The Return Journey

We've been neighbors for decades, who doesn't know who?

If I didn't know you so well, I would have been completely taken aback by this fabricated story.

Chen's mother understood what Ma Mei meant from her eyes, and a surge of anger immediately welled up inside her.

She admitted that Chen Weidong had indeed been somewhat unreliable in the past, but that didn't mean he always had been.

"Would I lie to you? Go back and check the October issue yourself. You'll see the name 'Chen Weidong' in it soon."

After finishing her conversation, Chen's mother paid the bill and turned to leave the grocery store.

Could it really be true?!

Knowing Chen's mother's personality, Ma Mei couldn't help but have her doubts. However, considering the things Chen Weidong had done in the past, she still couldn't believe it.

The next day, Chen's mother started packing Chen Weidong's things early in the morning.

"Mom, let's not take this bag of flour. It's too heavy."

"Take this back and make some dumplings and steamed buns for your wife and two kids."

"Keep this meat for yourselves, I'll buy more when I get back."

"Just take it. It's not convenient to buy things where you are, but you can buy them at home if you want to eat them. Your wife is in postpartum confinement now and needs nutrition."

……

When Chen Weidong came back, he only had one package, but when he left, it turned into two sacks full of meat, noodles, oil... everything was there, he almost took the pot with him.

Chen's mother glanced out the window, then took out a few tickets from her bosom and handed them over.

"Take these coupons and don't lose them. Your father recently exchanged them with someone. Take the cloth coupon back and use it to make some new clothes for the children and your wife."

Chen Weidong looked through them and found grain coupons, meat coupons, and cloth coupons, in denominations of half a jin, one jin, and five jin. He even specially exchanged the grain coupons for national grain coupons.

"Mother, I don't need that much. I'll keep this cloth coupon; you can keep the rest."

"Take this and hide it well. This is for your wife, not for you. Su Man has been married into our family for three or four years, and your father and I have never been able to visit her. She even had to go alone during her postpartum period. Consider this our compensation to her."

"When you get back, be more diligent. Don't just play around. Help Su Man with some chores. It's not easy for her to take care of two children by herself."

"And about returning to the city, remember to keep asking the brigade leaders. If there's really no way, write to us, and we'll let your father retire, and you can come back and take his place. Got it?"

Chen's mother instructed Chen Weidong, saying that although Chen Weidong usually caused her a lot of worry, he was still her own flesh and blood. She scolded and beat him all for his own good. Now that her son was going to the countryside again, how could she not feel sorry for him?

"I've got it."

Chen Weidong nodded. If it were his previous life, he would have been impatient by now, after all, he had heard it so many times that his ears were calloused.

Hearing his mother's nagging again now fills him with warmth.

Father Chen tied the sack to the bicycle, the only Flying Pigeon brand bicycle in the Chen family. Although it was second-hand, Father Chen had kept it shiny and well-maintained.

Mr. Chen took a day off today and will take him to the station to catch his train later.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I'm leaving now. I'll come back to see you again in a while."

"Be careful on the road, eat when you're hungry, and tell Grandma if you run out of money."

Grandma Chen held Chen Weidong's hand with deep reluctance, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I understand, I'll be going now."

Chen Weidong's eyes were also sore at this moment. He picked up the bundle on the kang and went out. Just then, he saw Chen Xiaoteng and Chen Xiaoting running over from the west wing. Chen Xiaoting, who was running behind, hadn't even buttoned up her cotton-padded coat. It was obvious that she had just woken up.

"Second Uncle, are you leaving?"

Chen Xiaoteng asked Chen Weidong.

"Yes, your second uncle will come back to see you again in a while."

"Second Uncle, I don't want you to leave. Can you please stay?"

Chen Xiaoting hugged Chen Weidong's leg, looked up and said, her voice tinged with sobs. She had finally found someone to come back and buy her delicious food every day. Once Chen Weidong left, she would definitely not be able to eat popsicles, peach cakes... anymore.

"Don't be silly, your second uncle has to catch a train soon."

Sister-in-law Chen scolded, then pulled Chen Xiaoteng and Chen Xiaoting to her side.

Chen Weidong patted his two nephews on the head, nodded to his father, and the two walked outside.

"Has Wei Dong left?"

Wang Wu, carrying a chamber pot, saw Chen Weidong's large and small bags and asked him a question.

"Yes, I still have some things to do in the countryside, so I can't stay too long."

Chen Weidong nodded.

……

Although it was early morning, almost all the neighbors who went to work in the alley were already up. Chen Weidong and his father walked and talked to each other, and it took them a good ten minutes to walk the 500-meter alley.

The vehicle was loaded with things, and only one person could ride it at a time, so Chen Weidong and his father had to take turns riding it.

Chen Weidong hadn't ridden this kind of bicycle with a frame for decades, and he wasn't used to it at first. Luckily, he had long legs and could hold on tight, so he didn't throw the things off the bike.

It took the two of them a full hour to reach Yanjing Station.

"Father, I'm going in now."

Chen Weidong had a burlap sack on his shoulder, another in his hand, and two packages in his arms.

"Yeah, let's go in early and grab a seat."

Mr. Chen nodded silently, watching Chen Weidong's back until the latter completely disappeared into the crowd before reluctantly turning away.

……

Chen Weidong was quite lucky; he arrived early and managed to snag a seat. Although it was next to the toilet and smelled a bit strong, he was still pretty good at getting a seat.

At that time, the railway sold "hard-board tickets". The ticket seller sold tickets like dispensing Chinese medicine, randomly drawing tickets from the compartments and then manually stamping the date on them.

The tickets don't have seat numbers printed on them, only the train number, date, and price, so being able to buy a ticket at all is already quite a feat.

Luckily it's not during the Spring Festival travel rush, otherwise, let alone finding a seat, it would be a problem if we could even get on the bus with all these bags.

Chen Weidong had just put the sacks and packages under his seat when the vehicle was already full of people, and even the aisle was crowded with people.

He thought he had taken enough, but compared to the others on the bus, he had taken very little. Some passengers even packed chickens and ducks onto the bus.

Not long after the car started moving, a loud voice was heard, its volume completely drowning out the clatter of the wheels and the noise of the passengers, with the last syllable deliberately drawn out.

"Hot water! Boiling water, please! For tea, formula, or medicine, bring over the containers!"

"Comrades, elderly folks, please make way, be careful not to get burned! Watch your hands—"

A man was dressed in a "railway-style Zhongshan suit," with a stand-up collar, five buttons, two visible pockets on the chest, and two concealed pockets at the hem, the pocket flaps fastened with bone buckles. The trousers were straight-legged and wide-crotch, with two pleats on each side of the waist, and a canvas belt at the waistband.

Wearing a large blue round hat with a black leather band around the brim and the brim pressed into a duckbill shape, with a bronze road emblem riveted on the front, and black rubber-soled cloth shoes, the water supplier walked over and looked very energetic.

……

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