the rest of my life!"

Looking at the educated youth sister in front of her who was arguing for her sake, Su Nianci felt a complex warmth welling up in her heart.

She had only intended to exploit the other person's sympathy to see if she could find any connections. But she never expected that this girl named Lin Wenjun would be so kind and upright, willing to sacrifice her chance to go home to help them.

This profound kindness left her somewhat bewildered, and it also caused a larger crack to appear in her heart, which had been encased in ice.

"Sister..." Su Nianci tugged at Lin Wenjun's sleeve, looked up, and said earnestly, "We have money, we can't use your money."

She spread out her small hand, revealing a five-yuan note soaked with sweat.

Lin Wenjun looked at the crumpled bill, then at Su Nianci's clear, bright eyes, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart. This little child already understood the importance of not owing others anything.

Seeing this scene before him and listening to Lin Wenjun's resounding words, Old Wang, a man who had witnessed the coldness and warmth of human relationships at the train station, was finally completely moved.

He remained silent for a long time, then suddenly slapped his thigh!

"Fine! Fine!" He seemed to have made up his mind. "Wenjun, take back your letter of introduction. You've finally come home; we can't let this go to waste! I'll figure something out for you!"

"Uncle Wang, you..." Lin Wenjun and Su Nianci looked at him in surprise.

Old Wang took out several blank receipts from the drawer, then found a pen and inkpad, and began writing something with his head down.

As he wrote, without looking up, he said, "My nephew works in the logistics department of the railway bureau. Sometimes they have some extra tickets that don't require a letter of introduction, but... the seats aren't great, they're on the slowest green trains. I'll apply for two tickets for you in my nephew's name to Harbin in the north. This Lu Zhenhua you mentioned, is he in the military region near Harbin?"

Su Nianci's heart pounded, and she nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

The address on her father's letter pointed to the Northern Military Region headquarters in the direction of Harbin!

"That's fine!" After writing it down, Old Wang took out his personal seal from the drawer, carefully stamped it, blew on the ink, and handed the two filled-out forms to Su Nianci. "Take these to window number three, and you can exchange them directly for tickets. Just say it's a railway bureau family ticket, and no one will give you any trouble."

He's using his authority and connections to forge two internal tickets for them!

This isn't just doing them a favor; it's risking losing your job to help them!

"Uncle Wang..." Lin Wenjun was so moved that she couldn't speak.

Su Nianci was somewhat stunned by the successive acts of kindness. She took the two heavy receipts, clutched them tightly in her hands, and then, holding Xiao Shitou's hand, bowed deeply, deeply to Lao Wang and Lin Wenjun.

"Thank you, Uncle! Thank you, Sister! Su Nianci will remember this kindness! I will definitely repay it in the future!"

Her voice wasn't loud, but the solemnity and promise in her tone left everyone present with no doubt.

With the "internal ticket," Su Nianci encountered almost no obstacles and easily obtained two genuine train tickets from window number three.

One ticket is full price, and the other is a half-price ticket for children. Destination: Harbin!

The moment Su Nianci held those two cardboard tickets, still smelling of ink, in her hands, her heart trembled.

Let's go north!

The goal that sustained her as she crawled out of hell and fled all the way was no longer a vague fantasy, but a tangible reality!

"Sister, can we... go now?" Little Stone looked up at the two tickets, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"Okay! We can go now!" Su Nianci nodded emphatically.

Seeing their happy faces, Lin Wenjun was genuinely happy for them. She glanced at her ticket and exclaimed with delight, "What a coincidence! I'm on the same train! Although my destination is farther than yours, at least we can travel together for a while. Come on, I'll take you to the waiting area; there's still some time before departure."

With Lin Wenjun, a "local," leading the way, Su Nianci and Xiao Shitou had far fewer troubles. Lin Wenjun not only bought them two hot meat buns but also fetched them a kettle of hot water.

In a corner of the waiting room, Su Nianci and Xiao Shitou wolfed down their first real meat buns. The delicious meat filling and soft dough were simply unparalleled.

After a satisfying meal, it was almost time for departure. With a long "whoosh," a long train, painted entirely green, billowing white smoke, slowly pulled into the platform.

That is the "Noah's Ark" they are about to embark on—the green train.

"Come on, let's get on the train!" Lin Wenjun pulled them along, joining the crowd of people checking tickets and boarding the train.