She went straight to the place to order food, and got a sweet and sour carp, a stir-fried vegetable with mushrooms, a tofu and minced meat soup, a big bowl of rice and ten big meat buns.
The big meat buns are to be eaten tomorrow morning and at noon. In other words, Cheng Qiao is not planning to come here to eat tomorrow morning and at noon.
"Fifteen dollars."
“So expensive”
Cheng Qiao was shocked. These meals could even cost ten yuan at a state-owned restaurant, but they were so expensive on the train. How was they calculated
"We don't need food coupons, fish coupons, and meat coupons, and we don't need to move our things onto the train. These are not money."
The attitude of the flight attendant was much better than before, but it was still so bad that Cheng Qiao could only laugh. He took out fifteen yuan from his pocket and left with Xiao Chengli, carrying the food.
"Tsk, you have no money but you're pretending to be rich, you're wasting your pretty face."
The flight attendant rolled his eyes and mumbled something, but he didn't dare to speak loudly. However, Cheng Qiao had good hearing and could hear it clearly.
Cheng Qiao wanted to scold him, but when she saw little Cheng Li started to eat obediently, she gave up the idea. The child's safety was important.
After the meal, the leftovers were put into the lunch box. There were still ten big meat buns. Cheng Qiao took out a large paper bag and put them in one by one.
The two of them didn't want to go back to the carriage so early, so they sat in the dining car for a while. Little Cheng Li even took out his homework book and started doing his homework.
But when they returned to the hard sleeper, they were shocked to find that the sloppy man had laid down directly on the lower bunk, using his tattered bag as a pillow, and had already started snoring.
"Mom, why is this uncle sleeping on your bed?"
"Shh, you sleep on the top bunk tonight and mommy will sleep in the middle bunk."
Cheng Qiao actually didn't want to sleep on the lower bunk, as there were three people opposite her and there were no curtains to cover her. It would be much better if she slept on the upper bunk, at least it would be more private.
Little Cheng Li nodded and climbed directly to the top bunk. Cheng Qiao took out a thin quilt from the package and threw it on the bunk. Maybe the little guy was tired, and he closed his eyes and fell asleep soon.
The lights in the train carriages are turned off at set times, leaving only a few dim lights in the aisle for passengers to use the toilet and get some water.
Cheng Qiao secretly let Little Red Head out, and Little Red Head shrank into the shape of a one-meter-long viper, lying obediently beside little Cheng Li's hand.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Cheng Qiao went to the toilet, then climbed onto the middle bunk and covered herself with a thin blanket.
The couple opposite saw that Cheng Qiao did not get angry, nor did she wake anyone up, but quietly gave in. They couldn't help feeling disappointed. There was no conflict, which was boring.
The couple bought the middle and upper bunks. The woman climbed to the top bunk on her own initiative, covered herself with the small quilt she brought with her, and fell asleep as soon as she tilted her head.
The man went to the corridor to smoke a cigarette, came back to drink a sip of tea, and also went to the middle bunk. After an unknown amount of time, the whole carriage was filled with the sound of snoring, one after another.
When little Cheng Li woke up, the little red-head had already been taken into the space by Cheng Qiao. Cheng Qiao took the little guy to wash up, and then gave each of them a meat bun to eat.
"Little village girl, can you sell me two buns?"
The sloppy man took out fifty cents, but the fifty cents had changed color and he probably had to wash it before he could see the words on it.
"Uncle, how can you make the money so dirty? This is disrespectful to the country."
"Ah...I see. Wait a minute."
The sloppy man seemed a little embarrassed. He turned his clothes over and used the clean side to wipe the fifty cents vigorously. However, although it had returned to its original appearance a little bit, it was still too dirty.
"Here, this one is clean."
The sloppy man took out a one-yuan bill from his other pocket. Cheng Qiao took it and handed him four big meat buns.
In fact, the big meat buns on the train cost 40 cents each, which was 20 cents more expensive than in state-owned restaurants. Fortunately, no meat or grain coupons were required.
The sloppy man seemed to be very hungry. He started to eat with big mouthfuls. His eating manner was so ugly that the three people opposite him lowered their heads to eat their breakfast.
Not long after, the couple opposite couldn't stand the loneliness anymore and started talking to Cheng Qiao. When Cheng Qiao learned that they were going to the same place, she couldn't help but feel happy.
It’s just that Cheng Qiao volunteered to do the construction and to avoid trouble at the same time. The couple was assigned there by the unit, and if they didn’t obey, they would have to quit.
So they left the children in Chuncheng to be taken care of by the elderly and boarded the train. Fortunately, the unit was also on the road, so they were allowed to go for five years and their welfare benefits were also increased by one level.
The middle-aged man also told them with a smile that he was going to meet a good friend. They hadn't seen each other for many years, so they took advantage of the summer to go there.
After talking about this topic, there was almost nothing left to say, so some people read, some took a nap, and some went out for a walk.
Cheng Qiao helped little Cheng Li solve his physiological problem, and then asked him to look through the third-grade textbook. If he didn't understand something, he could ask her. But she underestimated this child. He was very smart.
Time flies and it's night again. Tonight is another night and the train will arrive at the station early tomorrow morning. The two went to the dining car to eat again. They didn't buy the big meat buns because they would have breakfast after getting off the train tomorrow.
But Cheng Qiao felt palpitations tonight. After the lights in the carriage were turned off, the little red head appeared beside little Cheng Li as usual. She also held a few silver needles in her hand, closed her eyes, but focused her consciousness to the maximum.
Around three o'clock in the morning, Cheng Qiao smelled blood. She raised her head slightly and took a look, but there was no change around her. She moved her nose and the smell of blood became stronger and stronger.
Cheng Qiao, who was about to sit up, suddenly received a warning from Little Red Head, telling her not to move. Cheng Qiao's heart was startled and she immediately pretended to be dead.
Smelling the increasingly strong smell of blood, Cheng Qiao felt more and more uneasy. There was no more information from Little Redhead, and instead the loudspeaker in the car started playing.
Their train was still half an hour away from arriving at the station, so the passengers got up as soon as possible, packed their luggage and prepared to get off the train.
Cheng Qiao still didn't know how to operate. Little Cheng Li poked his head out and said he was going to the toilet. Before Cheng Qiao could move, a shocking scream came from the other side:
"Ah, why is there so much blood here?"
It was only then that Cheng Qiao realized that the smell of blood came from the man opposite. Without thinking, she climbed onto the upper bunk and took the little red head into her space while Cheng Li was not paying attention.
But she felt that the little red head seemed a little wilted, so she would wait until it recovered before asking. Little Cheng Li was held tightly in Cheng Qiao's arms, preventing him from seeing the blood on the ground.
Since someone called the police, the flight attendant and the police quickly arrived at the scene. He first glanced around with sharp eyes, and then began to ask questions.