Three or Two Things about Rebirth

On December 1989, 12, the Northeastern plains were covered with ice and snow under the night sky.

The whistle sounded, and an old green train left Harbin Railway Station. The rolling wheels broke through the new snow on the rails and rushed towards the colder place further north.

The hard seat carriage seemed more crowded than usual because of the college students on winter break, and the aisles were packed with passengers, some standing and some sitting.

The heavy snow fell all night long and finally stopped at sunrise in the early morning, and the temperature dropped sharply.

The passengers who were sleeping in the carriage subconsciously tightened their cotton coats, and the tired passengers who had been standing all night also shifted their feet and shivered subconsciously.

As daylight rose, the ceiling lights in the carriage went out.

Qiu Jiashu looked at the watch on his wrist, gently pushed his sleeping sister away, placed his cotton hat on the wall of the carriage, supported her head against it, and tucked in the down jacket covering her.

Seeing that she was sleeping soundly, he bent down and took out a towel and a plastic toothbrush tube from the bag under the seat, and hung the military water bottle on the small table on his chest. After getting up, he put the cotton gloves on his seat and whispered to the passenger sitting next to the aisle, "Brother, please help me watch the seat!"

The eldest brother nodded repeatedly and said, okay, okay.

Qiu Jiashu was very tall. When he stood up, his hair touched the red armband of "Public Security Guard" hanging under the luggage rack. He tilted his head slightly, stepped in front of the big brother's legs, and squeezed towards the door little by little. The aisle was not as crowded as last night. Many people got off at the Yi City Station before.

He quickly reached the end of the carriage and went to the toilet. When he came out, he saw an old lady holding her belt and holding her legs together impatiently, muttering, "Why are you so slow?"

As soon as he took a step forward with his left foot, the auntie couldn't wait to squeeze in.

He didn't care and coldly asked a young man who was standing by the sink and about to reach for the military canteen, "Where are you?"

The young man shuddered with fear, turned his head and glared, and suddenly saw the police uniform on him. He quickly withdrew his hands and smiled flatteringly, "Government, I didn't do anything!"

There was a cadre-looking man brushing his teeth by the sink. He turned his head to look at them and spat a mouthful of toothpaste foam into the sink. Qiu Jiashu frowned and slapped the young man on the back of his head, "Get lost!"

The young man shrank his neck, slipped out from under his armpit, and ran into the next carriage.

Suddenly, a short piece of music sounded on the train broadcast, followed by the soft and friendly voice of the announcer, "Dear passengers, the train is about to arrive at Wuying Station. Passengers who are getting off, please take your luggage and wait at the door in advance."

Qiu Jiashu quickly turned off the faucet of the kettle, picked up the kettle, and took the toothbrush holder and towel, preparing to return to his seat. Unexpectedly, a dozen people preparing to get off the train suddenly rushed out of the carriage, blocking him at the door of the washroom.

The train slowed down slowly. A conductor came over with a key and checked the lock of the toilet door. It locked with a click. A woman screamed in surprise, "Gahha?"

"You forgot to lock the door when you go to the toilet!" The conductor opened it again, "Come out quickly! The train is stopped and the toilet cannot be used!"

There was a sound of water, and the auntie came out in a hurry, sorting out her clothes while complaining loudly, "Really? It's only halfway through!"

A few minutes later, with a long "whoosh" sound, the train stopped. Due to inertia, everyone swayed, huddled together, and bounced back.

The door of the carriage was frozen. The conductor kicked it hard a few times and finally opened the door. With a clang, a white mist rolled into the carriage, spreading to the insteps and calves, and it was very cold.

Passengers rushed to get off the bus, and there were one or two people who were eager to get on, causing chaos at the door.

Qiu Jiashu hurried back to the carriage, but the aunt did not move. She stood at the door of the toilet, obviously determined to wait for the car to leave and finish the other half.

Qiu Jiashu hung the kettle and towel on his chest, held the toothbrush in one hand, and explored the way forward with the other hand, constantly whispering, "Please lend me some light."

Just after he took a few steps, a middle-aged woman sitting in the fourth row of seats near the door suddenly stared at him, pointed at his nose and said loudly, "You have such a high-speed machine entering China, remember the principle I gave you! When you were young!"

Qiu Jiashu glanced at her, quickly lowered his gaze, and continued to squeeze forward, "Move aside, the hot water is scalding you!"

When they heard the sound of hot water, some passengers immediately moved away.

The woman stood up and stopped Qiu Jiashu, "Do you think I'm joking with you? Wang Longjiang, let me tell you, the man in the underworld is my uncle, my dear uncle! Zhao Xuelan's legitimate son and grandson!"

The passengers all burst into laughter, and Qiu Jiashu's young face turned slightly red. He looked up and saw that his sister had stood up beside his seat and was turning her head around in panic.

"Hey! Here! Second brother is here!" Qiu Jiashu shouted loudly and raised his hand to signal. If he didn't shout, he was really afraid that she would cry.

But his sister didn't cry. Her eyes swept past him and looked away. She turned around and touched the window grille a few times, then touched the seat back. She looked around the car again, then sat back down, biting her lower lip. Because of the seat back blocking his view, he couldn't see his sister's expression and felt a little anxious.

Qiu Jiashu reached out to pull the woman away, and the passenger who had just boarded the bus behind him urged him, "Go inside! Why are you standing there like an idiot?"

The conductor came to the door of the carriage and said, "Come on, come on! There is room in the middle. Everyone, move in and let the passengers who just got on the train in!"

"It's all filled with bean buns, there's no room left!" someone shouted.

The conductor glared at him and said sternly, "Everyone, get in! There are so many people getting off, how come there is no room?"

The crowd suddenly fell silent and moved slowly a few times.

The woman grabbed Qiu Jiashu's police uniform and turned back to shout at the police, "Whose subordinates are you? You are not good at theory and you don't understand the ways of the world! You are a traffic police every day, what kind of job do you do? You were so arrogant when you asked me for military funds!"

This irrelevant talk made the passengers laugh again.

The young conductor said sternly, "Silence! Where's your ticket? Show it to me!"

The man sitting opposite her quickly stood up, handed over the ticket, and tugged at the woman's sleeve. She shook him off with dissatisfaction, but also let go of Qiu Jiashu. She sat down with a snort, glared at the female student sitting by the window opposite, and said, "What are you laughing at? He has to call me Grandma Taizu. I am Einstein Yehenala!"

The female student shrank her neck and dared not make a sound at all.

The middle part of the carriage was obviously much more spacious, and Qiu Jiashu finally returned to his seat.

"Yo Yo, you're awake? Did you think your second brother abandoned you and ran away? Silly girl, your second brother has gone to wash up." Qiu Jiashu felt relieved to see his sister sitting obediently. He nodded and thanked his eldest brother, picked up his gloves, sat down, and put the toothbrush back into the bag.

Finally, he placed the kettle in his sister's arms and said, "Here, hold it and warm your hands. Drink it after it cools down a bit."

Unexpectedly, his sister didn't even look at him, but moved towards the car window. The kettle slipped and fell to the ground. He hurriedly caught it and sighed helplessly.

The older brother sitting next to him laughed, "Not long after you left, she woke up and started looking for you. Your sister looks quite a bit younger than you, so she must be an old girl. No wonder she's so delicate!"

Qiu Jiashu also laughed, "It's true that she is an old girl, but she is not spoiled at all. She is the number one little bully in our family. She has the final say. Even my three-year-old nephew has to give in to her."

The eldest brother also laughed, took out a half-pack of cigarettes, and cracked one to give to Qiu Jiashu.

"I can't smoke."

"Give me one!"

"I really can't, I really can't." Qiu Jiashu refused again.

The big brother took back the cigarette box, took out the cigarette himself, put the cigarette box back in his pocket, took out a silver lighter, turned it around on his fingers a few times, opened the lid with a clang, lit it with a snap, put it to his lips to light the cigarette, and with a flick of his hand, closed the lid again with a clang and put it back in his pocket. His series of movements were so graceful and skillful that the young man opposite him was amazed.

The eldest brother took a deep puff of the cigarette, which made his cheeks deflate. Then he slowly exhaled the green smoke with a "whoosh", looking like he was enjoying it very much.

After a while, he turned around and looked at Qiu Jiashu's clothes with envy and said, "Brother, this new police uniform is so cool! A friend of mine gave me a police uniform, it's old-fashioned, with armbands. I've wanted to be a soldier since I was a child, but my mother rejected me during the physical examination because I had flat feet! Hahahaha!"

Qiu Jiashu chatted with his eldest brother in a disjointed manner, glancing at his sister from time to time, but she kept her head against the wall of the carriage, and his expression could not be seen at all.

"Oh, I'll pinch it off quickly, so as not to burn holes in your clothes. I can't afford it!" The envy in the elder brother's eyes had turned into reality and flowed out. He threw the cigarette butt on the floor of the carriage, rubbed it with his toes twice, and kept asking, "Your clothes must be made of woolen material, right?

Hey, where are you two going to get off?

Tanghe or Wuling?

Are you two visiting relatives or going home?"

Qiu Jiashu couldn't help laughing, "Brother, who is the policeman between us?"