Liu Family's Current Situation

The winter vacation arrived, and I bought a train ticket to go back home. As spring approached, the train was packed. Honestly, if you don't have some skills, even with a ticket, you might not be able to squeeze onto the train.

Tickets were hard to come by, and I was lucky enough to get a standing ticket. I had an experience with trains: if you can't get a seat, just head to the dining car. For 15 yuan, you could get a seat and even a free dinner. Since I was young and strong, I figured I'd just squeeze in. But when I got on the train, I realized it was worse than I thought. It was so crowded, you couldn't even move. There were three people in the toilet, let alone getting to the dining car—there was no way. I just had to bear it. After all, it was only a five or six-hour ride from Harbin to Longjiang.

The train started moving with its usual clattering sound, and I stood in the smoking area, not worried about falling because it was just that packed. The train felt like a metal tin can, with us ordinary people jammed inside, like sardines.

But, there's always a silver lining, and I soon realized two benefits to this miserable situation.

A: It's easier to evade ticket checks. The opportunity is huge. I remember once when the train was this packed, I couldn't get a ticket. But since I was anxious to go home, I took a risk, bought a platform ticket, and just followed the crowd onto the train. Because it was so crowded, the ticket checkers couldn't move, so I ended up riding all the way to Longjiang for just the price of the platform ticket.

B: It's easier to meet beautiful women. Think about it—when the train is so packed, you can't move, like being forced to stand. If you happen to be standing next to a beautiful woman, then you're in luck. To put it a little perversely, every time the train turns, the woman's body will inevitably press against yours. In a purer way, if there's a beautiful woman standing near you, you could start a conversation like this: "What a coincidence, you're squeezed in here too?"

However, when I got on the train, I was surrounded by a group of migrant workers returning home for the New Year, and not a beautiful woman in sight. I had no choice but to make the best of it. Thankfully, these workers were generous, and as the saying goes, they didn't crowd my space but were happy to chat. Before long, I was conversing with them to kill the time.

It turned out these men were from Nianzi Mountain, the next station after Longjiang. Coincidentally, they were from the same village as Mr. Liu, who had saved my grandparents.

So I asked them, "How is the Liu family doing? Are they okay?"

One of the workers, noticing that I had been to Nianzi Mountain before, said, "The Liu family? The one with the clinic at the west end of the village? They're doing alright. The only issue is that when I was preparing to leave for work at the beginning of the year, it seems Liu Laoda (Big Brother Liu) went missing."

"Liu Laoda went missing? What happened?" I asked quickly. The worker thought for a moment and said, "Liu Laoda has a bit of a mental issue—it's not quite a mental illness, but he's always talking to himself as if having a conversation with someone. He's in his forties and still hasn't married."

Thankfully, his younger brother, Liu Er, was more normal. He ran a clinic in the village and sold funeral items as well, so he supported his mentally challenged brother and their whole family. They were financially stable.

However, at the beginning of the year, Liu Laoda had a big argument with Liu Er, and then he disappeared. They still haven't found him. Fortunately, their old mother didn't know about it; if she did, she'd be crying non-stop.

After hearing about the Liu family's current situation, I felt a bit down. After all, Mr. Liu had saved our family for three generations.

The last time I visited Nianzi Mountain was the first year after my grandfather passed away, during the fourth day of the New Year. At that time, seeing Liu Laoda was like looking at a madman. He was constantly muttering to himself. But thinking back, I now realize things may not have been so simple, especially since the Liu family had been practicing the art of Yin-Yang Masters for generations. I suspect that Liu Laoda, despite his mental issues, might actually be one of the few who can communicate with the other side.

As for Liu Er, I always remembered him as a gentle farmer with a big face and a constant smile, someone who made you feel at ease. He had studied medicine but wasn't really specialized in unorthodox methods. He was the one who held the family together and took care of everything. He had a daughter, Liu Tingting, who was two years younger than me. When I was little, she always took me to the mountains to play. But after we grew older, we lost touch. Now, she must be close to going to college.

I thought to myself, when the year-end comes and my parents go to visit Nianzi Mountain again, I should definitely go with them. After all, I've grown up now and understand more. With the changes in the Liu family, and given that Mr. Liu had saved my life, I felt it was time to pay a visit.

After the train was delayed for half an hour, we finally arrived at Longjiang. By the time I stepped off the train, it was almost midnight. Breathing in the familiar air of my hometown, I felt a rush of emotions. This semester had been filled with so much. Whether it was emotional or physical, I could feel that I had matured.

As I stepped out of the ticketing area, I saw my father waiting for me from afar. I hurried over and hugged him. He looked the same as always, and when he saw me, his joy was evident. He asked me how my semester had been. I pulled out a cigarette and handed it to him, grinning, "I've been getting by, just like usual."

When we got home, it was already past midnight, and I was surprised to find my grandmother still awake, waiting for me. It warmed my heart. She looked at me and said, "Xiaofei, you've lost weight."

I felt a lump in my throat. She was so old, yet still worrying about me.

After chatting with my grandmother for a bit, I told her to go to bed. I then went to my father's room, where he had already set up a small table with two plates—one with chicken wings and the other with pig's trotters. My dad always knew me well. Even though it was late, he had prepared some food. He also pulled out four bottles of beer from the fridge.

We sat down and started eating and drinking. My dad was as straightforward as always, the first thing he said was, "Look at you. Tomorrow, you better dye your hair back to normal."

I grinned and half-heartedly agreed, and then we continued chatting. He asked me about school, and I answered him one by one.

Suddenly, I remembered the story the migrant workers had told me about the Liu family, so I shared it with my father.

After hearing this, my father sighed and said, "As for the Liu family, they really helped our family a lot. But this is the first I've heard of Liu Laoda going missing. Alright. Tomorrow I'll talk to your uncle. Since it's almost the New Year, we'll visit them in the next couple of days and also pay respects to your great-grandfather."

That night, we had no further conversations. The next day, my uncles, my father, my aunt, and I all packed up New Year's gifts and headed to Nianzi Mountain.

After two or three hours of driving, we arrived in the small village. Since we had called ahead, Liu Er and his wife were already waiting for us at the village entrance.

Compared to the big city, I still preferred the countryside. The people there were so straightforward, unlike in the city where everyone is calculating.

Since the Liu family owned ancestral property, their home still had four large tile-roofed houses, and the yard was huge—almost like a small playground. The chickens, ducks, and geese were leisurely wandering around, while two large cows were basking in the sun.

We went inside and first greeted Old Liu's wife, Mrs. Liu, who looked healthy, though she had some hearing loss. She warmly invited us to sit on the heated brick bed, and Liu Er's wife quickly made tea and served us cigarettes. Mrs. Liu asked about my grandmother's health, and my uncle responded that she was fine, but she always thought of her.

After chatting for a while, Liu Er's wife served us lunch. Just then, Liu Tingting came back from school. When I saw her, I couldn't help but notice how much she had grown. She was now taller than me by half a head. She looked strong and had a fresh, short haircut that made her look very lively.

I greeted her, and she recognized me and smiled, though we didn't talk much. We sat down at the dinner table and enjoyed the authentic Northeast rural dishes—sauerkraut and blood sausage, fatty pork with garlic, and stewed chicken with wild mushrooms. The flavors were distinct and delicious, and it felt great to eat real, farm-fresh food. Of course, I didn't eat the chicken.

Halfway through the meal, Mrs. Liu had finished eating. She was elderly, so she went to lie down in her bedroom.

At this point, my father turned to Liu Er and asked about Liu Laoda.