66: Chapter 66 Waiting for You on the 3,000-Kilometer Railway

The next day, Jinghai City Railway Station.

The platform was surging with crowds.

Jiang Feng and Old Chen stood at the edge of the crowd.

[Writing up to here, I hope readers remember our domain name. Go to Chaoquan for Taiwan novels.]

Old Chen had changed out of his perennial black suit and put on an old-style military uniform.

The epaulettes and collar insignia had been removed, but the uniform still looked crisp and straight on him.

He was like an old pine tree rooted in the ground, but his hands, constantly rubbing against the seams of his trousers, betrayed his nervousness.

One moment he would look at the concrete floor beneath his feet, the next he would look up toward the train carriages, his eyes a mix of anticipation and dread.

"Boss, do you think... she won't see me?"

Old Chen's voice was tight.

"Or maybe she's long since married and her kids are already in school. If I suddenly show up like this, won't I be disturbing her life?"

He started to get cold feet again.

Jiang Feng pulled a lollipop from his pocket, tore off the wrapper, and popped it into his mouth.

"You make it sound like she's your first love."

Old Chen froze for a moment.

"That's your comrade's fiancée."

Jiang Feng twirled the stick in his mouth, his voice muffled.

"You're not going there to apologize, nor are you going to reminisce."

"You're going there to deliver a letter. This is just a mission."

Mission.

The word hit Old Chen like an electric current.

His slightly hunched back straightened.

The hesitation and timidity in his eyes were replaced by a familiar resolve.

He was no longer a middle-aged man burdened by thirty years of guilt.

He had reverted to that scout in the jungle who could trust his comrade with his life.

"Yes."

Old Chen responded in a deep voice.

"Mission will be completed."

Jiang Feng felt amused in his heart.

To deal with veterans like this, you had to use the methods they were most familiar with.

The whistle blew long and loud.

Passengers began to check their tickets and board the train.

Jiang Feng, with the lollipop in his mouth, led Old Chen into the flow of people.

The carriage was incredibly crowded, the aisles piled high with luggage, the crying of children and the clamor of adults intertwining.

Jiang Feng's [Empathy Shielding] passive skill automatically activated, isolating the chaotic torrent of emotions and allowing him to remain clear-headed.

"Boss, how do we find her?"

Old Chen looked at the seemingly endless line of carriages, feeling a bit dazed.

"Search them one by one."

Jiang Feng's answer was simple and blunt.

He activated the Aura Perception ability granted by the system.

In his vision, the entire world changed.

Every passenger emitted a different colored aura.

There was grey representing fatigue, pale yellow for excitement, and dark red for anxiety.

What Jiang Feng needed to do was find the aura that shared the same source as the military tag in this dye vat.

"Let's go."

Jiang Feng took the lead and began walking forward from the first hard-seat carriage.

They passed through carriage after carriage.

Hard seats, hard sleepers, soft sleepers.

Passengers eyed this strange duo with various looks.

One was a burly man in an old military uniform, his expression as serious as if he were going to execute someone.

The other was a young man in a hoodie, a lollipop in his mouth, looking around like a college student trying to dodge a fare.

"Comrade, tickets please."

A conductor stopped them.

Jiang Feng pulled out two soft-sleeper tickets he had bought long ago from his pocket.

The conductor took a look, then looked at them, said nothing more, and stepped aside to let them pass.

Finally, after passing through the eighth carriage and just as they were about to enter the dining car.

Jiang Feng stopped in his tracks.

He had sensed it.

Right ahead, at the connection to the dining car.

A cyan aura, gentle yet firm, was completely out of place with the noisy surroundings.

That aura resonated with the aura on the half-fragment of the military tag in Old Chen's possession.

Found her.

He saw a woman in a blue attendant's uniform, her back to them, bending over to organize a storage locker.

She wasn't particularly tall and wore her hair in a neat ponytail.

Her movements were brisk and efficient.

Jiang Feng gave Old Chen a slight nod.

Old Chen's breathing hitched for a beat in that moment.

He took two steps forward, then stopped.

His feet felt like they were filled with lead.

He looked at that back, his lips moving, but no sound came out.

Jiang Feng couldn't stand to watch any longer.

He walked behind Old Chen and gave his lower back a firm nudge.

"Execute the mission."

Old Chen's body jolted, as if a switch had been flipped.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and walked over.

He stood behind the woman, about two meters away.

He just stood there, like a statue.

The woman seemed to sense something, straightened up, and turned around.

A clean, elegant face.

She saw Old Chen in his old military uniform; a flicker of confusion crossed her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a professional smile.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"

Her voice was very gentle, her Mandarin carrying a hint of a soft Southern accent.

Without any hesitation, Old Chen revealed the military tag he was clutching in his hand.

The woman's movements froze.

The smile on her face stiffened at the corners of her mouth.

The stack of dinner plates she was holding fell to the floor with a loud crash, making a piercing sound.

The few passengers in the dining car all looked over.

But the woman had no reaction.

Her gaze was fixed firmly on that half of the military tag.

With trembling hands, Old Chen held out the half-tag.

Then, from his other pocket, he pulled out a letter.

"Sister-in-law..."

Old Chen spoke, his voice as raspy as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper.

Those two words took all the strength in his body.

"Zhou Hai... he asked me to bring this to you."

Lin Wan's body was trembling slightly.

She looked at the half-tag, then looked up at the weather-beaten man before her.

She reached out, her fingertips touching the cold metal.

In that instant, the light in her eyes shattered.

But there were no tears.

She just looked at it for a long time.

"I understand."

After a long while, she spoke, her voice terrifyingly calm.

She took the letter without looking at it.

She just clutched it tightly in her hand.

Then, she turned around, her back to everyone.

Jiang Feng saw her uniformed shoulders shaking slightly.

The dining car was very quiet.

Only the rhythmic "clack-clack, clack-clack" of the train rolling over the tracks could be heard.

An unknown amount of time passed.

The woman turned around again.

Her eyes were red, but her face had regained its composure.

She looked at Old Chen and gave him a very faint smile.

"Thank you."

She said.

"I know he never forgot."

She paused, her gaze turning to the fields flying past the window.

"Actually, I never thought about looking for him either."

Old Chen was stunned.

Jiang Feng also raised an eyebrow.

The woman carefully placed the letter and the half-tag into her uniform pocket.

"Back then, we agreed that once his mission was over, he would take me on this train to the southernmost sea to watch the sunrise."

Her voice was very soft, as if she were telling a story from long ago.

"He didn't come back."

"I thought, someone has to finish that journey."

"So, I came."

"I've been running this line for nearly thirty years."

The woman looked out the window, an indescribable tenderness in her eyes.

"The sea he didn't see, I saw for him. The wind he didn't feel, I felt for him."

"Every trip, every sunrise, I feel like he's right beside me."

"That's enough."

After she finished speaking, she gave Old Chen that professional smile once more.

"Comrade, thank you for bringing back his things."