Revisiting an Old Place
The next afternoon, Xue Ming boarded the train home alone.
He didn't take the high-speed rail back because he still had plenty of time and wanted to meet up with old friends before the Lantern Festival. Changing to the regular train would only add three hours to the journey. Besides, the train station in Hengyin City is very close to Pingyang Agricultural University, while the high-speed rail station would take an extra forty minutes—so it was better to take the train home.
When it was time to part, Xiao Qi was reluctant to leave. Just like the characters in her name "Zijin", when her beloved was about to go far away, she immediately turned into a giraffe and watched Xue Ming walk further and further away with longing eyes.
After boarding the train, Xue Ming found a seat and fell asleep. When she woke up, it was just in time to get off the train.
When I arrived at Hengyin Railway Station, it was already 11:20 p. m. The cold weather before and after the Spring Festival made this city, located on the 45th parallel north, beautifully freezing.
As he leaned against the train window and saw the familiar platform and the bustling crowd in the waiting hall, a feeling of familiarity mixed with strangeness welled up in his heart.
This is where Xue Ming grew up. No matter how far he goes, even to the ends of the earth, he will occasionally miss this hometown.
It's not that he misses his childhood or his parents, because his childhood experiences weren't good, and his parents weren't good people.
Rather, it was the city that shaped him—that made him who he is today.
He took out a turtleneck sweater from his suitcase and changed into it. Amidst the strong smell of instant noodles, he tidied up his belongings and was then hurriedly asked to get off the train by the flight attendant.
As you walk toward the station exit, you'll see a fast food restaurant on the side of the road. It hasn't changed its menu in almost ten years, and it always looks like it's on a busy, dusty road with two rows of large platters of braised dishes.
Even though they went to great lengths to emit a strong aroma of chili and garlic, Xue Ming still wouldn't dare to eat at this level of roadside stall.
Further out, you'll see groups of taxi drivers blocking the way, trying to rip off passengers. They generally won't accept short trips, only long-distance orders over 40 kilometers to Ruyun Mountain Scenic Area. These customers are usually backpackers who are unfamiliar with the area. If you take them on a detour of at least 20 kilometers into the city before heading to Ruyun Mountain, they'll probably be completely clueless and have no choice but to pay in silence and suffer the loss.
While coldly dealing with the thugs lining the street to greet him, Xue Ming walked out, intending to call a ride-hailing service to stay overnight at Brother Ye Bei's milk tea shop.
Unexpectedly, the taxi drivers became unhappy as soon as they saw Xue Ming take out his phone. They all glared at him coldly, showing no good temper, and started grumbling.
"Young man, you don't need to call a ride-hailing service anymore. If you do, we'll be the ones accepting your order."
"The train is inside; cars from outside can't get in."
"Come on, wherever you're going? It's all the same price."
Ignoring everything else, Xue Ming turned off her phone's light and headed out, intending to call a taxi once she reached the main street of the mall.
Once away from the crowd, he finally felt relieved. While waiting for his ride-hailing car, he saw the hotels and mahjong parlors on the side of the building and looked towards the bright red signboard of the train station.
The city exerted such immense Inspiration Pressure.
--It is very poor and small. People are so eager to compete for resources, time, and money that they would do anything to get there.
In the antique market on one side of the square, they sell large pieces of broken glass. Customers often take out their phones to take pictures and search for similar items on Taobao, which can lead to a lot of similar small commodities made in Yiwu. They immediately start arguing with the shop owners about the price difference.
It turns out that there were also college students selling sneaker cleaners and drivers forming a massive network to promote their products, but they were eventually swept away along with shoe shiners during the city's "Beautiful City" rating campaign.
Occasionally, you can see middle-aged women and men in their forties and fifties standing in front of fake mobile phone shops near the train station, asking people if they want to go to a video arcade to watch movies, which are naturally not any respectable films.
According to Brother Ye Bei, this city is much more chaotic than Hong Kong, which is known as the "Little Gotham of the East." It is a very primitive, wild, and wild town, like the Wild West.
Xue Ming could still recall what Brother Ye Bei had said—
--Based on my brother's personal experience, I have seen people buried in unfinished buildings, murders in scenic areas, inexplicable killings in old cadres' buildings, and even children of new micro-business pyramid schemes conspiring to harm their elderly father.
To Xue Ming, these things were far more terrifying than the demons and monsters of the underworld.
Compared to the various ways people make money on the surface world, the Armadillo Hunters steal logs, steal gems, Universal Elixir. Occasionally, a hunter will show mercy and not harm a newcomer; they are considered a breath of fresh air among criminals.
The shops are packed tightly together in a prime location that's known for its exorbitant prices. Further away are dilapidated buildings priced exorbitantly for demolition. Just 300 meters away is the school for the children of the diesel machinery factory. The buildings in the residential area are over 60 years old. Despite such convenient transportation, they are priced at only 50,000 to 100,000 yuan, yet no one is interested in buying them.
The divorce rate for adult men over forty is over 80%, while those under forty usually work away from their hometowns.
From those born in the 1960s to those born in the 2000s, everyone's hobby is going to mahjong parlors to play cards and then giving the parlor owner a commission of 8% to 12% of the bet amount.
In Xue Ming's WeChat Moments, there are still posts about his old classmate's cousin meeting up with someone for dinner and mahjong; that girl is only nineteen years old.
He could vaguely recall that his adoptive mother, a human trafficker, had a dream of opening a card room where she could sit back and collect money without having to toil away.
Growing up in this environment, it's no wonder that Xiao Qi and Liuxing both thought Xue Ming was an exceptionally mature young man, dignified and imposing like a cold blade.
A message came through my phone--
--The ride-hailing order was canceled.
He looked at the vehicle information and order messages, then glanced towards the train station. The drivers were huddled together, squatting in the biting wind, smoking, glaring fiercely at the disobedient young man, their faces showing a vengeful, triumphant smile.
Xue Ming didn't say anything. He simply picked up his bag and headed towards the even colder Yuming River Bridge, deciding to walk further away to hail a taxi—he couldn't afford to offend these local bullies, so he could only avoid them.
If you try to argue or reason with them, that would be great. There are so many people against him. Verbal confrontation would be a waste of time and energy, while physical fights would cost you money, which suits their purposes perfectly.
Starting from Guangming Road and walking to the cinema bridge over Yuming River, you can see the ghost building next to the overpass ramp, which is deserted. The location here has a great view, right in the riverside scenic belt. However, this building happens to be built next to the bridge. If we pay attention and look up the news from a few years ago, we can see the bizarre and outrageous stories of ghosts flying out of the bridge and into the sixteenth floor of this happy town at night.
Since then, the owners have all put their houses on the market and dare not live there anymore—you can trust the developer, but you can't trust that Batman might fly in through your bedroom window after 10 p. m.
Moreover, just 20 meters outside the window is the busiest bridge in the city, which becomes like a huge truck party after 10 p. m., with diesel exhaust and all sorts of frantic horn noises providing the best background music.
Further ahead is the Yuming River Bridge, built during the Soviet era. It is divided into two roads, one large and one small. The smaller road was designed and built by Soviet engineers, but it was later abandoned. A new eight-lane bridge was built directly on the original site.
The old bridge had height and weight restrictions, allowing only motorcycles and electric vehicles to pass. The new bridge, with its 16-kilometer straight stretch, has become a guillotine for young motorcyclists chasing the wind at night, attracting groups of hundreds of local enthusiasts of these "ghost fire" motorcycles.
Xue Ming remembers that he used to take this road to and from work at the battery factory. The second shift started at midnight, and the first shift ended at midnight. At that time, many handsome young men with two hot girls on the back of their cars would fall on this road and get hurt, sparks flying and blood flowing.
Usually, a handsome young man can remain handsome even after falling, while a pretty young woman might only be seen again in the next life. When it comes to impact resistance, cyclists always know better than passengers. When facing a hot-tempered dump truck at night, what landing posture will increase the chances of survival?
This is why Xue Ming treated Bailu with such care.
He was terrified that Bailu would become like that. He had worked so hard, so desperately wanted to live, and didn't want Bailu to squander the stable life he had fought so hard to secure.
In his world, dump trucks had taken the most lives in the first twenty-one years of his life. Therefore, Xue Ming always believed that dump trucks possessed a kind of divine power. They were beautiful and cruel, and incredibly powerful. Over the years, the number of people killed by dump trucks on this road could almost form a reinforced company—yet people still willingly put their heads under their steel wheels. This is what is hard to understand.
He walked onto the pedestrian walkway of the New Bridge, keeping a close watch on his surroundings. His alert posture was much more standard than when he was in Chaderton Fort. At 11:40 p. m., it was the time when street racers started to operate, and you could see scattered cars carrying drunk drivers home, weaving through the wide road.
Occasionally, you'd see one or two motorcycles speeding by, then come speeding by. After completing the 32-kilometer round trip on the straight road, you could hear vehicles leaping high over speed bumps deliberately installed by the road administration, their undercarriages splattering with sparks as they landed—the riders roaring, the girls screaming.
All of this was too chaotic for Xue Ming. Four motorcycles sped off towards the Yuming River in the same lane. The little girl on the back glanced at Xue Ming, then immediately grabbed the rider in front and shouted loudly.
"Look! Look! He's handsome! Let's go back! Let me take a few more glances!"
Jiang Xueming heard it clearly and acted swiftly. He climbed over the guardrail and, before the locomotive could turn around and go in the opposite direction, he had already jumped down to the railway maintenance corridor under the bridge and hidden himself.
He didn't want to say another word to these young men and women—he was afraid it would get him into trouble.
But an even more enthusiastic shout came from above—
"--It was just here a moment ago!"
The little girl's voice was very high-pitched, like the clip-on voice popular on TikTok; it was piercing and could carry a long way.
"I'm not lying to you! Didn't you see it yourself? The sidewalk was so empty at night, there was only him there!"
"Is that a ghost?" the female rider exclaimed. "Don't scare me! Did he jump into the river?"
"Found him! He hid down there!"
Xue Ming looked up and saw that there was a height difference of more than three meters. The little girl with blonde hair had already climbed onto the railing and was looking down curiously.
"Hey! Handsome! Can I add you on WeChat?"
Xue Ming ignored him and continued walking forward.
The little girl immediately switched to a gruff voice and yelled, "Stop when I tell you to! How can you be so rude? Didn't your parents tell you that when someone greets you, you should respond respectfully?"
Xue Ming ignored him and continued walking forward.
The little girl immediately started climbing over the fence. "Hey! I'm coming down to catch you!"
The integrated road, bridge, and railway engineering design shapes the road surface into a T-shape, making it virtually impossible to climb over the railway tracks from the T-end.
Jiang Xueming managed to climb into the maintenance passage by clinging to the triangular reinforced steel beam of the railway with his spiritual silk. It was probably a pipe dream for this little girl to follow him down, unless she was on drugs or drunk, to have such a reckless idea.
Forcibly climbing over the railing will only result in crashing headfirst into the icy Yuming River.
Xue Ming ultimately ignored it, believing the girl was just joking and showing off.
He had seen plenty of young people like this. In high school and junior high, there were many students like this who weren't very clear-headed. They would arrange fights for some inexplicable reason, gather three or five friends to back them up, but when it really came down to it, most of them would slink back to their dorms and go to sleep, at most leaving behind a few harsh words so they could arrange another fight next time.
Over time, ordinary students, seeing such grand scenes of sword fights, would naturally assume that these people were individuals with status, background, or some kind of special divine power.
Ten seconds passed, and the shouts and curses from the bridge grew louder, but there was no sign of the little girl falling into the water and calling for help. Xue Ming was somewhat disappointed.
"Keep walking! Let's see where you can go!"
"We have a car! Once you exit Furong Road and walk to the opposite side of Guangming Street, I know that bus stop! You'll come out from there!"
"Hey! I'm taking this WeChat account from you today!"
Xue Ming looked up and asked, "How old am I this year?"
The little girl walked along the railing, saying, "Sixteen years old!"
Xue Ming: "How are your grades? Do you have a boyfriend? How many followers do you have on Little Red? Do you have over 100 followers on Weibo? What did you get from the New Year's gacha pool?"
The little girl was so angry she almost fainted, screaming and yelling.
She told her companions to stay out of it—it had escalated to the point of a personal feud.
Immediately afterwards, the girl was seen putting one foot on the railing and climbing over it, completely unable to bear the shock.
Xue Ming gritted his teeth, his face full of anger. He first threw his suitcase onto the bridge surface, then stepped onto the aluminum alloy rust-proof platform as a climbing point, grabbed the exposed concrete of the top beam, and climbed onto the sidewalk.
Before the girl could react, the foundation on her face had been frozen off by the cold wind blowing from the river. Under the dim streetlights, she saw a large, dark box fall to the ground, and a person climbed onto it.
Xue Ming didn't say anything, and continued walking forward, pushing her suitcase.
This bridge is two kilometers long, and it will take at least ten minutes to walk across it.
The little girl had been following behind Xue Ming, but suddenly became quiet and indifferent, and stopped talking.
The female cyclist was inching along the sidewalk, unsure of what to say for a moment.
As the bridge ramp on the west bank drew closer, the little girl began to sweat anxiously. She felt that after spending so much time and effort, the older brother was about to slip away, and it wouldn't be right to say anything.
So she blurted out, "I..."
Xue Ming should say in the Hengyin dialect, "I'm not happy to meet you."
The little girl immediately perked up. "Oh! You're a local? That's great! I've never seen you on this street before!"
Xue Ming: "Hengyin has a population of eight million. One more or one less makes no difference."
The little girl said, "You speak so nicely! You're so cultured."
Xue Ming: "."
The young girl asked, "What's your name? Do you have a girlfriend? Can I be your girlfriend? I'm very pretty! This is my Douyin account, lots of people like my posts! I don't use beauty filters!"
Xue Ming: "."
The young girl said, "Do you use Douyin? How about I film a video for you right now? I'm sure lots and lots of people will like it."
Xue Ming: "I don't need a lot of people to like me."
The little girl pouted. "You weirdo, do you know? You can make money filming this! I moved out a long time ago. I can earn several hundred yuan just by standing in front of the camera for thirty seconds, doing absolutely nothing!"
Xue Ming: "It's fine."
The little girl. "Hehe! It's great."
Then, her expression changed. "Are you just giving me the runaround?"
Xue Ming: "It's fine, there was no perfunctory attitude."
The little girl pressed on, "Are you looking down on me?"
Xue Ming: "That's not true."
The girl said, "Then tell me your name, okay? Let's add each other on WeChat and chat slowly. I'll send you photos, and you can call me 'wife,' and I'll call you 'husband'! You're so beautiful!"
Xue Ming turned around and nodded with a smile, "I'm in a hurry to go back for the Lantern Festival, sorry."
It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't smiled, but once he did, both girls' hearts melted.
That commercially-style fake smile was something Xue Ming had practiced countless times, prepared for those picky customers who would even nitpick over the lean parts of their beef offal.
Its attack power is extremely strong; it deals area-of-effect damage and true damage.
The little girl stammered, "Uh-huh-huh-huh, I'll ask my sister to take you home?"
The young woman stammered, "You sit behind me, face to face."
Jiang Xueming slapped himself across the face.
"Hold!"