The Pentium Era - South to North

Zhang Chen and the others came out of the pink shop and saw a hotel dozens of meters in front. The three of them went over. The hotel only had a small facade with a semicircular counter inside, and a little girl sitting at the counter.

The little girl told them that a room cost sixty yuan, and Zhang Chen agreed to take one.

Zhang Chen was still filling out the form. The little girl looked at the three of them and asked, "How many of you are there in total?"

"Three, didn't you see it?" Zhang Chen said.

The little girl took the list back and told Zhang Chen, "That won't work. A room can only accommodate two people at most, not three people, unless you open two rooms."

Liu Ligan came up to her and said, we don't want to stay, we just want to take a shower. If three people take a shower, one room is enough, right?

The girl was very insistent and kept shaking her head, saying no, you can either open two rooms.

"Why are you so rigid!" Liu Ligan scolded.

"What's the matter? What's the matter?"

At this time, a middle-aged woman, who looked like the proprietress, came out of the small door behind the counter. She came out and asked. The little girl told her the matter, and she nodded and said that she wanted to open two stores.

"Beauty, listen to me."

At that time, it was rare for people to call women beautiful, especially in Mandarin. Southerners also called handsome men and pretty girls. The meaning of pretty girls is similar to beautiful women, but few people called beautiful women in Mandarin, especially to a middle-aged woman. , the two people at the counter felt it was very novel when they heard Liu Ligan call it like this. They were stunned for a moment, and then they laughed.

"Beauty, come on, come on, you are not only beautiful, but you also need to be able to settle accounts." Liu Ligan shouted.

The middle-aged woman smiled and said: "What kind of settlement? In our family, I am the best at settling accounts."

"Okay, beauty, let me figure it out with you. The three of us just want one room to take a bath. For three people to take a bath, an hour at most is enough, right? We'll leave after we finish washing. Can you still use this room?" Sell ​​it to others, right? What you lose in this hour is the water bill at most, which is only a few cents, right? In this way, you are equivalent to selling two houses for one house. , it’s a good deal for you, right?”

Every time Liu Ligan asked whether something was right, the middle-aged woman nodded and said yes. Finally, Liu Ligan said, "You are right, so why don't you give us the room?"

The middle-aged woman was stunned for a moment. She said okay, give them a room. The girl was about to hand the form to Zhang Chen and ask him to continue filling it in. The woman reached out and took the form back and told them, there is no need to fill in the form, you can keep it. An ID card is here. If you don’t leave after taking a shower, then you can redeem this ID card for another sixty yuan.

"Awesome, beauty, you are indeed the glory of the whole family." Liu Ligan said while giving them his ID card.

…

It was already past four o'clock in the morning when they arrived at Hai'an Pier. There were people on the road outside the car. Zhang Chen and the others were surprised. Jin Lili asked: "Are these all going to Hainan?"

"Probably so." Zhang Chen said, and Jin Lili became excited and felt that she was really in the right place.

The further we drove, the more people there were and the car couldn't drive past. The driver of the bus had no choice but to stop the car and let the people on board get off.

"How far is it from here to the pier?" someone asked.

"Ten minutes," the driver replied. After hearing what the driver said, some people stopped and said, "How can we leave with big and small bags?"

The driver smiled bitterly and said: "If you can't get off, I have to drive to the pier. I have to pick up passengers there. If you don't want to get off, just stay in the car. But I tell you, from here, I have to drive at least one more How many hours.”

Everyone in the car got off, and Zhang Chen and the three of them also got off the car. It was dawning early in the south. Before five o'clock, it was already a little bright. Zhang Chen and the others squeezed toward the pier and looked at both sides of the road. They saw many people sitting on the side of the road, and some people simply opened their mats, and two or three people crowded on one mat to sleep.

"Aren't they in a hurry to leave? Can't they sleep well in Hainan?" Liu Ligan said strangely.

"You're not afraid of mosquitoes when you sleep here?" Jin Lili also said.

"Maybe there are so many people that even the mosquitoes don't know who to bite." Zhang Chen said with a smile.

After finally arriving at the pier, there were more people on the pier. The dense crowds of people crowded all the open spaces. There were always tens of thousands of people. Zhang Chen looked around and all he saw was anxiety. and longing eyes.

Liu Ligan asked the people next to him: "Are you all going to Hainan?"

"That's right. If you don't go to Hainan, who would be here?"

"Aren't you going to line up?" Jin Lili asked.

"The queue is there, the lights are on."

Zhang Chen and the others looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a particularly brightly lit area in the half-dark morning light. Several people were sitting high, higher than the darkness of heads. They were holding The pole, maintaining order, is the same as outside the train station ticket window.

The three of them squeezed for more than ten minutes before they reached the front. Only then did they realize that in front of them were passages welded with iron pipes. Outside each passage, there was an orderly person sitting high up, holding a hand. A very long pole.

The three of them crowded into a passage, with Zhang Chen walking in front. The pole in the man's hand fell down and touched Zhang Chen's nose. Zhang Chen turned to look at him and shouted:

"Take the border pass in your hand."

"What?"

Zhang Chen asked loudly, but the man was too lazy to pay attention to him. In front of and behind him, a kind person held up a piece of paper in his hand and waved it towards them: This is the border defense certificate.

Zhang Chen shook his head and said we didn't. He was about to continue walking forward. When the pole came down again, it hit Zhang Chen on the head. Zhang Chen was furious and cursed: "Why did you hit me?"

"Get out, get out!" the man shouted, and hit the second shot.

"Why do you hit people?" Jin Lili cursed.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Two policemen came over immediately. Jin Lili pointed at the man and said to them: "He beat people."

The man was sitting there, looking as if nothing had happened. When the police saw that Zhang Chen and Jin Lili had empty hands, they asked, "Where are your border defense certificates?"

"What kind of border defense permit? No." Jin Lili said.

"Get out, get out!" This time it was the policeman who said, "If you don't have a border defense permit, you'll be crowded and make trouble. You can't get on the boat without a border defense permit."

"Police uncle, we are coming from a very far away place, can you let us pass?" Jin Lili begged, "We don't know that we need a border defense permit to go to Hainan."

The policeman glared at her and waved his hand: "Did you see that there are tens of thousands of people here without border security permits and they all come from far away places? Go out and don't disturb the order!"

The three of them had no choice but to squeeze out. Liu Ligan asked as he walked: "Where can I get a border defense permit?"

There was so much noise all around that the police didn’t hear his question. Someone nearby said, “Police station.”

The three people squeezed outside, and then they realized that the crowds on the pier were all because they didn't have border security passes and couldn't get on the boat.

"What should we do? We, like them, can't get on the boat. What should we do?" Jin Lili stamped her feet anxiously.

"Let's go to the town first. Didn't we tell the police station to handle it? When the police station opens, we will go and handle it. We are not fugitives. What are we afraid of?" Zhang Chen said.

Hai'an Town is still some way away from the pier. They were sitting on the bus in front of them and passed through the town.

The three of them walked for more than 20 minutes before arriving at Hai'an Town. There were also many people in the town. They were wandering around in groups on the street, and some fell asleep while sitting in front of other shops. People in the shops got up. The door was opened and they were being driven away.

"We have to go to the police station early to queue up. I guess the queue waiting to apply for the border defense certificate will be very long." Liu Ligan said.