Getting Off, Getting On

Bai Yao had wanted to watch the show, but in the end, he and Hu Yang were taken away for questioning.

The three human traffickers were taken away with them.

Hu Yang was close with that railway police officer he called brother, but the officer didn't make the decision on his own. Instead, he handled the matter impartially.

Neither Bai Yao nor Hu Yang was worried, and they gave a detailed account of what had happened.

If it had been another railway police officer, he really would have had to suspect that the two of them were lying.

But this officer knew Hu Yang, so naturally there was no need for suspicion. Thus, the three traffickers' own words became evidence of their crimes.

Of all the people the three could have picked on, they just had to pick on the protagonist, Hu Yang.

In the end, the three also realized that a confession would earn them leniency. Only then did Bai Yao and the others learn that the leader of the three was actually the young woman who had suddenly attacked and hurt someone.

And judging by the old woman's and the young man's confessions, the young woman had more than one or two offenses to her name.

As for the details of what happened afterward, Bai Yao and Hu Yang didn't know, because they were sent back.

The train was about to reach the station, so they had to hurry back.

On the way, Hu Yang also explained to Bai Yao how he knew the railway police officer he called brother.

The officer wasn't a childhood friend he'd grown up with. He was just Hu Yang's older male cousin's comrade-in-arms, but they were close, so Hu Yang called him brother too.

"I don't even know how he ended up becoming a railway police officer. If I'd known, I would've asked him to buy me a sleeper ticket." Hu Yang paused, then smiled and said, "Good thing I didn't know, though, or I wouldn't have met you and the others, Bai Yao."

"Even if we hadn't met at the start, as long as fate brought us together, we'd have gotten to know each other sooner or later," Bai Yao replied with a cheerful smile.

Inwardly, Bai Yao marveled that Hu Yang truly lived up to his other name, the fox spirit protagonist.

Before long, the two returned to the sleeper car and saw Kong Wu and Dazhuang just about to go out looking for them.

"As long as you're back. If you two hadn't come back soon, Kong Wu and I were going to look for you," Dongfang Dazhuang said.

"It's fine. We ran into a little trouble," Bai Yao replied. Then he changed the subject and asked, "Should we pack now? We're almost there, right?"

Dongfang Dazhuang looked out the window and hurriedly answered, "Oh, right, right. Hurry and pack. Let's take our luggage to the door first. The sooner we get off, the sooner I can go claim a room for you at the guesthouse."

"Sure thing."

The others agreed.

For something like this, it was best to follow the local's arrangements and not offer their own opinions.

Once the luggage was packed, Bai Yao had the most, though his two burlap sacks still seemed relatively little to Dongfang Dazhuang.

"You all have so little luggage. The educated youths who came before each had so much that it wouldn't even fit on the ox cart. But less luggage is good too. That way it'll fit on the cart, and you can ride it for part of the way." As Dongfang Dazhuang spoke, he picked up his own luggage and pulled Hu Yang's suitcase along too.

As for Bai Yao, both his sacks were with Kong Wu, while he carried Kong Wu's small travel bag.

Gu Yang and Jiang Rou didn't need to help each other with their luggage, since neither of them had much.

Seeing how little luggage everyone had, Bai Yao suddenly thought of something. "Did you mail most of your luggage ahead?"

"Yeah." All four of them gave the same answer.

Bai Yao: ...

All right, he'd forgotten about that. If he'd thought of it earlier, he would have done the same.

The group of six set off ahead of time, allowing them to be the first off the train when it arrived.

Unlike Dongfang Dazhuang, who had a letter of introduction, Bai Yao and the others had to find a staff member from the educated youth office. They didn't have letters of introduction, so they couldn't stay at the guesthouse without finding someone.

"I'll head to the guesthouse first. See you later." With that, Dongfang Dazhuang left ahead of them.

Bai Yao and the others also spotted the educated youth office staff member waiting for them.

Just as Dongfang Dazhuang had said, they weren't the first batch of educated youths to be sent to the countryside. Once everyone had gathered, the staff member, well practiced at this, called everyone to the guesthouse. On the way, the staff member also remembered to tell them that their bus left at seven the next morning and not to be late.

There was more than one county town receiving educated youths, so all told, quite a few people were being sent to the countryside.

Fortunately, the people at the educated youth office had long been experienced with this situation, and the guesthouse had added more beds for that very reason.

When they reached the guesthouse, the staff member handed the prepared documents to the person at the front desk. They were old acquaintances, so naturally there was no need to say much.

"The two rooms at the very back are the cheapest. They have communal sleeping platforms, and each can fit fifteen people without a problem. If you mind, you can pay for another room yourselves."

While the others were still weighing their options, Bai Yao and his companions spotted Dongfang Dazhuang, then went straight over and paid.

In the end, they got a dormitory-style room with bunk beds. Fortunately, Dongfang Dazhuang was the only other person in the room, so with the boys in their group added in, it was just about right.

As for Jiang Rou, she naturally went to the women's dormitory.

Before they parted, though, Dazhuang gave Jiang Rou a portion of the dinner he'd bought.

They fetched water, ate and drank their fill, and then rested. After all, they had to get up early the next day.

They were a little tired, but not as tired as the people who had spent the whole journey in hard seats.

So everyone was able to get up as usual early the next morning.

By contrast, only a few of the educated youths who had spent the whole journey in hard seats managed to get up.

After washing up with the water left over from the night before, the group went to eat breakfast.

They had another tiring day ahead, and they wouldn't be able to endure it without eating.

This time, they didn't eat at the guesthouse as they had the night before. Instead, they went out to a state-run restaurant. After all, the chef at a state-run restaurant was better, however one looked at it.

Dazhuang had said so. In the past, he'd only eaten at the state-run restaurant, but after having dinner at the guesthouse the night before, he had a clear answer.

Breakfast was nothing extravagant, just ordinary porridge, steamed buns, and pickled vegetables.

There was still no oil or meat, but this time Bai Yao was fairly satisfied with his meal.

The porridge didn't scratch his throat, and the steamed buns were fluffy yet chewy. Most importantly, the pickled vegetables went so well with a mouthful of porridge and a bite of bun that he simply couldn't stop.

Once they'd eaten and drunk their fill, Dongfang Dazhuang went ahead again to save seats.

Although their guesthouse wasn't far from the station, there were always people waiting there, and this batch of educated youths was sizeable too. So the only way to get seats was to save them.

No one should say saving seats was wrong. Even people who failed to grab a seat wouldn't say anything about it, since it was perfectly normal in this era.

When Bai Yao and the others returned to the guesthouse, they saw the educated youth office staff member, whose face was flushed and eyes were red with anger.

The cause was plain to see. The staff member was impatient and had a fiery temper, but some of the educated youths were slow-moving and were still asleep at this hour.

When those two temperaments met, trouble was bound to break out.

Bai Yao had no intention of getting involved. He picked up his luggage and waited by the door.

Next, they were to board a bus here and head to the county town.

Some time later, when the bus arrived, the staff member finally managed to get everyone together and impatiently sent them aboard.

Bai Yao and the others didn't mind. Unless something unexpected happened, they weren't likely to meet again.

After boarding, they headed straight for the seats Dongfang Dazhuang had saved.

Fortunately, not many people were taking the bus at this hour, so no one cared that Dongfang Dazhuang had saved several seats at once.

With no passengers left waiting outside, the driver stepped on the gas and set off.

On the roads of this era, there was no hope of a smooth ride. It was a little better in the city, but once they left it and got onto the dirt road, the ride became truly bumpy.

At that point, they didn't dare talk. No one could be sure that a sudden jolt wouldn't come while they were speaking, and then they'd most likely bite their tongue.

Anyone who didn't want a swollen tongue by the time they got off had to be careful.

Of course, it wasn't impossible to talk. They could still lean close and whisper, like the two people sitting in front of Bai Yao and Kong Wu.

That was right: those two were Hu Yang and Dongfang Dazhuang.

As for what they were saying, Bai Yao wasn't in the mood to listen. The jolting had left his whole head spinning.

He wasn't carsick. It was purely from the bouncing.

Fortunately, he didn't feel like throwing up.

Gradually, other passengers began boarding, and the smells inside the bus grew more complicated.

One moment, the air you breathed might smell of sweat; the next, it might smell of chicken shit.

That could be considered a distinctive feature of buses in this era.

Fortunately, he was right by the window, and with air coming in, it wasn't too unbearable.

The bus kept going, the road sometimes smooth and sometimes full of potholes. After half an hour of this, Bai Yao felt that his iron butt had been bounced numb.

He had also noticed something along this stretch: while he was bouncing up and down, Kong Wu beside him hadn't moved at all. He was as steady as could be, which was truly enviable.

The reason?

Naturally, it was his height. What else could it be?

"Dazhuang, how much longer do we have to bounce around?" Bai Yao finally couldn't help asking.

Dongfang Dazhuang looked outside and made a mental estimate. "Soon, soon."

"That's good, that's good." Bai Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

Then came another half hour and more of bouncing.

By the time he got off, he'd been bounced so hard that he didn't have the energy to ask Dazhuang why "soon" had meant another half hour.

The moment Bai Yao got off, he felt a deep love for this land.

Because having his feet on solid ground felt so good!