"Mother, stop packing so much. We can’t take all this with us." If Bai Jiu were alone, she could have secretly slipped these things into her spatial dimension. But now she was traveling with a highly observant man. She rarely used her space as it was; in fact, since he had returned, she hadn’t used it at all. Every morsel of food and daily necessity in the house had been bought with real money.
"Absolutely not. We have to pack everything you might need. What if you can’t buy these things over there?" Mother Bai disagreed. "If you can’t carry it all, we’ll mail it. You know how precious these items are. What if you can’t buy a cooking pot in Beijing City? Are you going to cook with your bare hands? Don’t you dare let my precious grandchildren starve."
Bai Jiu was speechless. She could sort of understand bringing the pot, but why the bowls? Could they really not buy bowls in Beijing City? She could also understand the quilts, but what on earth was this straw mat? Was this really necessary?
"Mother, that’s enough, really. How could we not be able to buy these things there? It’s the nation’s capital. It’s impossible for them to lack these basics." Bai Jiu had no desire to haul so much luggage. She wouldn’t take the straw mat even if her life depended on it. At worst, she would figure out a way to get some cotton and make a few extra quilts to sleep on.
"Yes, dear, let’s leave the straw mat. The postage fee would be quite expensive," Father Bai couldn’t help but interject.
Mother Bai glared at him, but ultimately she pulled the straw mat out of the pile. "Fine, we won’t bring it. But everything else must be packed. You already own these things, so there’s no need to waste money buying them again," Mother Bai conceded.
Looking at the nearly ten massive bags on the floor, Bai Jiu felt a headache coming on. She stepped aside and handed the reins to Gao Zhijun—after all, he was the one who had been nodding along the whole time.
Gao Zhijun understood his wife’s look perfectly. Oh well, she was his wife; if he didn’t indulge her, who would?
Just as Bai Jiu and Gao Zhijun were preparing to leave, news arrived in town. As it turned out, good news had begun to trickle in for those who had been previously sent down to the countryside. No one had expected this so soon. Had Bai Xingguo not mentioned it after coming home from work, Bai Jiu and Gao Zhijun would have assumed they’d have to wait several more months.
"What did the street sweeper do before?" Bai Jiu was quite curious. The earlier someone was taken back, the more it proved they were a talent desperately needed by the nation.
"He was a professor of some sort, I think. He came back ten years ago and is considered a local. Because of that incident, he was assigned to sweep the streets." Truth be told, Xingguo didn’t really know the man.
Father Bai, however, recalled something. "His surname is Lin. I heard he returned from abroad, but I’m not sure of the details." Back then, the Bai Family had been living in constant fear; they couldn’t possibly afford to pay too much attention to others. If the old patriarch hadn’t made that critical decision before his death, their entire family might have been...
So that was it. It seemed the reinstatement of the college entrance examination would soon be in motion. Otherwise, why would the professors be the first to leave?
The next day, when Gao Zhijun went to mail their luggage, he ran into Uncle Li. Uncle Li saw him as well, but out of fear, he didn’t greet him. However, Gao Zhijun noticed a distinct emotion in the older man’s eyes. He never expected that the first to leave this place would actually be Old Li.
Bai Jiu was somewhat taken aback when she heard the news Gao Zhijun brought back. She had thought Elder Wu would be the first to leave. Because he had family, she assumed they would naturally pull strings for him once there were signs of change. Who would have thought...
"As long as they can leave, it’s good," Bai Jiu said, her eyes brimming with a smile as she looked at the bright red sun outside. Blue Country was beginning its rise.
After staying at her maiden home for another half-month, July arrived, and Bai Jiu and Gao Zhijun finally boarded the train to Beijing City.
When they were getting on the train, Mother Bai cried her eyes out, and the rest of the Bai Family wasn’t faring much better.
"Remember to write to me!" Bai Xinghua shouted at his eldest sister’s back. Because the crowd boarding the train was so dense, he couldn’t get close and had to shout.
Bai Jiu naturally heard him. Turning her head, her eyes welled up with tears. "I will!" she replied with a smile.
Once on the train, Bai Jiu followed Gao Zhijun to their bunks. Thanks to his connections, the family had managed to secure two sleeper tickets. They were already quite far from the Bai Family on the platform. Bai Jiu set Xiuxiu down and stuck her head out the half-open window.
"Father, Mother, Xinghua!" she shouted loudly, waving her hand in the air.
Given their deep affection for their daughter and sister, they spotted Bai Jiu immediately and tried to push forward through the crowd.
"Go back! Hurry back!" she shouted anxiously, seeing them trying to squeeze their way through.
Perhaps hearing her words, the group stopped in their tracks.
"Go back, there are too many people! Xinghua, take Father and Mother home now!" Bai Jiu didn’t want them to suffer out there. Now that she was safely on the train, she just wanted them to head home early. She hadn’t wanted them to see her off in the first place, but...
It took a long while before Bai Jiu finally pulled her head back in from the window.
"Have your parents gone back?" Gao Zhijun asked, having used the downtime to stow their luggage.
"Mhm," Bai Jiu hummed, feeling a wave of melancholy. She had always thought of herself as somewhat emotionally detached, but she hadn’t expected to feel...
"Mom, can we bring Grandpa and Grandma to live at our new home in the future?" Xiuxiu asked. Over the past few days, Xiuxiu and Zhengyang had been well aware that their family was moving. The two children were incredibly excited and happy, showing off to their good friend Gouwa at every opportunity. Even Gao Aiguo hadn’t been spared from their boasting.
"Of course we can, but your grandma and grandpa can’t leave just yet." Xingguo’s wife was due to give birth soon, so the elderly couple would have no time to travel. Additionally, Xingbang and Xinghua were getting older, and the two elders had constantly nagged her about their marriages. After being delayed for so many years, it was time to put those matters on the agenda.
"Why not?" Xiuxiu didn’t understand.
"Because the little baby in your Aunt’s tummy is about to come out," Bai Jiu explained. Though her mood was a bit low, she didn’t try to brush the kids off.
"Then they can bring the baby along too," Zhengyang chimed in. Spending so much time with his dad recently had caused him to start mimicking his father’s stoic expressions. He was such a precocious little imp.
"Alright, next time we’ll have Grandma bring the baby along."
Although she felt a sense of loss and emptiness, Bai Jiu wasn’t overly sentimental. Leaving was inevitable. At worst, she could just travel back and forth in the future.
The train was quite crowded, and it wasn’t long before someone approached their section. They had bought two sleeper tickets, both lower bunks. There were six beds in their compartment, and though it hadn’t filled up entirely at the city station, there were four people in total. The other passengers were a young woman and her child. The pair looked exceptionally neat. Despite the patches on their clothes, the garments were spotless. Up close, there was a faint, clean fragrance. As soon as the scent wafted over, Bai Jiu recognized it as the smell of Chinese honey locust soap.
"Do you need a hand?" Bai Jiu couldn’t help but ask, seeing the woman struggling alone with a child who appeared to be six or seven years old. She wasn’t just being blindly generous; it was simply that this woman gave her a good impression.
"No, no, thank you." Seeing the person on the lower bunk, the woman smiled back. She hadn’t brought much—just a few changes of clothes, which weren’t heavy. She could easily toss them onto her own bunk.
"It’s still early, let your child sit here for a while," Bai Jiu offered, not at all offended that her help had been declined. However, she didn’t reach out to touch the child; she merely shifted over to make more room on the edge of her bed.
She sat by the window, holding Xiuxiu in her arms. Gao Zhijun sat opposite her, while Zhengyang had taken his shoes off and was playing on the bed.