This train departed from the capital at 3:30 p.m. and is expected to arrive at the terminal station, Bingcheng Railway Station, before 7 a.m. tomorrow. The journey will take fifteen hours.
Sun Dahai and others just took a short nap. When the train started again from Jintian Station, it was almost seven o'clock in the evening and it was completely dark.
Sun Dahai knew that the second primary school students must be hungry now. They usually live on campus and have dinner at six o'clock in the evening.
Sun Dahai led the team, and a group of five people left the private room and prepared to eat in the dining car of the train.
When passing by the flight attendant's room, the flight attendant was checking the information. She saw Sun Dahai and others passing by, and quickly came out and asked them what they wanted.
Sun Yuanyuan said sweetly: "Auntie, we are hungry and want to go to the dining car for dinner."
The flight attendant was very enthusiastic and took the initiative to ask if she wanted to lock the compartment door first and then open it after everyone came back.
Gao Yi nodded in agreement and thanked the flight attendant. The group continued to walk to the dining car.
Gao Yi whispered: "The service attitude of this flight attendant is really good. When our family returned to the capital that year, the flight attendant was rude throughout the train. When asked where she was, she ignored her.
"
Apparently, that car ride experience left a really bad impression on Gao Yi.
"When you go to Xiangjiang and fly back and forth, how do you feel about the service attitude?" Sun Dahai asked her.
“The service attitude of the flight attendants was very good and very enthusiastic.”
"The flight attendants on the plane are called flight attendants. You have to know that to buy air tickets or train sleeper tickets now, you need a letter of introduction. There is no certain administrative level, and you can't buy tickets even if you have money.
Normally, the requirement to buy a hard sleeper ticket is for a department-level cadre, while for our soft sleeper ticket, the requirement is for a department-level cadre. It is slightly relaxed, and you have to be in the right job to buy it. The same is true for air tickets. Think about it, can the service be good?"
While talking, everyone passed through several sleeper cars and came to the dining car.
"Da Dahai, why did you want to come to the dining car to eat? Actually, let's bring some food from home to make a meal. We'll eat well when we get to Bingcheng tomorrow." Gao Yi was a little puzzled.
"I know, I know." Sun Yuanyuan rushed to answer.
"Uncle Liang is a train driver. One time when he came home for dinner, he said that the chefs on the express trains are all carefully selected from each section to serve the leaders.
Although the food they cook is not as good as my brother's, it is still a skill to be able to cook delicious food on a small, rickety dining cart."
The Uncle Liang mentioned by Sun Yuanyuan is the father of Liang Jingjing and Liang Yingying. He has worked in the railway system for many years and is very familiar with these situations.
The dining car in 1986 was relatively simple, with no menu and a small blackboard hanging above the window with the dishes that could be cooked that day written in handwriting.
Sun Dahai glanced at it and saw that there were only six dishes in total including soup, so he waved his hand and didn't choose any more. He just ordered the same dishes and served them according to the menu.
Hu Cheng quickly entered the role and consciously paid the fees and issued invoices. But think about it, he has been working as an orderly with Sun Weimin for four years, and he is still very skilled in handling these chores.
There were not many people in the dining car. In 1986, per capita income was still very low, and no one had much money in their pockets.
When taking a train that departs in the afternoon and arrives in the morning, most people will just bring a meal with them, as Gao Yi said. After getting off the train in the morning, they can go find some extra food.
Because it is winter, people usually bring steamed buns and pancakes, along with pickles and hot water, and it is a meal. People who are more particular will also make some stir-fried vegetables at home that can be eaten cold, such as shredded potatoes and bean sprouts.
In the previous life, there was a so-called standard four-piece set for trains, which was pancakes, roast chicken, peanuts and liquor. As soon as you got on the train, you would start eating and drinking. After eating, you would take a long nap, and when you woke up, you would arrive at the station without anything else.
hold up.
But those were common things on trains from the late 1980s to the 1990s, and they are rare now.
The people who come to eat in the dining car are basically the passengers in the sleeping car. Judging from their clothes, you can tell that almost all of them are cadres. There are actually many self-employed people at this time, and most of them have money to eat in the dining car.
But now they are still at the bottom of society's contempt chain. Even a temporary worker in a small street factory can point their nose at them and scold them for not doing their job properly and for speculating.
Therefore, the vast majority of self-employed people still dare not go to the dining carts where cadres gather.
Sun Dahai and his party of five are very eye-catching in the dining car. Hu Cheng, the oldest, is only 21 years old, and the remaining four are all students.
People nowadays are still very simple. Seeing that Sun Dahai and others are special, they still do their own thing, and no one comes to talk to them without opening their eyes.
The dishes were prepared one by one. Hu Cheng and Gao Yi took turns handing in the orders to pick up the dishes, and the table was soon filled.
There are five dishes and one soup, all home-cooked dishes. Potato stew, fried beans with sliced meat, shredded pork with garlic sprouts, three delicacies, homemade tofu, and a tomato and egg soup.
In the middle of winter, the food truck can provide green vegetables, which is already very good.
None of them drank, and they all started eating a big bowl of rice.
Don't worry, what Uncle Liang said is really right. Although these are just simple home-cooked dishes, they taste really good. If Sun Dahai were to cook in the dining car, he might not be able to do it better than the chef.
One advantage of eating in the train's dining car is that you don't need food stamps. Sun Dahai hasn't used food stamps for a long time. This time when they went out, Jiang Xiuping specifically told them to exchange for some national food stamps and take them with them.
However, Hu Cheng is involved in these matters. The eldest young master Sun Dahai is used to enjoying happiness. How can he care about these things when there are people around him?
After eating, a few people strolled back to the soft sleeper compartment. The steward opened the private room door for them, and they went in and continued to listen to Gao Yi's story about what she had experienced in the past six months.
…
With a long blast of the train whistle, the train slowly stopped on the platform. The impatient Sun Yuanyuan had dressed up early and pulled her brother to the door of the train.
When the conductor opened the door, she was the first to run off the train.
The first thing she did when she got off the bus was to take a breath. Sure enough, just as her brother said, her breath was much more obvious than when she was in the capital.
"Auntie, second sister, I'm here!" Sun Yuanyuan looked around and saw Niu Hong and Li Yue. She yelled and ran towards Niu Hong and the others who were coming to pick them up.
Sun Dahe followed closely behind his sister. The second child seemed to be wearing a little too much. Looking from behind, it looked like two little meat balls rolling around.
Sun Dahe and Gao Yi got off the train and saw a Toyota Dai Kaoste luxury bus entering the station and stopping on the platform.
Aunt Niu Hong and second cousin Li Yue came to pick them up. There was also a middle-aged man in his thirties standing with them.
Sun Yuanyuan and Sun Dahe had already ran over and threw themselves into Niu Hong's arms. Sun Dahe and Gao Yi also hurried over.
"Dahai, this is Comrade He Guang, the secretary of Deputy Director Tian of the Long Provincial Bureau of Agricultural Reclamation. Secretary He, this is my cousin Sun Dahai."