Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Setting Off for Beijing

There was also the matter of saying goodbye to the Ji family father and son, and asking if they needed anything bought or brought back from the city.

From their previous conversations, Gu Qinghuan had picked up on their accent and realized they were also from Beijing.

Gu Qinghuan brought them a few jin of persimmons from her space, as well as two cured fish.

When Old Man Ji heard they were going to Beijing for medical treatment, he was very supportive. Ji Linhai seemed thoughtful, sighed in the end, but said nothing.

“Brother Ji, I have a favor to ask. You probably know my mother and the others are in the cowshed in the neighboring village. I don’t know when I’ll be back this time, and I’m worried something might happen to them.

If anything does, please help them out. You’re capable, much more so than they are. When I return, I’ll thank you properly.”

After that, Gu Qinghuan briefly mentioned Zhong Zijun’s injury, and subtly brought up Wang the Cripple.

Ji Linhai knew about Zhong Zijun’s existence—they lived nearby, after all. Zhong Zijun usually hid at home, which could fool outsiders, but not Ji Linhai’s sharp eyes.

After all, no one’s house can lock the door from the inside when everyone’s out.

But he’d only kept it to himself and never said anything.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an ear out. If anything happens and I can help, I definitely will.”

Gu Qinghuan was just being cautious, worried that her mother and the others would only share good news and not bad, so she mentioned it to Ji Linhai as a backup. She never expected that this extra word would end up saving Zhong Zijun’s life.

That’s why you should never underestimate anyone.

After taking care of everything, the two of them went home.

Dabao and Beibei had already packed their own things neatly, clothes and shoes folded and ready, just waiting for Gu Qinghuan to come back and pack up together.

Ever since they heard in the morning that the whole family was going to Beijing, they’d been over the moon.

Beijing is the capital of China, after all—and they actually got to go to such an amazing place!

They were already looking forward to it before they’d even left.

Since Gu Qinghuan’s room was already packed up, with the bedding put away, she couldn’t be bothered to take it all out again, so she decided to just sleep on the kang with them tonight.

Don’t get the wrong idea—northern kang beds are huge. With one person at each end, it’s basically like sleeping in a big dormitory.

They had to get up early to leave the next day, so Gu Qinghuan made sure everyone ate and went to bed early that night.

After the two kids fell asleep, Gu Qinghuan, half-awake, heard Xu Huaian still tossing and turning.

She mumbled, “What are you rolling around for? Go to sleep—you won’t get to tomorrow.”

Xu Huaian whispered, “Oh.”

He was just excited—it was his first time sleeping on the same kang as Gu Qinghuan. Even though the two kids were between them, it was still the same bed, which meant Gu Qinghuan didn’t mind him anymore.

If Gu Qinghuan knew what he was thinking, she’d just say: “Buddy, don’t overthink it. I’m just lazy!”

Gu Qinghuan fell asleep quickly, while Xu Huaian listened to her breathing, unable to sleep for a while, thinking about what might happen in Beijing, until he finally drifted off in the middle of the night.

Early the next morning, before dawn, Gu Qinghuan got up.

She made egg pancakes for breakfast. She’d thought about making cornmeal porridge, but that stuff makes you pee a lot, which isn’t convenient for traveling.

After a simple breakfast, the family split up to get ready—Xu Huaian took the kids to finish packing, while Gu Qinghuan put the bedding from the kang into her space.

She checked everywhere inside and out to make sure nothing was left behind, and then they were ready to go.

They were bringing quite a lot this time, since the weather was getting cold. Everyone wore one set of cotton-padded clothes and carried another, which took up a lot of space—each person had a big backpack.

They also brought plenty of food, water, and other necessities for the trip.

Gu Qinghuan wanted to just toss everything into her space for convenience, but Xu Huaian insisted on carrying as much as possible himself. Even if he couldn’t take it all, he wanted to carry most of it.

It was one thing to fool outsiders, but the kids were growing up and could sense things too. Xu Huaian didn’t want Gu Qinghuan to be put in danger, so he wanted to make sure nothing could go wrong.

So when the family set out, everyone was carrying a heavy load, looking like refugees.

Xu Huaian joked with the kids, “This is called being prepared for a rainy day—always bring an umbrella and dry food, so nothing can go wrong.”

First, the family had to walk from the village to the commune, where they could catch a ride to the county seat. From there, they’d take a minibus to the provincial capital, where the train station was.

As for train tickets to Beijing, they could only buy them once they got to the provincial capital. It was too far to buy in advance—travel was just that hard in those days.

After hauling their bags around all morning, the family finally made it to the train station near noon.

Looking around, there were people everywhere—passengers, people seeing others off, and small-time vendors sneaking around selling things.

One woman sidled up with a basket, “Miss, want some boiled eggs? Laid by my own chickens, really tasty.”

Gu Qinghuan waved her off, and the woman went off to find her next target.

It wasn’t that no one cared—profiteering was a serious crime in those days—but the authorities couldn’t be everywhere, so these vendors would sneak in whenever they could.

Business was good at the train station, and people were easy to fool.

At the station, Xu Huaian reminded the kids to always hold an adult’s hand.

He’d heard plenty of stories about kids getting lost or kidnapped on trains.

Dabao and Beibei were obedient. Even though they were curious, they knew to stick close and held on tight.

Gu Qinghuan held Beibei’s hand, Xu Huaian held Dabao’s—one each.

With so many people in the station, it was easy to lose sight of each other in a blink, so their hands were sweaty from holding on so tightly, but they didn’t dare let go.

The whole family was good-looking, which drew a lot of attention. Whenever someone tried to strike up a conversation, Gu Qinghuan just assumed they were up to no good and coldly turned them away.

The train to Beijing left at 3 p.m.

Xu Huaian thought for a moment, then took out his credentials and spoke politely to the ticket seller, finally managing to get two sleeper tickets.

He would never have used his status to get a sleeper for himself, but now that he had a family, and the trip to Beijing would take two days and a night, he couldn’t bear to let Gu Qinghuan and the kids suffer in hard seats.

So he shamelessly used the privileges the state had given him.

With tickets in hand and plenty of time left, they decided to get something to eat.

There was a state-run restaurant right next to the station.

Xu Huaian took them there for a meal.

They didn’t have enough ration tickets, so he quietly traded some money for more. They’d need all kinds of tickets for this trip to Beijing.

The menu was written in chalk on a small blackboard outside: big meat buns, white steamed buns, shredded pork noodles, zhajiang noodles, sweet and sour pork, potato and rib stew, chicken and mushroom stew.

Inside, it was so crowded there was nowhere to sit—most people just bought something easy to carry and ate on the go.

Looking at the kids, Gu Qinghuan waited while Xu Huaian squeezed in and bought ten big meat buns and ten steamed buns.

He brought them out, steaming hot, and the four of them stood by the roadside and dug in. That was just how things were in those days—no one would laugh at you.

And honestly, the state-run restaurant’s meat buns were really good—thin skin, lots of filling, great flavor, and most importantly, they were all starving.

Dabao and Beibei each ate two buns and one of the boiled eggs Gu Qinghuan had made that morning, which was enough.

Gu Qinghuan had two buns and a big steamed bun before she finally felt full.

Xu Huaian could really eat—he put away four big meat buns and three steamed buns.

Gu Qinghuan stared at him in amazement—where did he put all that food?

“Waa… waa…”

Suddenly, the sound of a baby crying rang out."

"Chapter 88: Encounter with a Child Trafficker