A Love Story of a Poor Couple
This is a new air-conditioned express train bound for Beijing, with the hard-seat carriages crowded with passengers speaking various dialects.
Next to me sits a middle-aged couple dressed plainly, even somewhat shabbily. The woman is eating a steamed bun, and the man is cracking sunflower seeds. After finishing a bun, the woman rests her head on the table and falls asleep. The man quietly watches her, cracking one seed after another, seemingly lost in thought.
The train speeds through the dark night, and the weary passengers, unable to fight off sleep, close their eyes one by one.
“My deity, my fairy, my soul, my heaven…” Suddenly, the woman stands up from her seat, singing loudly and dancing.
The man quickly grabs her hand and tries to press her back into her seat, gently persuading her, “Don’t make a fuss, don’t make a fuss, you’re disturbing others.”
“Take your hand off me, mind your own business!” The woman glares at him and pushes him away.
“Listen to me, please sit down.” The man continues to coax her softly.
“If you stop me again, I’ll jump off the train!” The woman inexplicably starts crying and moves towards the door.
The quarrel attracts the attention of the train attendant, who rushes over and asks, “What’s going on? What’s going on?”
The man rubs his hands, embarrassed, and explains, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing, she’s having one of her episodes again.”
Hearing this, the woman becomes enraged, “You’re the one who’s sick! I’ll jump off the train, I’ll jump off the train!”
At this point, a passenger whispers to the attendant, “I noticed something was off when they got on the train. The man has a northern accent, but the woman speaks with a southern accent. Could it be that he’s a human trafficker who abducted her?”
Soon, the train police arrive. The man shows his ID and explains, “I’m from Xingtai, Hebei, and I work in a factory. We got married 18 years ago through a matchmaker. This time, I’m accompanying her back to her hometown in Sichuan. In the past, to save on travel expenses, she used to go alone.
But she developed hysteria, claiming she’s possessed by a fairy, and we’ve almost spent all our money on her treatment. This time, she insisted on going home, and I was afraid she’d get lost if she had an episode, so I came with her.”
After the police leave, the woman gradually calms down and rests her head on the table again. The man looks at her with pity and says to those around, “When she’s not having an episode, she’s very capable. She takes care of all the farming at home.”
It is now deep into the night. The man lets the woman sleep on the seat while he spreads a couple of newspapers on the floor under the seat, using a large bottle of mineral water as a pillow, and quickly falls asleep, snoring evenly.
The air conditioning continues to blow cool air, and what was a comfortable temperature during the day now feels chilly at night. The woman wakes up from the cold. Seeing the man lying on the floor with thin clothes, she stands up on the seat and struggles to take down a woven bag from the luggage rack. After rummaging through it, she takes out two cloth jackets and gently covers the man, carefully tucking them in.
When morning comes, the attendants start pushing the food cart to sell breakfast. The man asks the woman, “Are you hungry?” The woman nods.
The man takes out ten yuan from his pocket to buy a meal, but the woman stops him, saying unhappily, “Don’t buy it, it’s too expensive. We don’t have money.”
The man says, “You’re hungry. Don’t worry about the cost.”
The woman firmly shakes her head, “Then I’m not hungry.”
“Instant noodles! Instant noodles! Three yuan for one bowl, five yuan for two!” When the instant noodle vendor comes by, the man insists on buying one bowl. He carefully prepares it with hot water and places it in front of the woman. The woman, unceremonious, eats with great appetite. The man continues cracking sunflower seeds while watching her eat.
While slurping the noodles, the woman asks the man, “Aren’t you hungry?”
The man shakes his head firmly.
After finishing, the woman contentedly pushes the bowl towards the man for him to throw away. The man picks up the bowl, looks at it, and drinks the remaining soup.
The train stops at a major station.
The woman says the air in the carriage is stuffy and wants to go outside for a walk. The man repeatedly tells her, “Just stand at the door, don’t go far, remember to come back.”
The woman nods. A few minutes later, she indeed returns, holding a paper bag and a bottle of beer. She gently places them in front of the man and softly says, “Eat quickly. You’ve worked hard for a day and a night. I know you’re very hungry.”
A tempting aroma wafts from the paper bag. With trembling hands, the man opens it to find a golden roast chicken and two braised pig’s feet. Quickly, as if scalded, he wraps them back up and says to the woman, “These are so expensive, such a waste of money. Return them.”
The train has already started moving. The woman points to the vending cart receding outside the window and says reproachfully, “Do you want me to jump off the train?”
The man smiles and says nothing more, but his eyes gradually turn red.
I see him silently reach under the table and gently hold the woman’s dirty, calloused hand.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
