Qingluan Mountain.
Inside the small station.
Dong Xuebin walked in and knocked on the ticket window.
The little window inside opened. "Where to?"
"One ticket to the provincial capital," Dong Xuebin said. "Which station does it stop at in the provincial capital?"
The ticket seller replied indifferently, "It stops at West Station. Board up ahead. I don't know when the next bus is coming, so wait there. Pay first."
Dong Xuebin paid, but he did not get an actual ticket, only a scrap of paper with a few words written on it by the ticket seller. It looked highly unofficial, but Dong Xuebin did not care. He knew grassroots places were all like this; if he picked at every little issue, he would never be done. Besides, no taxi would stop for him, and even if one did, it probably would not take him to the provincial capital. The trip was too far. A Long-distance Bus was his only option now, so under the ticket seller's strange gaze, Dong Xuebin went over to wait for the bus.
It came pretty quickly.
Five minutes later, a bus arrived and pulled to a stop.
As soon as the door opened, Dong Xuebin climbed aboard and asked the driver, "Is this going to the provincial capital?"
"Yes." The driver gave him an odd look and frowned slightly. "Let me see your ticket."
"Here." Dong Xuebin handed it over, brushed the dirt off his clothes, then strode into the bus to find an empty seat in the back.
There were quite a few people on the bus, and nearly all of them looked at Dong Xuebin.
It could not be helped. He was covered in mud, looking as though he had just walked off a construction site. He was filthy from head to toe.