Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space

During the day after Wei Kaiyun left, Jiang Xinyu didn’t feel any discomfort, but when night came and she was alone, she finally realized her man was gone.

An entire night tossing and turning, she almost didn’t sleep, her mind blank but unable to rest.

The next morning, she was extremely sluggish, completely out of sorts, her thoughts wandering; sometimes she suddenly wanted to call out for Wei Kaiyun, but raising her head, he wasn’t there.

Shi Jing was also very unaccustomed, having come indoors looking for Wei Kaiyun several times.

”Xiao Jiang, is Shi Jing looking for his dad?”

”Yes, he hasn’t adapted, and I’m not quite used to it either.”

”Sigh, in two years you can be reunited as a family.”

Wei Kaiyun also couldn’t sleep on the train, suddenly leaving their mother and son trio, especially at night, squeezing together with three strangers felt incredibly uncomfortable.

His heart was filled with moments spent with his wife; this year had been the happiest of over thirty years.

Thinking of amusing events, Wei Kaiyun inadvertently grinned.

But not a minute later, he frowned again, his heart full of bitterness. A grown man unable to stay beside his wife and children, thinking about it felt so much like failure.

With the atmosphere so tense now, going back wasn’t even certain how it would be.

In the middle of the night, suddenly a girl started sobbing, making Wei Kaiyun even more irritated. What’s all this? When his own woman cried, it was touching, but someone else sobbing was simply maddening.

”Lantian, stop crying.” Another girl came down, sat beside her, comforting her.

”Yes, Lantian. You need to adapt; we’ve been assigned to the Northeast, there’s nothing to be done about it, gradually adjust.” The boy also got up to comfort her.

”I feel I can’t survive in the Northeast, who did we offend? Among the entire population sent to the countryside, only us three were sent to an outer province, several thousand miles away to the Northeast; I’ve heard it’s negative dozens of degrees there, how will we live?”

The young girl cried so desperately as she spoke.

The girl comforting her sat crying beside her. This made Wei Kaiyun even more irritated.

But he couldn’t say anything, irritated enough to want a cigarette, but remembering he’d already quit smoking.

”The two of you shouldn’t be like this; we only have each other to depend on, let’s cheer up, we’ve been abandoned by our families, we can only rely on ourselves.”

The two girls cried even harder now.

Only until the latter half of the night did it finally quiet down, what is happening?

The next day, Wei Kaiyun got up to wash, then took out the roujiamo his wife prepared, poured a cup of hot water, and made do with breakfast.

The small space was filled with the aroma of meat, waking the three sleeping people.

The boy named Zhang Jianfeng wasn’t tall, but seemed quite gentle.

”I’ll go wash up first, then let’s all go have a meal.”

The two girls had no objections, groggily sitting there waiting.

Wei Kaiyun continued reading the newspaper, honestly having read it several times already. But staying awake meant finding something to do.

”Comrade, comrade?”

Wei Kaiyun didn’t want to look up, but the unnamed girl persisted.

”Something wrong?”

”Comrade, it’s fate for us to meet, I thought I’d chat with you.”

”Not great, men and women are still different.” Wei Kaiyun said and lowered his head to read the newspaper again.

”Comrade, what age is this? We’re all comrades.”

Wei Kaiyun still didn’t speak, how annoying.

Just then Zhang Jianfeng came back ”Why haven’t you two washed up yet? Hurry up, let’s go to the dining car for food.”

A quarter-hour later, he was finally alone. Only then did Wei Kaiyun feel a bit more comfortable.

Originally, he was a rather introverted person; the slickness was trained after starting work, inherently not changed.

An hour later, the three returned.

”Hello comrade, I’m Zhang Jianfeng.”

Wei Kaiyun extended his hand and shook ”Hello, I’m Wei Kaiyun.”

The three young people had been hit hard but had great attitudes, talking and laughing today, completely different from last night’s sobbing.

They would frequently pull Wei Kaiyun into chats.

”Comrade, your accent isn’t from our region.”

”Yes, I’m from the North.” Wei Kaiyun couldn’t embarrass them; a smiling face shouldn’t be punched.

”Comrade, are you heading back?”

”Yes, I’m getting off at H City. Where are you headed?”

Zhang Jianfeng sighed ”We’re getting off at the final stop; we’re sent as educated youths.”

”Mm, work hard. There will be a day to come back eventually.” Wei Kaiyun thought he should say more, otherwise, if they cried half the night again, it’d be unbearable.

”We’re afraid.” Xiao Chen said quietly.

”You’ll adapt slowly. No suffering is unbearable, and besides, life is fine over there; since you’re supporting construction, you should adjust your mindset, perhaps it’s a place for your development, a place to shine.”

The girl made no response, but Zhang Jianfeng seemed a bit stirred by Wei Kaiyun’s words.

”Yes, Mr. Wei, you’re right. We should devote all our energy to contributing to the country.”

Wei Kaiyun chatted intermittently with them, finding time passed quite quickly this way.

For lunch, he ate the flatbread with pork prepared by his wife. Made with pork head meat, it tasted incredibly fragrant.

The three young ones were a bit envious, quickly heading to the dining car.

By the time they returned, Wei Kaiyun had already closed his eyes for some rest.

The two girls sat on the lower bunk, chatting softly.

”Lantian, doesn’t Mr. Wei seem like a leader, isn’t he quite impressive?”

Lantian shook her head ”I didn’t notice.”

”And he’s really good-looking, let’s ask him how old he is this afternoon.”

”He must be a lot older than us anyway.”

Wei Kaiyun heard their conversation but chose not to respond, thinking these girls were quite something.

Thinking of this, he remembered his own daughter. Such a little one, she’ll grow up fast, won’t she?

His face involuntarily smiled, his Shi Jing, Feifei. Dad is waiting for you at home.

Thinking about this, he started planning on renovating their house, building an annex room, so when they returned, they could have their own rooms, each having at least one.

Wei Kaiyun mentally calculated how many rooms should be built? How to decorate his daughter’s room, what all needs to be prepared.

The more he thought, the more he realized he should hurry, in August of ’66 they’d be back. Just over a year left, there’s no time to waste. Everything must be prepared to welcome Niang San.