Chapter Eleven: Adapting to Circumstances

A screech of brakes from the train abruptly woke Kang Ning from his uneasy sleep. He scrambled to his feet in panic, only to be thrown to the floor twice by the sudden starts and stops of the train.

At last, when the train finally halted, Kang Ning hurriedly picked himself up, clinging to the edge of the carriage as he strained to peer outside. He immediately noticed that soldiers had already jumped off the train and were setting up a perimeter.

With a sigh of resignation, Kang Ning shrank back into the carriage. As he sat down, a sharp pain shot through his right ribs. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, took off his police uniform, then clumsily peeled off his bloodstained T-shirt and tossed it under the hooves of the cattle beside him. Using the middle and index fingers of his left hand, he began to examine his own injuries.

The excruciating pain ensured Kang Ning would not forget: his sixth and seventh ribs had been broken by Chen Junhua, while the eighth had been snapped by four interrogators. What stung even more was that during the prolonged torture, they had knowingly targeted his already fractured ribs. Again and again, their batons struck the same place, until finally his eighth rib broke a second time.

Groaning, Kang Ning withdrew his hand and picked up his police uniform, intending to put it on. He noticed the pocket was unusually heavy. Upon inspection, he found a police ID and a wad of hundred-yuan bills inside.

He reviewed the ID, then counted the money carefully—it was exactly a thousand yuan. After a brief consideration, he put both the cash and the ID back into his pocket, dressed, and began planning how to escape the train.

Voices drifted closer, making Kang Ning instinctively curl up in the corner of the carriage, holding his breath.

"Commander, I want to check on the water buffalo," someone said.

"No need to fuss. These beasts are sturdier than you. They could go another thousand li without a problem," the commander replied, drawing laughter from the others. Then he called out, "Commissar Wang?"

"Here!"

"Have two men bring a hose and spray down the cattle car."

"Yes, sir!"

Soon, water sprayed from below, flooding the carriage. Kang Ning did his best to dodge it, yet was still thoroughly soaked.

Unable to make any commotion, Kang Ning could only curse the overzealous soldiers in his mind—especially for drenching the entire car and forcing him to squat instead of sit.

Looking up, he noticed a water buffalo gazing at him with what seemed like a grin. Annoyed, he glared back at the animal, only for the buffalo to suddenly bellow loudly, startling Kang Ning into lowering his head, no longer daring to meet its gaze.

Suddenly, a whistle sounded, followed by a booming voice, "All aboard! We're about to depart. Check your belongings!"

Kang Ning's heart pounded—he knew this was his chance. He quickly stood up, working the numbness from his joints in preparation to disembark.

A minute later, with a heavy clang of metal from the coupling, the train lurched into motion.

Kang Ning climbed onto the edge of the carriage, scanned his surroundings warily, then leapt down, landing solidly as the train slowly pulled away.

Once the train was gone, he looked around at the unfamiliar station. Not far away, a white sign on the platform bore the black characters: Litang. He instantly realized he was now 120 kilometers from Lanning.

Just as he was about to move forward, Kang Ning remembered his battered face would draw attention. He turned and followed the tracks out of the station.

Before long, he neared a solitary tool shed between the two rails, where a middle-aged railway worker in grease-stained overalls was packing up his tools at the door. Kang Ning was about to hurry past when the worker called out to him.

"Officer! You're up early. Come, have a seat and some water! Oh—what happened to you?"

The worker set down his small hammer and hurried over.

Kang Ning had no choice but to stop. "It's nothing, just took a fall," he replied blandly.

Without waiting for protest, the worker led Kang Ning to a stool outside the shed, went inside, and came out with a cup of water. "Here, drink this. I'll go see if there's any medicated oil left."

"Thank you," Kang Ning said, gulping down the enamel cup of water. As he finished, he looked up and was startled to see dozens of police officers and armed troops rushing toward them in the distance.

Heart pounding, Kang Ning slipped inside the tool shed.

Glancing at the worker's back as he searched for the bottle, Kang Ning hesitated for a moment, then steeled himself and struck the man at the base of the skull. He dragged the unconscious worker to the wall, propping him in a sitting position, then surveyed the cramped shed. Spotting a greasy, wrinkled set of overalls hanging on the wall, he quickly took them down and stripped off his uniform and trousers, changing into the rank, sweat- and oil-stained work clothes.

Once his appearance was in order, he stepped out, gathered the five or six tools from the ground into a canvas tool bag, and brought the stool inside.

His preparations complete, Kang Ning looked out and saw two armed police approaching, rifles at the ready, less than two hundred meters away. In desperation, he rolled up his uniform and trousers, about to stuff them under the metal cabinet, when he remembered the money. He hurriedly fished it from the uniform pocket before hiding the clothes.

Thinking for a moment, Kang Ning stuffed five hundred yuan into the unconscious worker’s pocket, then smeared black grease from the floor onto his hands and rubbed it over his face. He grabbed a battered straw safety helmet, slung the tool bag over his shoulder, locked the shed, and walked—heart pounding—toward the oncoming soldiers.

"Morning, you two," he greeted them, lowering his voice.

One soldier slung his rifle and asked politely, "Sir, have you seen any strangers around here?"

Kang Ning feigned thought, then shook his head. "No. I just came on shift. It's been quiet—haven’t seen anyone unfamiliar."

"Thank you, sir. If you spot anyone suspicious, please report immediately to the station police or your supervisor."

"Of course," Kang Ning replied.

As the two soldiers passed by, Kang Ning turned and continued down the track. Had anyone looked closely, they might have noticed his legs trembling and his steps oddly unsteady.

After nearly a hundred meters, Kang Ning wiped the sweat from his brow and took out a small hammer from the tool bag, tapping at the spikes as he walked—playing the part of a railway worker to perfection from a distance.

He walked north for another kilometer. In the distance, a train from Guilin to Lanning whistled its approach. Kang Ning stepped off the tracks and waited silently for it to pass.

In the dining car, Zhang Jianhan, tasked with escorting prisoners back to Lanning, was having breakfast. Glancing absently out the window, he caught a glimpse of a vaguely familiar figure in railway overalls. He stood abruptly, staring after the receding figure, but eventually dismissed his suspicion and sat down, lost in thought.

Once the train had passed, Kang Ning, seeing no one around, left the tracks and took to the parallel highway. After ten minutes, he reached a fork in the road marked by a sign: Liuzhou—139 kilometers left, Binyang—20 kilometers right.

After confirming his direction, Kang Ning flagged down a minibus headed for Binyang County. There were only a few passengers aboard, so he took a seat near the door and handed a hundred yuan bill to the plump, thirty-something ticket seller.

As she counted out his change, the woman grumbled, "Who knows what's going on today. Right out of town, we got stopped by a bunch of cops, searching here and questioning there—almost turned the bus upside down! Never seen anything like it. Cost us so much time, missed the main connection, only got a few passengers—won’t even cover the gas."

Kang Ning took the change without looking and stuffed it into his pocket. The woman plopped down beside him and struck up a conversation. "You railway folks sure have money! Country folk like us have to count our change three times to feel safe. Ha! Heading to Binyang, are you? You guys have plenty of trains—hardly anyone ever rides our bus."

"Just have some business in Binyang," Kang Ning replied noncommittally.

"Visiting relatives? They say you railway people are real charmers. Is that true, big brother?" The woman grinned at him suggestively.

Kang Ning managed a shy smile, but the woman was just getting started. "Ha, I guessed right, huh? You may look a bit rough, but you’re tall and strong—I bet you have no shortage of admirers, eh?" She laughed, and soon launched into gossip about various railway workers’ love affairs, much to the amusement of the other passengers and even the young driver.

Before long, the minibus entered the outskirts of Binyang. Kang Ning spotted a roadside clinic and quickly told the driver he’d reached his stop. As he got off, the woman’s teasing voice echoed after him, "Going to see your sweetheart in the village, huh? Hahaha—"

Kang Ning didn’t look back, just waved and kept walking.

Gritting his teeth against the pain and exhaustion, Kang Ning pinched his nose, rehearsing what lies he might tell the doctor. But as he entered the rundown clinic, he was startled to realize that the girl behind the desk looked very familiar. He hesitated, unsure whether to leave, but just then a wave of dizziness swept over him. Staggering to the side, his heavy tool bag and safety helmet clattered to the floor.

The girl rushed over to support the swaying Kang Ning, guiding him to a bench and looking him over. After a long, searching look, she suddenly cried out in astonishment:

"Doctor Kang!"