Shen City, Here I Come!

Dismantling the back covers would take quite a while. Fang Bai rode out and bought another Pager from the same shop as last time. 127 had service counters in Shen City too, allowing out-of-town paging without affecting use. Roaming was generally free.

He then went to the Bus Station and bought a ticket to Shen City. There was a bus at four in the afternoon that would arrive the next morning. It had sleeper berths, and the fare was not cheap.

There were no expressways, and the road conditions were not very good. Considering the performance of vehicles nowadays, this was simply how slow they traveled.

Besides the coach bus, one could also take a ship from Longgang in Cangnan to Shen City. It took twenty-four hours. Fang Bai could not stand being on a ship for that long, but the tickets were cheaper, so quite a few people chose that option. Of course, it was unsuitable for anyone prone to seasickness.

There was no train route to Shen City yet, so the only choices were ship or bus.

After buying the bus ticket, Fang Bai returned to the rented house to pack.

While he was sorting his luggage, his mother asked whether he was taking a ship or a bus.

"Mom, I'm taking the bus. The ship takes too long."

"Oh, then I'll prepare some food for the journey. How about boiled eggs and braised chicken legs? What else do you want to eat? Mom will get it ready."

"The bus leaves at four in the afternoon and arrives tomorrow morning, so there's no need to prepare so much. I'll eat around three before I go. Just two eggs and two bottles of water for the road will do. No chicken legs."

"You should still bring more. You'll be on the bus for more than ten hours. What if you get hungry and have nowhere to buy anything? I'll get you some snacks too."

Fang Bai nodded. "All right. A bag of sunflower seeds and a pack of biscuits will be enough."

Once Liu Fengqing heard that her son had agreed, she went downstairs to buy them, while Fang Bai also went downstairs and started working.

Fang Bai worked all morning, read in the afternoon, ate at three, then set off with his backpack.

The station was near the rented house, only a few minutes' walk away.

Standing before the crowded Bus Station and watching travelers carrying or shouldering their luggage, Fang Bai felt emotional. Wen City was developing so quickly now.

In the 1980s, Wen City completed its initial accumulation during the early stages of the market economy through a development model "based on family businesses, guided by specialized markets, supported by small towns, and driven by capable rural people." It achieved a historic leap from poverty to basic prosperity.

That "time lag" and head start directly widened the gap between it and other cities.

Before other cities could react, Wen City had already taken the lead.

By the early 1990s, Wen City had already completed its second wave of entrepreneurship, upgraded its industrialization, accelerated urbanization, and increased internationalization.

In this era, Wen City's economy ranked among the country's leaders. Even the GDP of two Provincial Capitals could not compare to it.

By the late 1990s, Wen City's development had slowed relative to other cities for various reasons. For example, because land was scarce, many factories faced the awkward situation of being unable to buy land to expand no matter how much money they had. They had no choice but to leave Wen City and develop elsewhere.

Fang Bai also believed that land was one of the key factors restricting Wen City's development. Mountains lay to the south, west, and north, while the sea was to the east. The only option was land reclamation. That was what happened in his previous life as well, but it still could not keep up with development needs.

Of course, local competition was also too cutthroat. Other cities and regions had greater potential and more opportunities, so Wen City people flocked there to seek their fortunes.

Fang Bai was merely a microcosm of Wen City merchants. In the future, because of land scarcity, he too would leave Wen City and place his headquarters in another city.

He could not change Wen City's future.

Fang Bai sighed and walked into the station.

After waiting a while, he saw the coach bound for Shen City pull into its bay.

Once the bus stopped, passengers checked their tickets and boarded. Fang Bai lined up with the crowd to do the same.

The moment he stepped inside, he smelled a rotten stench mixed with gasoline. He could not help covering his nose as he looked over the cabin.

The bus looked fairly new, but the seats inside were somewhat dirty. They had probably never been cleaned.

Anyone used to high-speed trains would definitely struggle with a dirty, messy, foul-smelling coach bus.

He did not have much luggage, so he brought it straight aboard. Those travelers carrying huge bags had to put their belongings in the luggage compartment.

Upper berth by the window, row five. That was Fang Bai's seat.

He had prepared some paper before coming. He pulled out a stack from his backpack and wiped down his berth before setting his bag on it. Then he took off his shoes, climbed onto the berth, and tucked his shoes into the space in front of it.

At 176 centimeters tall, he could barely lie down.

Before long, more and more passengers filled the bus. Many took off their shoes, and the odor of feet grew even stronger. Fang Bai had no choice but to open the window for some air.

It was not that he was being fussy. He simply was not used to it.

Fortunately, he was fairly tolerant. Once he got accustomed to the smell, he could endure it. Other people could ride this bus, so there was no reason he could not.

If the weather had been any hotter, though... heh.

A young man occupied the lower berth beneath him. He rolled down the window and spat outside. Not long after spitting, he could not help vomiting. After wiping his mouth with some paper, he began cursing, "Whose damn Hong Kong feet are those? Can't you put your shoes back on? Are you trying to kill us all?"

Once he shouted that, quite a few passengers chimed in. "Exactly! If your feet stink, put your shoes on. Have some consideration for everyone else!"

Hearing that, Fang Bai shouted too, "The stench is making people pass out! Please put your shoes on, or wrap your socks and shoes in a plastic bag so the smell doesn't spread."

Perhaps too many people in the bus had complained. The bus attendant, a middle-aged woman, began yelling as well. Some people whose feet stank obediently put their shoes back on, but others remained unmoved.

Still, this was already quite good.

A few minutes later, the bus attendant came over to check tickets and count passengers.

Another two or three minutes passed before the bus started moving northeast.

Fang Bai looked out the window. Street vendors' cries rose and fell, adding to the noise and bustle.

After the bus had traveled for a minute or two, Fang Bai saw rows of small workshops and family businesses along the roadside. They produced all kinds of small commodities and formed the backbone of the local economy.

After an unknown amount of time, the bus had left the county town. The sun had set, and village lights flickered faintly at the foot of the mountains.

Fang Bai closed the window a little. Tired of reading, he shoved his bag deeper into the berth, then lay on his side facing the window with the backpack pressed against him. He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

He did not know where they were when the bus attendant announced a restroom break. The bus would stop for ten minutes.

Fang Bai felt the urge to pee too. He hurriedly put on his shoes, slung on his backpack, and got off the bus.

There was no rest stop. There was only a relatively level patch of woods beside the road, suitable enough for relieving oneself. Men went left, women went right.

Fang Bai found the largest tree, which offered better cover. With his back to the others, he gave the tree some urea, hoping it would grow more luxuriantly and make future bathroom breaks here even better.

While fertilizing it, he noticed that many of the small trees nearby had already turned yellow and withered. Apparently, they had received too much urea.

Or perhaps some passenger had uremia, suddenly found the scenery beautiful, felt joyful and kidney-relieved, and discharged years' worth of accumulated toxins in one go, killing the trees.

After a while, the passengers returned to the bus. The attendant went back in to count heads, discovered that one person was still missing, then got off and shouted into the woods, "We're leaving! Hurry up! It's already been ten minutes. Even constipation doesn't take this long!"

No sooner had she finished than a worried-looking woman came running out of the woods in a rush. Apparently, she had not managed to solve her problem. Fastening her pants as she ran, she shouted back, "Coming, coming!"

Fang Bai, already lying in his sleeper berth, did not laugh. If it had been him, unable to finish and then being rushed, he probably would not have been happy either.

Look at her, brows furrowed as though she had eaten a bitter cucumber.

Fang Bai secretly rejoiced. Good thing it wasn't me.

The bus started moving again, and Fang Bai continued sleeping. It stopped twice more along the way.

After an unknown amount of time, the bus stopped. Half-asleep, Fang Bai heard the passengers happily shout, "We're here!"

The attendant walked through the aisle, knocking on the sleeper berths. "We've arrived, we've arrived! Time to get off!"

Fang Bai put on his shoes and moved his stiff body down from the berth.

A few minutes later, Fang Bai stood at the exit of Shen City Long-Distance Bus Terminal. To the east side was Shen City Railway Station. This was JA District, about eight kilometers from the Shencheng University of Finance and Economics campus.

Dawn had only just begun to break. Outside the station, people streamed back and forth. Breakfast vendors along the streets hawked their food, while rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers called out for passengers by the roadside.

By this time, Shen City had already implemented a cap on the number of operating rickshaws. They were barred from the city center and major roads. In another two or three years, they might be banned entirely.

Watching the bustling crowd flow like the surging waters of a mighty river, Fang Bai suddenly thought of the song "The Bund."

Waves surged, waves flowed

The mighty river ran on without end

Love you, hate you, do you know?

Like the great river, once unleashed, it could never be restrained

Shen City, here I come!