C21

Qi Tan didn't feel hungry until the train to F City left the station. Only then did he feel sore all over his body, his stomach rumbled incessantly as he ate some food to ease his stomach. Qi Tan let out a long sigh of relief.

The train was an express train, and it would only take three hours to get back. Considering the time it took to go home, there was no longer a public car, so he had to think about how to explain himself to his aunt before going home, so he decided to find a hotel for the night and come back tomorrow. At this point, he thought about the hotels in the city, and how the hostel was near the old campus of the University of F, which he remembered, and how he would stay there for the night and return home the next day.

The city was on the east side of the provincial capital, and the train was rapidly heading east while carrying the afternoon sun. Occasionally, they would meet up with the train heading west, and they would feel their hearts clench at the moment of the intersection. There weren't many people in the train, and basically everyone could have a seat. There were also flight attendants who carried large cloth bags and sold newspapers and magazines. There were always people going back and forth in the corridor. Some went to the toilet, some went to get water, some went to the places where the carriages were connected to smoke.

There was a young man and a young woman sitting opposite her. They glanced at each other when they looked over. They pursed their lips and nodded at her with a smile. She was stunned for a moment before smiling back at Qi Zhengyuan.

The train had been moving for over an hour now, and they were all bored as they looked at the scenery. There were large fields of corn, red-tiled houses, low houses, and an asphalt road that led to places they had never been before.

As he watched, he heard the girl talking to him, "Little sister, where are you going?"

Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment before he said: "I'm in F City."

"What a coincidence," said the girl, "we are also going to F City. Are you going to visit a relative?"

"No, I'm from F City," he said.

The girl said, "From now on, we're also from the City of F."

"How so?"

"After graduation," said the girl, "we went to the City of F, where we will have to work from now on."

Qi Xiang said, "F City is a good place. Its location is good and its economic strength is also good. You guys have good eyes."

The boy sized up Qi Zhengyuan and asked, "Are you a middle school student or a university student?"

Qi Xiang said, "If you take the college entrance exam this year, you'll be a university student in a few days."

The male student said, "My surname is Yu and her surname is Zhao. Both of us graduated this year, so we're going to F City to report."

Qi Chang said, "My surname is Qi, I'm from Heshai County, F City. I'll go to F University to study in a few days."

The girl said, "What a coincidence. I'm going to be a teacher in the F University English Department. We'll be on the same campus in the future."

"It's a coincidence," he said. "Is this brother teaching at the university?"

The boy said, "No, I'll report to City Council." There was an air of pride in his voice that had just left the school gate.

Qi Zhengyuan was a lot older than them, so he did not want to talk to anyone about it. However, when they saw that he was waiting for others to praise him, he still pretended to look at him with admiration. Perhaps it was Qi Zhengyuan's eyes that encouraged him, but the boy continued to narrate his experiences as president of the Student Union and his ambitions in life. Beside him, the girl surnamed Zhao also looked at him with admiration. He forgot who said it was. The worshipful look in the woman's eyes was the best catalyst for a man to express his desire. The smile on his face stiffened a little, but the flirtatiousness of his smile didn't decrease in the slightest.

Qi Zheng let out a sigh of relief and got up to pack his backpack. He got ready to get off the train when he saw the two of them getting their suitcases from the luggage rack. After they were done, they slowly drove into the train station.

The train station was rebuilt in 2004. At that time, the train station was still a product of the 1960s, and it had a Russian style. At that time, the Sanitary City, Civilization City, had not been established, and it was filthy everywhere.

When he walked out of the station, he found some customers surrounding him and asked him where he was going. As he walked, he waved his hand and rushed out of the encirclement to see Zhao and his brother dragging their suitcases as they followed him. Little Zhao stroked his skirt and jokingly said, "Leader Yu, this matter needs to be fixed up in the future."

Xiao Yu touched his hair and laughed, but did not say anything. He asked in unison, "Do you know where you should go to report?"

Little Zhao said, "We'll report it tomorrow. We need to find a place to stay."

Xiao Yu said, "Why don't we go to the city committee hostel for a night? I heard my uncle say that the environment there is very good."

Qi Xiang said, "Then let's go together, I'll stay there for the night and go home tomorrow."

The three of them took a taxi, and Qi Chang took advantage of the time the two of them took to go to the trunk to leave their luggage in the passenger seat. No matter what, they were now considered as half landlords, so they didn't need to pay a few dollars for the car.

The driver was a talkative person, and seeing that the three of them carried so much luggage to the guest house, he knew that they had come from outside. In just a dozen minutes, they had traveled from the weather to the climate, from the climate to the country's leaders, and from the country's leaders to the cities and greenery, which made Qi Cheng dizzy. When they finally arrived at the guest house, the three of them got out of the car, grabbed their luggage and looked at the taxi that had turned around, letting out a long sigh of relief.

After registering his room, Qi Cheng went to take a walk around the street.

In the evening, the number of people on both sides of the street had gradually increased. Two blocks east of the hostel was the old school district, and Qi Yi remembered that there was a fast food restaurant near the school. He often ate there, strolled around the school, took a walk around the night market near the school, and then went back, thinking of taking an early rest tomorrow to check out the house in the newly developed district opposite the school.

The street lamp lit up, the yellow light didn't shine very far, they walked into the entrance of the guest house, and found a small figure curled up on the top step of the living quarters building, with his chin on his knees, and a pair of big wet eyes looking around at the people coming and going.

A thin layer of tears covered that pair of black and white clear eyes, the black pupils were like two black grapes immersed in a mountain spring, and the small face was the size of a palm. Because she had been crying with her nose red, her cherry lips were tightly pressed together, her nervous expression carried a hint of weakness, and her stubborn eyes also carried a trace of strength.

Qi Yuan felt that he could no longer move his legs. After standing for a while and checking that no one was looking for him, he slowly walked up to the little girl and sat down beside her. The little girl looked at her nervously before turning her head to look at the people coming and going.

Qi Xiang thought about it and said, "Whose little princess are you?"

The little girl turned her head to look at Qi Zhengyuan and said, "Mommy said you can't talk to strangers."

Qi Yuan laughed and said, "Then why did a little friend tell me that her mother wouldn't let her talk to people she didn't know?"

Being stared at by such a gaze, Qi Jing felt as if his heart was about to melt. He stretched out his hand and said: "My name is Qi Chang, I'm nineteen this year, let's introduce each other and we can't be considered strangers anymore."

The little girl thought for a moment, then stretched out her small white hands to shake Qi Chang's hand, saying: "My name is Guo Guo, now I'm four and a half, I'm very happy to be friends with you."

From these words, one could tell that this little girl's tutoring was very good. Like Guo Guo, she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees. She said to Guo Guo, "It's so late, why are you sitting here by yourself?"

Guo Guo sniffed and said, "Mom said someone came to talk to her about something and told me to stay in the room and watch cartoons myself, but Mom still hasn't come back yet and I wanted to come out and find her, but the moment I went out the door, it closed by myself and I couldn't get in. I wanted to come here to look for Mom, but I couldn't find her, so I just sat here."

He had just met Guo Guo, so he couldn't bring the kids around to help look for his mother. It would be troublesome if he and his child's family met them on the road and mistook him for a child kidnapper. It would be better if he sat here with his child and waited for his child's family to come find him.

Qi Xiang said, "I'm from F City, my home is over 80 miles away, where is your home?"

Guo Guo said, "I used to live in Qi City with my mother and grandpa, but mother said that grandpa went to a very far place and only came back when I was older. She told me that we had to wait here for grandpa to come back."

Qi City was the provincial capital. No wonder Guo Guo was so arrogant. So she came from the provincial capital.

Qi Xiang exaggeratedly said, "Wow, you're from Qi City. I heard that the little kids from the province are all very cute. No wonder Guo Guo is so likeable."

When Guo Guo heard this, she blushed and shyly said, "How can you say that? I'm not as good as you say, right?"

Qi Yuan looked at the cute little face in front of him and nodded, wishing that he could take a bite out of it, "It's true, I never lie. There must be a lot of people who say you're cute and beautiful, right?"

Guo Guo nodded and said, "Yes, my grandpa said it was the most cute little darling."

Qi Xiang said: "Look, look. I told you. Guo Guo is a good child. She's so cute and beautiful. Everyone likes her."