Chapter 166: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 166: Wang Dashan Enters the City

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

The two days of the weekend passed quickly, and Wang Erhai and Wang Xiaohua returned to high school to study.

On this day, Wang Dashan packed his luggage and set off on the journey to the city to find work.

Before departure, his mother Li Xiulan specially killed a large rooster and used it to worship the gods, hoping the immortals would bless her eldest son's journey to go smoothly and earn big money.

Starting from Shanggou Village, Wang Dashan needed to take a vehicle to the Town, then transfer at the Town to the County Town, and then transfer again at the County Town to the big city.

The distance was actually not far, but it required transferring vehicles several times, which was quite troublesome.

At this time, the passenger vehicles from the village to the Town had already changed from the once dilapidated small four-wheelers into small minivans that were faster and more comfortable.

Minivans started becoming popular a few years ago, and the small four-wheelers were quickly phased out.

One reason was that the Traffic Police strictly cracked down on illegal passenger transport; small four-wheelers generally weren't allowed to carry passengers in the rear compartment, and if caught, they faced severe penalties.

Another reason was that the few drivers who originally drove small four-wheelers gradually grew old.

Take Driver Lao Lu for example.

He is now over sixty years old, his hair turned white.

He got gout the year before last, and then stopped driving.

Driving, this kind of work requiring prolonged sitting, actually does quite a lot of harm to the body.

Now Lao Lu went to contract a mountain to plant trees, patrols the mountain every day, treating it as exercise and walking; his legs and feet have instead become much more agile.

The minivan fare was a bit more expensive than the previous small four-wheeler fare, but not by much.

Previously, taking the small four-wheeler from Shanggou Village to the Town cost one yuan.

Now, taking the minivan from Shanggou Village to the Town costs two yuan, just one yuan more.

Wang Dashan arrived at the Town Street Entrance and boarded the public bus heading to the County Town.

Going to the County Town could actually also be done by minivan, but the minivan to the County Town was more expensive, costing seven yuan, while the public bus only needed three yuan.

Wang Dashan didn't have much money on him right now; he wanted to save a bit, so he chose the public bus.

Additionally, the public bus could go directly to the County City Bus Plaza in the County Town.

After a long journey of over forty minutes, Wang Dashan finally arrived at the County Town's Bus Plaza by public bus.

At this time, the Bus Plaza was exceptionally lively; although it wasn't a holiday, there were very many people coming to ride.

Because this huge County Town had only this one Bus Plaza.

Outside the Bus Plaza was the Public Bus General Station, parked with dozens of public buses preparing to depart; at the front entrance/exit were parked many motorcycles and small three-wheelers soliciting passengers.

At that time, there were still no Taxis in this County Town, so many people at the bottom rung, relying on motorcycles or small three-wheelers to carry passengers, could still scrape together a meal.

However, a few years later, the County Government began to vigorously implement traffic control and launched Taxi services; passenger motorcycles and small three-wheelers also gradually became a fading memory in the hearts of this small County Town's people.

Those who made a living relying on motorcycles and small three-wheelers could only gradually switch careers to do other things.

Wang Dashan passed the Security check, entered inside the Bus Plaza, and saw the waiting hall of the Bus Plaza was buzzing with voices, while inside the Bus Plaza area, twenty or thirty vehicles heading to various different places were parked.

In the waiting hall, broadcasts sounded from time to time, reminding people not to miss their departure times.

Wang Dashan first went to queue to buy a bus ticket, then found a seat and sat down to wait slowly.

"15:30, the vehicle heading to Yangcheng is about to depart; please passengers, bring all luggage and belongings, proceed to the ticket gate to check tickets and board!"

Wang Dashan glanced at the bus ticket in his hand; it was exactly the 15:30 one.

He hurriedly brought his luggage and belongings to queue for boarding.

Boarded the long-distance bus, found the seat corresponding to the ticket, and sat down.

Wang Dashan took out his HTC Phone; that was the first phone of his life, bought in the County Town using his retirement money after he returned from military service; at this time, when he wanted to buy a phone, his parents no longer obstructed him.

He first dialed home, telling his parents that he had already boarded the vehicle heading to Guangzhou and would arrive in about three hours.

Then he made another call to a former classmate of his; that classmate was named Zhu Zhiming; back when they were studying, Wang Dashan and Zhu Zhiming got along quite well; Zhu Zhiming finished high school but didn't test into University, and went to Guangzhou to work.

Wang Dashan had long been in contact with Zhu Zhiming on QQ, saying he was going to find work; Zhu Zhiming was very righteous, saying he could let Wang Dashan stay at his place for a few days, and could incidentally bring Wang Dashan to familiarize himself with the surrounding environment; it wouldn't be too late for Wang Dashan to move out after finding work.

Wang Dashan felt he was unfamiliar with the place and people; having a friend look after him would definitely be better, so he agreed to Zhu Zhiming and decided to go stay at his place for a few days first.

"Hello, Zhi Ming, I'm now on the long-distance bus to Guangzhou."

Over the phone, Wang Dashan said this to Zhu Zhiming.

Zhu Zhiming asked:

"Are you going to Guangyuan Bus Station, or Yuexiu South Bus Station? Or Tianhe Bus Station? Or perhaps Fangcun Bus Station?"

Wang Dashan asked:

"What's the difference?"

Wang Dashan had never been to Guangzhou before; today was his first time going to Guangzhou; he didn't know what the difference was between these several Bus Stations, and not having that concept was also normal.

When he bought the ticket, he only told the ticket seller he wanted a ticket to Guangzhou; the ticket seller asked which station in Guangzhou he was going to; he just said as long as it departed quickly, any station was fine.

In the end, the ticket seller gave him a ticket to Guangyuan Bus Station, because the most frequent departures from this County Town to Guangzhou were to Guangyuan Bus Station.

"Of course there's a difference, and a big one; Guangzhou is very large, the distance between each Bus Station is very far; Guangyuan Bus Station is near Guangzhou East, Yuexiu South Bus Station is in Yuexiu District, Tianhe Bus Station is in Tianhe District, Fangcun Bus Station is in Liwan District; you must not buy a ticket to Fangcun Bus Station, that place is almost reaching Foshan, very far from me."

Zhu Zhiming said this.

Wang Dashan chuckled, not quite understanding; he truthfully said:

"I bought a ticket to Guangyuan Bus Station; is it far from your place?"

Zhu Zhiming said:

"It's okay; actually you'd best buy a ticket to Tianhe Bus Station, that's closest to me; but Guangyuan Bus Station works too; coincidentally I'm off today; when you're almost there, give me a call, I'll come pick you up."

Wang Dashan hurriedly thanked him:

"Zhi Ming, then thank you very much. This is my first time going to Guangzhou, I'm unfamiliar with the place and the people, it's a good thing I have you, this good buddy!"

Zhu Zhiming laughed and said:

"Why say that to me, our relationship is that solid, helping each other out is perfectly normal!"

Wang Dashan and Zhu Zhiming's relationship is indeed quite good.

Zhu Zhiming is from the neighboring village; the two are not only primary school classmates, but also junior high school classmates, and although they were in different classes in high school, they attended the same high school and often hung out together.

Wang Dashan trusts Zhu Zhiming completely, and this is also the reason why he dared to go looking for him alone.

……