After Chen Lan and Xiang Xi got into the car, they each found a corner and leaned against the carriage to sit down. As soon as they were seated, the car started to sway and move. The two of them began to chat. Before long, Chen Lan felt the bumps of the car, and her back, leaning against the carriage, felt a bit cold. So, she opened her system with her mind and ordered two lazy sofas for herself and Xiang Xi.
As soon as Chen Lan took out the sofa from the system's warehouse, she took off her miner's hat, placed it on the ground, and sat back. Her body immediately sank into the sofa, and she casually crossed her legs. Xiang Xi watched Chen Lan's operation in surprise. He followed suit, picked up another lazy sofa, placed it in the corner where he had been sitting, and then sank into the sofa himself.
Xiang Xi asked with great curiosity, "Little Lanzi, what is this thing? It's quite comfortable to sink into!"
Chen Lan replied lazily, "This thing is called a lazy sofa. What do you think? Isn't the name vivid and apt?"
Xiang Xi responded perfunctorily, "It's okay!"
Chen Lan, snuggled in the lazy sofa, felt drowsy and didn't pay attention to Xiang Xi's perfunctory reply. After lying there for a while, she felt a bit cold, so she took out a quilt for each of them from the system's warehouse. She threw one to Xiang Xi, wrapped herself in the other, and prepared to doze off.
Just then, Xiang Xi whispered, "Hey! Little Lanzi, Little Lanzi, don't sleep! Let's chat!"
Chen Lan tightened the quilt around herself and mumbled in response, "Little Watermelon, what do you want to chat about?"
Xiang Xi also wrapped himself tightly in a quilt and replied, "Little Lanzi, let's talk about Suifenhe!"
Chen Lan hummed in agreement, and then Chen Lan started talking about Suifenhe with Xiang Xi in a desultory way. Chen Lan said, "Speaking of Suifenhe, it's really a good place. It's said to be not only an important port between China and Russia but also a place of beautiful scenery and abundant products. Due to the particularly abundant water resources, it's famous for producing fish like mah-ma-ha fish and tan tou fish. Hehe! Speaking of fish, I'm really craving some. We've been in the mountains for so many years, and except for a few times eating pickled cabbage fish, we've never had enough fish. This time we go to Suifenhe, we have to eat our fill, and we should bring back some Suifenhe specialties when we go home." Suidan Novel Network
Xiang Xi snorted and retorted, "Little Lanzi, I just realized now that Jiahui has the same roots as you, she's a foodie just like you; you women have short-sighted vision, only thinking about eating. Can't you think about anything else!"
Chen Lan retorted, "Alright! Little Watermelon, you have far-sighted vision and grand ambitions that can fill your stomach. If you get hungry later, don't come to me for food."
Xiang Xi immediately caved upon hearing this and quickly pleaded, "Little Lanzi, please don't say that. You can't cut off my supplies. I was just being glib. I apologize, Little Lanzi. You are magnanimous, please forgive me this time! See, I'm taking it out on myself."
With that, he reached out and lightly slapped his own mouth twice, saying, "For being glib, for being glib." Then, he obsequiously apologized with a smile, "Little Lanzi, please don't be angry anymore. I've dealt with it for you."
Chen Lan suppressed a chuckle and said haughtily, "I can forgive you this time, but not next time, understand? By the way, do you still want to hear about Suifenhe? If not, I'm going to take a nap. It's about three hundred kilometers to Changchun, and at this car's speed, it will take at least seven or eight hours. It will be dark by the time we get to Changchun, and we'll have to find a place to stay for a night. It's better for us to take a nap now!"
Xiang Xi immediately said, "Don't, Little Lanzi. I can't sleep during the day. Let's continue talking about Suifenhe!"
So Chen Lan continued to talk about Suifenhe in a disjointed manner, "Although Suifenhe's area is not large, said to be only four hundred and sixty square kilometers, its border line is as long as twenty-seven kilometers. It is said that Suifenhe is only sixteen kilometers away from the corresponding border port Pogranichny on the Russian side, isn't that close enough? It's not even as far as our valley is from the border defense company!
Also, because Suifenhe is a Sino-Russian border port, it is inhabited not only by Russians but also by various ethnic groups from China, such as Han, Manchu, Korean, Hui, and Mongolian.
Because it is very convenient to go to Russia from Suifenhe, Suifenhe was designated as a first-class port by the state in 1953."
Xiang Xi asked humbly, "Little Lanzi, what does a first-class port mean?"
Chen Lan was stunned for a moment. She hadn't paid much attention to this in her previous life, but she couldn't back down in front of Little Watermelon. So, she thought carefully and replied, "I think it's a border port directly led and managed by the state! This shows how important Suifenhe's geographical location is!"
As they chatted, their voices gradually became softer and softer, and eventually, they fell silent. In the swaying motion of the car, both of them were lulled to sleep.
Chen Lan and Xiang Xi were awakened by the car's sudden braking. They vaguely heard voices from the driver's cabin ahead: "Battalion Commander, ahead are famine refugees. So many people, we can't get through. What should we do?"
Chen Lan and Xiang Xi immediately sobered up when they heard "famine refugees." Chen Lan quickly put the two lazy sofas and two quilts into the system's warehouse.
At this moment, they heard the voice of Battalion Commander Qin from ahead saying, "Zhuzi, take all the dry rations we have and give them to the refugees. We'll be in Changchun in a little over two hours anyway."
Chen Lan and Xiang Xi exchanged a look. Chen Lan immediately used her mind to move the contents of the two large backpacks in the carriage into the system's warehouse. Then, she took out the boiled potatoes, cooked before they left and packed in small bags, from the system's warehouse and put them into the two large backpacks.
Xiang Xi immediately looked enlightened and said in a low voice, "I knew it! Little Lanzi, I thought you boiled so many potatoes for us to eat on the road? But you boiled too many, didn't you? I didn't expect you to be so prepared! I say, Little Lanzi, how did you know we would encounter refugees on the road?"
Chen Lan gave Xiang Xi a glare and retorted, "Little Watermelon, aren't you stating the obvious? It hasn't rained here for a year, are we supposed to wait to be starved to death if we don't flee famine? Hurry up! Stop the nonsense and let Battalion Commander Qin in front come to carry the potatoes." With that, she used her mind to put the miner's hat into the system's warehouse and opened the carriage curtain.
Xiang Xi stopped talking nonsense and immediately climbed down from the car and ran to the front to call Battalion Commander Qin over.