Chapter 19 'Steam Train' — Summary and Key Takeaways

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Summary

The chapter opens with the family's final preparations for departure. Mom sews backpacks from old flour sacks, reinforcing the straps and advising the children to carry them in front—both to support the weight and to deter thieves from snatching them off their backs. The family owns little; most clothing is worn in layers. The bulkiest items are hard bread and extra cloth rags for Lan, who occasionally has accidents. The narrator notes that Mom has lost her period from malnutrition, and neither she nor Di has started menstruating yet—Hai will turn fourteen and Di thirteen in December.

Before leaving, Mom stocks Uncle Sen's room with a small fortress of stacked hard bread, a bag of coal purchased at three times the usual price due to the shortage, and the silk blanket brought from Zhucheng. She says goodbye and promises to write from Shenzhen. Uncle Sen, bedridden, manages a feeble smile and wishes them well, asking them to write again when they reach Taiwan.

The family braces for a fight with Di, who has resisted the journey, but she surprises everyone by standing at the door with her backpack ready, stuffed with hard bread like theirs. They lock the door and head into the courtyard, where Lucky runs to greet them. Hai hugs the dog, channeling her energy into holding back tears, and opens the courtyard door—Lucky bounds out, thinking they are all going on an adventure together.

Mrs. Ding is outside, sitting on her steps in the cold with a teapot. She offers tea, which they decline, and reveals she already knew about the departure. She agrees to keep Lucky, warning that the door must be kept closed or he will follow them. She kisses Lan, embraces the family, and waves them away, emotional but urging them to hurry so they do not miss the train.

The walk to the station feels long. Hai cannot shake the habit of missing the wheelbarrow, though she knows it cannot be taken on the train. At the station, a giant clock tower looms over a sea of people. There is no line, just an amorphous crowd. The train is described as a shiny black machine with steam trailing from its valves. Mom tells the children to hold hands; their tickets are hidden under her shirt, where the gold tael used to be, and she does not care who judges her for reaching between her breasts to retrieve them.

The platform is chaotic, reminiscent of the feeding frenzy when the Catholics or cadres handed out food. Mom uses her shoulder to part the crowd, and the three clutch each other's wrists to stay together. Railway officers, flanked by armed military guards, try to manage the crowd. At some entry points, people form crooked lines; at others, collectors randomly reach into the crowd for tickets. A fight erupts when a collector identifies a set of tickets as fake. A well-dressed man screams profanities, insisting he bought them inside the station. PLA officers seize him, but the crowd presses in, and his kicking knocks others down. As they pass, the crowd swells away, and Hai nearly falls. A woman shoves her, and Hai snaps back.

After about half an hour, the family reaches the front. Mom yanks the tickets from her blouse and stretches her arm toward the collector, who examines them and commands them to board. They break free from the crowd, leaping through the open door and up the steps. Hai reaches back to help Mom, who carries Lan's extra weight.

Inside, the train is hot, humid, and sour from the breath of a few hundred packed bodies. Wooden seats are all taken, with people squeezed in so tightly there is no gap. The family finds space on the floor. Within minutes, an arm comes through a window, then a shoulder and a head—people outside are helping one another climb in. There is shouting, then a gunshot. Officers grab a climber and pull him back out. The police are outnumbered, and some people successfully crawl through windows, landing on other passengers who shout and push angrily. An officer yells that anyone on the roof will be shot; shots ring out, and people scream. Mom holds the children close under her arms, as if her flesh could protect them from stray bullets.

Lan starts to cry hysterically, demanding to go home. Mom tries to calm her, but Lan arches her back and screams. No one complains, as everyone is focused on the sounds of bullets and screaming. More and more people push into the car, and Hai keeps thinking it is impossible to squeeze anyone else in, yet heads and bodies keep appearing.

After what seems like an eternity, the train whistle blows. It is an old steam train, and it takes several minutes for the boiler to build up enough heat for the train to slowly shift. With a clang and a shudder, the train begins to crawl. Mom leans back against the wall, relieved. Lan finally hushes and falls asleep in Mom's lap.

A seated passenger remarks on a dog running by the tracks. Hai bolts upright, reassuring herself it must be a stray—Lucky is safely shut in Mrs. Ding's courtyard. But peering out the window, she sees a small brown dog with pointed ears running so fast its legs are a blur. It is Lucky. Hai jumps to her feet, banging her hands against the windowpane, screaming at him to go home. He cannot hear her, and the train is outpacing him. He slows to a trot, then stops and sits in the grass, panting as the train barrels away. Mom pulls Hai down, telling her Lucky is smart and will find his way back to Mrs. Ding. Hai cannot break her gaze as he shrinks to a brown dot.

Di remarks that someone on the street might catch and eat him first. Hai, already raw, screams and jumps on Di, knocking her back. She sits on Di's chest, pins her arms with her knees, and slaps her face, screaming that she hates her and wishes she had stayed in Qingdao. Mom bellows, pulls Hai off, and Di gets a few counterblows in. Passengers shout at them to control their daughters. Mom shoves both girls against the wall, inserting herself between them with sobbing Lan in her arms, threatening to beat them if they get kicked off the train.

Hai, furious, cries that she wishes they had never left Qingdao, that she does not want to go to Taiwan or see Father. She accuses Father of not caring—if he did, he would have insisted the family come for them before leaving for Taiwan. She says he was willing to sacrifice them to make his parents happy, and that he probably already has another wife in Taiwan and is about to have another child. Mom smacks Hai on the head, telling her to shut her mouth, looking on the brink of tears herself.

Hai does not feel bad for making Mom upset. All the suspicions and worries she had held silently burst forth, and she cannot take the words back—nor would she want to. It feels good to shout them out loud, as though cleaning out wounds that had been festering inside her. Di crosses her arms, seeming pleased—not because her ploy worked, but because Hai has proved she is not the only one with reservations about reuniting with the family.

The three fall silent as the train continues through the countryside. Hai looks out the window and sees only the sky, so cheerfully blue that it is hard to believe they have had such a harried and heartbreaking morning.

Key Events

• Mom sews flour-sack backpacks and packs hard bread and rags for Lan, while noting the family's malnutrition.

• Mom provisions Uncle Sen with bread, coal, and the silk blanket, then says goodbye.

• Di unexpectedly appears ready without a fight.

• Mrs. Ding reveals she already knew of the departure and agrees to keep Lucky.

• The family navigates a chaotic, dangerous crowd at the station, where fake tickets are discovered and gunshots ring out.

• They board the packed train; people climb through windows and onto the roof, and shots are fired.

• Lan cries hysterically until the train departs.

• Lucky runs alongside the tracks until the train outpaces him; Hai screams at him.

• Hai attacks Di, then accuses Father of abandoning them; Mom slaps her.

• The family falls silent as the train continues.

Character Development

Hai (narrator): This chapter marks a turning point for Hai. Throughout the novel, she has been the dutiful, resourceful daughter, often suppressing her emotions to keep the family together. Here, her suppressed feelings erupt violently. Her grief over Lucky—the dog who has been a constant companion through hardship—triggers a physical fight with Di and a verbal attack on her father. Her accusation that Father