Early summer.
For the people in Beijing, the Northwest is far away and just a topic of conversation.
The capital is very close, so close that it is closely related to my life.
News from the capital, even if it is just trivial, is more attractive than news from the distant northwest.
Recently, there has been something new and big happening in Beijing.
The Imperial College is moving!
The Imperial College was to move into a new school building located southwest outside the city.
It is said that the Imperial College expanded its enrollment by a thousand students, ranging from tongsheng to juren, and all of them could study for free.
In a few years, relying on the reputation of the Imperial College, it will be able to catch up with Shanhe Academy, or even surpass it, and once again win the title of the number one academy in the capital.
Everyone in the Imperial College was proud.
Although I was reluctant to move out of the old school building, when I thought about the bright future, enjoying the same treatment as Shanhe Academy, and standing on the same starting line to compete for students, I suddenly felt the courage to do it.
New school building, new atmosphere.
The Imperial College will definitely be able to suppress the Shanhe Academy.
The people of the capital don’t care whether the Imperial College suppresses the Shanhe Academy or the Shanhe Academy suppresses the Imperial College.
They just want to watch the fun and only care about one thing: housing prices!
"Are the houses in the New Imperial College expensive?"
"There used to be mountains over there, not even a village. Are any people living in the new houses?"
"No one lives here now, but someone will definitely live here in the future. Those students applying to the Imperial College will definitely want to rent a house nearby."
"I heard that in order to increase housing prices there, Wenqing Bookstore is going to open a branch near the Imperial College. All books and newspapers will be published simultaneously with the Wenqing Bookstore in Xinmin County."
"Are you serious?"
"Wenqing Bookstore has refused to open a branch in the city for many years, but chose to open a branch in the new Imperial College. It is obvious that they really want to make things easier for the students of the Imperial College."
"From what I can see, it's clear that they really want to drive up the housing prices there."
"There's no village in front, no land behind, dozens of miles away from the capital and Xinmin County. Who would want to go to a place like that? I advise you not to buy a house in the New Imperial Academy. You definitely won't be able to rent it out, and the price won't go up."
"Have you noticed that the open space next to the official road has been fenced off and there's been hammering and banging all day long? Do you know what they're repairing?"
“I don’t know!”
"It's not that easy to find out what they're repairing. Just go and take a look and you'll know."
"That area is fenced off and guarded, so we can't get close."
“It’s so mysterious.”
"Read the newspaper, read the newspaper, the capital's first double-track road is about to be put into use."
Newsboys hawked their wares along the streets.
"Kid, give me a newspaper. What is a double track road?"
"I don't understand it either, but there are pictures in the newspaper."
Double-track carriages and double-track roads are so rare.
Everyone is curious. According to the newspaper, the first double-track road in Beijing will be put into trial operation in five days.
The route is from Xin Guozijian to Xinmin County, with four boarding and alighting stations along the way.
Horse-drawn carriages are divided into freight carriages, ordinary carriages, comfortable carriages, and luxury carriages.
The newspaper also reported that the double-track road was jointly operated by Sihai Road Bridge and Huanyu Racecourse.
This is the first day of trial operation, everyone is welcome to ride.
The full-trip ticket for an ordinary carriage costs only five cents.
boom!
"A journey of dozens of miles, and only five cents? Is it really that good?"
"You must be kidding."
"Can you use your brain before you speak? Didn't you see it said that Sihai Road Bridge and Huanyu Racecourse are jointly operated? How could they possibly be lying?"
"Don't just focus on the ordinary carriages. Don't you see that the comfort carriage ticket is fifty wen for the full trip? The luxury carriage ticket is eight hundred wen for the full trip. That's almost one tael of silver for a carriage ride. It's too expensive."
"Luxury carriages aren't for ordinary people like you and me."
"What does a double-track carriage look like?"
"The trial run will begin in five days. Let's all go and join in the fun."
"OK!"
…
Yan Ci has been out of ideas recently and can't write any good articles. He has nothing to do all day and runs to Wang Xuecheng every few days.
He asked Wang Xuecheng, "Have many people applied to Shanhe Academy recently?"
"Same old as always, people come every day."
"The Imperial College also recruits students from all over the world, so does that have no impact on the Shanhe Academy?"
Wang Xuecheng grinned, quite proud. "As long as Shanhe Academy has Sanyuan Gong, Mr. Sun, and Mr. Zhou in charge, the Imperial College will never be able to defeat Shanhe Academy. Besides, the new Imperial College building is so remote, I heard it's in the mountains, so many people are afraid to go. Especially those from wealthy families, they worry that if they go to the Imperial College, they will be surrounded by mountains, with no place to relax. It's nowhere near as lively as Xinmin County, with everything you need. The only problem is that the rent is a bit more expensive."
It can be said that Xinmin County is ahead of the rest of Beijing in terms of rents for small apartments, and even higher than the rents in the capital.
Of course, there is a reason why the rent in Xinmin County is higher than that in the capital.
This is mainly because small apartments or single rooms for rent in Beijing are mostly concentrated in the shanty towns in the south of the city, and the environment is really poor.
Even if it was originally a good house, with dozens of people living in it, over the years, the good house will become a dilapidated house.
Going to East City and West City, most of the houses are small courtyards with their own doors and courtyards, and they are not rented out to groups.
For most students, the rent is too expensive and they cannot afford it.
It would be better to rent a single room on the second floor in Xinmin County, which would be more convenient.
Moreover, every house in Xinmin County has a separate bathroom and toilet, and is divided into male and female ones.
Getting water is also more convenient than in the city.
The rent in Xinmin County is higher than that in Beijing, which has attracted countless people to buy houses in Xinmin County.
This also makes people living in Xinmin County have a sense of pride that is not found anywhere else.
Wang Xuecheng is very proud of his achievements.
In his eyes, the New Imperial College was just a bunch of weaklings, and there was not a single person who could fight.
What about the Imperial College and Shanhe Academy competing for the first place is just nonsense in the newspapers.
Yan Ci patted Wang Xuecheng's shoulder and said, "Brother Wang, you are out of touch with the latest news! How many days have you not read the newspaper?"
Wang Xuecheng was a little confused. "How am I out of date?"
Yan Ci flipped through the previous day's newspaper and pointed to a pictured news item. "See? A double-track road has been built from the Imperial College to Xinmin County. A trial run will begin in a few days. If it's successful, your so-called "mountains below" and "mountains above" problems, including the inconvenience of going out, will all be solved. The key is that the fare is cheap, so most students can afford it."
Wang Xuecheng snatched the newspaper and read it word by word.
He was curious, "What is a double-track carriage?"
Yan Ci said, "I'm not sure. I heard it's incredibly fast, three or four times faster than a regular carriage, and the carriage is so large you can stand inside without any obstruction. On the day of the trial run, would you like to take a ride with me and experience it? We can also take a look at what the Imperial College is like. If it's popular there, we can take advantage of the situation and buy two apartments there before everyone else realizes."
Wang Xuecheng pointed at the newspaper and said, "On the day of the trial run, I think the station will be packed. Will we be able to sell tickets?"
Yan Ci smiled smugly, "Don't you see who you're writing for? Wenqing Bookstore, and you're still worried about not getting a ticket."
After saying that, Yan Ci pulled out two cardboard tickets from his pocket and said, "See? I have the tickets in hand. They're for the 3:30 train at noon. I heard from Boss Cui that the carriage runs every 15 minutes and you can get off along the way."
Wang Xuecheng grabbed the ticket and looked at it curiously, "I'll go!"
Yan Ci was cheerful and proud. "Get the money ready. If it's suitable, buy two houses and put them there."
Wang Xuecheng scratched his head, "Do you really think there will be popularity over there?"
Yan Ci wasn't entirely sure, but he was optimistic. "Although it's not as good as Xinmin County, it's definitely going to be popular. The rent there is cheaper than in Xinmin County, and Wenqing Bookstore will also open a branch there. Maybe a lot of people on the tight end will move there."
Wang Xuecheng was persuaded and agreed to bring the money. If they thought it was suitable, they would buy a house together.
Yan Ci sighed, "It's a pity that Brother Chen and Brother Yang are not here. How about I help them buy two houses?"
"Brother Chen and Brother Yang are no longer the same as they were before. A small building like this will definitely not catch their eye."
"That's not the case. Buying property and renting it out, even if the profit is limited, is still a profit. Being an official, you never know when you might run into trouble. It's always a good idea to save some money while things are going well."
Yan Ci already had an idea in his mind.
…
A few days later.
"Double-track carriage, double-track carriage is open for business, come and watch the fun!"
There were newsboys shouting in the streets.
After this reminder, everyone dropped what they were doing and ran to the station on the official road to watch the excitement.
Is work more important, or is watching the fun more important?
Of course, watching the fun is important!
A double-track horse-drawn carriage, what a rare thing! As a native of Xinmin County, you can be poor, but you must be knowledgeable.
When a stranger comes to Xinmin County, he asks what a double-track horse carriage is.
As a native of Xinmin County, it is embarrassing that I cannot answer this question.
It doesn't matter if I embarrass myself, but I absolutely cannot afford to bring shame to Xinmin County.
Everyone feels proud to be from Xinmin County.
A small station with a ticket office, narrow entrances and exits, a small waiting room, and a stop enclosed by a fence.
It was a very ordinary and plain station, but everyone was watching it with great interest.
"Hey, that's the station."
"There's a wooden fence blocking the way, and you need a ticket to get in."
"Go buy your tickets."
"I didn't see the line at the ticket office stretching all the way outside, so how can I buy tickets? It's not too late to buy tickets tomorrow."
"Here it comes, here it comes, the carriage is coming."
"Look! Here comes the carriage."
"So when the carriage wheels and rails are stuck together, it's called a double-track carriage."
“You run really fast.”
"One, two, three, four... eight horses pulling five carriages. The carriages are so big."
"Stop, stop, look!"
"Someone got off the bus."
"Isn't that Master Hu?"
"Are those tracks made of iron? How much would that cost?"
"How about we steal some tonight?"
"Hush! Stop talking nonsense."
"A wooden fence can't stop anyone, so what's there to be afraid of?"
"You're the only one who's smart. The people of Sihai and Huanyu are all fools. How could they not think of what you can think of?"
"You mean there's a patrol?"
"Don't even think about taking the railroad tracks! They belong to the Empress. Are you courting death?"
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