Cannon Fodder Husband Ch.309-310

Chapter 309 – On the Train

As the year was drawing to a close, there were a lot of people on the train, and even though they tried to bring as little as possible, it was still inconvenient because of their child.

The only fortunate thing was that Jiang Junmo had spent a lot of money to buy scalped tickets and got two sleeping berth tickets.

They paid almost four to five times the price of regular seats.

After all, in this era, only officials could afford sleeping berths, and ordinary people could hardly even get regular tickets. So, it was truly lucky for them to be able to buy these.

Once on the train, the sleeping berth compartments were not as crowded as the regular seats.

In short, it was much more comfortable.

Lu Xia felt that the money was well spent.

Their beds were one lower berth and one middle berth, which was quite convenient.

Kang Kang was taking the train for the first time. Now that they were on the train, he was awake and not afraid. Instead, he seemed curious, looking left and right without crying.

There was already one person in their compartment before they came in, occupying the lower berth across from them. A middle-aged man sat there, dressed like an official. When their eyes met, they nodded at each other without saying a word.

After Jiang Junmo got on the train, he put away the luggage, tidied up a bit, and then went to fetch hot water.

When he came back, he saw that Kang Kang was already spirited. Since it was still early in the day, they didn’t lie down on the beds. Instead, they sat together on the lower berth.

The scenery on the train was just like this. After a while, Kang Kang grew a bit bored and turned to Jiang Junmo, saying, “Daddy, draw!”

Hearing this, Jiang Junmo was momentarily puzzled, “Kang Kang wants to draw?”

Kang Kang nodded.

“But, we sent away the paints a few days ago. Did you forget, Kang Kang?”

Kang Kang furrowed his brows, probably recalling the matter.

Clearly, he didn’t know what to do.

So, Jiang Junmo thought for a moment, took out a piece of paper and a pencil.

“How about Daddy teaches Kang Kang to draw with pencils?”

However, Kang Kang still frowned, evidently not quite satisfied, “It doesn’t look good; I want colored ones!”

In this regard, Kang Kang had inherited Lu Xia’s preference for bright colors.

Thinking about this, Lu Xia smiled and helped persuade him, “You can learn to draw with pencils from your dad for now. When we get to the capital, you can draw with colors.”

Since there were no paints left, Kang Kang had no choice but to accept.

Seeing the two of them starting to draw, Lu Xia realized she had nothing to do, so she went to the middle berth and lay down.

They had a late conversation last night and had some drinks, plus they had to wake up early today. In fact, she hadn’t slept much and felt a bit tired. She dozed off not long after lying down.

When she woke up again, the train had already stopped.

“Where are we?” Lu Xia leaned out and asked Jiang Junmo below.

“Are you awake?” Jiang Junmo looked up at her upon hearing the voice. “We’re in the provincial capital.”

“It’s been that long?” Lu Xia hadn’t expected to sleep so deeply; several hours had passed.

“Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”

Lu Xia nodded; it was already noon, and she was indeed hungry.

After getting off the train, she saw Kang Kang playing with a tangram puzzle; evidently, the drawing session had ended. “Have you both eaten?”

“I haven’t eaten, but Kang Kang had some milk and I made him some porridge.”

The porridge was something Lu Xia made herself. She fried wheat flour with sugar and other ingredients, and when it was time to eat, she just added hot water. It was convenient and tasty, and Kang Kang liked it a lot.

Lu Xia nodded, “Let’s eat then.”

Jiang Junmo took out a few steamed buns from his pocket. They had steamed these yesterday, and they had cooled down by now. But there was no other choice; they could only eat them with hot water. It was still edible, though.

Jiang Junmo felt sorry for her and suggested, “How about I go check out the dining car later?”

Lu Xia nodded, “Sure, I heard that you don’t need meal stamps to buy food on the train, just food tickets. We can have something warm to eat later.”

Jiang Junmo nodded, seemingly planning to check it out later in the evening.

*

Chapter 310 – A Young Couple

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After having their meal, the two of them tidied up a bit. Then, several more people entered their compartment, and it quickly filled up.

On the upper bunk of Lu Xia’s side was a woman in her thirties. Across from them, a young couple occupied the middle and upper bunks. Everyone was friendly and easy to talk to, exchanging a few words.

In this era, people were straightforward, and they quickly shared what their purposes for the trip were.

The woman on Lu Xia’s side was headed to the capital city to help take care of her sister who was giving birth. The man across from Jiang Junmo was on a business trip to the capital city.

The young couple on the upper and middle bunks were both former “educated youth,” who had managed to pass the university entrance exams this time and were returning to the city together.

Seeing this, Jiang Junmo asked curiously and found out that he and the young couple were all from the same province, though they lived in different cities on opposite sides, a considerable distance away.

Upon learning that Lu Xia and Jiang Junmo were also former “educated youth” who had passed their exams to return to the city, the two couples were delighted.

They chatted about many things.

They came to know that the young husband was named Zhou Yan, and his wife was Jin He. Zhou Yan was quite talkative and conversed more with Jiang Junmo. Jin He was a bit introverted and looked at Lu Xia with a hint of envy.

Lu Xia somewhat understood her thoughts, as she had learned during their conversation that Jin He came from the countryside and seemed to have a bit of inferiority complex due to her personality.

It was unexpected that her husband had passed the university entrance exams and hadn’t abandoned her. He even planned to bring her to the city. She was somewhat worried that her in-laws might not like her.

Lu Xia didn’t know how to console her, but she did feel that Zhou Yan was a good person for not leaving his wife behind and for bringing her to the city.

Hearing that three university students were sharing the compartment with them, the other two were also envious. The middle-aged man mentioned that his child had taken the exams as well, but didn’t manage to pass. He also asked them about their study experiences.

However, Lu Xia and Jiang Junmo didn’t reveal which universities they had been accepted to, and Zhou Yan didn’t mention it either. They didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves, considering they were just meeting these people by chance.

They got along harmoniously in the compartment, and even Kang Kang managed to win everyone’s affection.

At this point, Jin He mentioned that she was also three months pregnant and hoped her child would be as cute as Kang Kang.

Lu Xia was fairly satisfied with their compartment mates, but she was curious. Wasn’t it said that only officials could get sleeping berth tickets? Then why did they have only one official in their compartment?

It seemed that the other people were not simple either.

In the evening, Jiang Junmo took a lunchbox to the dining car. When he returned, he brought back two sets of boxed meals. Lu Xia opened one and saw that it contained both meat and vegetables.

“The food is quite good!” The portions were generous as well, better than what she was used to in the 21st century.

Jiang Junmo was also satisfied, “Yes, but we don’t know how it tastes yet.”

“Let’s try,” Lu Xia took the lead and tasted a bite. Surprisingly, the taste was not bad. While it couldn’t match up to state-owned restaurants, it was similar to what she would cook at home.

So, Lu Xia was quite content.

Among their compartment mates, only they two had bought meals from the dining car. The others had brought their own food.

Seeing them enjoy their food, some were a bit envious. However, they still refrained from buying, as the prices weren’t cheap, and for just one night, most people could endure.

After Lu Xia and Jiang Junmo finished eating, they fed Kang Kang and then Jiang Junmo carried him to wash up. Lu Xia stayed at the sleeping berths, watching over their things. After they returned, she went to wash up herself.

They intended to rest after that.

However, later in the evening, a child from a few compartments away started crying and wailing incessantly. Even Lu Xia and the others in her compartment could hear it.

Every now and then, they could hear parents scolding and comforting the child from that compartment.

Lu Xia couldn’t sleep due to the noise and thought that the child was far too noisy, unlike Kang Kang who was well-behaved.

At this moment, the others in their compartment were also relieved. Thankfully, the child on their side was well-behaved and not causing a commotion; otherwise, it would have been unbearable.

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**TN

Slow update today… I caught a cold. *crying emoji*