Cheng Baokun made the decision immediately. "Let's go. We’ll go together. I’ll book the tickets right now. Our two families will travel together."
She made another phone call and booked tickets for her family of three. She chose soft sleeper berths. Since a soft sleeper compartment has four beds, Cheng Baokun bought four tickets to secure the whole room. This way, no strangers would enter, and her family would have the private compartment to themselves.
Cheng Xu was already a university student and had not returned home. She had called earlier to say she would travel with classmates during the summer vacation, so she would not be back for now. Cheng Chen was in the same grade as Zhu Yanyi. They were both graduating from primary school and taking the entrance exam for middle school. However, Cheng Chen had attended primary school in Yaojiang City, not in the town. She had just returned after finishing the exams. When she heard they were going to Beijing with the Zhu family, she was overjoyed.
The departure date was set for two days later. After confirming the date, Zhu Yanyi called her masters in Beijing to inform them of her arrival time. She also needed to prepare various gifts, which kept her busy.
During these two days, they also visited the Xie family. They told Xie Zhong and the others about their trip to Beijing. There was no need to worry too much about their homes. The villagers were honest and kind. Even if the doors were left open, no one would steal. Besides, their houses were surrounded by neighbors on all sides, so they did not need to worry about thieves.
Xie Zhong asked Zhu Yanyi to bring some items for her masters. This added more to their luggage.
There were no wheeled suitcases like in later years. Rural people usually packed their belongings in bags. They used large bags, small bags, gunny sacks, and woven bags. For this reason, Xie Xinlian and Xie Xinyan sewed several large bags together.
Two days later, they set off for the station. Cheng Baokun’s family met Zhu Shun Yao’s family at the station. They first took a bus to Yaojiang City, where they would transfer to the train.
This was Zhu Yanyi’s first long-distance trip in this life. She felt a bit excited. In her previous life, she had visited Beijing only after turning thirty, and she had gone with a tour group. The places they visited were fixed. Now, going on her own, she thought she could see more. However, she later realized that while her expectations were beautiful, reality was harsh. Once in Beijing, she was so busy that she had no time to play. She sighed about this many times, but that is a story for later.
The trains were still green-skinned trains. However, the soft sleeper was quite good. At least it was clean. Of course, the trains did not have air conditioning. So, they opened the windows to let the wind in and feel cool.
Cheng Baokun had booked two adjacent soft sleeper compartments. Therefore, the two families were close to each other. Knowing that the Zhu family had five people, Cheng Baokun suggested that Zhu Yanyi stay in their compartment. They had one empty bed.
Zhu Yanyi thought for a moment and did not refuse. She directly chose the upper bunk.
Seeing Zhu Yanyi climb onto the upper bunk with agile movements and neatly place her luggage on the rack, Cheng Baokun laughed. "With such skills, you look like a tomboy."
Zhu Yanyi giggled. "Godfather, I have practiced martial arts since I was little. If I didn’t have these skills, how could I go up the mountain to gather herbs?"
"You go up the mountain to gather herbs?" Chen Ailian heard this for the first time. She asked curiously.