Years: Salted fish life since going to the countryside.

Chapter 449 Journey ([-])
After a group of them came out of the gate of the railway bureau, Hao Hongmin gently pulled Han Li's sleeve and said sheepishly.

"Han Li, we still have plenty of time now. Can you talk to that comrade and ask him to wait for us for a while."

"Of course, but what are you going to do at this juncture?"

"Now that you have the train number, you know the approximate time you will arrive home. Don't you need to send a telegram to your family to ask them to pick you up?"

Han Li saw her and Yang Xiuying carrying these big and small bags and immediately understood their thoughts and asked the family members to go to the platform to pick up the bus. Otherwise, they would not know how they would be squeezed with these things.It is not unusual for them to lose a package on a noisy train, not to mention having to squeeze into a bus after leaving the train station. If no one helps, they will definitely be in a very embarrassed state.

In this era, if you want to pick up a train on the platform, you first need a platform ticket, but this platform ticket cannot be bought just by you. Family members need to hold a telegram or letter from an educated youth to buy it at the designated window, and a copy Telegraph is limited to two platform tickets.

Of course, those who have not received the telegram and know about the return of their family members can only wait outside the station. At this time, if a sharp-eyed and talkative person goes up to say hello when he sees someone who is about to enter the station, it will be a lot of fun. There is a high chance of being brought in by the opponent.

Of course, this also depends on your eyesight and speaking skills, but more importantly, it requires a local accent, otherwise no one will dare to take you into the station if you talk nonsense, because they are also afraid that you are a "bad" person who "makes trouble" in the station. members, thereby exposing themselves to unnecessary implication.

(Relationship does not count.)
"I don't need to notify my family to pick you up here. You can send a telegram quickly. This comrade and I are having a cigarette on the roadside."

Time was running out, and Hao Hongmin didn't ask any questions. He put the large and small bags on the roadside, pulled Yang Xiuying and ran to the post office.

Han Li told the comrade in the canteen that his companion was going to send a telegram, and then pulled him to squat on the roadside and smoke.

At this time, the tickets were secured, and Yun Yingying and the others had time to look at the educated youths who were walking around the most in front of the station.

This is the place where you can best feel the difference between each other. Some people are beautifully dressed, wearing sweaters under the Chinese tunic suit, and their hair is combed into four, six, three, and seven points. The whole person looks like a five-person six. .

Some educated youths, like the villagers, wear a thin blue cotton jacket that is too large to cover the front. A rope is tied around the waist to make the cotton-padded jacket more close-fitting and warmer.

The same situation is almost the same for female educated youths, but they are more concerned about their own image, and they will keep themselves neatly dressed even if they are dressed in ordinary clothes.

However, no matter how they were dressed, they were all weighed down by the bulky luggage. In the season when they were already wearing sweaters and thin coats, big beads of sweat were still rolling down from the foreheads of these people.

Almost everyone carries large and small duffel bags with colorful ropes tied around them. The various ropes and tying methods can make it easier for them to take better care of and find their own bags.

When Hao Hongmin and Yang Xiuying ran to the post office, they were still talking in low voices about what they had just seen.

"Sister Hongmin, I didn't expect Han Li to be so powerful. Originally, I thought he was the only one among the educated youths in Shanghe Village, but who knew that he had already established a relationship with Bingcheng, and He is still the top leader of the Railway Bureau. Compared with Han Li, I feel like a waste.

But Second Sister Yun has really good eyesight. What she said about fellow villagers was all a lie. I guess she must have noticed Han Li's extraordinary ability, and then she got on the pole to chase him. Can you explain that he is? We met Han Li first, but why don’t we have the vision and courage? "

Hao Hongmin originally had a lot to say, but when she heard Yang Xiuying say this, what could she say?But the bitterness in my heart could not be erased.

Yes, thinking about Han Li's performance all the time, why didn't he have such sharp eyesight in the first place?

Moreover, the three of them were close together at first, and they sat together when they came to the countryside. Later, they built a house together and went shopping in the county town together. What a great opportunity this was?But why was Yun Yingying got the lead?But now she still pretends to say it as if nothing happened.

"Okay Xiuying, Han Li is already married, so we can just talk about these things. Don't say it in front of others."

"I know, I'm not that stupid. If other people heard this, they would think I was thinking about someone else's old man."
.
After Han Li smoked two cigarettes with the canteen comrade on the roadside, Hao Hongmin and Yang Xiuying ran out of the post office.

The group picked up parcels and bags and followed the comrades in the cafeteria through the small door next to the station.

When they came in, a group of people beside the train were busy loading coal and water into the locomotive. On the front of the locomotive were written the words "Serve the People" on a red background in gold letters.

There are only a few passengers on the entire platform who have not yet finished getting off the train. As for the passengers who have boarded the train, it is not yet time to let them in. The entire platform is relatively empty. This is the advantage of taking the internal passage.

Han Li looked at these busy workers and thought that there was a certain reason why the trains in this era were slow and took a long time to stop at the station. The locomotives of these trains were built with steam engines, and technical reasons led to a relatively low boiler conversion rate.

Secondly, this means that coal and water must be added every time a certain distance is traveled to ensure the continuous power of the train. However, workers must add coal and water little by little. This is why the train stops at the station for a particularly long time. reason.

The comrade sitting in the canteen didn't stop until Han Li and the others were brought to the front of the sleeper car. Han Li stuffed the few unsmoked cigarettes in his hand and parted after a few polite words.

Han Li took everyone into the sleeper carriage, and it was also the first time they saw a sleeper carriage of this era.Each box has six beds, separated on the left and right, with upper, middle and lower floors on each side. One side of the bed is fixed on the partition, and the two suspended sides are connected together with several iron pipes.

The width of each bed is no more than 60 centimeters, and the distance between the bottom bunk and the middle bunk is okay. The girls can sit upright on the bed, and Han Li can sit down even if he bends down slightly.

The distance between the layers in the middle is much shorter. If a girl wants to sit up on the bed, she has to bend down and lower her head. Han Li's height makes it impossible for him to bend down, so he can only stick his upper body out.

Even girls can only climb in on the top floor, and they can't sit up even if they bend down. If Hou Yuhua comes, I think the top floor will be just fine.

But even so, everyone was very happy. They touched and looked at each other. They found that this seat was much better than the wooden seats they sat on when they came here.

Upon seeing this, Hao Hongmin took the initiative to choose the top floor. Yun Jingjing and Yang Xiuying slept in the two middle berths, while Han Li and Yun Yingying slept in the lower berth.

Although the bunks were allocated in this way, everyone was very energetic now. The four of them gathered in the lower bunk and started playing poker to kill time.

Han Li began to stroll around in the sleeper carriage. There were 11 private compartments in the entire carriage, and each compartment had six beds. This meant that this carriage could carry 66 passengers, which was a huge difference from those hard-seat carriages.

Sleeping cars are like other cars, each car has its own bathroom and water boiler.

(Since the 60s, each of the more advanced carriages of the Northern Railway has its own boiler, independent heating and hot water supply. However, the water temperature and water quality cannot be guaranteed, and the conductor usually only boils some water considering the coal storage situation. After all, it is impossible to provide heating and hot water to passengers all the time. This is why after the 80s, there were people selling hot water on the platform carrying thermos bottles.

However, this situation does not exist in the sleeper carriages at this time. In order to ensure that passengers can drink hot water at any time, the conductor even specially equipped a thermos bottle in each compartment, and every time the water is boiled, the conductor will Fill it up for you. )
In this era, the people who can sit in the sleeper car are basically cadres or relatives of cadres, so the sleeper car and the hard-seat car are separated by the dining car. It is very difficult for those who buy hard-seat tickets to come here. big.

"This is a general situation and cannot be generalized, because there are still trains where the conductor pours water for passengers in hard seats one by one. 》

After Han Li wandered around for a while, he went back to watch them play cards. Not long after, there were noisy sounds outside. It was ordinary passengers entering the station and getting on the train.

They flocked to the carriages in small groups. The first person to squeeze into the carriage would open the window, and then their companions’ luggage and even people would come in from here. The Spring Festival travel scene in later generations was nothing compared to today’s.

Inside the carriage, there is another scene. People "occupying seats" and "fighting for seats" are everywhere. In addition to the squeezing and pushing of chests and backs, there are also people who don't have seats and are starting to grab luggage racks and seats. Underneath, at the junction of the carriages, at the entrance to the toilet, etc., the carriage was still filled with yelling and cursing in various dialects.

As the locomotive's whistle sounded, and then there was a clang that made all the carriages tremble, the locomotive and the carriages were hooked together.

At this time, the educated youth outside who had not yet boarded the train became even more anxious. All kinds of pushing and yelling made the scene chaotic, so chaotic that the station staff had to stand up to defend it.

A few minutes later, all the carriages paused again, and the train blew its whistle and slowly drove out of Bingcheng Station.

At this time, there was another scene in the hard-seat carriage, and most people had stopped yelling meaninglessly.
Those who had seats were closing their eyes and concentrating. Those who had grabbed the luggage rack were clinging to it like snakes. Those who had grabbed the seats were curled up under the short seats like hermit crabs. Those who had grabbed the luggage racks were connected to the two carriages. The people here were curled up with their luggage.

There were even people standing on the backs of chairs. Because the space up and down and the foothold under their feet were too narrow, they began to sway when the train moved. They could only firmly hold on to the luggage rack to prevent themselves from being thrown off.

Only those people squatting next to the toilet were still arguing quietly. From their looks, you could guess that they were ticket evaders. They were arguing about which party would go into the toilet and hide in the toilet. However, they were afraid of being discovered by the train conductor and did not dare. Let yourself be too loud.

If future generations see these scenes in front of them, they will understand that those old men and old ladies like to occupy seats and fight for seats as soon as they get on the bus. There is a historical origin. The root of their problem is probably planted at this time.

But this was none of Han Li's business. The four of them gathered around a small table playing cards.

Han Li was holding the freshly brewed tea in his hand and sat next to Yun Yingying, acting as a qualified military advisor.

Moreover, no one came to the other bed in their compartment when the train started, which made the atmosphere between them even more casual.

At this time, the train's announcement sounded at a fixed time every day. In this era, the trains were equipped with special announcers, so they were the ones reading some important news.

After the news reading, there will be an entertainment program for a period of time, playing all the famous songs and model plays of the day.

At this time, Yang Xiuying, who had been losing, finished the round, put the cards on the table, rubbed her stomach and said.

"I didn't dare to eat much when I was in the railway bureau restaurant just now, and now I'm a little hungry."

(End of this chapter)