Chapter 165 : An Eerie Smile
Chapter 165: An Eerie Smile
After the commissioner had completed the preparatory work and the train was in a ready-to-depart state, the two of them cross-checked the records. Two identical copies were made; each signed and pressed their fingerprints, and the handover was considered complete.
Along the route, different stations corresponded to quota targets for several factories. After loading and unloading were completed, record files would also be handed to him. Upon reaching the terminal, after switching tracks and returning in full, exchanging the record booklets and various station report forms marked the completion of one trip.
After the official departure, House no longer thought about irrelevant matters. He focused on controlling the train to run at a constant speed, while intermittently activating the anti-fatigue device that had to be manually triggered once every ten minutes, and sounding the horn to make his ears ring a little.
With no need to add combustible materials, the actual work of a train driver was fairly easy. The only drawback was boredom; doing the same thing for a long time would still exhaust a person.
But once he got used to it, it was just like that. The first trip was completed smoothly. After resting for half an hour at the terminal to recover his energy, he set off on the return journey.
The fully loaded train sped along the tracks. House lifted his large tea mug and took a sip of strong tea to refresh himself. Just as he set the mug down, he noticed that on the snow-covered track ahead, there seemed to be a mass lying across the rails.
However, the drifting goose-feather snow and the expanse of white ground severely interfered with his ability to discern it.
He was instantly alert, fearing it might be some animal resting there. He hurriedly pulled the lever to reduce speed while sounding the train’s horn. The sharp whistle echoed far, far into the night sky.
Yet the dark shape showed no reaction. When it entered visible range, House saw a scene that made his blood run cold—there were clearly several people lying across the tracks! Not one! Several!
The shrill, ear-piercing sound of braking mixed with the blaring horn. The train’s wheels threw up showers of sparks, while the sanding device at the front continued to spray sand to increase wheel friction.
The train’s braking system first used compressed air to push all the brake shoes up, allowing the train to move. When braking was needed, the driver only had to open the valve to release the air, and the braking of the entire train would immediately synchronize.
This reverse method had another advantage: when carriages detached from the locomotive, they naturally remained in a braked state and would not roll away.
But due to the train’s length, high speed, and large inertia, dumping all the air at maximum speed to engage the air brakes and clamp the wheels for maximum braking force still required a process.
For a freight train traveling at 90 km/h, this braking process required a distance of 800 meters. From the moment House confirmed the presence of a dark shape ahead to the onset of deceleration, less than three seconds passed.
But by the time he fully confirmed through the snow-covered mass that they were people and applied maximum braking, the distance between them had already exceeded the 800-meter limit.
The freezing weather and goose-feather snow had iced over the rails, extending the emergency braking distance. Under House’s despairing gaze, the train mercilessly crushed through them, then slid forward more than another hundred meters before finally stopping.
House collapsed into his seat, trembling all over. As a train driver, one’s eyesight had to be sharp, mental state stable and calm, and one had to be able to clearly and methodically do what needed to be done in emergencies—these were the key points of a train driver’s assessment.
He had clearly identified the target and perfectly executed everything he was supposed to do. But when everything had been done correctly and yet the desired outcome was not achieved, that sense of despair and helplessness became even more profound.
Especially in the final moment, he had even met the gaze of the woman lying on the tracks, and had clearly seen the seven- or eight-year-old child in her arms...
With trembling hands, House sent an emergency code via the wireless telegraph. The code was transmitted through signal posts set up along the tracks to the control department. The single-track section was sealed off, subsequent trains were prohibited from passing, and patrol personnel would come to inspect the situation.
He pushed open the door, walked along the narrow passage at the front of the train, and stepped into the snow. Seeing, more than a hundred meters away, a large splatter of bright red blood and rising steam, an indescribable feeling swept over him, causing him to collapse into the snow and retch uncontrollably.
He did not have to wait long. About half an hour later, several six-wheeled armored patrol vehicles appeared nearby. Dozens of railway patrol team members secured the area. Preliminary investigation indicated that the deceased were a family of three; further details would await the arrival of doctors and law enforcement patrol officers.
At the same time, the Railway Department removed the recording equipment from the train and, by comparing braking marks, calculated the driver’s handling and whether the speed had complied with regulations.
House was also taken away by the arriving police. Based on the preliminary on-site judgment, he had been traveling at the maximum stipulated speed of 90 km/h, which was not an issue. In snowy conditions with poor visibility, a braking distance of 650 meters was sufficient to rule out negligence or operational violations on his part.
Therefore, the police did not interrogate him—strictly speaking, it was an inquiry.
“I... I saw that woman. She was smiling at me...”
After recounting what he had witnessed, House added this sentence at the end. His whole body still would not stop trembling—not only because he had hit people, but also because of that woman’s smile.
For a person to show such an expression when facing death—House not wetting himself already counted as proof of strong mental fortitude.
The two officers conducting the questioning exchanged a glance. After asking a few more simple questions, they let House go home. Afterward, the Railway Department gave him a week of leave to help him settle his emotions.
Meanwhile, the officer responsible for the review submitted the report upward, noting House’s final statement and expressing hope that this suicide case could be investigated jointly with several previous ones.
However, during the procedural process, it was stalled and came to nothing.
In the following days, leaders and colleagues came one after another to visit and offer慰问. Everyone felt he had simply been unlucky to encounter such an incident and told him not to carry any psychological burden.
Such incidents were not exactly common, but if one really spoke of it, there were still a few every year—only this year there had been more.
This year...
What was different about this year? If one had to point out something different, it was that this winter was exceptionally cold, nearly ten degrees lower than in previous years.
However, because of the distribution of supplies and padded winter clothing, as well as ample coal for heating, it was not very noticeable as long as one did not go outside.
While resting, House tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. The moment he closed his eyes, he would recall the woman’s smile, the child in her arms, and the husband who held her tightly.
After the terror subsided somewhat, he increasingly felt that something was not quite right. At around minus thirty degrees, going outside to seek death—how much resolve would that require?
‘Knock, knock, knock.’
‘Is anyone home?’
An aged voice sounded from outside the house. House’s mother, who was tidying the living room, opened the door upon hearing it. “Who is it?”
‘Sorry, comrade. Do you have any coal crumbs you could spare an old man... My wife can’t really endure the cold.’
Hearing this, House’s mother smiled. “Oh, that’s no problem. I still have some. I’ll get you a bit right away.”
House came out upon hearing the voices, watching with some curiosity. Coal crumbs were small broken pieces of coal and still had to be bought with money. His mother was someone who loved to haggle—would she really give things away?
After the old man left with profuse thanks, House voiced his confusion.
He received a roll of the eyes from his mother. “I do haggle, but that’s because I don’t spend money I shouldn’t. Wasting the fruits of labor would be terrible! But this old man is different, sigh.”
“Didn’t their factory shut down for reconstruction? For some reason, they still haven’t settled the wages they owed those workers, nor provided proof-of-work records. Without money and without quota slips, they can only endure the cold.”