Chapter 34: Respiratory Disease 1

Aunt Fang covered her mouth with her hand and laughed upon hearing Xie Wanying’s words, “Thinks this little girl is really clueless. From the looks of this girl and her mother, as well as their seating in the hard seat class, it’s obvious their family isn’t well-off. Someone in their situation would be lucky to even cozy up to those in the sleeper class, yet she expects them to cozy up to her instead—isn’t that a joke?”

Since her daughter said there was no need, Sun Rongfang decided not to go, turning around to ask Aunt Fang, “Are you alone?”

“No, my husband went to the dining car to buy some food for me.”

Train passengers are ranked by spending power, and from that you can tell. Like Xie Wanying and her mother, it’s impossible for them to buy food on the train because everyone knows how expensive it is on board.

Aunt Fang and her husband belonged to those who had a little spending power but not enough to afford a sleeping berth.

The train soon reached dinner time, and the ordinary passengers stood up to prepare their instant noodles they had brought with them. Uncle Fang returned from the dining car and brought back a dinner box for himself and his wife, with each receiving one, exorbitantly priced at twenty yuan each.

Xie Wanying, carrying the instant noodles she had bought earlier for herself and her mother, headed to the hot water dispenser to fill up. There were many passengers making noodles, forming a long line. After preparing the noodles, she walked back to her seat with a bowl in each hand and overheard Aunt Fang and Uncle Fang talking.

“You wouldn’t believe how hilarious those two, the mother and daughter sitting across from us, were.”

“What was so funny about them?”

“Her daughter actually said that she wanted those in the sleeper berths to come cozy up to them in hard seats.” Aunt Fang said, laughing so hard she was almost in stitches.

Uncle Fang paused, his brow furrowed as he said, “That’s not funny at all. They think the people who can afford sleepers are what, they probably can’t even get into the sleeper carriages.”

“How do you know that?”

Uncle Fang shook his head while speaking, “There are attendants guarding it, not letting us into the sleeper carriages unless we have tickets. They’re worried we’ll sneak in to sleep. All I wanted was to see what the beds looked like since we’ve never slept in them. But they had someone standing at the entrance who wouldn’t let us through.”

“Are the sleepers near the dining car?”

“Yes, they’re close to the dining car. Not like us, having to walk so far just to buy something from the car.”

If you have money, the service on the train is definitely a level higher—that’s the way it is everywhere.

“They’re just eating instant noodles,” Aunt Fang whispered to her husband’s ear.

“Only able to afford noodles, can’t even buy a meal box, and yet they say stuff like that. Don’t talk to people like them. I tell you, those two are probably just shameless,” Uncle Fang said to Aunt Fang, just before looking up and suddenly noticing Xie Wanying standing in front of them, their faces turning an embarrassed shade of green.

Sun Rongfang returned from the bathroom and saw her daughter placing the bowls of noodles on the little table, “You eat first, I’ll go to the dining car to see if I can buy some more food for you,” she said, wanting to buy something nicer from the dining car to provide some extra nutrition for her daughter who was about to start university.

“Mom, no need, I like instant noodles, I don’t like the others,” Xie Wanying pulled her mother back saying.

Pulled back to her seat by her daughter, Sun Rongfang suddenly realized that Aunt Fang and Uncle Fang across from them had strange expressions on their faces.

Catching Sun Rongfang’s gaze, Aunt Fang preemptively accused, “Your daughter’s going to university? She came over and didn’t say a word.”

“Auntie, that’s precisely because I was being polite.” When it came to such people, Xie Wanying had no intention of being courteous—she shot back sarcastically.