Chapter 90
It was a long process to obtain documents to travel to Hong Kong. It was not until June that Feng Jun wrote to me, saying casually that it had been completed.
Before leaving, Chen Lanjun transferred most of her assets to Fengjun and asked her to find a way to exchange them into Hong Kong dollars.
It was the same train I took before, but there were more people on the train than last year—all the seats were full. Passengers without seats could only stand or throw their earth-green canvas travel bags on the ground and sit on them.
Chen Lanjun got on the bus very early and occupied a Feng Shui spot near the window.
At that time, the train was slow and took eight or nine hours. It was hot in the summer, so Chen Mudan specially washed a net bag of cucumbers for Chen Lanjun to take on the train. It could fill her stomach and quench her thirst.
She hung cucumbers on a small hook on the wall of the train, and when she had free time, she would take one and chew it, while listening to the passengers' idle chatter.
Sitting next to me were two men in their twenties or thirties, chatting animatedly.
"Were you mobilized by your unit?"
"Yes," the slightly younger one sighed, "The leaders held a meeting to mobilize cadres to come to Pengcheng, but less than 10 people signed up, and no one in our unit was sure. As a result, the leaders of our unit did some ideological work on me, saying that since I haven't started a family yet, I should go where the motherland needs me. Then I'm here."
He complained: "Brother, tell me, what's the difference between this and the previous educated youth going to the countryside? You suddenly sent me from the provincial capital to such a small place."
The older one comforted him: "Now that you are here, just relax."
"What about you, brother? Were you also mobilized by the unit?"
The older one smiled and said, "As for me, I signed up on my own. I've been sitting on the bench at our factory for five years. This time, I heard they were recruiting engineers, and they said that engineers would be assigned a two-bedroom apartment, and their families would be provided with a residence permit and arranged with jobs. My wife is from the countryside, so I decided to come and take a look. Anyway, they said you can come and go freely. If you really don't want to stay, you can just buy a ticket and leave. The ticket will be reimbursed."
When Chen Lanjun, who was chewing a cucumber with her ears perked up, heard this, she felt that the cucumber in her hand was no longer sweet.
It would be better if I could graduate faster and get the title of engineer. Why would I have to spend so much money on buying a house?
The younger one curled his lips and said, "We can have separate rooms, but..."
He lowered his voice and said, "That house is uninhabitable. I told you, I asked around before I came here. People who were not the first group to come here last year were given houses. The houses were well built and had several floors. But when we went in, we found that there was no running water, no electricity, and the toilets were not usable. Living in a building also meant climbing the stairs every day to empty the toilets, so the later group refused to move in."
The engineer was shocked: "No way, the three connections and one leveling haven't been completed yet, and you're just going to build a building?"
"I have no experience." The young man said, "But I heard that I learned from my mistakes and gained experience. Well, anyway, I don't plan to change my residence for the time being, and I don't know how long I can stay in this place."
The engineer said, "Let's see what's going on. If it doesn't work, we can leave."
The two nodded in agreement.
"At least staying in Pengcheng for the past twenty years has been beneficial."
A clear female voice suddenly sounded. The two turned around and saw a young girl sitting by the window looking at them with a smile.
Seeing that she was young, the engineer lowered his voice and asked, "What do you mean?"
Chen Lanjun held her chin with her hand and said, "Today it is still a small county town, but tomorrow it may be a metropolis. It's just like the Americans who went to the West to dig for gold. The earlier you come, the better."
"How do you know? That may not be the case." The younger one looked somewhat unconvinced and asked her back.
Chen Lanjun had no intention of arguing with this person. She only said, "With such a regional geographical location and such a clear policy form, you can analyze it yourself. Anyway, I am just giving you a friendly reminder."
She had actually met someone who had missed such a good opportunity. He had come to Pengcheng when the city was first established, but when he got off the train, he saw that it was just a county town with a few streets. After walking, there were vast fields and mountains, so he turned around and went back.
After the economy here takes off, they will turn into Xianglin Sao, always saying "If I had stayed, this and that would have happened..."
Chen Lanjun felt that even if such a person stayed, it would be hard to say that he would achieve worldly success. After all, it was difficult for people to earn money beyond their own horizons.
Eat a bowl of rice that is as big as you can afford.
She took out another cucumber from the net bag and continued to eat it.
But I thought to myself that when she graduates, I still have to discuss with the teachers and school leaders to assign her to work in Pengcheng City.
However, after two years, the policy of allocating housing and household registration as soon as you arrive will definitely be gone. There will only be a swarm of people who want to come here but cannot get in, after all, the barbed wire fence outside the special zone will be built.
In her previous life, she happened to be stuck in this place to work before the barbed wire fence was built.
From early morning to dusk, a net bag of cucumbers was eaten, and the train arrived at the station.
"Dear passengers and fellow Hong Kong compatriots, we have arrived at the final stop, Pengcheng City..."
Chen Lanjun got off the train as the train announcer announced the station.
The platform of the train station has not changed much, it is still as plain and simple as ever. The weather is hot and the air is humid, with a hot and stuffy wind blowing in my face.
I was carried out of the station by the crowd and saw Zhao Hong holding a sign from afar at the ticket checkpoint, which read "Warmly welcome General Lan to inspect our work."
Zhao Hongsheng is quite tall and strong. He stood there with a big and sturdy figure. The sign in his hand was so conspicuous that the tourists passing by looked at him curiously.
Chen Lanjun turned her head, took out a pair of sunglasses from her bag, covered her eyes tightly with them, and then walked towards Zhao Hong.
"Well, you can put the sign down now."
Zhao Hong said happily: "Alan, you are here. Isn't this sign conspicuous? Look, you saw me as soon as you got off the car."
"Look out for it." Chen Lanjun pulled him out, "Let's go."
"Wait, Ajing just went to the bathroom. Hey, I just came back. Ajing! Ajing here!"
Chen Lanjun turned around, and Ah Jing ran towards her excitedly: "Sister Lan!"
The girl looked like she was about to cry: "I haven't seen you for a long time."
Chen Lanjun held her hand tightly: "Yes, I miss you too."
When good sisters meet, they have endless things to talk about. Ah Jing chattered away telling her about what happened in the past year.
"The restaurant listened to your advice and invited people to sing in the evening. It really attracted a lot of customers and the profit doubled..."
They talked all the way out of the station. The taxi that came to pick them up turned out to be a taxi. The driver was an old acquaintance, the cyclist who had taken Chen Lanjun before, but now he has changed his bicycle to a taxi. It is said that he changed his career with his brothers because he founded a taxi company.
After all, driving a taxi is more profitable and easier than riding a bicycle.
In just one year away, the changes are so great.
As soon as the taxi arrived at the restaurant, firecrackers rang out, allowing Chen Lanjun to personally experience the feeling of "warm welcome".
In order to host her welcoming banquet, the restaurant even closed for half a day.
The hall was filled with familiar faces, former employees, and high school classmates who came to work here. It was extremely lively, and it was not until late at night that Chen Lanjun's side finally quieted down.
She lay down on the bed and hugged the pillow without moving.
Feng Jun followed in and asked with a smile, "Are you tired?"
"Today there are too many words and too many people."
She didn't know why so many people greeted her.
Sure enough, it is the trouble of having too much charisma.
Feng Jun moved a chair to the side and sat down: "So let's rest for two days before going to Hong Kong?"
"That's not necessary," Chen Lanjun moved her face off the pillow, "We can't miss the opportunity to make money."
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