Chapter 29: Preaching on the Train (Please Collect)

  A train from the county town to Yantai is running on the vast and green grassland. The dense crops, the bright small river, the yellow mud house, the standing electric pole... quickly flashed in front of the passengers leaning against the car window.

  This train has only one second-class carriage, which is much quieter and cleaner compared to the noisy and dirty third-class carriages. Of course, the ticket price is also much more expensive. Therefore, there are not many passengers in the carriage, and they are all dressed neatly, including three foreigners. They have breathed enough fresh air, looked out of the window until they were tired, and one by one slowly turned their heads back, some chatting with acquaintances, some yawning, and others searching for new and interesting things on the train.

  Zhen Niang sat there, speechless. Every feature on her face indicated that she was still shrouded in sorrow, from the forehead that hung low in grief to the eyes that were cast down, dark, depressed and lonely. She held Niu Niu in her lap, as if leaving this child would cause her to collapse due to loss of psychological support. But Niu Niu was in high spirits, eating fruit and snacks while gazing out the window.

  Woo woo, the train blew its whistle and is going to stop at some station again.

  "Tie Niu called out again, it was hungry and thirsty, and wanted to rest for a while." Niuni was very excited, giggling, the child still thought they would see their father soon.

  Zhen Niang couldn't help but smile for a moment, but the sadness in her eyes didn't disappear. Although she had seen many things for the first time in these few days, and even heard things she had never heard before, this freshness was suppressed by the heavy sorrow in her heart.

  "Tiě niú è le yào chī méi, kě le yào hē shuǐ, nī nī zhēn cōng míng." Huáng lì xiào zhe jiāng xuē hǎo de píng guǒ fàng zài nī nī shǒu lǐ, yòu ná qǐ yī gè xuē le qǐ lái.

  Translation:

  "The iron cow is hungry and wants to eat coal, thirsty and wants to drink water, Nini is really clever." Huang Li smiled and put the peeled apple in Nini's hand, then picked up another one to peel.

  Niang Niang took a bite of the apple, staring wide-eyed as Huang Li peeled it quickly and skillfully. The long apple peel fell down in circles without breaking.

  The sliced apple was handed over to Zhen Niang, emitting a refreshing fragrance. Zhen Niang immediately became flustered, as if the calendar had handed her a timed bomb, feeling anxious and uneasy, turning her face away without taking it but also unable to refuse. Her face turned red like a piece of cloth, slowly reaching out to take the apple in slow motion like in a movie, muttering something under her breath, probably saying thank you!

  "Uncle, what is this thing you're hanging?" Niu Niu asked, stretching out her hand to point.

  Huang Li stretched out his hand to let Niu Niu touch the cross, explaining: "This is a cross, something used by foreigners in their churches - that is, foreign monks and nuns use it to ward off evil spirits and keep safe." This was indeed a difficult question for a child to understand, so Huang Li could only try his best to explain it in Chinese terms.

  "There's a person on it, haha, so much fun." Niu Niu said, playing with it and commenting in her childish tone.

  "That's God Jesus, similar to the Old Heaven in China." Huang Li smiled and said: "Foreigners say that God is the creator of heaven and earth, the master of all life."

  Zhen Niang moved her lips, and after a long time, she asked timidly: "Huang Dage, have you joined the foreign religion?"

  Huang Li shook his head slightly, looking perplexed, and said: "Not yet, it's just that I feel a sense of familiarity with this foreign religion, maybe I've been in it before. Now, I've only joined the Christian Youth Fellowship, as for the future, it depends on whether God blesses me or not."

  "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." A foreign woman who was passing by on the road suddenly spoke up, saying as she stopped her steps and stood there politely: "May I sit down and chat with you for a bit?"

  This foreign woman looks very young, with golden curly long hair and blue crystal-like bright eyes, wearing a suit, with a prominent gold cross hanging from her high chest.

  Zhen Niang was visibly flustered and involuntarily shrunk her body, Niu Niu opened her eyes wide and curiously sized up this foreign devil.

  Although Huang Li didn't understand why, he had no reason to refuse. He and Zhen Niang occupied two adjacent double seats, and it wasn't too much for others to sit next to Zhen Niang. But he also noticed Zhen Niang's discomfort, so he quickly stood up, sat down beside her, and gave his seat to the foreign woman.

  "I'm a missionary of the Methodist Church, my name is Terry." The foreign woman first introduced herself, but her Chinese sounded a bit stiff. Then she apologized and explained: "I've only been in China for half a year, my Chinese expression ability is very poor, not good at all, very..."

  Huang Li smiled faintly and said, "My name is Huang Li. Actually, your Chinese is not bad, and if you express it in English, I think I can understand too. As for them..." He glanced at Zhen Niang and Niu Niu, "Hehe, probably won't be interested in Christianity."

  Tai Li was taken aback for a moment, but soon smiled and said: "I'd better try to express myself in Chinese. I take every conversation as an opportunity to learn, and I don't want to miss it."

  In modern terms, proselytizing and selling insurance have a lot in common - when they see a potential target, they don't want to let go. When Sister Terry heard Huang Li mention religion, she couldn't help but want to communicate with him, and the nun who accompanied her to Tianjin was really too boring, making her feel suffocated.

  "If you want to preach to me, then don't bother." Huang Li politely declined: "I do have a good impression of Christianity, but for now I don't have any plans to convert. Besides, I think Eastern philosophy is pretty good too!"

  "Mr. Huang, we actually have a lot in common, my Chinese teacher once told me about some Eastern philosophies, I found that Eastern philosophy and Western theology don't have much conflict, but rather have a close origin." But Teri didn't want to let go of Huang easily, the monotonous journey was really unbearable.

  "Is there?" Huang Li blinked his eyes and asked doubtfully.

  "Ah-ha!" Terry exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement. "Christianity has the philosophy of 'tolerance' and the perspective of 'love', while Eastern philosophy has 'enduring is noble' and 'benevolent people love others'. Aren't they similar? And then there's 'destiny theory' and 'salvationism'..."

  Tai Li became more and more immersed in her own preaching, as this was the sacred mission given to her by God, but her sermon made people feel dull and tasteless. Niu Niu lightly dozed off, Zhen Niang silently lowered her head, and Huang Li politely covered his mouth with his hand and let out a slight yawn.

  "All men are children of God, all are sinners before God, everyone needs to repent, and everyone needs salvation through the Bible." Sister Terry devoutly made the sign of the cross on her chest, finally ending another sermon.