The process of disassembling the back shell takes a relatively long time, so Fang Bai rode his bike out and bought another bp machine from the same store where he bought his last one.
127 also has service centers in Shanghai, allowing for long-distance paging without affecting usage, and generally offers free roaming.
Then, he went to the bus station to buy a ticket to Shanghai; there was a bus at 4 PM that would arrive tomorrow morning, with sleeper berths, and the fare was not cheap.
There were no highways, and the road conditions were not very good; considering the performance of cars back then, the speed was just that slow.
Besides the long-distance bus, one could also take a ferry from Cangnan Longgang to Shanghai, which would take 24 hours.
He couldn't stand traveling for such a long time, but the ticket price was cheaper, so many people chose this option, though it wasn't suitable for those prone to seasickness.
At this time, there were no trains to Shanghai, so the only options were ferry or bus.
After buying the bus ticket, Fang Bai returned to his rented room to pack his luggage.
While packing, his mother asked him if he was taking the ferry or the bus.
"Mom, I'm taking the bus; the ferry takes too long."
"Oh, then I'll prepare some food for you for the journey.
How about boiled eggs and braised chicken drumsticks? What else do you want to eat? Mom will prepare it for you."
"The bus leaves at 4 PM and arrives tomorrow morning, so you don't need to prepare so much.
I'll eat dinner around 3 PM before I go.
Just two eggs and two bottles of water for the journey will be fine, no need for chicken drumsticks."
"It's better to prepare a bit more.
You'll be on the bus for over ten hours.
What if you want to eat and there's nothing to eat, and nowhere to buy anything?
I'll buy you some snacks too."
Fang Bai nodded: "Alright then, just a bag of sunflower seeds and a pack of biscuits will do."
Liu Fengqing heard her son agree, went downstairs and out to buy them, and Fang Bai also went downstairs to start working.
Fang Bai was busy all morning, read books in the afternoon, had dinner at 3 PM, and then set off with his backpack.
The station was near his rented room, just a few minutes' walk away.
Standing in front of the bustling bus station, watching travelers carrying or shouldering their luggage, Fang Bai felt a bit emotional, marveling at how fast Wen City was developing.
In the 1980s, Wen City completed the basic accumulation of the initial stage of a market economy through a development model "based on family operations, guided by specialized markets, supported by small towns, and backbone by rural capable individuals," achieving a historic leap from poverty to basic well-being.
This "time lag" and foresight directly widened the gap with other cities.
While other cities hadn't even reacted, Wen City had already surged ahead.
By the early 1990s, Wen City had already completed its second entrepreneurial phase, with industrial upgrading, accelerated urbanization, and enhanced internationalization.
In this era, Wen City's economy ranked among the top in the country, surpassing the GDP of both provincial capitals.
By the late 1990s, Wen City's development slowed down relative to other cities due to various reasons, such as the scarcity of land.
Many factories faced the awkward situation where even with money to expand, they couldn't acquire land, forcing them to leave Wen City and develop in other cities.
Fang Bai also believed that land was one of the important reasons restricting Wen City's development.
To the south, west, and north were mountains, and to the east was the sea, leaving reclamation as the only option, which was also done in his previous life, but it still couldn't keep up with development demands.
Of course, local competition was too fierce, and other cities and regions had greater development potential and more opportunities than Wen City, leading Wen City residents to flock to these places to advance.
Fang Bai was just a microcosm of Wen City's businessmen; in the future, due to land scarcity, he would also leave Wen City and place his headquarters in other cities.
He couldn't change Wen City's future.
Fang Bai sighed and walked into the station.
After waiting for a while, he saw the bus bound for Shanghai pull into the parking bay.
After the bus stopped, passengers had their tickets checked and boarded.
Fang Bai also followed the crowd, queued, had his ticket checked, and boarded.
As soon as he stepped inside the bus, he smelled a rotten odor and gasoline, and couldn't help but cover his nose, while also observing the interior of the bus.
The bus looked quite new, but the seats inside were a bit dirty, probably never cleaned.
For someone accustomed to riding high-speed trains, they would certainly not be used to a dirty, messy, and smelly bus.
He didn't have much luggage, so he took it directly onto the bus.
Those travelers carrying large bags had to put their belongings in the luggage compartment.
Upper berth, window seat, row 5—this was Fang Bai's seat.
Before he came, he had prepared paper.
He pulled out a stack of paper from his backpack and wiped his seat clean before placing his backpack on the seat.
Then he took off his shoes, got onto the berth, and tucked his shoes into the space in front of the sleeper.
He was 176 cm tall, barely able to lie down.
Soon, more and more passengers entered the bus, and many took off their shoes.
The shoe odor Fang Bai smelled became stronger, so he had to open the window to air it out.
It wasn't that he was being fussy, but he genuinely wasn't used to it.
Fortunately, his tolerance was quite strong; after getting used to the smell, he could endure it.
If others could ride it, there was no reason he couldn't.
If the weather were a bit hotter, heh heh.
The young man in the lower berth next to him spat out of the window.
Shortly after spitting, he couldn't help but vomit.
After wiping his mouth with paper, he couldn't help but curse: "Whose stinky feet are these?
Can't you put your shoes on?
Are you trying to kill us?"
At his shout, many passengers in the bus responded: "Yeah, if your feet stink, put your shoes on; consider everyone else."
Hearing this, Fang Bai also shouted: "You're suffocating people!
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 complaints, so the middle-aged female attendant also shouted.
Some people who felt their feet were stinky honestly put on their shoes, but some with stinky feet remained indifferent.
But being able to achieve this much was already quite good.
A few minutes later, the attendant came over to check tickets and count people.
After another two or three minutes, the bus started and drove northeast.
Fang Bai observed out the window; the hawking of street vendors rose and fell, adding to the clamor and liveliness.
After the bus drove for a minute or two, Fang Bai saw rows of small workshops or family businesses along the roadside.
They produced various small commodities, becoming the backbone of the local economy.
After an unknown amount of time, the bus had already left the county town.
The sun had set, and the flickering lights of village houses at the foot of the mountains were faintly visible.
Fang Bai closed the window a bit.
He was tired of reading, so he stuffed his bag into the seat, then turned sideways to face the window, pressing against his backpack, and closed his eyes.
He fell asleep shortly after.
He didn't know where they were, but the attendant shouted about a quick bathroom break, and the bus stopped for ten minutes.
Fang Bai also felt the urge to urinate, so he quickly put on his shoes, slung his backpack on, and got out of the bus.
There was no bus stop; the roadside was just a relatively flat patch of woods, suitable for convenience.
Men went left, women went right.
Fang Bai found the largest tree, which offered good concealment.
He turned his back to others and added some urea to this tree, hoping it would grow more luxuriantly, making it even better for future conveniences here.
While fertilizing, he noticed that many small trees nearby had already withered and turned yellow, indicating too much urea had been added.
Or perhaps a passenger had uremia and, upon seeing the beautiful scenery here, felt greatly relieved, their kidneys unblocked, and suddenly excreted years of accumulated toxins, killing the trees.
A moment later, all passengers returned to the bus.
The attendant went back to check the headcount and found one person missing.
She got off the bus and shouted into the woods: "We're leaving! Hurry up! It's been ten minutes! Even constipation isn't like this!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than a woman with a troubled expression ran out of the woods, in a hurry, apparently having not resolved her issue.
She shouted back while fastening her pants: "Coming! Coming!"
Fang Bai, already lying on his berth, didn't laugh.
If it were him and he hadn't resolved his issue yet and was being rushed, he probably wouldn't be pleased either.
Look at her, a frown on her face, like she'd eaten a bitter cucumber.
Fang Bai secretly thought: "Good thing it's not me."
The bus started, and Fang Bai continued to sleep, stopping twice more along the way.
After an unknown amount of time, the bus stopped.
Fang Bai vaguely heard passengers happily shouting: "We're here!"
The attendant walked along, knocking on the berths: "We've arrived! We've arrived! Time to get off!"
Fang Bai put on his shoes and, with a stiff body, climbed down from the berth.
A few minutes later, Fang Bai stood at the exit of the Shanghai Long-Distance Bus Terminal.
To the east was Shanghai Railway Station, and this area was JA District, about eight kilometers from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics campus.
At this time, dawn was just breaking.
Outside the station, people were coming and going, street vendors selling breakfast were hawking their wares, and roadside rickshaw drivers and taxi drivers were shouting for passengers.
At this time, Shanghai had already implemented policies limiting the number of operating rickshaws; they couldn't enter the city center and main traffic arteries, and perhaps in two or three years, their operations would be directly banned.
Fang Bai looked at the busy flow of people, like a surging river, and suddenly remembered the song "The Bund."
Waves surge, waves flow,
The mighty river never rests.
...
Loving you, hating you, do you know, my lord?
Like a great river, once unleashed, it cannot be held back.
...
Shanghai, I'm here!