This was Xibao’s first time riding a train. When he woke up, he rubbed his eyes and didn’t cry. He promptly crawled to one end of the bed, his chubby face pressed against the glass window, and pointed outside from time to time, calling, "Mummy, Mummy!"
Now day had broken. Outside was a splendid view covered in a blanket of white.
Xibao was astonished, his eyes wide open without even blinking.
The conductor had brought hot water early. Feng Qingxue made some milk formula, stuffed the bottle into Xibao’s arms, and while holding him, she explained to him about the sights that just passed by, while saying with a smile, "We are riding the train to find Daddy."
Xibao spat out the pacifier, cried out, "Daddy," and continued drinking his milk.
"Yes, we’re going to find Daddy!"
Just as Feng Qingxue finished speaking, a dining car passed by outside, making a greeting, "Comrade, would you like to buy food?"
"Buy, buy, buy!" Feng Qingxue hastily placed Xibao on the bed, and quickly took out her own food container, grain ticket, and money and bought a bowl of steaming hot noodles. The pork head meat buried in the soup softened quickly and the temperature was just right.
After drinking the milk formula, Xibao showed his dissatisfaction and crawled over to her, eating a few strands of noodles and drinking two mouthfuls of soup.
Feng Qingxue held him and went to the tea room to clean the milk bottle and chopsticks, and ran into the train conductor, a Mr. Li. Mr. Li said, "Later, I will ask Xiaowang to put a bucket in the compartment for washing and water convenience. It will be easier for the child to relieve himself. Just ask her to take it out and empty it before bedtime every day, you mother and son should stay inside if there’s no need to go out."
Xiaowang, the one who arranged for Feng Qingxue and her son to enter the sleeping compartment, indeed brought a portable toilet with a lid, delivered hot water at fixed times, greeted them when the dining car passed by. Indeed, other than Feng Qingxue needing to step out to the toilet, there was really no need to go out anymore.
After receiving the telegram, Lu Jiang worried during the day and night.
This year he had been inscrutable, and it was hard for others to see his emotions. Moreover, he was increasingly low-key, but recently everyone could clearly feel his agitation, especially as the soldiers below were drilled over and over again.
A large group of people lay flat on the ground, utterly disregarding their own weary appearances.
They lay there, heads touching heads, and started talking.
"If this goes on, we’ll die, it’s too much to bear!"
"I almost collapsed from exhaustion."
"Is the brigade commander excited? I heard the sister-in-law is coming with his child."
"Excited? I thought he was angry, training us , but although it’s tiring, we’ve made a lot more progress than before!"
"Who told you this? Our conditions here are so poor, we’re in a high-altitude area with severe weather conditions. Traveling back and forth is a waste of time, and the train tickets are incredibly expensive. Will the sister-in-law really travel here to visit the brigade commander with the child?"
"Han Ping told me. The places in the army where outsiders can stay are all reserved for the performance troupe. So, when the sister-in-law arrives, she’ll stay in the brigade commander’s dormitory. According to Han Ping, the bed and bedding are all prepared, the army even provided a hot water bottle, towels, enamel basin and washbasin, just waiting for the sister-in-law and child to move in. I heard that the brigade commander’s chubby son is very adorable, we will be able to see him soon."
Compared to the number of people eagerly awaiting Feng Qingxue and her son’s arrival, there were even more soldiers looking forward to the arrival of the performance troupe. As they had hoped, the performance troupe successfully reached the military district and moved into the designated living quarters.
Seeing the flower-like young female soldiers of the performance troupe, the hearts of the soldiers were stirred.
Although Lu Jiang didn’t even glance at them, he started calculating the days on a piece of paper. The telegram he received included the departure date. After careful calculation, they should arrive in a few days, so he was very reluctant when Ye Zhengjun sent someone to call him to watch the rehearsal.
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