Chapter 193: Think She’s Kind and Easy to Bully?
The next day, the two of them were on a train to Jiang City.
The train ride from West State to Su Cheng was three days and three nights long, so Su Zhaozhao had brought quite a few things.
She’d stuffed Xie Huaizheng’s bag to the brim, while her own belongings were few.
Xie Huaizheng couldn’t help but protest, "You don’t have to. Keep it for yourself. We’ll have food there."
"I can’t eat all this," Su Zhaozhao said. "Besides, the train might be a bit chaotic, and I don’t want to carry too much."
’The main reason was that her belongings were all in her space, which made them easy to access. There was no need to deliberately carry them on her person.’
’Plus, as a young woman, carrying so many things around would attract unwanted attention.’
"Alright. I’ll carry it and give it to you later." Xie Huaizheng had the same thought and stuffed everything into his military backpack.
His backpack was much larger than Su Zhaozhao’s—so big it could practically fit her inside.
It was already packed with many of his own items.
Su Zhaozhao also put a lot of medicine in Xie Huaizheng’s backpack.
The food she provided was mostly dried rations she had secretly taken from her space—they were delicious and stored well.
’She knew Xie Huaizheng and his comrades would surely have their own food, but the options in this era were limited. Things like compressed biscuits weren’t very tasty.’
Su Zhaozhao had also specially prepared two packed lunches in insulated containers. This way, they could at least enjoy a hot meal today.
Soon, they set off for West State Railway Station.
Xiao Yuanming drove them there.
"Sister-in-law, you’re finally able to head back! I’d love to visit Jiang City myself. I hear it’s a real Jiangnan Water Village over there—really beautiful, with lots of pretty girls. But Brother Zheng never takes me on his missions. He’s so unfair," Xiao Yuanming grumbled.
"I’ll be sure to call you next time," Xie Huaizheng replied icily.
Su Zhaozhao smiled as well. "When you get leave in the future, if I happen to be in Jiang City, you’re welcome to come hang out."
"What? Sister-in-law, you’re not coming back here anymore?" Xiao Yuanming sounded a little surprised. "I heard from Brother Zheng that you’re an amazing cook, and I haven’t even gotten to try your food yet!"
"I’ll be back, but it won’t be for a while," Su Zhaozhao said.
’It would most likely be after Xie Huaizheng finished his mission.’
Xie Huaizheng had said his mission would take about half a month. During that time, they wouldn’t have any contact. She would go to her maternal grandparents’ home first and wait for him to meet up with her after he was done.
’She was a little worried about his mission, but she had to trust him.’
’He had plot armor, after all.’
"That’s good to hear. Sister-in-law, I’m really looking forward to trying your cooking someday..." Xiao Yuanming said.
To be honest, he was getting a little tired of the food at the military base’s cafeteria and was eager to find out just how delicious Su Zhaozhao’s cooking really was.
"Of course! When I get back, I’ll invite you all over. And bring those other soldiers along too!"
’She still remembered the soldiers she’d met on the train. They had even spoken up for her later during the confrontation with Jiang Manzhi.’
’She had always thought Xie Huaizheng’s comrades-in-arms were good men. They trained together every day, sharing life and death.’
’So she genuinely wanted to treat them well.’
’None of them had it easy. They had all come from all corners of the country to this remote, underdeveloped region to serve as soldiers, and none of them were very old.’
Xie Huaizheng turned to Su Zhaozhao and said, "Zhaozhao, don’t work yourself too hard. They eat a lot."
"It’s no trouble." Su Zhaozhao beamed at Xie Huaizheng. "Your friends are my friends."
"That’s right, that’s right! We’re the sister-in-law’s friends too!"
Driving up front, Xiao Yuanming listened to the lovey-dovey talk between Su Zhaozhao and Xie Huaizheng, and the sweetness was enough to make his teeth ache.
’But honestly, he was really envious of Xie Huaizheng. Their company commander was great in every way; even the wife he ended up finding was so beautiful and had such a good personality.’
’Man, if only he could have such a happy and wonderful life too someday.’
Once they arrived at the station and boarded the train, Xie Huaizheng first helped Su Zhaozhao stow her luggage. He even fetched her some hot water before heading to his own car.
Before he left, he reminded Su Zhaozhao, "If you need anything, just come find me in the next car."
"Okay, you go on. Don’t worry about me."
’But how could he not worry about her?’
Even though they were only one car apart, he was still a bit concerned.
However, military orders were absolute. It wasn’t as if he could get reassigned to Su Zhaozhao’s car with just a word.
He couldn’t do that; it would reflect poorly on him in the army.
Su Zhaozhao wasn’t the type to make a fuss. After Xie Huaizheng left, she simply took out a book and began to read.
’It was actually a romance novel from her own time.’
’Her space contained all sorts of books, including novels.’
’It was just that she had gotten used to listening to audiobooks and reading on her phone. Holding a physical book again felt a little surreal.’
Soon, the green train lurched into motion. It moved slowly; trains in this era weren’t nearly as fast as the ones she was used to.
That was why the journey back to Jiang City took so long.
’With no phone, she could only pass the time by reading and sleeping.’
In the blink of an eye, several hours had passed.
Having finished her book, Su Zhaozhao felt a bit tired and lay down to get some sleep.
She was in a lower bunk. Xie Huaizheng had specifically chosen it for her, thinking it would be more convenient—she could sit up or lie down whenever she wanted, without the exhausting climb to an upper bunk.
Just then, the train reached the next station. A woman boarded, holding a child who looked to be about three or four.
They were just passing through the car. As Su Zhaozhao was about to lie down, the woman’s gaze suddenly landed on her.
She was about to walk past, but her steps faltered. She looked at Su Zhaozhao. "Excuse me, miss. I have an upper bunk ticket. Would you be willing to switch with me? It’s not convenient for me to climb up and down while holding a child, you see?"
Su Zhaozhao froze. She looked at all the people around them. The lower bunk directly across from her was occupied by a middle-aged man in his forties, but the woman hadn’t even glanced his way, choosing to ask her instead.
"Where is your bunk?" Su Zhaozhao asked.
"Not far, just two bunks down from yours," the woman said with a wide smile.
As she spoke, she set her luggage down on Su Zhaozhao’s bunk.
Su Zhaozhao: "???"
’Wait, I haven’t even agreed. How could she just put her things here?’
’Not to mention, lower bunks were much more expensive than upper ones, and this woman clearly had no intention of paying her the difference.’
Su Zhaozhao couldn’t help but say, "I never agreed to switch bunks with you."
The woman froze when she heard that. "You’re a young lady, it’s easy for you to climb to the top bunk, isn’t it? Don’t you know how to respect your elders and care for children?"
Her voice rose an octave and became incredibly shrill.
"I’m carrying a child, how am I supposed to climb up there? You clearly have no compassion for children."
"It’s not like we had this child together. What does this have to do with me?" Su Zhaozhao retorted coldly.
’I just bought my ticket today, and lower bunks were still available. That means there were still open spots, but they cost one yuan more than the upper bunks. So this woman wasn’t willing to spend that extra yuan, and instead wanted to get a free upgrade by pressuring someone to switch?’
’She didn’t ask any of the other people; she just had to pick me.’
’Does she think I look kind and easy to bully?’