Siheyuan: Banggeng and I are classmates

The time came three days later.

Li Muhua put on slightly old clothes, carried a suitcase, and walked towards the train accompanied by her family. The gong and drum team of the Revolutionary Committee was beating gongs and drums on the platform.

Every young person like Li Muhua had a big red flower on their chest. There were red flags flying all around, and the atmosphere was festive with loud gongs and drums and firecrackers.

However, no one at the platform had a happy expression on their face. Instead, they all looked reluctant and sad, and from time to time, someone would even cry out loud.

Li Muhua naturally didn't cry. You Ziqiang smiled and said, "Mom, it's good for me to go to Yicheng. It's a little far, but it's in the south of the Yangtze River. The water and soil nourish people."

"Maybe when I come back, you won't even recognize me when I'm fat and white!"

"You're just talking nonsense. That place is poor. Your father has been driving for all these years and has never been there..." Xu Yan didn't believe Li Muhua's nonsense at all and said with a sob:

"No matter how good the outside world is, it's not as good as home, not to mention that yours is in the countryside..." Xu Yan kept muttering to herself.

Li Muhua still forced a smile and said, "Mom, don't think like that. Don't you know what kind of person I am? I have always been lazy since I was a child. Don't worry!"

"Don't worry, you are what our mother is most worried about. All of us combined are not as caring as you. We are just worried that you will suffer..."

"?"

Li Muhua couldn't help but be puzzled as he listened to the chatter. Was Xu Yan praising him?

After a long time, the train whistle blew. At the urging of the working group, Li Muhua had to pick up his suitcase and walk towards the train.

"Woooo..."

Xu Yan covered her face and wiped away her tears. Li Haifu hugged her and comforted her softly. Li Yujie shouted loudly for the first time: "Brother, remember to write a letter when you get to the place. Mom and Dad are waiting for you!"

"Don't worry!" Li Muhua agreed, walked quickly into the train without looking back.

"Drip~~"

The train started, and Li Muhua glanced around the carriage. He was considered old at 19, as most of the passengers looked like boys and girls around 16 or 7 years old.

"Ugh!"

Li Muhua sighed softly. They were both in their prime years and he couldn't help but feel sad for the six years of their youth that were about to pass away, but wasn't he the same?

He found a seat and sat down with a droopy head.

At this time, the atmosphere in the carriage was still very lively. Someone was playing clappers to encourage these children who had left home.

Li Muhua had no interest in listening to these inspiring words and closed his eyes to rest.

Having lived in Beijing for many years, Li Muhua could not help but start to have wild thoughts when his future suddenly became uncertain.

At this moment, a surprised voice suddenly came from the opposite side.

"Are you Li Muhua?"

Li Muhua was startled when he was called. He went to the countryside under an assumed name and did not go with his classmates, just to avoid trouble.

"How come there are still people who know me?" Li Muhua cursed inwardly.

He looked up and saw that the person calling him was a girl. She was sitting between the three people opposite her. She was about the same age as him, with braids hanging in front of her chest and two big watery eyes looking at him with surprise.

Li Muhua frowned after taking a look, because he was sure that he didn't know this girl, but she could call out his name -

Seeing that Li Muhua didn't recognize her, she continued, "I, Zhou Ru, we were desk mates in Red Star Primary School. Have you forgotten?"

"Zhou Ru?"

Li Muhua thought about it and it seemed to be the case.

"Zhou Ru? Oh! I remember now. We were desk mates in elementary school. You've changed so much in the past six or seven years that I didn't even recognize you!"

Seeing that Li Muhua remembered her, Zhou Ru's smile became even brighter and she was very happy to meet an acquaintance.

"You've changed a lot. I remember you were not as tall as me back then!"

The two chatted for a while, and the girl sitting on Zhou Ru's left suddenly interrupted and said suspiciously: "Li Muhua, why do I feel that this name sounds familiar?"

The girl on the right also nodded, and suddenly said in surprise: "I know, Zhou Ru, you told us about him before, he was even on the newspaper, and the teacher once-"

When Li Muhua heard that something bad was going to happen, she thought, if she continued shouting, wouldn’t the whole carriage be in an uproar?

Not wanting to cause trouble, Li Muhua quickly interrupted, "Don't, don't talk about this. It's been so many years. It's all old news. There's nothing to mention!"

"How can you say it's just old news? You are——"

Before she finished her excited shout, Zhou Ru saw that Li Muhua didn't want to talk about it, so she turned around and said, "Shu Wan, let's not talk about this for now."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked back at Li Muhua, smiling brightly, "Let me introduce them to you. We both graduated from No. 8 Middle School. They are my good friends, Dong Shuwan and Han Lu."

"Hello, Comrade Dong Shuwan and Han Lu. I go to No. 13 High School." Li Muhua greeted them and said he had met them before.

Zhou Ru added: "As for him, I guess I don't need to introduce him to you, right?"

The two of them nodded at the same time, their eyes full of curiosity about Li Muhua, the man they had only seen in newspapers and heard on the radio when they were children, and whom they wanted to learn from.

Li Muhua glanced at the fat boy beside him and saw that he had been listening carefully to what they were saying. He quickly said, "Don't introduce yourself. We just need to get to know each other!"

"Are you going to Yicheng too?"

Zhou Ru nodded and said with some concern: "The three of us are all going to Yicheng, but I heard that the conditions there are very difficult and not as good as going to the Northwest, Northeast and grasslands."

"Yeah, I heard about it too!" Dong Shuwan nodded and confirmed, "They only eat sweet potatoes for meals there, steamed buns, rice, steamed buns, nothing else!"

Han Lu also said, "Besides, the journey is long and the train ticket back is very expensive. I heard that even if you save up work points for a year, you still can't afford a train ticket back."

The three of them had worried looks on their faces, and it was obvious that the news they had heard before setting out had frightened them.

Li Muhua knew they were telling the truth, but she still consoled them: "There is a way out when you get to the mountain, and there is a way out when you get to the bridge. Why would we go to a place that is not difficult? I believe that as long as people can live there, we can stay there."

Hearing Li Muhua shouting slogans, Zhou Ru forced herself to nod in agreement.

"Besides, that's Jiangnan, the spring water is bluer than the sky, and you can sleep on a painted boat listening to the rain. The woman beside the wine shop is like the moon, and her white wrists are covered with frost and snow." Li Muhua continued to praise:

“What a beautiful painting!”

"We should go to the south of the Yangtze River while we are still young!"

Seeing Li Muhua's expectation, Zhou Ru asked, "Is Yicheng Jiangnan really as good as you say?"

"This is all written in the book. We won't know whether it's true or not until we get there. It's useless to think about it now, but we should always think positively about everything!"

Li Muhua did not dare to continue making up stories. If Yicheng was really like this, then there would be something fishy going on. Over the years, he had been to many places with Li Haifu's cart. He could only say that the conditions in small villages in the south were indeed better than those in the north, but they were also very limited.

Zhou Ru nodded, and then they chatted and reminisced. When talking about Xu Ming, Li Muhua sighed.

To be honest, Xu Ming was also responsible for jumping off the building in front of them. He just couldn't get over it, so he dropped out of school so quickly.

Seeing the old friend being mentioned by Zhou Ru like this, the bloody scene seemed to replay before his eyes.

After chatting, the relationship between the few people deepened a lot, and they even agreed that after arriving in Yicheng, they would ask the Agricultural Support Office to assign them to the same unit so that they could take care of each other in the future.

The train rumbled along at a high speed, without stopping at any station along the way, and finally stopped the next morning.

The platform was the same as that in the old city, with a long welcoming team lined up, red flags waving, gongs and drums beating, and firecrackers blasting.