In 1997, Wanghai was on a bus going directly from Yahai Port to Pu Town.
If we look down from the Milky Way, in the words of future generations, the prosperity began to decline, and the long highway that constituted the cross-sea bridge and looked like a cantilever of the Milky Way decomposed into concrete structures and stones, until it became basic microscopic particles and eventually disappeared.
Therefore, Wanghai today cannot bear the reputation of a tourist destination. Even if you look straight ahead from outside the island, the destination after entering the port is almost within reach, but visitors still have to take a bus and take a very long, planned dirt road, which is bumpy all the way from one side of the field of vision to the other.
After getting off the car, how to get from the port far away from the city to the city, town and village they want to arrive at is another problem. Wanghai is an island and there is no subway. At that time, there is no light rail around the city. The road conditions are extremely poor. Taxis coming from afar are scattered. However, the circle of these sports cars is deeper than the black current near the port. Making money is just a small matter. Some people are more evil and want to kill.
Fortunately, those who go to Yahai Port are almost all veterans who run this sea route and deliver goods back and forth. They all have their own ways and will not be tripped up by such trivial matters. Among them, only one person looks like a stranger. When she was in the car before, she was the only one looking at the boring coastline with interest. Now she got off the bus, dragging her luggage, looking around, and seemed a little confused.
This is a young and very beautiful girl. She is like a sheep among a pack of wolves, attracting their covetousness. They come and go, and it seems like they are trying to force her into the car.
If it weren't for a large truck carrying soil that stopped in front of her at the end and used its tonnage to intimidate the thugs, she really wouldn't have been able to get away so easily today.
Grabbing the armrest, she stepped onto the pedals that were almost higher than her waistline and got into the passenger seat. She saw the driver who would take her to Wankang City today, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut. He helped put the heavy luggage in the back, looked the woman over, and said, "Shi Zirui?"
"Yes." Shi Zirui tightened her clothes, looked out the window at the people who were unwilling to give up, took a breath, and said, "Friends on the island are a little too enthusiastic."
"A girl from mainland China? Why did you, a girl, come to this damn place by yourself?" asked the driver.
"No, I'm a local. I just haven't been back for a few years."
"Studying outside?"
"How do you know?" Shi Zirui asked in surprise.
"From your appearance and tone, you're obviously a scholar, and a wealthy man, but you're just not very smart," the driver said half-sarcastically, half-jokingly. "Don't you know how chaotic Wanghai is? Especially this area? Yahai Port is for deliveries, not passengers. How could you come down from this corner?"
"I'm not rich," Shi Zirui shook her head and said, "I flew from the capital to the other side to do some business. I thought I could get it done there, but I didn't expect to have to take a boat again. At that time, the nearest Tianwen Port was closest to Yahai Port, so it took the shortest time and the boat ticket was the cheapest.
If the distance is longer, the government may not reimburse the expenses.”
The driver drove the car and glanced at her young face with a bit of surprise: "Government... You look like you are only in your early twenties at most. Are you already working?"
Shi Zirui gazed out at the scenery of her hometown after years away from her. Not wanting to boast about her past achievements, she absentmindedly replied, "I started school early, so I guess I've been assigned to an internship this year."
"It's strange that you're going back home on business." The driver laughed and said, "How's the pay like working outside?"
"I don't get much money, I just make enough to eat and wear."
"What are you doing back this time?" the driver asked, then suddenly slapped his head in self-reflection and said, "Oh, don't blame me for being so talkative. I drive a sports car and travel all over the island. There's usually two of us in the car, and we talk about everything. I'm used to it."
"It's okay. We've been on a long journey, so chatting is harmless." Shi Zirui smiled softly and said, "Usually there are two of us, so why are you alone today?"
"Well," the driver got angry when he heard this question. He said, "Two people are definitely needed to travel long distances. There's nothing wrong with that, right? But our boss is so stingy that he's almost broke. If he doesn't want to pay that person's wages, who will work with him? He just walked away, leaving me alone.
One person can't pull long distances. The distance is so long, and there's no one to relieve me when I get tired. No one can fix the car if it breaks down. Even if I run into a gas thief while I'm sleeping at night, I don't know what to do. So it just so happened that this was on my way, and I was going to Wankang to pick up something. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to pick up anyone."
Shi Zirui shook her head and said, "It's not easy in every industry these days."
"That's impossible. Aren't you intellectuals doing very well now?" said the driver.
Shi Zirui didn't accept the compliment. She smiled slightly bitterly and said, "Actually, that's not the case. I came back this time to collect a debt."
This statement was completely unexpected by the driver. He immediately wondered, could she be referring to some kind of "unit"? He was stunned, staring at this delicate girl. He couldn't possibly associate her with a vicious debt collector. "Debt collector?"
"Yes, but not what you think." Shi Zirui said.
The driver noticed that she was a little upset because she had mentioned something that was bothering her, so he consoled her, "Since you're going home, be cheerful. If you really run into any unsolvable trouble, come find me."
Shi Zirui looked at him in surprise.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't have the skills or the time to go around warding off disasters," the driver laughed. "Do you know what Wanghai needs most right now? Intellectuals like you. What's that called? What's it seeking? Hungry?"
"I'm eager to find talented people." Shi Zirui said, covering her mouth.
"Yes, yes, yes," the driver said, pulling out a wrinkled business card from his pocket. "I'm a rough guy, all I know is how to step on the accelerator. I don't know what kind of intellectual you are, but, but, the bosses in Wanghai are very welcome to all kinds of talents now. If you want to make money or get ahead, just call the number on this business card.
Believe me, in Wanghai, there is no problem that cannot be solved by this phone call."
Shi Zirui took the business card, smiled, and didn't take the words to heart.
......
......
It took two hours to drive from the port to Wankang City. After five years, Shi Zirui returned to his hometown. Setting foot on his native land, he did not feel any melancholy or homesickness.
If she had any good memories here, she wouldn't have not come back to visit for five years. Moreover, everything here remained the same, without any changes. It was so familiar that it even made her feel a little sick.
Even if we say it without any prejudice, there has been no change here since she went out to study until today. It is still old, backward, conservative and self-contained.
She didn't plan to stay here for too long. She remembered what she had to do later, met up with her colleagues who had arrived earlier to stay overnight, finished her work, and left immediately.
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