Chapter 2192: Chapter 2193: Cousin Is a Capitalist Miss 12
Zhang Yu had no idea how long she’d been singing; all she knew was that her head was spinning and her vision was blurry.
The woman next to her was tapping her own leg with her head down, one hand constantly rubbing her stomach. Well, even without much sound coming out, singing was still a weight‑loss workout.
She picked up her canteen and took a tiny sip, then carefully screwed the lid back on. Had to save it.
Plenty of other people were also lifting their canteens to drink. It was the height of summer, after all—hot and thirsty didn’t even begin to cover it.
The lead singer girl picked up her canteen again, ready to drink, and realized there was no water left. "Who’s got water?"
Everyone with a canteen immediately lowered their heads and avoided looking at her. Zhang Yu also kept her eyes on the floor—anything but looking at that girl.
The lead singer girl looked at the carriage, which had gone quiet again, and involuntarily raised her voice. "Does anyone still have water? I’m thirsty."
The scene stayed silent; no one said a word. They weren’t stupid—if they gave her water, once her mouth wasn’t dry anymore, she’d probably start singing again. No amount of water would be enough then.
"You, you, and you." Seeing no one volunteer, the lead singer girl simply pointed people out directly. "Pour some water from your canteens for me."
No one had expected her to call people out by name like that, and those she pointed at were not having it. "You’re thirsty—what, I’m not thirsty?"
"Why’s your face so big you can just open your mouth and ask for water? No way."
Someone openly refused to give her water, and the people who’d been hesitating immediately followed suit. "Exactly, you’re thirsty—what, we’re not thirsty?"
Everyone declared they had no water to spare, which made the girl so angry she exploded.
"You’re all being unpatriotic," she said viciously.
"How are we unpatriotic? You said sing, and we sang." A boy stood up. "We’ve rested for quite a while now. Let’s keep singing."
So they were still going to sing. Zhang Yu’s vision went dark for a moment. But there was nothing she could do—once they started, she had to follow along.
The lead singer girl hadn’t expected that after she’d already said she was really thirsty, someone would still propose they keep singing. She was furious, but this wasn’t the time for her to blow up; otherwise she’d definitely be in for it. But if they kept singing, her throat really wouldn’t hold up.
Soon the song ended, and the lead singer boy glared at her. "What’s your problem? Everyone was singing—how come you weren’t keeping up? Is it because you’re not the one leading anymore, so you’re in a mood?"
"Come on, you sing one." He started the jeering.
Everyone could tell the boy was picking on the girl, and they all joined in. "Yeah, sing one, sing one!"
The lead singer girl was mortified. Her throat was already hoarse; every time she spoke she could taste blood. "I—I’ve got a dry throat."
"You have to overcome all difficulties. It’s just a dry throat; you have to persevere." Everyone could dish out big principles.
They were all in a foul mood. In this blazing summer heat, under the burning sun, they ought to be resting properly, but she’d insisted on singing. Now she’d run out of water and wanted everyone else to give her some—how could anyone be that shameless?
The lead singer girl finally couldn’t hold back. "My throat’s dry, I’m not singing. If you want me to sing, you have to give me water."
As soon as she said that, everyone bristled. "You didn’t think this through when you insisted on singing?"
"Exactly. You didn’t have a problem then, so now you can’t expect us to give you water."
Zhang Yu quietly watched them make a fuss and could only think: under this blazing sun, they still had the energy to bicker—what stamina. She, on the other hand, really couldn’t take it anymore and yawned.
Right then she felt a sudden weight on her shoulder. Yup, she didn’t even have to look back; that had to be Zhang Hui.
She yawned again, then closed her eyes to rest. The people around them saw what the Zhang Sisters were doing and also started yawning and settling down. The ride was bumpy, sure, and watching the quarrel had been entertaining, but after several days on the train, they were all exhausted.
Gradually more and more people began to rest. There weren’t many left watching the quarrel, and the cheering and heckling died down a lot.
Once they realized they no longer had an audience, the quarreling pair’s momentum started to ebb. More importantly, the lead singer girl’s throat really couldn’t take it anymore. Every time she said a few words, it felt like she was about to cough up blood, and every sentence hurt like hell.
With no one arguing, everyone slowly drifted into rest mode. The people sitting in the cab at the front also let out a sigh of relief. "They finally stopped."
"Seriously, I don’t know where they get all that energy." Even though the truck was moving and there was wind, there was no sunshade on top. How they could still argue in this kind of heat was beyond them.
When Zhang Yu woke up again, she saw that the sun outside had already set; it felt a lot cooler than before she fell asleep. What made her feel helpless, though, was that the truck was still going. "How long have we been on this thing? Didn’t they say a little over three hours?"
The person next to her had woken up a bit earlier. Hearing her voice, he said, "Road conditions weren’t good today. I heard the driver say it’ll probably be more than another hour."
Another hour? Zhang Yu felt her vision go dark again. "Looks like we’ll be staying in the county town tonight."
Otherwise, if they rushed to the commune in the middle of the night, where would they even sleep? Forget it—staying in the county town sounded pretty good too. "All I want right now is a bath."
Zhang Hui had already been awake for a while, but since Zhang Yu was still sleeping, she didn’t dare chat with the people around them. Now that she saw Zhang Yu awake, she spoke up. "I want a bath too. I feel like I’m starting to smell."
"Tell me about it. Oh right, where are you guys from?"
Just like that, the conversation branched out. Everyone started sharing funny stories from the road, all insisting they absolutely had to bathe.
"In this kind of heat you have to bathe every day."
As soon as that was said, many people nodded. "Have to bathe and change clothes."
"My clothes—I can smell the funk on myself."
They started discussing where they’d be staying once they reached the county town. Someone even said they wanted to stroll around the town. "If possible, I want to buy a few things. My home’s far from here, and I didn’t bring a lot of stuff."
Once that came up, a bunch of people nodded along. "Yeah, yeah, I need to buy things too. A thermos—I didn’t get one."
They were in the Northeast, after all; a thermos was a necessity. You needed hot water for bathing and everything else.
A thermos was exactly the thing they hadn’t brought—something they’d planned to buy once they got here. Zhang Hui couldn’t help looking at Zhang Yu to see what she thought.
"We’ll buy it when we get to the commune." Zhang Yu knew the county‑town supply and marketing co‑op was probably worse stocked than the city, but after thinking it over, she still decided to wait and buy things at the commune.
Zhang Hui made a small sound of acknowledgement. Since Zhang Yu said they’d buy things at the commune, then they’d buy them at the commune.
The others all kept asking where they’d be staying, but unfortunately this was everyone’s first time here, so no one knew anything; every answer was basically "no idea."
"Hopefully tomorrow we can leave for the commune a bit later. I want to mail a letter home."
When Zhang Hui heard that, she nodded repeatedly. "I want to mail a letter tomorrow too."
"Me too." Zhang Yu yawned. Tonight’s to‑do list was actually quite long: she had to write two letters and wash clothes on top of that. Sigh, what a hassle.
