Chapter 251 The Mortal World and Heaven
After Liu Ni returned home, her sisters surrounded her and asked her what the Shanghai market was like.
She thought for a long time before finally coming up with a description: "Just like America."
"Hahahaha! You silly girl! Have you been to America? Just say it's like America!"
Of course she has never been to the United States, but this is probably the best adjective in her poor student mind.
There weren't that many people on the four o'clock bus. Lin Guoqing said we had arrived at the Bund and asked her to run from the right side of the bus to the left side, and then from the left side to the right side.
What a huge river! So many big ships on it! So many cars on the road! Even more than when I just left the train station!
How did that tree grow so tall?! That house! That house! So tall! So beautiful! She had never seen a house like it before! Those pillars must be several meters high! Is it a single story? And that roof in the front is round? Is that what you call a castle?
Oh! Someone's coming out! The door doesn't just push outwards, it spins outwards! The door spins!
A group of pedestrians were about to cross the road, so the bus stopped. Liu Ni saw several blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners coming out of the rotating door, and her eyes widened instantly.
"Foreigner! Foreigner! Aunt! Blonde-haired... Ugh!"
The passengers standing or sitting in front all turned around to look over. Even Chen Chunhua felt that Liu Ni had made a fool of herself and covered her mouth immediately.
Sure enough, someone sneered and muttered "country bumpkin", and everyone in the car heard this muttering.
Liu Ni's face turned red all of a sudden, and she felt that she had brought shame upon her uncle and aunt as well. However, Lin Guoqing and Shen Chunhua didn't care much about her sneer.
They were just country bumpkins from the countryside, and their identities were exposed by someone. What's there to be ashamed of?
Besides, Lin Guoqing had specifically warned them before leaving that they should be as tolerant as possible. Even in Rome, there were plenty of hooligans, divided into gangs! Outsiders like them, with no connections, should avoid causing trouble if possible; a few words wouldn't hurt them.
Chen Chunhua let go of Liu Ni's mouth, patted her head, and said, "It's okay, tell us what you saw, don't scream."
Liu Ni blushed and nodded, but she didn't dare to speak. Lin Guoqing looked back and introduced her in a low voice.
"That's the Foreign Trade Building, full of foreign-related units. It's normal for foreign customers to come and go."
"Foreign trade?" Liu Ni blinked. "Is it about earning foreign exchange?"
Lin Guoqing smiled and nodded, teasing her, "Yes! You have to be good at English! If you don't give up on your studies, study English well in high school, and try to get into university to study English, maybe you can be assigned to work here!"
The people sitting here are all elites! They drink coffee and earn dollars. A section chief like him, a rural village business owner, wouldn't even be able to carry their shoes. If anyone could really get in, their life would be secure!
Although Liu Ni envied the elites, she would not develop any inexplicable confidence in herself just because of these few words.
"I definitely can't do it! I've never scored above 30 on an English test." Liu Ni curled her lips. "My eldest cousin has a good chance."
Lin Shuying is not good at any subject, and she ranks in the top ten in her high school grade in both English and mathematics. Her teacher said that she has a great chance of being admitted to university.
When mentioning their eldest daughter, Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing couldn't help but show their teeth.
"Oh! That's right! I wonder if our eldest daughter wants to take the exam to come to Shanghai! It won't be a problem for us to come and see her then!" Lin Guoqing couldn't help but start dreaming.
"Is that something she can do just because she wants it? Doesn't she have to work hard to get good grades so that a university in Shanghai will choose her? Besides, isn't the most convenient university in the provincial capital?"
"The provincial capital is definitely not as good as Shanghai! In the provincial capital, you can eat meat without a ticket! Can you buy so many new things in the provincial capital? Can you get such powerful units in the provincial capital?"
The couple discussed for a long time where it would be better for their daughter to study, but neither of them thought about whether Lin Shuying could be admitted to university, even though she had not yet finished her second year of high school.
Liu Ni leaned against the window and looked at the road and buildings outside. Her ears automatically blocked out the discussion of her uncle and aunt. What she was thinking about was,
There must be a way to stay in Shanghai without going to school, right? Just like the family in Yucheng just now...
Even if she couldn't live here, she would work hard to make money so that her children could live here and become Shanghainese! She wanted them to not have to farm, drink milk every day, eat meat every meal, wash clothes without hands, and enjoy the cool breeze without a fan!
Every step and every scene here deeply attracted her, like a Pandora's blind box suddenly opened. This is probably the difference between the mortal world and heaven.
When she got on the ferry, her mouth was still open, but she had learned to try hard not to scream.
Yue City has a dense network of waterways, but few major rivers. The most common ones she'd seen were small fishing boats and stilt boats. She'd never seen a ferry this large, capable of carrying hundreds or even thousands of people at a time. She'd heard there were passenger ferries like this in the provincial capital, but she hadn't had the chance to experience one yet.
Six cents per person, and 12 cents for a bicycle.
Lin Guoqing said that in another hour, they would have to squeeze in the middle of a pile of bicycles. Those who go to work in the east and west of Shanghai across the river rely on ferries, which can be regarded as one of their "public transportation".
"That's quite expensive in a month... For those who have bicycles, it will cost six or seven yuan a month! Is their monthly salary that high?" Chen Chunhua was shocked.
Lin Guoqing leaned on the railing to feel the river breeze. "Tsk, it's not like we rarely ride here. We have a monthly ticket, one dollar and fifty cents a month, so we can ride as much as we want!"
Liu Ni squatted beside her aunt, holding the railing tightly with both hands, listening to their conversation.
Hmm, they only have to spend half a bowl of rice and vegetables for a boat ride like this? That's expensive! But crossing the river like this feels amazing!
The ferry ride didn't take long and we arrived very quickly. After getting off the boat, the bus stop was just a few steps away and the bus from the starting station was waiting there. It was all very spacious.
As usual, Chen Chunhua and Liu Ni chose to sit in the last row, and Lin Guoqing went to the conductor to buy tickets.
"Do you have a monthly pass?" the bus conductor asked. Lin Guoqing shook his head and said no, then asked, "Where do you sit?"
"Guhua Farm."
"Two dollars and fifty-five cents for three people."
Liu Ni in the back row widened her eyes again.
"It's so expensive?" Chen Chunhua muttered softly when Lin Guoqing bought the ticket and sat down next to her.
"Well, from the starting station to the terminal! 85 cents per person, not too expensive."
Eighty-five cents per person... Liu Ni thought, this is five cents more for a pair of taels of Shengjian, how can it not be expensive!
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