1 - A suspicious man in train compartment four

There was a suspicious man sitting by the window in row fifteen, car four.

The attendant checked the luggage rack and, panicked, ran to Wu Fengrong: “He has so much blood on his clothes that they’ve turned black and his coat isn’t covering the bloodstains. I can smell the blood when I open the window. His face is covered with a hat and a mask. He has a bulging tote bag. Should the police be called, could it be a murderer?”

Wu Fengrong was wearing an old military coat, a lit cigarette in his mouth, standing with one foot on a chair and oiling his leather boots with a rag. His boots were black and shiny, the tips cocked proudly towards the attendant. He was 32 years old and from the south. He had a handsome face.

“What’s the panic, I’ll take a look first.” He stood up and tightened the belt on his pants, smiling: “A little fat. The next time we get a clothing allowance, I’ll have to get a larger size.”

The attendant’s eyes fell on the open collar of his coat and on the gold emblem that was pinned to the uniform’s breast pocket. It was the “Heroic Train Captain” badge that was issued by the provincial government and which was equivalent to a first-class merit when given. The attendant had heard that it was from five or six years ago. A criminal gang had broken into the train cab, taken the passengers hostage and demanded that the train change tracks. Wu Fengrong had not been afraid, calmly negotiated, replaced the passengers with himself as the hostage, and successfully delayed until the special police arrived on the scene. The criminal gang was completely wiped out, and all the people in the car were unharmed. Afterwards, the train conductor received a commendation from the province. For three days, the newspaper published interviews and publicized what happened, and the railway bureau made a big splash.

When she saw Wu Fengrong’s face, she was relieved.

By the time Wu Fengrong walked to car four, the 15 th row was empty.

The windows were open, the curtains fluttered, and the north wind stormed through the compartment, knocking over an empty beer can on the table, the alcohol spilling to form a beautiful little sun.

The seats were empty. Wu Fengrong found a black plastic button under the chair. The buttonhole was wrapped with broken thread. It seemed to have fallen off naturally. He re-lit his cigarette and sat down, his eyes sweeping back and forth across the car. It was early morning on Monday. There should be no more than ten people in the carriage. The seats in rows 15 to 20 were empty. The remaining passengers were scattered in the corners of the front and back of the train car. Some were sleeping, some were reading newspapers, and some had plugged in their headphones to play games. In this way, even if someone had wrapped up in a coat and walked hurriedly down the aisle, it would not attract much attention.

Was she wrong? Without seeing the bloody clothes himself, Wu Fengrong doubted the stewardess’s description . If there really were someone with a guilty conscience, by the time it took to make the roundtrip from the conductor’s office to car 4, at most three minutes, they would have fled.

In Wu Fengrong’s experience, if the hooked fish escaped once, it would be difficult to catch again 1 .

Someone sat down next to Wu Fengrong.

A handsome and confident man with his shiny hair parted to the side, the neckline of his white shirt askew under a down coat framing a loose tie. Wu Fengrong looked at his face last, first looking down at an old-fashioned briefcase and a pair of old leather shoes. They were grey, the heels worn down 2/3 of the way. Truly a salesman.

“The train conductor himself came to check the ticket?” The man pulled out a red ticket stub from his pocket.

The passenger’s name on the ticket: Zhou Yanling. Wu Fengrong passed over his cigarette case, and the other party took one with a thank you.

Then Wu Fengrong moved. He abruptly pushed forward, the smoke in his mouth curling around the cigarette clenched in the other’s mouth. The other man obviously did not expect this and could not stop himself from flinching back into his seat, Wu Fengrong moving forward and pressing him against the chair. The distance between the two was small, their eyelashes touched, and Zhou Yanling lowered his eyes to avoid meeting the other’s stare. With such a narrow line of sight, Wu Fengrong’s eyes were slightly curved into a smile and his voice was low and husky: “No lighter, do you mind?”

One cigarette kindled the other and small of nicotine burst in the air.

Zhou Yanling’s eyes dimmed: “My pleasure.”

Wu Fengrong withdrew in due course, and his faced changed again as he calmed down.

There was no smell of blood on this man’s body and it was very clean. Suspiciously clean…as though he’d just bathed.

Neither of them went to leave. Wu Fengrong closed the window, and the wind and snow outside snapped against the glass.

“Mr. Zhou is going to Baihe?” he asked.

Zhou Yanling listened and patted his briefcase: “Going to a client.” His posture was that of a heavy smoker.

Wu Fengrong crossed his legs and sneered: “Which company is so stingy? Those with even a little money use the high-speed rail and it still takes eight hours to get to Baihe. Traveling like this will take two days and nights. Won’t it delay your business?”

Zhou Yanling squinted his eyes into a slit, sullen.

“The high-speed rail is non-smoking. Here, isn’t the train conductor himself is serving me?”

Wu Fengrong didn’t answer immediately, rubbing the ticket stud between his fingers for a while before returning it. For a moment, there was only the rumbling of the wheels over the rails rolling in his ears. He waited for the cigarette butt in his hand to burn out and tossed it into the empty beer can. The train conductor stood up, the salesman’s knees between his legs, and waved his hand: “Mr. Zhou, if you have time, please ask me for a smoke again!”

What a deliberately disgusting person, not only does he not want him to stay longer, he is not even thankful!

Back in the cab, the deputy conductor Zhao Xintao, was waiting for him. He shook his head and said, “Not found.”

Zhao Xintao was anxious: “He couldn’t have changed his appearance, right? I searched all ten cars. Could he have dared to jump out of the car?”

“What murderer?” Wu Fengrong glared: “Take a bath and change clothes, throw everything out of the car window, what do you want to do? Is there any evidence that someone here is a murderer?? Or did you see him cut someone?” He spit his cigarette butt in the ashtray: “Laozi is aware of the situation. Do what you have to do and don’t make all this racket here.”

Zhao Xintao fell speechless after being scolded. When Wu Fengrong scolded him, he didn’t dare irritate him further. The train conductor had an exceptionally glib tongue and all his life he had never suffered losses. If he saw a pretty young girl being harassed, he would be intervene and it wouldn’t be a far cry to say that he was tyrannical. After all he has the reputation of negotiating with criminals, leaving all passengers unharmed.

Zhao Xintao and Wu Fengrong had been working together for many years. While there were many thieves on the trains, there were really few murders and arson – not even one every ten years. It’s very difficult to hijack a train. Trains can be braked in an emergency. First, even if criminals hijack the cab, it can be difficult to change lanes safely. Second, hijacking a train isn’t as useful as bombing a train station. But if either happens, it’s a matter of life and death. The attendant said that a man covered in blood was sitting in car number 4. Zhao Xintao kept repeating ‘so unlucky, so unlucky’ 2 over and over again in his head. Why does this shit always happen when Wu Fengrong’s around?

Wu Fengrong comforted him: “What are you afraid of? If something bad happens, I’ll still be here. I’m the Heroic Train Conductor. This is my train. If I’m here, can I rely on you as backup? I’ll investigate this later, you can make sure that the female attendants are careful and safe.”

Zhao Xintao hesitated before he left. Wu Fengrong’s fearless personality could cause problems. This 30 year old man had no attachments and did not care about anything. He really treated the car like his own home, and in his home he had no tolerance for bad behavior.

In fact, Wu Fengrong’s thoughts on this was much simpler. No one was more familiar with this train than he was and he was better in an emergency than others. The sky wasn’t falling. This vast northern snowy forest looked very large, silent and cold but after each trip he became more and more familiar with it. The track passes kilometer by kilometer. The time passes hour by hour. Wu Fengrong has counted each clearly and had never been more at ease at heart. As long as you can continue, no matter how large the world is, no matter how long the journey is, there will always be a time to arrive.

The life on the railroad has been extremely boring and monotonous. After seeing the same scene everyday, you can even become tired of seeing the Tianshan Mountain’s snow-covered Heavenly Pond. Wu Fengrong opened the curtains and gazed across the grey birch forest, past the flying crows. It had just been the first October snowfall. The sun was hiding far away and a few rays of golden light escaped in a nebula around the mountains, shining brightly in the mountain creeks.

__________

T/N:

once someone has fled, they’re unlikely to return 运交华盖啊运交华盖 is an idiom meaning unlucky