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[Prose] The train took me far away
Author: Wen Junxian
First, small stations
When I was young, my family lived near a small train station. This small station was built in the 1970s and has always been an important hub for the connection of this small town to the outside world.
The station has a small two-storey building covering an area of about 50 or 60 square meters, downstairs is the ticket office and small shop, and upstairs is the waiting room and ticket office. Through the iron fence gate at the ticket office, you can walk across an overpass to reach the platform. The platform of the small station is about 100 meters long. At each end of the platform stands a stop sign with the words "Ferry Station" written in the middle of the platform, and a line of small characters "Michi <- > Lane Ping" below. There are fence gates at both ends of the platform, and only when passenger trains enter and leave the station, there are staff to guard the station. The station only has two passenger trains in and out of the day, and the rest of the time it is a freight train that carries coal ore and steel. Therefore, this small station is open most of the time and is a good place for leisure activities of surrounding residents.
There is a small square in front of the small station. I used to stand in the small square and watch the trains arrive at the station, and the hordes of passengers come in and out. Passengers wore a variety of costumes and carried a variety of luggage, some dragging their families with their mouths, and some alone. If a traveler wears a fashionable "really good" costume, or carries a travel bag with the words "Beijing" and "Shanghai" printed on it, it means that they are people who have been to a big city and seen the world. I like to look at the looks on the faces of the travelers, guess their moods, and imagine what kind of journeys and stories they have experienced.
I like to play on the railway. Sometimes it bounces on the sleepers, sometimes it is independent on the railroad tracks. Hearing the distant train make a "whining~" whistle, knowing that the train was approaching, he quickly jumped to the side of the roadbed. Speeding green-skinned trains passed by me, the roadbed trembled to the rhythm of the wheels rolling, and a fierce wind lifted the dust on the roadbed to make people blind. I always squinted my eyes at the train as hard as I could, trying to identify the place names of the starting and ending points posted on the carriages, and trying to identify the vague seats, beds, and figures in a car car. The train slowly drifted away and disappeared into my field of vision, leaving me with many imaginations.
Far away, what is it like?
Second, far away
In August of 1991, I finally got on a train and went from my hometown in the southwest to the far northeast to go to college. The first time I took a long train trip, I was very impressed.
The first was the situation in the train car, which was completely unexpected by me. In the hard-seated carriages, the seats are full of people, the aisles are full of people, and even the toilets are occupied by passengers and luggage. The smell of sweat, body odor, foot smell, and the smell of various foods on people's bodies mixed into unpleasant smells. Passengers chatted loudly, played cards, and used noise to suffocate the murky air. The carriage was so crowded that it was so clogged that it was almost impossible to move. I really admire the waiter who pushes the cart to sell food on the train, shouting all the way "Come, let the feet let go", crossing all the obstacles in the train. The hardest thing to do on the train is to go to the toilet. Walking through the crowds and baggage to the toilet is no less than a long march. The toilet that lacks water to flush is even more smelly. You can't sleep while sitting at night, and you have to beware of thieves. Staying in such a chaotic, noisy environment for a long time is really exhausting and collapsing.
Fortunately, you can open the car window and let in some fresh air from outside. Fortunately, you can look out the window at the scenery along the railway. I saw that the wheat had been harvested in the red soil of Sichuan; I saw that the wheat was ripening in the yellow soil of Shaanxi; I saw that the wheat seedlings had just produced full ears of wheat on the black soil of Heilongjiang. I saw the oleanders in Chengdu blooming in all its splendor; I saw the poplar forests of Shijiazhuang fluttering in the wind; I saw the birch forests of Harbin standing like a queue of soldiers. I saw the locomotive burrowing in and out of countless tunnels in the Qinling Mountains, and I saw the surging Yellow River under the railway bridge rolling in a whirlpool. I saw the stilted building with the sloped roof of the green and black tiles, suspended on three sides by pillars on the side of the Min River; I saw the caves of the round arched door openings, and the high round windows flashed the daytime sunshine of the loess slope; I saw the domed arched window buildings of Harbin, which clearly incorporated the Russian architectural style....... Although these are all fleeting scenes, it is also an eye-opener for me to go out and see the world for the first time.
And every time the train stops at the station, the scene of the flock of vendors enthusiastically selling local specialties in dialect makes people feel as if they are experiencing a feast of sight, sound and taste. Vendors were on the platform, on the railroad tracks, under the windows, carrying baskets and boxes, shouting product names and prices. "Dan Dan noodles, sour and spicy powder, two dollars a piece", the flexible Sichuan cavity flying with fresh spicy taste; "meat sandwich steamed bun, meat sandwich bun", plain northern Shaanxi cavity dragging a long tail tone thick and flavorful; "Ga-ga-ga-ga-crunch, Tianjin cannabis flower", the word is rounded in Tianjin dialect bluntly expresses crisp and raw... Some vendors even mixed into the carriages and spread the delicacies in the carriages, seducing the appetite of the passengers, but unfortunately I was a poor student at that time, and I could only look at the delicious tastes of these local specialties and salivate.
After nearly fifty hours of travel, I finally reached my destination and started my university life in the unfamiliar Harbin. After four years of college vacations, repeating this trip again and again, I slowly got used to the scenery outside the car window. The journey to the far side made me feel more about the difficulty of buying train tickets and the boring itinerary. I no longer look forward to the heroism of carrying my bags to a distant place, and I no longer yearn for the wonderful world in the distance.
3. Hometown
By chance, after graduating from university, I went to Hangzhou to work. From the southwest to the southeast, it is still a long journey, but the feeling is different.
After work, the economic situation improved, and when I returned to my hometown, I basically sat on a sleeper. The environment of the sleeper car is much better than that of the hard seat car. The only constant is probably the waiter pushing the small truck to sell, still the familiar shouting sound, still going back and forth. The sleeping car is less quiet, the waiter cleans regularly, and the supply of hot and cold water is guaranteed. Although the trip of more than thirty hours is still boring, at least tired can walk around the carriage and sleep on the bed. After the opening of the high-speed rail and the train, the carriage environment is clean, the travel time is shortened, and the journey is more comfortable.
After work, for various reasons, the number of times I returned to my hometown was less. On the journey back to my hometown, my mood is always urgent and anxious. Along the way, I missed my relatives and friends, reminisced about the past, and guessed what kind of changes would occur in my hometown and the people in my hometown. As the train got closer and closer to home, the scenery became more and more familiar, and the mood became more and more excited.
Every time I return to my hometown, I will find that my hometown is getting better and better. The hometown has newly built a railway station, a large station parking lot, and a waiting room covering an area of nearly 2,000 square meters. There are more than 20 passenger trains in and out of the day, welcoming thousands of passengers. The old train station near my house is still in operation, and it is only used as a transit point for cargo transportation in the factory area.
Every time I return to my hometown, I will find that my parents are getting older and older. They knew the news of my return to my hometown and were always waiting for me downstairs early on the day I got home. Seeing my white-haired parents and thinking of me who is far away from my hometown, I can't do filial piety next to them, and my heart is very unpleasant. But my parents didn't blame me at all, always happily busy making rich hometown dishes for me and letting me relieve my hunger. Back in my hometown, I will also be with old friends. Everyone gathered together to talk about the past and the present dynasty, and it did not seem strange because of the distance between time and space.
From my hometown to far away, from afar to my hometown, I travel through time by train, leaving deep and shallow memories on the journey. Going to a distant place is to pursue your dreams; returning to your hometown is because of the deepest concern in your heart. The rails connect dreams and worries, the train takes me away, and then takes me home...
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