No one stood on ceremony with Fu Wan, and seeing that it was getting late, everyone went back to their rooms.
On the morning of the third day, Fu Wan took Fang Min to Pudong after breakfast.
Before buying land, an on-site inspection is definitely necessary, but Fu Wan never expected to encounter a problem as soon as she stepped out the door.
No car wants to go to Pudong!
The bus stop after they got off the bus was quite far from Pudong. If they were to walk, they would probably have to wait until tomorrow.
Fu Wan thought about hailing a taxi at the bus stop, but when she heard that she wanted to go to the Pudong riverside, the taxi drivers all shook their heads and none of them were willing to take the fare.
However, there were quite a few tricycles waiting for passengers near the bus stop. After thinking for a moment, Fu Wan led Fang Min forward.
"Hello comrade, would you like to go to Pudong?"
"Boss, what are you doing in that lousy place in Pudong?"
When Fu Wan said she was going to Pudong, the rickshaw drivers waiting for passengers there were quite curious.
Fu Wan smiled and said, "Let's go take a look."
"Look? What's there to see? It's just a rotten mudflat, all reeds. You can't grow any vegetables there. It's really bad luck!"
A muddy, rotten beach?
Fu Wan wasn't surprised by the description; she had never actually seen Pudong in the late 1980s. Looking at the mocking expressions on the faces of those middle-aged men, Fu Wan couldn't help but frown.
Why not just say whether you're going or not? Why are you complaining?
"Comrade, are you going to Pudong? You can take my car!"
A middle-aged woman emerged from the crowd. Fu Wan looked in the direction she was looking and saw a rusty tricycle that could only seat two people at most in the back.
"Comrade, Iraqi won't go to Pudong. Iraqi has a new car, while my car is old and doesn't care about getting dirty."
"Are you going to Pudong? I'll take you. How about you give me five yuan as a reward?"
Fu Wan only vaguely understood what she was hearing; she had to admit that the Shanghai dialect was a bit convoluted.
However, she could still understand those key words.
Five yuan could solve the travel problem, so Fu Wan naturally nodded in agreement.
"Okay, I'll give you five yuan. Take me to the Pudong riverside."
The woman was overjoyed that Fu Wan agreed so readily.
She hurriedly took out a rag and diligently wiped the stool behind the tricycle again and again.
"You sit down and enjoy the spicy hotpot, it's refreshing!"
Fang Min didn't mind the dilapidated tricycle and hopped on in one step.
Then she turned around and reached out to Fu Wan, who, with her help, also got onto the tricycle.
"Sit still, I'm going to ride my bike!"
The two had just sat down when, with a shout from the auntie, the tricycle creaked and sped off.
At the same time, the chatter of the drivers who had come to watch the commotion also reached Fu Wan's ears.
Whether it was a special talent or not, Fu Wan was able to understand their conversation.
"These two are obviously from out of town, why would they go to a godforsaken place like Pudong?"
"Who knows? They're dressed so smartly, could they be visiting relatives in Pudong?"
"Oh, who cares about them? Li Cuihua just made five yuan! Sigh, if I had known, I would have gritted my teeth and agreed. Maybe those five yuan would have been mine!"
"Forget it, it's not worth getting your car covered in mud just to earn five dollars!"
As the tricycle got further and further away from the group of people, Fu Wan gradually could no longer hear what they were saying.
That woman was a very skilled rider; even though she was a woman and there were two people sitting behind her, she still managed to move the tricycle very fast.
"Young man, what are you doing in Pudong?"
The tricycle slowly turned onto an uneven, muddy road. Perhaps worried that Fu Wan and the other woman might feel uncomfortable, the woman deliberately started a conversation.
"I'll go see what it looks like there."
Fu Wan spoke the truth, and the aunt was stunned for a moment before laughing.
Noticing that Fu Wan was from out of town, she said in Mandarin with a slight Shanghai accent, "Haha, that's strange, someone would actually want to know what Pudong looks like?"
The older woman pedaled hard, sighed, and said to Fu Wan, "Young comrade, you don't know. Even though it's all in Shanghai, Pudong is incredibly poor!"
My family lives right by the river, and we have to go to Puxi every day to make a living. You're all dressed so neatly; be careful not to get your clothes dirty from the mud on Pudong later!
The aunt meant well, and Fu Wan smiled and agreed.
About an hour later, the tricycle turned down several small roads, and Fu Wan saw the reflection of the Huangpu River.
The weather is a bit gloomy right now, and the Huangpu River is lined with endless reed beds.
The creaking and groaning of the tricycle startled many wild ducks, causing them to fly up from the reeds, making the area seem less desolate.
"We've arrived, young comrades, you may get off the bus."
There was no road ahead, so even if the tricycle was broken, we couldn't ride it into the mud.
As soon as Fu Wan and Fang Min got out of the car, they could feel the mud instantly covering their little leather shoes.
Fu Wan didn't mind. She figured she could just brush her shoes when they got dirty; there was plenty of mud like that when she went out to collect seafood.
Fu Wan took out a ten-yuan note and handed it to the aunt. The aunt smiled broadly, wiped her hands, and took it, but then looked somewhat embarrassed.
"Young man, I don't have any change to give you!"
Her son assembled the tricycle himself from parts he collected from a junkyard. Even in the city center, few people would be willing to ride in such a dilapidated tricycle.
It's no exaggeration to say that Fu Wan and Fang Min were Li Cuihua's first customers of the day.
Fu Wan waved her hand, "Auntie, no need for change. If you're not in a hurry to go back, why don't you show us around here?"
Consider this extra money a token of appreciation for your hard work.
"Go for a stroll? That won't do."
Li Cuihua was stunned. This comrade was too generous. He actually gave her an extra five yuan just so she could take her for a walk in this muddy mess.
"Why don't you come to my house for a while?"
Li Cuihua thought for a moment and said, "There's not anyone at my house right now, just my daughter and my dad."
"I can tell you anything you want to know."
Li Cuihua wasn't stupid. She was able to ride her rickety tricycle into the city all by herself to compete with those big men for business, which showed she had some sense of judgment.
Fu Wan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. As she followed Li Cuihua, she asked, "Auntie, how many households are there around here?"
"If this area is developed, would you be willing to move?"
Upon hearing this, Li Cuihua, who was walking ahead with her tricycle, was instantly stunned.
She guessed that Fu Wan and her companion must have something to do in Pudong.
But she never expected it was for the development of this area.
She glanced blankly at the familiar yet dilapidated mud crossing not far away. Good heavens, would anyone really want a place like this?
However, what she didn't know was that this land would become Lujiazui, the most prosperous area in Shanghai, in the next ten or twenty years.
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