In Capital City, it was still primarily a vast expanse of white.
With the windows closed, it was somewhat warm inside the train car.
Yun Xiaoxiao had a poor appetite and did not finish a serving of food; two kids shared one portion, while everyone else had a serving each. Zhang Lanhua, probably because she was pregnant, also did not have a good appetite and did not finish her meal, it was Cao Dali who helped eat it.
The next day, someone finally claimed the upper bunk above them.
A young female comrade, seeing a child occupying a lower bunk.
"Whose child is this?"
Yun Xiaoxiao glanced at her. "Mine. Comrade, is there a problem?"
"Could you give this lower bunk to me?"
Do you have a lot of nerve?
If not, how could you shamelessly say that?
"I bought a ticket for it," Yun Xiaoxiao stated flatly.
A child can squeeze in with an adult.
"Comrade, if you want a lower bunk, you can ask the train conductor to help you rearrange," Zhao Xinxin spoke diplomatically.
"How much for this lower bunk?"
"Not for sale." Finally, Zhao Tianlei chimed in. He hadn’t even tried to squeeze into his son’s berth, and now someone wanted to sell his son’s berth.
The female comrade did not expect that in a sleeper compartment with six bunks, one family had taken up four.
"Third Brother, what’s going on?" Hearing the commotion, Zhao Tianhe from the next compartment came over, only to discover an unfamiliar female comrade.
This female comrade was even more astonished. There were people in the neighboring compartment too?
She dared not speak arrogantly anymore, being a lone female and afraid of getting beaten.
There were no issues on their side of the train car.
But there was trouble brewing in the next compartment over.
"Comrade, let’s swap for a different lower bunk. It’s difficult for this old lady here with a child to climb to an upper bunk," a voice said.
"Old lady, you can ask the train conductor if there are any lower bunks available, add a bit of money, and you might get one," Zhao Tianhe said indifferently.
The old lady was precisely trying to avoid paying more, which is why she had asked in the first place.
"Could my grandson squeeze with this little child here?"
"Not possible, we bought a ticket," Zhao Tianhe still maintained his smile.
"They’re all children, what’s a little squeeze? You’re a big young man, why can’t you take a small loss?"
Zhao Tianhe scoffed, "Why should I take a loss? You buy your own tickets, you don’t buy a lower bunk, and now you have the gall to try to take ours. Just because you’re older, do you think we should let you have it?"
"Yeah, why should we let you have it? It’s precisely because we were afraid of crowding that we bought a separate lower bunk for our child," stated Zhang Lanhua, who had lain down as soon as she boarded the train. Now this old lady with her child wanted to take Da Bao’s lower bunk.
"Don’t say we young people should give up our seats to someone of your age, I have no moral obligation, and you can’t coerce me," Zhang Lanhua said, then looked towards the old woman and child.
"Do you have tickets?"
Looking at them, they did not appear to be the type who had even a little money; both adult and child’s clothes were patched.
The old lady did not dare to speak further.
They had tickets, but they were for hard seats, not for sleeper berths.
This was why they had come to see if there were any unoccupied berths.
The rest of the journey to the provincial city was relatively calm.
They quickly hailed several pedicabs to the Provincial Bus Station.
They caught the morning bus.
After reaching the county town, they took the last bus to the town.
All of them were famished by then.
They had only snacked on a few apples and some sugar.