Chapter 51 Playing Cards on the Train

“Clang, clang, clang…”

The Huanghuaihai Plain area in Henan Province.

A giant black steel dragon was shuttling through the endless fields, with the locomotive emitting boiling white steam.

The T38 express train on the Beijing-Guangzhou Line is a train under the jurisdiction of the Jiangcheng Railway Bureau.

As a thoroughfare connecting nine provinces, Jiangcheng has been an important city for railway construction since the late Qing Dynasty. Basically, most railways cannot bypass Jiangcheng.

The current Beijing-Guangzhou Railway was actually formed after the construction of the Jiangcheng Yangtze River Bridge was completed in 1957, when the Beijing-Hankou Railway and the Yue-Hankou Railway were merged.

With so many railways passing through Jiangcheng, the jurisdiction of the Jiangcheng Railway Bureau is naturally very large, so much so that it was later abolished and established many times…

Even now in 1980, he was in charge of the entire Hubei Province and half of the railways in Henan Province. For example, Xinyang, the Beijing-Guangzhou Line from south of Mengmiao to Donghuangdian section and the Mengbao branch line were all under the jurisdiction of Jiangcheng Bureau.

“Henan has a lot of farmland. I’m afraid it will still be farmland in forty years.”

In the soft sleeper car, Cheng Kaiyan was lying on a soft sleeper on the first floor, with his head resting on the train’s pillow through a towel he brought with him, and he was looking out the glass window with his body sideways.

In the neatly arranged farmlands, seedlings have begun to sprout in the fertile soil, and the branches of some trees even reach up to the glass windows.

Amid the crisscrossing fields, you can vaguely see small villages located near the farmland and rows of wooden telephone poles.

The train has been traveling all night and is now in Henan Province.

It is expected to arrive in Jiangcheng tomorrow morning.

Although he rested in the soft sleeper for a whole night, Cheng Kaiyan did not sleep well.

It was not only because of the clanking sound of the wheels, but also because the bed was too small and the body could not stretch out at all. It was not as spacious as in later generations.

“It’s okay for someone like me in the north, but if I were in the south, I’d probably be called a big fool…”

Cheng Kaiyan turned over and got up, her hands moving without stopping. She got up, put on her clothes, walked to the corridor, and found that it was already past nine o’clock.

He poured some water from the bottle he brought with him and wiped his face before he came to his senses. Then he went to the dining car to get some steamed buns to fill his stomach.

The journey was still long, so Cheng Kaiyan did not continue reading the great love story “Gone with the Wind” which she had not finished reading like she did last night. Instead, she strolled around while looking at the scenery outside the window.

The soft sleeper cars were next to each other with their doors open. Cheng Kaiyan saw that most people were sitting on the beds and playing cards around the small tables inside.

“Hook!”

“No, I can’t afford it.”

“To the machine gun! Crush you!”

……

Besides the smell of cigarette smoke, the carriage was filled with the shouting of voices in various dialects.

Hey, these days the only entertainment on the train is playing poker. From the beginning to the end, basically every carriage is filled with smoke and people playing cards.

As Cheng Kaiyan was about to return to the carriage and walked to the door, he was suddenly stopped by a voice in very standard Mandarin: “Hey! Comrade, do you want to play cards? We are short of a star here. Would you like to come? It’s a good opportunity to take a break. It’s a bit tiring to keep playing…”

Cheng Kaiyan turned around and saw a man who looked to be about 28 or 29 years old. He was wearing a leather jacket with the collar of a white shirt showing around his neck, and he had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his face.

He has the image of a gentle, mild-mannered scholar.

But when Cheng Kaiyan saw his face, she was stunned.

Why do this nose, this face, and these eyes look so familiar together?

Isn’t this An Shao Kang?
What a coincidence!
How could I actually meet this person on the train from Beijing to Hankou?
Cheng Kaiyan stared at An Shaokang for a while. The other party standing in the carriage also looked at him, seeming to be wondering why this young man didn’t speak?

“Young man, I see you’ve been wandering around for quite a while. I guess you’re bored. It just so happens that we’re short of someone. Don’t worry, we won’t do anything big, so nothing will happen.”

An Shaokang pushed up his glasses and smiled gently.

“Ahem, okay, I’m bored right now, wait a minute.”

Cheng Kaiyan thought about it and immediately agreed and walked into the carriage.

…There were only three people in the carriage, two men, a woman in her forties or fifties, and an empty bed.

After playing a round of cards for a while, everyone made a brief introduction.

“I’m from Henan, Luoyang, Henan…”

A man in his forties wearing a Zhongshan suit kept his back straight while playing cards. He introduced himself as a cadre of a tractor manufacturing plant in Luoyang and had been on a business trip to Beijing.

“Luoyang Tractor Factory, is it YTO?” Cheng Kaiyan asked in surprise.

The Dongfanghong tractor was manufactured in this factory, located in Luoyang. It is the first tractor manufacturing plant in China, carrying the dream of China’s agricultural mechanization. The “Dongfanghong” tractors it produces are sold all over the country.

In 59, Premier Zhou visited their factory and highly praised them with “four firsts”.

“You must remember that you are ‘No. 1 in China’! You must produce ‘No. 1 in China’ products, cultivate ‘No. 1 in China’ talents, and create ‘No. 1 in China’ performance!” An Shaokang said loudly at this time.

When Premier Zhou was mentioned, everyone in the carriage laughed, with expressions of respect and remembrance on their faces.

“Hahaha! We are all contributing to the people!”

The uncle laughed out loud, his face full of pride. He took out a little red book and shook it, then raised his hand and played a card, “A small king!”

“No.”

“One on two…”

Everyone got to know each other while playing cards.

“I studied French and am an associate professor at Wuhan University. I don’t know if you have seen the Changjiang Literature and Art version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. That was my translation.” An Shaokang played a two and then laughed.

“So you’re a great professor? That’s impressive.”

When the uncle heard this, he immediately gave a thumbs up, then looked at Cheng Kaiyan, “What about this young comrade?”

“I also work in a university, but I am not as good as Professor An. I am just an assistant teacher.” Cheng Kaiyan smiled and said frankly.

“The teaching assistant is not bad either.”

There is too much occupational discrimination in this era. Everyone nodded and continued playing cards.

The game costs one cent per game, there are no loot boxes, and there are very few bombs.

After a morning’s work, Cheng Kaiyan only won eight cents and could barely afford two fried dough sticks.

There was no fighting at noon, and everyone thought it was just a chance acquaintance. Cheng Kaiyan retreated into the carriage to read a book and sleep.

The next morning, the sky was gray.

Above the Yangtze River, a giant dragon lies, and a huge steel structure pierces through the clouds and fog.

In the distance, the horizon is connected to the river surface, and I can’t tell whether it is the water surface or the sky.

The surface of the river was filled with fog, covering the bridge like layers of gauze.

“Woooooo~”

Suddenly, a low and powerful whistle was heard in the distance, and a train broke the silence of the night like a meteor, and the dazzling light from the front of the train tore through the layers of fog.

In the distance, the outline of a steel city can be vaguely seen lurking in the night.

“Dear passengers! The 38th express train from the great capital of Beijing to Hankou will soon arrive at Hankou…”

“Woo~~”

“Ding ding ding ding~”

Jiangcheng, which ranked seventh in the country with a GDP of 1980 billion in 53.44, has finally arrived!

[PS: The author can see the monthly reward tickets of QQ Reading. The following is the list of thanks: Wu’s 588 points, Mulinsen-be’s 588 points, and Xiaojie’s 100 points]

Thanks to Mr. Xie from Guangzhou for the 100 reward, Zhuiguangyan for the 500, Qingyundun for the 100, and Glasses in the Glasses for the 100. Thank you all.



(End of this chapter)