Chapter 1782: Guangzhou

Fortunately, since this was the starting station, the train was still empty when they queued to board, making it easy to manage their luggage.

Besides, they had sleeper berths, so there were fewer people; the hard-seat section was already packed, with luggage jammed against the seats as people squeezed through slowly.

Being among the first to board, they moved through unimpeded and easily found their sleeper car.

At that moment, the platform was crowded with people; running sounds, shouts, and children's cries rose and fell in waves, as everyone feared missing the train.

After setting down his backpack, Ye Yaodong let out a long sigh. "Finally found the car. Much better. Glad we boarded early."

"It's my first time on a train. I didn't expect it to be as terrible as imagined. You all said trains were so awful and smelly—stinky feet, sweat, crying children, arguments, and so much luggage you couldn't even walk..."

After putting away her luggage, Lin Lin Xiuqing patted the sleeper berth and muttered to herself.

He chuckled. "Because you boarded at the starting station, the very first stop, so the car was naturally cleaned. Besides, this is a sleeper, and we got on early. Wait and see when we're halfway! People will be climbing through windows then. As for the hard-seat section, you can check later whether it smells, is crowded, or noisy."

"Really? Then after the hot water runs out and I go out to refill it, I'll take a look."

She was genuinely curious. She had always traveled by boat for long distances in this life, and today was her first train ride. Having only heard how dirty, chaotic, and terrible trains were, she could check it out later.

All six people in their car were their own group; others were scattered in adjacent cars, a arrangement Ye Yaodong had personally selected.

They had bought fifteen tickets in total. He placed himself and Ah Qing together in a car filled only with their own people, set aside two tickets separately, and distributed the rest among the others.

Some cars had two or three of their own people, others had three or four. It was fine; they could look out for each other. There were only a few sleeper cars in total.

After organizing her luggage, Lin Lin Xiuqing also sorted the snacks bought at the train station earlier, along with some pre-prepared portable biscuits and similar treats, and asked Ye Yaodong to take them to the others.

Only after everything was distributed did she sit down with peace of mind.

Then the train's long, hoarse whistle sounded, and with a rumbling motion, it began their nearly two-day journey.

After only a few stops, Lin Lin Xiuqing didn't need to go to the hard-seat car to see the environment. Standing in the corridor, she felt waves of sweat, instant noodle, cigarette, leather, and pungent toilet smells drifting toward her, so she immediately retreated back to the sleeper car.

"What's wrong? Didn't you say you'd check the hard-seat section?" Ye Yaodong asked as he saw her sit back down beside him.

"No need. I can already imagine it. Just standing in the aisle, I can feel how noisy and smelly it is over there."

"Then wait until we arrive. You'll see when you get off."

"We have to ride for over forty hours. That's way too long."

"Just endure it. Anyway, it's almost dark. If things go quickly, we'll arrive tomorrow morning; if slowly, by tomorrow noon."

"Mm."

The two sat close together, chatting idly.

When Seeing Ye Mu fell, after eating something simple, Ye Yaodong told her to take the upper berth for safety, while he took the lower one.

He also gave her the backpack to hold while sleeping, as it contained the official seal, contract papers, various important documents, and cash, which could not be lost.

Fortunately, the entire car held only their own people, making things relatively better.

At night, the rhythmic "clack-clack" of wheels against the rails was amplified infinitely in the deep silence.

The sleeper berths were narrow, forcing the tall Ye Yaodong to curl up to sleep. Snoring, sleep-talking, and children's crying from other berths and nearby cars made it impossible to fall asleep.

He simply sat up, went to the small folding stool by the door to smoke two cigarettes, kept watch, and only returned to lie down once he felt drowsy.

The train stopped intermittently without cease. After thirty-seven or thirty-eight hours of jolting, when the female voice on the broadcast finally announced, "Guangzhou Station is approaching," everyone felt as if injected with a stimulant.

All fatigue was instantly suppressed, replaced by a pre-battle tension and excitement.

"We're almost there!" he said, somewhat excited.

The others were similarly pumped up, instantly revitalized.

People from other cars also rushed over with their bags to regroup.

"Boss, we're almost there."

"Finally arriving. My whole body feels like it's falling apart. Even the sleeper is like this; what about the hard seat?"

"Prepare to get off. Anything else can wait until we're off the train."

They went one after another to wait by the exit door, surrounded by a crowd, all heading to get off at Guangzhou Station.

As soon as the doors opened, the crowd surged out in a frenzy.

Meanwhile, people eager to board pushed their way in, with a large group cursing and complaining.

After Lin Lin Xiuqing finally squeezed off the train, she saw people throwing luggage through the windows or jumping out impatiently, while the platform was packed with heads as far as the eye could see.

"So many people getting on and off... It's outrageous..."

"Not outrageous. Guangzhou Station is a major station."

Ye Yaodong glanced over; everyone was laden with goods, carrying, shouldering, or hugging them, clearly there to stock up.

"Stay close. Watch out for each other. Don't get lost."

They followed the crowd out of the station. After exiting the platform, they counted heads again before heading together to the taxi stand.

Lin Lin Xiuqing asked, "When do we pick up the exhibits and props we shipped by train? Those items were sent two days before us, so they should have arrived by now, right?"

Two days before the team departed, following the arrangements of other units in previous years, they had shipped the exhibits and materials needed for this Canton Fair, along with props for setting up the booth, by train in advance.

"They should have arrived. No rush to pick them up yet. We must first report in, collect the exhibitor work permits and materials, and see which guesthouse we're assigned to."

"Okay."

"Once everything is arranged, we'll pick up the goods and ship them directly to the exhibition hall for setup. Otherwise, if we pick them up now, we don't even know where we're staying or lodging, making it hard to arrange."

"Then let's hurry and take a taxi. Where is it?"

"Liuhua Road Exhibition Hall."

They took several taxis, then drove a few hundred meters... got stuck for half an hour, stopped, and arrived at the exhibition hall...

Everyone was stunned...

Ye Yaodong was dumbfounded...

"Awesome!"

"This is possible..."

"Forget it, let's just hurry inside."

They reported at the Liuhua Road exhibition hall of the Canton Fair with their unit introduction letter and exhibitor certificate notice, received exhibitor badges and materials, paid a lodging fee at the guesthouse, and only then got their room key to settle in.

The exhibition was the day after tomorrow, so they had to set up the booth tomorrow and the day after; today they still had one day to rest.

No one had slept well on the train, and none of them could truly relax, so Ye Yaodong simply told them to rest today and go pick up the goods at the train station early tomorrow morning.

Lin Lin Xiuqing sat on the bed at the guesthouse, feeling somehow unreal about it all.

"So we've actually made it to Yangcheng, and we're about to attend the Canton Fair?"

Ye Yaodong was so tired he just flopped onto the bed in a star shape, "Once the exhibition's over, we can stick around here for a couple more days, have a look around. It's a big city after all, and it's not easy coming all this way."

"It really isn't easy, nearly 40 hours, it nearly killed me. And we still have to sit on the train that long going back."

"Didn't expect Yangcheng to be this prosperous, packed with people. Probably because of the Canton Fair lately—people everywhere, swarming around the exhibition hall."

"Yeah, coming over just now, there was even a traffic jam on the road, so many taxis. And so many foreigners too—first time in my life I've seen that many foreigners, all over the streets. Those Black folks are black as charcoal, pitch-black, really ugly and hard to look at."

"It's the exhibition period now, they're all foreigners here to place orders, normally there shouldn't be this many."

"I'd say my eyes have been opened, I've broadened my horizons. If there's a chance, we really should bring a few of the kids over to see it, broaden their horizons. If you don't see it with your own eyes, you couldn't imagine this prosperity in a lifetime. Ten years ago we were still in the countryside, and in the 25 years before that we hadn't even been to the county town. Now we can come all the way to Yangcheng to attend the Canton Fair."

"That's what I said, you can bring the kids over to broaden their horizons. No matter how well they study, if they don't get out and about they're just frogs at the bottom of a well. Sitting in a classroom won't expand their outlook—sometimes vision is more important than a diploma."

"Let's wait another couple of years. If we can attend once, naturally we can attend twice, three times later on, and bring them over then."

"Things change every year, who knows what it'll be like by then."

Lin Lin Xiuqing was at a loss for words, so she simply changed the subject, "Get some shut-eye quick, we'll go out for dinner once we wake up."

"Mm."

Everyone was exhausted. Just during the time the two of them were talking, they could already hear snoring coming from the next room.

And the two of them also fell asleep quickly.

After night fell, the air in Yangcheng still carried a warm, humid Southeast Asian flavor, utterly unlike the chilly spring nights of Jiangnan.

When they stepped out of the guesthouse, what greeted their eyes was a flowing river of light.

And the noisy sounds came rushing in like a tide, filling their ears—the dense "ding-ding-ding" of bicycle bells, the roaring engines of motorcycles.

Vendors hawked loudly in Cantonese they couldn't understand at all; from a cassette-player shop came deafening Cantonese pop—Beyond's "Boundless Sea and Sky."

That stirring melody struck at every passerby's heart.

This clamor wasn't chaos, but a kind of vigorous, almost overflowing vitality.

The Liuhua Road area was unusually bustling because of the Canton Fair.

On buildings of varying heights, signs pieced together from neon tubes covered every surface—"Fresh Seafood," "Night Tea," "Duty-Free Mall"—red, green, blue, yellow, flickering and leaping, brutally yet full of life, burning into their eyes. Everyone's eyes went wide.

"Holy crap, this lively?"

"Even busier than Zhoushi! So many people, so many foreigners…"

"Oh my goodness, this street is brighter than our place at New Year!"

"These Cantonese songs are weirdly nice to listen to…"

"These women really dare to dress, so pretty, so fashionable…"

In the endless stream of people there were local bosses in floral shirts and gold chains haggling loudly; out-of-town exhibitors like them, speaking various dialects, exhausted yet excited; and fashionable women in blouses, pencil skirts, and high heels striding confidently…

Ye Yaodong took a deep breath; the air was a mix of car exhaust, the smell of roadside banyan trees, and all kinds of tempting food aromas.

Lin Lin Xiuqing's eyes were sparkling, she couldn't take it all in.

Though the Magic City was prosperous, she had never wandered around at night either, let alone that the Magic City's nights weren't like Yangcheng's nights, full of…

She didn't know how to describe it—maybe trendiness, vigor, clamor, and an outward bursting vitality, brimming with commerce and the future.

"Boss, can we wander around later?" The young salesperson's eyes flickered with excitement and curiosity.

"Sure, but don't go off alone, don't go by yourself, don't wander too long. You guys go together and come back together. Don't cause trouble, don't get into conflicts with locals."

"Understood."

"Since you all want to wander around, then sort out your own dinner, and we'll reimburse it together when we get back."

"Got it."

Everyone excitedly huddled together, discussing pairing up to go exploring.

Ye Yaodong saved himself the trouble—no need to rack his brain managing so many people's meals, no need to worry about them getting lost.

Lin Lin Xiuqing looped her arm through Ye Yaodong's, dazzled by everything she saw, "This is too prosperous, so much food—no wonder so many people come to Guangdong to work."

"I heard electronics and clothes and stuff are really cheap here. Let's ask where later, we'll go have a look, carry some back."

"Great, great, let's get the Canton Fair done first."

"Naturally."

They walked and looked as they went, and found a big open-air food stall set up under a plastic canopy to sit down at.

Around them were all sorts of dress and styles—some bundled up tight, some dressed fashionably—everyone raising beer mugs, clinking and swapping cups.

The incandescent bulb overhead shone bright, the stove fire blazed, and spatulas clanged against iron woks with a "clang-clang."

Ye Yaodong looked around and knew the country had entered a period of rapid development; those who boldly dove into the business tide now would all have a bright future ahead.

After the couple finished dinner, they couldn't bear to head back just like that, so they simply kept strolling along this stretch of Liuhua Road.

The whole street was like a giant open-air trading arena, vendors showing off their skills, each one bellowing slogans for their products at the top of their lungs.

"Last ten pairs of jeans! Rock-bottom price! Ten yuan! Ten yuan! Don't walk past and miss out!"

"Lighters! Fireproof, drop-proof! Waterproof! Glow-in-the-dark!"

"Hello! Silk! Real silk! Cheap!"

"One yuan! One yuan! Pineapple, one yuan, sweeter than first love!"

All in Mandarin with a Cantonese accent, shouting themselves hoarse.

Lin Lin Xiuqing was thrilled—maybe it was a woman's natural instinct to shop—she stopped curiously at everything she saw, whether food, toys, or daily goods.

So by the time they finished walking down the street, Ye Yaodong's stomach was stuffed to bursting, and his hands were laden with her haul.

"Have you bought enough? Can we go back now?"

Ye Yaodong felt his feet were no longer his own, yet she was still beaming with excitement, continuing to look around for any stalls they hadn't visited yet…

"Huh? Going back already? What time is it?"

"It's 9 o'clock, beautiful!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed until she was shaking all over, "Hahaha… then let's head back first, we'll continue shopping tomorrow."

"Alright, beautiful."

"Stop calling me that, you don't sound as nice as they do when they say it."

"It's those constant 'beautiful's that made the usually frugal you lose yourself, buying this and that."

Lin Lin Xiuqing was amused by him, "It's not like that at all, it's just that everything really is so cheap, everything I look at seems so cheap, and it's all stuff we don't have back home. Ye Ye Huimei and Dongqing should really come here to stock up — it's cheap and fashionable, and there's so much variety."

"True, it's just a bit far."

"Right, it's just too far. The train takes 40 hours, and we don't know the place at all, so it's not that convenient. But if we made two trips we'd definitely get familiar with it. If we could come here to stock up, we'd definitely make a killing."

Ye Yaodong shook the goods filling both his hands, "Like this and we'd make a killing? You haven't seen cheap yet. I heard there are even cheaper wholesale markets — you paid too much for all this, you know? This is all retail."

"Huh? There's even cheaper stuff?"

"This night market near the guesthouse must be an international market formed because of the Canton Fair, so naturally it's all retail. The wholesale stuff must have dedicated wholesale markets or wholesale streets."

"Then why didn't you stop me from buying earlier?"

"Stop you from what? It's not like we're short that little bit of money — as long as you're happy. What if the wholesale market doesn't have these things? If you like it, buy it. If you bought nothing at all, you definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight."

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed, not knowing what to say, "Let's go, let's go, let's head back early, no more shopping. We need to get up early tomorrow to pick up the goods, and tomorrow night we're not shopping either. Once the exhibition ends, we'll stay an extra two days then."

"Okay."

The couple walked back to the guesthouse fully content. On the way they ran into other salespeople returning with full loads — no one was empty-handed, and everyone had excited faces.

Ye Yaodong also took the chance to tell them to get up at 7 the next morning to go to the train station to pick up the goods.

Railway freight follows the principle of "ticket and goods traveling together." When he arranged the consignment, the railway office gave him two paper documents: a "Waybill" and a "Goods Receipt Voucher."

When they pick up the goods, they must bring these two vouchers — right now these are more important to them than cash.

Early the next morning, they ate local-style rice noodle rolls and other Cantonese dim sum at the guesthouse entrance, then headed straight for the freight department at the train station.

Ye Yaodong squeezed up to the "Arrival Inquiry" window, handed over the two vouchers, and waited for the staff to look it up.

Then he paid a series of miscellaneous fees — unloading fee, storage fee, safekeeping fee, and so on — took the forms stamped with all kinds of seals, and ran to another window to handle the final release procedures.

Finally, with the release slip in hand, under the staff's guidance, they entered a large warehouse like a maze.

They needed to find their consigned goods among the tens of thousands of packages, based on the numbers on the waybill.

Fortunately, he'd brought everyone along — with over a dozen people searching, it went quickly.

Outside the freight yard, quite a few private truck drivers had gathered. Ye Yaodong casually picked one, agreed on a price, had them load the goods up, and then a van full of people and cargo headed straight for the exhibition hall.

Apart from the procedures being a bit of a hassle to queue for, and finding the goods being a bit of an effort, everything else went smoothly.