The middle-aged woman who stopped the car was wearing a sanitation worker's uniform and had a notebook in her hand. She pretended to write down the license plate number, then asked loudly:
"Who brought the car? Get out and talk to me."
Erlu asked nervously, "Third brother, what's going on?"
"Why don't we go down and ask?"
Erlv got off the cart and asked tremblingly, "Why...why did you stop the cart?"
The sanitation worker pointed to the sign on the vehicle and said, "You're from out of town, right? Hurry up and pay the cleaning fee."
Erlv asked in confusion, "What cleaning fee?"
“You country bumpkin, judging from your appearance, it seems like you’re new to the city for the first time. Let me tell you: any out-of-town vehicle that comes to City A to transport goods has to pay a cleaning fee.”
"How...how much?"
"You need to pay five hundred yuan for this car."
Erlv was startled and asked fearfully, "Why should we pay so much money?"
“You’re bringing your goods to City A, which will leave behind garbage. We need to haul the garbage to the landfill, sort it, and then bury it. Doesn’t that cost money? Pay up now, or your truck won’t be able to leave the city.”
Erlv pleaded, "Sister-in-law, could you pay less? We haven't made much money on this load of goods."
"Whether you make money or not is your business, just pay up."
Erlu had no choice but to take out five hundred yuan.
The cleaner gave him a receipt.
Erlv did the math in his head: he had just paid 1,000 yuan in taxes and 500 yuan in cleaning fees, leaving him with only 600 yuan in profit.
He sighed and thought to himself: Ma Yunfei is right, there's really no profit to be made in this yam business.
Damn it, after all that hard work carrying yams, including a long journey to deliver them to City A, and then having to rush back overnight, I only earned six hundred yuan for a truckload of yams.
He did the math: the 600 yuan had to be divided among four people—Ma Yunfei, the abbot, himself, and his aunt—so each person would only get 150 yuan.
Just as Erlv was about to get on the vehicle, two young men with big buns suddenly rushed over.
A young man grabbed Erlv by the collar and said menacingly, "You're the one who flirted with my girlfriend, aren't you?"
Erlv panicked and protested, "I...I'm not from this city. I'm from the countryside. I don't know your girlfriend at all!"
Another young man raised his hand and slapped Erlv hard across the face, saying, "It's him! This country bumpkin dares to flirt with a city girl. I think you're tired of living."
As they spoke, the two men punched and kicked Erlu, making him roll all over the ground.
Second Donkey cried out for help: "Third Brother, please save me!"
The abbot was dozing in the driver's seat, seemingly oblivious to Erlv's cries for help.
The two young men punched and kicked him a few times, then walked away.
As he was leaving, a young man raised his fist and threatened, "You're not allowed to come to City A again. If I see you again, I'll beat you up every time."
Erlu begged for mercy, "I...I'll never come again."
He struggled to his feet, crawled into the driver's cab, and complained, "Third brother, how could you just stand by and watch someone die?"
The abbot said apologetically, "I was dozing off when I heard you calling for help. By the time I rubbed my eyes and came to my senses, those two boys had already run away."
Erlu said fearfully, "My God! City people are so barbaric. There are toll booths everywhere, and hooligans everywhere. Let's get out of here quickly."
The driver didn't drive; instead, he held out his hand and said, "Where's my tip?"
Erlv asked, puzzled, "What kind of 'hardship fee'?"
“Brother Ma asked us to transport yams, and he would give us 100 yuan as a service fee each time.”
Erlv only had 600 yuan in profit left. If he gave the driver another 100 yuan, he would only have 500 yuan left.
The driver added, "Besides the 100 yuan tip, I spent another 15 yuan on lunch and dinner, making it a total of 115 yuan."
Erlv was reluctant to pay and said, "Master, let's settle the bill when we get back to Qinglong Town."
"No, according to the old rules, I have to collect the money now, otherwise, I won't drive."
Having no other choice, Erlv had to take out 115 yuan and give it to the driver.
Erlv only ate one steamed bun today, and his stomach was growling with hunger. His legs were cramping from hunger. Just now, he drank two glasses of water in Xia Tian's office at Jiufa Company.
As soon as the car left City A, Erlv needed to pee.
He saw a public toilet by the roadside and said to the driver, "Sir, please stop the car."
The driver stopped the car and said impatiently, "I'll only wait for you for two minutes. If you're late, I won't wait for you."
Erlu trotted into the public toilet. After he finished urinating, he felt he needed to defecate, so he shouted, "Master, please wait a moment, I need to defecate."
While Erlv was defecating, he heard the sound of a car engine starting up.
He pulled up his pants and ran outside, only to find the truck had already driven away.
Erlv chased after them, pulling up his pants and shouting, "Stop! Stop right now!!"
The truck drove off.
Erlu was so angry he stomped his feet, but there was nothing he could do.
Erlv squatted under a big tree by the roadside and waited until dawn before finally seeing a truck drive by.
Erlv waved, and the driver stopped the car.
"Master, I'm from Qinglong Town. Could you give me a ride?"
The driver, a middle-aged man in his fifties, said, "I happen to be heading in the direction of Qinglong Town. I can give you a ride, but I'll have to charge you twenty yuan."
Erlu gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll give you twenty yuan."
Erlu took out twenty yuan and handed it to the driver before getting into the car.
The car stopped at the intersection near Qinglong Town. The driver said, "I have to drive forward. You can get out of the car. It's only about 20 li (10 kilometers) from here to Qinglong Town. It will only take two hours to get there."
Erlu got off the cart, and by then it was already broad daylight.
Erlu was so hungry he was dizzy. In this place that was neither near a village nor a shop, even if he had money, he couldn't buy any food.
Erlu mustered his spirits and headed towards Qinglong Town.
He walked for three hours, and it was almost noon when he finally returned to Qinglong Town.
When Erlv arrived at the entrance of the No. 1 Shop in the World, he didn't even have the strength to open the roller shutter door.
Across from the No. 1 shop in the world was a steamed bun shop. Erlu waved and said weakly, "Give me two steamed buns."
The woman at the steamed bun shop brought over two steamed buns and asked curiously, "Erlv, what's wrong with you?"
Erlu didn't bother to speak, and took big bites of the steamed bun.
He choked after only two bites, stretching his neck and pounding his chest in pain.
His sister-in-law patted his back and brought him a bowl of water.
Erlu wolfed down the two steamed buns with water.
He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "I...I'll never go into the city again. Damn it, there's not a single good person in the city. They're either robbers or hooligans."
Erlv opened the shop door, lay down on a recliner, and gasped for breath.
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