The Pentium Era - South to North

When Zhang Chen and Xiao Zhao arrived in Guangzhou, it was already evening. Zhang Chen asked the bus driver. He told Zhang Chen that the destination was Guangzhou Railway Station.

Guangzhou Railway Station was a scary place at the time. On the boat, Liu Ligan repeatedly warned them not to live near the train station. Instead of buying tickets and taking the train, the farther away from the train station the better.

Xiao Zhao also told Zhang Chen that especially at night, there are many thieves, robbers, and scalpers selling counterfeit tickets and money in front of the train station. It’s okay at night, so don’t go to Guangzhou Railway Station or stay nearby.

They had already witnessed the chaos at Guangzhou Railway Station when they came last year, but it was the off-season for bus travel. There were three of them and they didn't have much money. People who wanted to steal, deceive or rob could not escape from them. Can't get any oil or water.

Now it was just him and Xiao Zhao, and they had so much money with them. Of course, Zhang Chen was very careful. He saw that the street where the bus passed was very busy, it should be the city center, so he asked the driver to stop, and he and Xiao Zhao got off. car.

Zhang Chen saw a hotel diagonally opposite, which was similar in size to Wanghai Tower, so he took Xiao Zhao there, walked to the front desk and asked, asking for a room of 481. Xiao Zhao pulled Zhang Chen's clothes beside him. But Zhang Chen still said he wanted a room.

"Excuse me, are you two?" the waiter asked.

Zhang Chen was hesitating about what to say. He didn't know if Guangzhou had opened up like Haicheng and whether they would be asked to show their marriage certificate. Unexpectedly, the waiter said again:

"If there are two of us, can we arrange a double bed room?"

Zhang Chen quickly said yes.

He saw a plexiglass sign on the counter that said, "Please leave valuables to the front desk for safekeeping." He asked, can money be kept here?

The waiter said of course.

Zhang Chen took out the money from the bag and handed it to them. After they counted it with a banknote detector, they put it in the safe. Then they wrote a receipt to Zhang Chen. With the receipt, Zhang Chen suddenly felt sleepy. Feeling relaxed.

After entering the elevator, Xiao Zhao was still complaining that it was too expensive and just slept, causing us to spend so much money.

Zhang Chen told her that Guangzhou is very chaotic, so don’t you worry about taking so much money with you or staying in a small hotel?

Xiao Zhao pursed his lips and then gave up.

The two of them entered the room, took a hot bath, and fell on the bed. Xiao Zhao let out a long sigh and said, "It's so comfortable, honey. I feel like the money is worth it now."

Zhang Chen laughed and told her that we were going to eat.

"I won't go, I won't go. With such an expensive room, I won't go anywhere. I will just stay in the room. Otherwise, it would be a big loss. We will order noodles and eat them in the room."

As she spoke, she picked up the order menu in the guest room, opened it, and saw that a bowl of noodles was 60 yuan. She quickly threw the order menu aside and said she wanted to go out to eat.

Zhang Chen smiled wildly on the surface, but actually his nose was sore. He thought, Xiao Zhao is not a person who has never seen the world. When he followed Hai Batian, he had never eaten any delicacies from the mountains and seas, or stayed in any hotel. How could he be like this? A bowl of sixty noodles scared her, and she felt aggrieved following her.

The two of them went downstairs and ate rice rolls at a nearby shop. When Zhang Chen asked where to go, Xiao Zhao kept shaking his head and said no, no, so we still went upstairs.

Zhang Chen said let's go to the drugstore to buy medicine. Xiao Zhao said yes and left obediently. What she was thinking about was that she was going back to Yongcheng soon and would celebrate the New Year with Zhang Chen's family. Will she look like this on her face? They were scared, and she also wanted these injuries to heal quickly.

They returned to the hotel, thought about it, and decided to go to the train station to buy tickets. The business center downstairs purchased train and plane tickets. Zhang Chen asked, and the other party said that before the first day of the new year, there were no train tickets anywhere, and plane tickets. When they arrived in Hangzhou, there was also a first-class cabin. Zhang Chen and Xiao Zhao jumped in as soon as they heard about it. They didn’t even consider air tickets, let alone first-class cabins.

Zhang Chen and Xiao Zhao didn't give up and decided to try their luck at the station. Anyway, the money was now stored and they only had a few hundred yuan to buy tickets and food, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

They took the bus and arrived at Guangzhou Railway Station. As soon as they got off the bus, they were shocked by the scene in front of them. The square in front of the train station was filled with people. Big bags made of woven fabric with red and white vertical stripes were sitting densely on the ground, and many simply fell asleep on their luggage.

Tiredness and anxiety were written on everyone's face.

After they walked a few steps, a scalper came up and asked if they wanted tickets and where to go.

Zhang Chen quickly said that we already have tickets and if we don’t bother with them, he wouldn’t dare to buy tickets from them. It’s better to buy fake tickets. Xiao Zhao told them that many of them are just to trick you. Small alley, direct robbery.

They saw the ticket office from a distance, but they couldn't find a way for them to pass by. They had no choice but to pick up their coats and move there step by step from the crowd sitting on the ground. Xiao Zhao let Zhang Chen followed her. As she walked, she said sorry in Sichuan dialect and borrowed it.

As expected, there were quite a few Sichuan people among the people sitting there. When they heard this, they tried hard to squeeze out a small space for them to stay and let them pass.

It took them more than half an hour to reach the short distance of 50 to 60 meters. The entrance to the ticket office was even more crowded. There were public security and railway staff at the gate to maintain order. Those who had not bought tickets were not allowed to pass. Entering, there are also staff inside, constantly knocking out tourists trying to stay inside.

Zhang Chen and Xiao Zhao finally squeezed into the ticket hall. There were fewer people inside than outside. Every ticket window was lit, but there were almost no people in line. One or two people came and asked a few questions. As they left, they saw a note posted on the glass above each ticket window that read:

"Before February 4th (the first day of the Lunar New Year), all tickets from this station to all stations across the country have been sold out!"

Zhang Chen didn't give up, so he walked to a window and asked, "Do you still have the ticket to Hangzhou tomorrow?"

The conductor inside rolled his eyes at him and said nothing. Instead, he picked up a ruler on the table and knocked on the glass above the small round window, meaning to let him read the notice.

Zhang Chen retreated and stood there with Xiao Zhao, looking at each other helplessly. It seemed that it was impossible to rush home for the Spring Festival, but no matter what, he couldn't stay in Guangzhou, Haicheng. There was no way back, so they could only go all the way north and continue towards Hangzhou.

Zhang Chen changed the window and asked the conductor inside: "Excuse me, when is the earliest train ticket to Hangzhou available?"

"Four twenty in the morning on February 4th."

It was the first day of the new year. Fortunately, the bus on the first day of the new year was very empty, and there were even sleeper berth tickets. Zhang Chen bought two lower berth tickets facing each other.

After buying the ticket, Zhang Chen was a little frustrated. Xiao Zhao comforted him and said, it doesn't matter, it's fine if we just spend the New Year on the train.

"But this doesn't count today. We still have to stay in Guangzhou for three nights." Zhang Chen said.

When Zhang Chen said that, Xiao Zhao's first thought was that there were still three nights left. If they continued to stay in that hotel, it would cost four times four hundred and eighty, which equals one thousand nine hundred and twenty yuan.

Xiao Zhao was shocked, so much money, "No, no, honey, we must find a cheap place to live tomorrow."

Zhang Chen shook his head and said, "It's too inconvenient to carry so much money. We can't take advantage of it and suffer big losses."

At that time, banks did not have universal deposits and withdrawals. They could not deposit money in the bank at dawn and withdraw it in Hangzhou. They could only run away with it. After Liu Ligan left, Xiao Zhao regretted that he had forgotten it. Give their bankbook in Haicheng to Liu Ligan, and they can only send it to him after returning to Yongcheng.

"By the way, dear, we can deposit the money in the bank tomorrow and take it out on the day we leave." Xiao Zhao shouted.

Zhang Chen secretly thought, yes, this is a good idea, but he immediately thought of it and said sadly: "But, the bank will have a holiday on the 29th of the New Year, so we will deposit it all night tomorrow, but we still have to withdraw it immediately." come out."

Xiao Zhao sighed, why didn't he think of this?

The two of them were just as they were when they came in. It took them more than half an hour to squeeze out of the crowd. When they got outside, Xiao Zhao said he wanted to go to the toilet. Zhang Chen vaguely remembered that the public toilet was on the edge of the square. He took Xiao Zhao went over there, and when he arrived at the door of the toilet, he was dumbfounded. They saw that there was a long queue of hundreds of people at the door of the women's toilet. It was their turn. How could it be possible in less than a few hours.

"Hmph, you must force me to go back to that high-end toilet. Come on, let's go back." Xiao Zhao shouted.

The two of them walked to the bus stop, which was also crowded with people. Zhang Chen asked Xiao Zhao with concern: "Are you in a hurry? If so, we'll take a taxi back."

"Yes!" Xiao Zhao excitedly slapped Zhang Chen on the shoulder and shouted loudly. Not only did Zhang Chen get stunned, but even the people around him were startled and looked at them.

Xiao Zhao lowered her head and stuck out her tongue. She pulled Zhang Chen to a place where no one was around and said to him:

"I thought about it."

"What did you think of?"

"We can take the money to the post office and send it to you tomorrow, and then pick it up when we get home, okay?"

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up, yes, this is great. Even so, the remittance order will probably take more than half a month on the road, but he is not in a hurry to use the money, so what are he afraid of? As for the remittance fee for mailing, what is it compared to the money they will save?

Zhang Chen couldn't help but praise: "Why are you so smart?"

"It was you who asked me if I was in a hurry. It made me think of sending money to my family every month."

Zhang Chen laughed loudly: "Then your associations are too rich. By the way, are you in a hurry now?"

"urgent."

"Then let's take a taxi back."

"don't want."

"What are you afraid of? We have saved more than a thousand yuan."

Xiao Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's take a taxi!"