"Mom, the train is moving."
Yun Xiaoxiao patted their heads and explained, "The train has started. It moves by burning water in its boiler to create high-pressure steam, which drives the pistons in the steam engine to generate power, making the train go."
Da Bao and Xiao Bao didn’t fully understand, but Zhao Tianlei got it.
His wife knew so much.
"Mom, if they don’t burn coal, will the train stop?"
"Maybe in the future, we can develop other resources to replace coal and keep the trains running."
Yun Xiaoxiao looked at Zhao Tianlei, "Do you need to sleep?"
With two kids and their luggage to watch over, they had to take turns keeping an eye on everything. They couldn’t expect him to look after it all alone.
"I’ll go ask the conductor, you watch the kids."
He could manage a hard seat by himself; he was a grown man, after all.
But his wife and the little ones couldn’t do that.
They certainly needed to sleep at night.
Zhao Tianlei went to find the conductor. He didn’t recognize him, but the conductor recognized Zhao Tianlei immediately.
"Aren’t you that comrade? Do you need something?"
"Comrade, do you have any sleeper tickets? We’re going to be on the train for several days, and I’m not sure if my wife and children can handle it."
"Just a moment, let me check and see."
The conductor truly knew Zhao Tianlei, even though he had darkened a bit, he recognized him right away.
After all, they received a commendation when they caught that human trafficker on their train.
"Comrade, there are two sleeper tickets available, one lower berth and one upper berth."
Zhao Tianlei immediately took out three train tickets and handed them over.
"There are four of us. My oldest child is six, and the youngest is three."
You bought tickets for the children?
"Children don’t need tickets, you need to pay eight more yuan."
Zhao Tianlei quickly took out the money, and the conductor gave him two sleeper tickets.
Zhao Tianlei returned and took their luggage down from the overhead compartment. "Let’s go..."
Yun Xiaoxiao hurriedly followed Zhao Tianlei, with the two kids in tow.
The people around them looked on curiously.
Where are they going?
Have they arrived at their station?
"You take the two kids and sleep on the lower berth, I’ll sleep on the upper."
After they found their spots in the carriage, Zhao Tianlei arranged it this way; he couldn’t expect his wife to climb up and down.
The bedding had a bit of an odor, but thinking about how the two kids wouldn’t suffer through the night made it bearable. Besides, the berth was just wide enough for one person; it was too narrow compared to the sleeper compartments of the twenty-first-century trains.
Why be fastidious when you’re out and about?
"Mom, it’s not cramped here..."
Seeing Xiao Bao about to stick his head out to look, Yun Xiaoxiao quickly pulled him back.
"You can’t stick your head out, or it might hit a tree, and then you would lose your head."
That not only scared the two kids but also a child sitting opposite them. "Go to sleep."
Zhao Tianlei climbed into the upper berth and closed his eyes to sleep; he still had to keep watch at night, not assuming that there wouldn’t be thieves just because they were in a sleeper.
"Do you want to go to sleep?"
Da Bao and Xiao Bao shook their heads, "Mom, we’re not sleepy."
Well then, if they sleep at night, the three of them would just have to squeeze in together; what else could they do?
Zhao Tianlei on the upper berth curled his legs and closed his eyes to sleep.