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Chapter 318: Chapter 308 The Remarkable Old Lady on the Train (Part One)
"Oh, my dear girl, I didn’t see it; I’m sorry," the elderly woman apologized to Shen Yunfang with an embarrassed look on her face.
Shen Yunfang quickly smiled and said, "No problem."
"Ha-ha, you see, my daughter is traveling with her son, and the bag is full of the child’s stuff, which makes it difficult to store it inside. Could you check if your bag fits in there instead?" Although she was asking, her hands moved efficiently to stuff the last package under the bunk. Shen Yunfang’s black bag got completely hidden; to retrieve it, two of the elderly lady’s bags needed to be removed first.
The smile on Shen Yunfang’s face faded slightly. You all saw us carrying a child, but we have a child on this bed too; don’t you see that?
"Oh, mom, stop fussing over those things. Hurry up and take the child; I can’t hold him any longer." The woman holding the child said impatiently.
"Oh, right away, right away," the old lady quickly straightened up. Seeing her daughter trying to place her grandson on the middle bunk, she quickly tugged at her daughter’s clothes to give her a cue before bowing her head and looking at the occupants of the two lower bunks. Then, with a smile, she turned to the elderly gentleman and said, "Dear comrade, could I trouble you with a request? You see, my daughter is traveling with her child and unfortunately couldn’t get a lower bunk ticket, only an upper bunk. It’s really inconvenient for her with such a small child to move up and down. Could you possibly consider switching bunks with the child?"
The cultured gentleman smiled and readily agreed. "Sure, it doesn’t matter to me where I sleep. You take the lower bunk with the child." Saying this, he stood up from the lower bunk, gathered his things, and vacated the space.
"Oh, thank you so much. When we are away from home, we have to be accommodating to each other." The old lady thanked the cultured gentleman with a smile, but her last comment was a bit unpleasant. "Come on, Yuanyuan, put your bag here; you and the child will sleep here tonight."
The woman named Yuanyuan obediently sat down on the lower bunk and gently placed the child beside her.
"The child must be thirsty; hold on, I’ll get a jar for the child to cool some water." After saying that, the old lady bent over to pull out a bag from under Shen Yunfang’s bunk, took out an enamel jar, and prepared to fetch water.
Shen Yunfang quickly took the opportunity to speak up, "Granny, let me shift your bag, please. My bag is inside; I need to get it out."
"Ha-ha, go ahead and move it; no worries," the elderly lady said with a chuckle, looking at her family’s bags. However, instead of going to fetch water, she sat back down on the bunk.
Shen Yunfang didn’t bother with her and pulled out two of the old lady’s bags from the middle; she then reached in to laboriously retrieve her own black bag.
She was about to put the old lady’s bags back when the old lady grabbed them from her.
"No rush to put them back in. What do you need to take out? It’s not easy for you with a child, I’ll help you. I can put your bag back in afterwards. When you’re traveling, anyone would help with such a small matter," she said.
"No need, Granny; I don’t need to put my bag down there anymore. It’s full of things for the child and inconvenient to take out at night. I’ll just place it on the upper shelf later," Shen Yunfang said calmly.
When you’re away from home, there are all sorts of people. To maintain a pleasant mood, a little tolerance and equanimity can prevent many conflicts. If the space under the bunk isn’t available, she could just find another place for her bag; it wasn’t a big deal.
"Ah, it’s great being tall; I get dizzy just looking at those high racks with my short stature, ha-ha!" the old lady said laughingly as she rearranged her family’s bags. "I’m going to fetch water. Do you need any? Do you have a jar? I can fetch some for you too."
"No need, no need, I’ll go fetch it myself in a bit." Shen Yunfang indeed needed to fetch some water to cool it down, so she could mix the formula for her child to sleep at night, but she hadn’t expected anyone to fetch it for her.
"Oh, don’t be so polite. We should help each other when we’re out and about, it’s not a big deal. Here, here, the jar is in your bag, right? I’ll get it for you." Before she could stop her, the old lady had already opened up Shen Yunfang’s bag, which was placed on the floor.
Shen Yunfang didn’t have the chance to stop her; who knows what the old lady did when she was younger, she acted so swiftly.
"You don’t move from here, just wait, I’ll fetch water for the both of you." The old lady loudly declared, and with one hand she carried a jar, squeezing her way towards the hot water room.
"The old lady is really warm-hearted," Shen Yunfang said, tugging at the corner of her mouth, politely addressing Yuanyuan across from her.
But Yuanyuan glanced at Shen Yunfang and Pangpang, then turned her head to look at her own child, not uttering a word.
Shen Yunfang felt awkward. She thought indignantly that the old lady probably used up all the words in their family, giving birth to a daughter who was as mute as a gourd.
It took the old lady more than ten minutes to return, squeezing back with two jars of hot water.
Cultural Grandpa, since it wasn’t dark yet, didn’t go straight to bed after changing his bunk but sat in the corridor’s chair reading a book. When he saw the old lady returning with hot water, he hurriedly said, "Comrade, you can put the jar here, there are children inside, it’s not safe to keep it there."
The old lady glanced at the two children on the lower bunk, then turned her head, her face full of smile lines, "Don’t call me comrade, I see you’re a few years older than me, I’ll call you elder brother. Elder brother, as a cultured person, you are really thoughtful, I hadn’t even thought of that."
Shen Yunfang, sitting on her bunk, played with her child for a while, her ears not idle, overhearing the old lady flattering Cultural Grandpa. It was almost unbearable. Was it necessary? All he did was suggest placing the jar in the corridor, and she could lavish praise for half an hour, making life unbearable for others.
The Cultural Grandpa, perhaps overwhelmed, found an excuse to squeeze his way to the restroom. After returning, he didn’t dare to sit below, so he took off his shoes and climbed up to his bunk to rest.
One could imagine how formidable the old lady was.
When it was time for dinner, the old lady started bustling to find something to eat for her daughter and grandson.
She pulled a bag from beneath Shen Yunfang’s bunk and took out several leavened cakes and a jar of pickled vegetables, splitting the cakes in the middle and stuffing them with the pickles. At this time, these leavened cakes and pickled vegetables already constituted a decent meal.
After preparing one, she handed it to her grandson and then told Shen Yunfang, "Young lady, aren’t you having dinner? I see your child is quite young; he hasn’t been weaned yet, right? You can’t skimp on meals while nursing; you need to eat properly, or it won’t be good for the child’s health."
"Old lady, I’ve eaten. I had my meal just before getting on the train." Shen Yunfang didn’t appreciate the hint of ostentation in her tone, but she didn’t lie. Before leaving the hostel, she had just eaten, fearing that once on the train, with no one to look after the child, it would be inconvenient for her. So, she ate early since it was just for one night, and she would be off the train tomorrow morning.
