Woohoo.
The black, powerful steel faucet roared and exhaled white smoke, dragging the long connected car bodies behind it that were packed with people, and gradually approached the station in front.
Ahead is the terminal station of this southbound train, Shanghai North Railway Station.
Meng Lanting was in one of the carriages.
She was wearing an old gray coat, her long hair was braided and hanging casually behind her, her skin was as pale as snow, and there was a faint shadow of tiredness under her eyes.
But even so, her appearance is still very eye-catching.
Most of the people around her were doing small business and working, making her seem more and more out of place.
Ever since she came up, people kept looking at her.
She borrowed the shelter from a middle-aged strong female worker who was riding with her, and kept standing in this corner of the carriage.
She did not dare to take a nap, and she could not fall asleep by leaning against the wall of the car like the female worker next to her.
She kept her eyes open. eyes, until now.
She was cold, tired and exhausted, and the toes of her feet in her leather shoes were almost numb from the ice.
There is only one week left until the end of the year.
After running around for a year, whoever wants to go home early is very nervous about train tickets.
Every time they are released, they will be snatched up immediately.
Among those who grabbed tickets were passengers who were eager to take the bus, but there were also scalpers.
So the old, the infirm, those who couldn't squeeze in, and those like Meng Lanting could only be pushed aside, desperately waiting for the next train to release their tickets.
It's also my luck that it's not bad.
Two days ago, just when she was determined not to wait any longer and to buy tickets at a higher price from scalpers, a clerk at the station recognized her.
Borrowing the reputation of the Meng family ancestors in the county, she got a ticket to Shanghai.
Because extras were sold at every station along the way, the carriages were very crowded.
Her ticket was for third class carriage.
Tickets do not have seat numbers.
After passing through the ticket gate like a war, only the first batch to get on the bus can have a chance to grab a seat.
This train journey is very long, with many stops along the way.
It takes nearly two days and one night to get to Shanghai.
It was also with the Secretary's help that Meng Lanting was taken around the ticket gate and got on the train early to get a seat.
But on the way, a woman with a child seemed to have fainted due to lack of physical strength.
When she woke up, her face was sallow, and the child beside her was crying.
Meng Lanting gave up his position and stood like this until the end.
There is no way around this.
The ticket prices for second-class carriages are much more expensive than those for third-class carriages, let alone the comfortable first-class carriages that only today's dignitaries can ride on.
Although her grandfather was a famous official in the former dynasty, known for his hard work and outstanding reputation, he was an honest official and never received any bribes in his life.
In addition, when my grandfather was alive, the family had to subsidize the family's expenses such as rescuing orphans, supporting the weak, and sending children to school, so life was inevitably difficult.
Not long after his death, the country suffered a coup and his uncle retired.
He was so depressed that he became addicted to smoking.
As for Meng Lanting's father, he stopped studying Confucian classics when he was young and was obsessed with mathematics.
His grandfather was an enlightened man who not only did not force but encouraged him.
Naturally, he was not a good dancer.
Now he would not even ask for help from an old friend of the Meng family.
The situation of the Meng family was deteriorating.
By the year Meng Lanting was born, the ancestral land in Mengjia County was sold at a discount of 77 to 88 percent.
When my father passed away a few years ago, the family was already very poor.
After sending his younger brother to study in the United States, the family's income in the past few years was almost entirely supported by Meng Lanting's salary from teaching at the county girls' middle school.
My mother also ended her torture of illness and passed away last month.
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After the funeral arrangements, all that was left in the family was the ancestral house obtained by the division of the family, the last few acres of farmland, and a library of books left by his father.
Seeing that the station was just ahead, the car, which had been so crowded that it seemed to be frozen, finally began to loosen up.
The originally dull faces around him showed expressions of joy or anticipation.
Passengers picked up their luggage one after another and began to push each other as they did when they got on the bus, rushing towards the door.
It was as if if he was too late, he would be locked in this tired and desperate cold iron carriage, and would never be able to get out.
The train pulled into the station.
After a shuddering shudder, the car came to a complete stop.
The atmosphere in the carriage was boiling.
Meng Lanting was stuck in the corner, waiting for everyone in front of him to squeeze out of the car.
He rubbed his cold and stiff fingers to let the blood flow again, and then picked up the only luggage beside him, a willow vine that he had put away for this trip south. box and got off the train.
This winter is extremely cold, and it seems to be the same in Shanghai.
It snowed two days ago and it cleared up today, but it's still cold.
The biting wind was everywhere, penetrating from the collar, cuffs, and even the mouth and nose, making people's hair stand on end.
The only thing I was happy about was that the sun was shining brightly, shining on a piece of crystal snow on the roof not far away, but it was too clean to be real.
The patches of dirty mud on the platform, trampled by the footsteps of hurried travelers, are the reality.
The oncoming noise and the sharp and somewhat arrogant command whistle from the station attendant's mouth made Meng Lanting, who had just gotten off the bus but had not yet stood still, momentarily lose consciousness.
The purpose of her trip to Shanghai was to find out the whereabouts of her younger brother.
Three years ago, my younger brother obtained the qualification to study engineering in the United States at public expense.
Meng Lanting put him on a train and left home.
Every quarter for the first two years, she would receive a telegram from her brother, and occasionally he would mail her some of the latest lecture notes and information on the development of international mathematics disciplines that were difficult to see in China.
But since last year, telegrams have been disconnected and emails have disappeared.
Until now, there has been no news from him for more than a year.
In the past few years, my mother's health has suddenly deteriorated.
This year has gone from bad to worse.
Meng Lanting inquired in many ways, and a few months ago, he finally learned from his uncle Zhou Shanyuan, a family friend of his father's who was now the chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Shanghai Zhihua University, that his younger brother had submitted an application for suspension of study to the university where he was a year ago.
His whereabouts are unknown.
According to classmates, he seemed to have returned to China.
Meng Lanting didn't know why his academically excellent younger brother suddenly stopped studying and returned to China.
He didn't even know why he hadn't contacted him since he came back, and his whereabouts are unknown now.
She did not dare to tell her mother the truth and pretended that she was still communicating with her brother normally.
She only said that he was very busy with studies and had no time to come back.
My mother believed it.
Although she missed her child, she was afraid of delaying his studies and ordered her daughter not to send him news of her illness.
His mother died of illness last month.
After Meng Lanting took care of the funeral and his teaching position at school, he immediately boarded the train going south even though it was approaching the end of the year.
In fact, besides her brother, she should have a fiancé.
The other party's surname is Feng, and he should be in Shanghai now.
The reason why I say this is because this so-called "engagement contract" comes from the words of the parents of Feng and Meng's family when she was young.
Although the two families exchanged tokens at that time, Meng Lanting has never met each other in the nineteen years since his birth.
All I know is that he is two years older than me and his name is Feng Kezhi.
As for the situation of the two families, one is in heaven and the other is on earth.
Unlike the Meng family, which declined along with the buried old era, the Feng family is now powerful and powerful.
After his father's death, the relationship between the two families naturally gradually became estranged, until in the past few years, they had completely stopped contacting each other.
Although in the mother's heart, this marriage contract has always existed.
Before she died, she also solemnly handed over the Geng Tie and tokens that had been hidden for many years to her, and asked her daughter to go and seek refuge with her.
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She said with tears that even if they did not recognize the engagement, they hoped that for the sake of the old friendship between the two families, they would be happy for her.
She's taken care of.
This way I will feel relieved even if I die.
Before her death, her mother cast a look of deep and reluctant love on him, which still lingers in Meng Lanting's eyes and cannot go away.
She was moved by the caring heart from her loving mother, but the hope that her mother could not let go even before her death had never troubled her.
Times have changed, and now even if I go there with a token, it is impossible for the other party to admit the marriage.
This is undoubtedly and taken for granted.
What's more, as far as she is concerned, she will not put her life on an old-fashioned marriage contract and a man she has never met before.
In the past few years, no matter how difficult the situation was, Meng Lanting never thought of asking the Feng family for help.
But this time, she came to Shanghai with the intention of visiting him.
My brother's life and death are still uncertain, and there is no news.
If he really returns to China by boat, Shanghai will be his only stop.
I know that favors are like paper and I am not welcome.
But now, she can't think of anyone who is more hopeful than the Feng family to help her find the whereabouts and news of her only brother as soon as possible, if he really returns to China.
Meng Lanting paused for a moment, then quickly recovered, found the direction of the exit, and followed the flow of people around him and walked forward.
When she left the station, several nearby coachmen saw her carrying a box alone, and immediately ran over with their carriages, asking where she was going.
This is Meng Lanting's first visit to Shanghai.
She remembered the station director's repeated warnings before getting on the bus, saying that rickshaw pullers in Shanghai were the best at cheating students, and if they were identified as "Amulin", they would definitely extort money from the train.
It's good luck, but if it's not good, you'll be pulled out of the car halfway.
Their stationmaster had suffered such a disadvantage when he came back to Shanghai.
He was dragged into an unknown alley in the middle of the night and left in a dark alley.
She was even stripped of her clothes.
She was a young girl, and when she came to a place like Shanghai alone, she had to be more careful about accidents.
He taught Meng Lanting that when riding in a car, he should directly say hello in the tone of old Shanghai, "Where is the road to xx?"
and then get on and leave.
If you ask "How much does it cost to go somewhere" in a foreigner's tone, you are putting that bright bumpkin "Amulin" sign on your forehead, telling the other person that you are new here and you will definitely suffer a loss.
Meng Lanting planned to find Uncle Zhou to settle down first.
Seeing the driver coming up to solicit, he hesitated for a moment and was about to ask about Zhihua University.
Suddenly he saw that the other person was silent and staring behind him and winking.
He was startled and immediately reacted.
Just as he was about to hug his box, a black shadow appeared behind him.
It has already rushed up.
The man snatched her box, his feet seemed to be on hot wheels, and he squeezed into the crowd in a blink of an eye.
The people around him seemed to be used to it.
Instead of blocking him, they seemed to be afraid of causing trouble.
They hurriedly dispersed to both sides, which was equivalent to making way for the thief.
Meng Lanting chased for a while subconsciously.
The thief turned around and quickly disappeared without a trace.
Meng Lanting realized that it was impossible for him to catch up, so he could only stop slumped, gasping for breath amidst the sympathetic looks from around him.
The coachman behind him also came up, shook his head and said that he had warned her a long time ago, and it was her fault.
Meng Lanting smiled bitterly, turned to look at the station policeman not far away who quickly turned his back and pretended to be maintaining order, and gave up the idea of asking for help.
Fortunately, the remaining money is kept close to my heart.
The box looks new, but there are mostly old clothes inside.
It's a pity that it's the stack of publications that my brother sent back before.
Originally, she planned to bring it over and ask Uncle Zhou for advice on some of the things she didn't understand clearly.
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In his early years, Uncle Zhou studied abroad at the University of Göttingen in Germany and studied under famous contemporary mathematics masters.
After returning to China, he chaired the Department of Mathematics at Zhihua University and is now one of the leading mathematics researchers and teachers in China.
In addition, the Geng Tie and tokens were also lost.
The only valuable thing in the box is probably the token.
But this is not important, if you lose it, you will lose it.
It's still early.
Now that I don’t have heavy luggage, I can save as much transportation money as I can.
Meng Lanting ignored the noisy coachman beside him and asked another passerby for the direction to Zhihua University.
He turned around and walked forward.
The author has something to say: Miss Meng and Feng Jiuye come together gd1806102: