webnovelfull Chapter 1048: Dirty and Dusty
Chapter 1048: Dirty and Dusty
"Another bottle of peach soda?" She pulled out a bottle of drink from her pocket like a magic trick: "I saw you just finished two bottles."
Zhou Qi took out two dimes and handed it over: "Young comrade, you are quite good at handling things. This bottle is for you."
"I learned the art of hospitality from you!"
Ye Xiangling pushed the money back and said, "I have to go patrol the cars. You can rest here." She quickly cleaned up the empty bottles on the table.
"How about we talk about the one that costs ten bucks?"
Zhou Qi took out a ten-yuan bill and shook it: "I'll buy all the goods in your truck."
"Do you think I'm an escort?"
Ye Xiangling smiled and opened the duty room door a little: "There are a lot of pickpockets outside, I have to keep an eye on them. I'll close the door for you, get some sleep, I'll call you at Haicheng Station."
The iron door closed with a click, and the noise suddenly became much quieter.
Zhou Qi stared at the scenery outside the window in a trance. If he could meet such a clever conductor every time he was on a business trip, riding the green train would be a good job.
When the train arrived at the station, Ye Xiangling turned back and said, "Brother Qi, Haicheng Station is full of people of all kinds. Your backpack is too conspicuous. Be careful not to be noticed."
"Rob me?"
Zhou Qi smiled and patted his bulging backpack: "I'm afraid they'll hurt my hands."
"Don't take it lightly!"
Ye Xiangling grabbed his arm and said, "Follow me through the employee passage. When those hooligans see you following someone in uniform, they will naturally get scared."
The girl said in a hurry: "Don't stay in the hotel near the station! Don't accept cigarettes or drinks from strangers! No matter who talks to you, ignore them and keep your head down and walk to the main road!"
She was wiping the chair while she was nagging, "Those solicitors are sweet-talking you, but they're actually trying to trick you into going to a black shop and robbing you!"
Zhou Xiao was amused. He knew all these tricks of the world better than anyone else, but he said, "I've got it. I've got it."
After Ye Xiangling had packed up the last row of seats, the two of them walked out on the mottled concrete floor of the platform.
The setting sun stretched their shadows very long, and the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafted over the platform.
In the twilight, the Bund has not yet grown skyscrapers, and scattered lights of fishing boats are floating on the Huangpu River.
Zhou Qi clutched the bulging briefcase, his palms sweating from the weight of the treasury bonds inside - these two million pieces of paper could only be cashed in tomorrow morning when the bank opened.
"Brother, why are you staring at Pudong and laughing like an idiot?"
Ye Xiangling tugged at the cuffs of his Zhongshan suit. The scattered houses on the other side of the river with kerosene lamps lit up were the prime land of Lujiazui in Zhou Qi's eyes.
The land price in Pudong is as cheap as cabbage at the moment. In two years, the government will issue a red-headed document, and there will be gold bricks buried under these dilapidated houses.
"See that reed marsh?"
Zhou Qi pointed at the beach in the twilight and said: "Tomorrow we have to build the tallest building in China here!"
An old lady who was passing by with a spittoon pouring out the night scent turned her head and glared at him, as if he had met a madman.
Ye Xiangling took out her handkerchief and wiped the stone bench: "People in Haicheng are very stingy. Yesterday, I ate soup dumplings in the City God Temple. There were eight in a basket, but they were not as big as my fist!"
She gestured to the basin-sized bowl from her hometown in Xuzhou: "In our place, diners would flip the table if the portion was this large."
Crossing the crowded square of the train station, the faded red painted door of the Railway Guesthouse flashed a safe light.
The lady at the front desk knitted a sweater and looked up: "Letter of introduction?"
Ye Xiangling showed her railway badge and exchanged it for a brass key for three cents.
The corridor smelled of mothballs, and the words "Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea" were printed on the bottom of the enamel basin.
"You can sleep well. My cousin is on night duty at the police station."
Ye Xiangling placed the thermos on the paint-chipped chest of drawers.
When Zhou Qi lay down in the dark, he heard the sound of the radio playing "Tuber Jasmine" in the next room mixed with the ticking of a Haicheng watch - people who wear a watch to sleep these days probably do so because they are afraid of thieves.
Before the morning mist had dissipated, Ye Xiangling came in with an aluminum lunch box: "Authentic rice balls!"
The glutinous rice is wrapped with fried dough stick crumbs, and the hot steam makes the windows foggy.
There was stove ash on the tip of her nose, obviously she had borrowed the guesthouse's kitchen before dawn.
Zhou Qi bit into the rice ball and felt a gravel on it. This girl's cooking skills were as rough and solid as her intelligence network.
It was really puzzling why the young girl was so enthusiastic about him.
Zhou Qi chewed on the dough stick and thought to himself: Is it just for that bottle of orange soda? Or is it simply because we are from the same hometown?
I have been covered in dust and dirt all the way here, and I don't even have a decent piece of clothing to wear. I can't be doing this for the money, right?
Could it be true that, as his coworkers said, girls nowadays only look at faces? He stole a glance at the mottled mirror in the guesthouse and raised his hand to tidy up his raised temples.
Ye Xiangling was indeed unusually attentive. Not only did she stay overnight in the duty room, she also brought over hot breakfast early in the morning.
There was still moisture on the edge of the soy milk bowl, obviously he had just run two blocks to buy it.
"Brother, try these miniature fried dough sticks. They are nothing compared to the long arms we have back home!" She pushed the enamel pot towards her while complaining, with morning dew on the ends of her hair.
"Pei County is just across the canal from my home. I visited your place during the Qingming Festival two years ago to see the Han Dynasty tombs."
Zhou Qi sipped the hot soy milk and saw the girl opposite him whose eyes suddenly lit up.
"Really? Next time I'll take you to the newly excavated chariot pit. I guarantee it will be more exciting than what's in the travel brochure!"
The wall clock rang, and Zhou Qi glanced at his watch. It was seven thirty-five.
The things in the canvas bag were pressing against my lower back, and I had to rush to complete the procedures when the bank just opened.
"It's time to get going." He grabbed the canvas bag and stood up, the metal zipper making a crackling sound in the silence.
"I'll go with you!" Ye Xiangling stood up and her apron string swept over half a bowl of soy milk.
"Stop it, aren't you on the early shift today?"
"I switched shifts with Sister Zhang."
Her knuckles turned white from gripping the edge of the table, and Zhou Qi noticed the frayed edges of her work clothes cuffs.
The girl's eyes were as clear as the spring water in the canal, reflecting the yellowed walls of the guesthouse. He remembered his youngest sister who set up a stall at the ferry in his hometown, and she also stared at people in this way.
"Stay still, I'll be back after I get the money."
When the canvas bag was thrown over his shoulder, the corner of the brown paper envelope was faintly visible.
The queue of people spread from the bank steps to the sycamore tree. Zhou Qi counted the backs of the twenty or so heads in front of him and turned the bag to his chest and hugged it.
The sound of ship whistles came through the morning mist, mixed with the salty and humid wind from the Huangpu River.
"Oh my, this line is so long!"
Zhou Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered to himself, looking at the long winding road ahead. Haicheng in July was like a steamer, and the heat wave wrapped in the burnt smell of the asphalt road rushed towards him.
He thought that if he really got a number, he would probably get sunburned.
Just when I was wondering if I could find the VIP channel, a round-faced man in a striped polo shirt came over.
The man had a bulging leather briefcase under his armpit and squinted his eyes at his backpack. "Little brother, what valuables are in this big package?"
Zhou Qi thought the man looked familiar, but his mind was dazed by the sun and he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
He curled the corners of his mouth as a response, muttering in his heart: No matter who you are, I don’t need to report to you that I have gold bricks in my bag.