Chapter 8: Chapter 8 Lucky Star
Yuedong Province, Yue State City, Train East Station.
The East Station was the oldest station in Yuezhou. It had six waiting rooms and was serviced by high-speed trains, express trains, and old, green-painted trains alike.
Li Banfeng carefully checked his train ticket information: Train No. 1160.
Why is it this train again?
Li Banfeng sent a ssage, "Didn’t this train derail?"
DING.
He Jiaqing replied, "The accident has been dealt with, and the train service has resud."
Dealt with?
How could such a big issue be resolved so quickly?
There wasn’t even a "K" before the train number.
That ant it wasn’t even an express train; it was the slowest type of train.
Hopefully, his hotown isn’t too far away.
The ticket information stated Gate No. 96 for ticket checking.
Li Banfeng wandered around the various waiting areas. He saw many middle-aged n in suits and also plenty of casually dressed young people.
What struck him most were the elderly people in simple clothes. They carried a lot of luggage—on their backs, in their hands, and even slung over their shoulders. Many had a large enal mug tied to the outside of their bags. This was the most common and unique sight at the train station.
But after looking around, Li Banfeng didn’t find Gate No. 96.
"Where is Gate No. 96?" Li Banfeng ssaged He Jiaqing.
"It’s not fixed; ask the staff."
Li Banfeng asked five station staff mbers in turn, and the first four said there was no Gate No. 96.
After checking Li Banfeng’s ticket, the fifth staff mber led him to the second waiting hall. They went past a toilet, through a hallway, opened a tal door, and entered an underground passage.
Underground passages are common in train stations, but this one was unusual—it was very long, dimly lit, and a damp, putrid stench assaulted his nostrils.
The ground was uneven and puddled, with woodlice squirming in the water. Such a wretched underground passage seed to belong only in Li Banfeng’s childhood mories.
Back then, he’d often go to an abandoned train station—not to catch a train, but to follow Old Lady Wu and steal scrap tal.
After traversing the long underground passage, the staff mber led Li Banfeng directly to the platform.
He took out a black, lacquered box, shaped sowhat like a mailbox.
On the right side of the box was a crank. The staff mber turned it, and from a slit at the top of the box, a piece of a train ticket erged.
It was a piece of a ticket, a ten-centiter-long strip of soft paper, not the hard paper train ticket Li Banfeng was accustod to.
The staff mber stamped the ticket and handed it to Li Banfeng.
On the front of this ticket were the nas of each station on the route and their arrival tis.
Three-Head Fork, Hai Chi Ridge, Greenwater Bay, Pants Belt Pit...
He didn’t recognize a single station na. At the bottom of the ticket was the destination of Li Banfeng’s trip. This station was called dicine King Valley.
Was dicine King Valley He Jiaqing’s hotown?
Li Banfeng had never been there, nor had he ever heard of it.
He looked at the departure ti: June 28th, 1:53 AM, which was almost fifteen minutes away.
Then he looked at the train’s arrival ti: June 30th, 7:00 AM.
Nearly two days of travel!
That’s a long journey!
Next, he checked the seat.
Car 7, Seat No. 7, a first-class sleeper ticket.
So, it’s a soft sleeper.
A soft sleeper is still tolerable.
There was a line of fine print on the ticket. Li Banfeng scrutinized it and found it said: This train provides hot water but no food. Passengers should prepare their own.
Almost two days of travel, and they don’t sell food on the train!
What about sunflower seeds, drinks, or bottled water?
Are they saying there’s not even the most basic snack cart?
Why the hell wasn’t this ntioned earlier? What am I going to eat on this journey?
There’s food for sale in the waiting hall. Should I run back the way I ca from the platform?
With just fifteen minutes before departure, it seed too late.
The route back was too complicated, not to ntion there was a tal gate to pass through.
And if I bump into that Big-eyed Man by any chance, I’ll surely be killed on sight.
Should I try to buy sothing from soone on the platform?
On this old and decrepit platform, Li Banfeng was the only one waiting for a train.
Should I find soone on the train to buy from?
Will anyone be willing to sell
anything?
At that critical mont, Li Banfeng’s phone rang. He Jiaqing had sent a ssage: "Brother, have you bought anything to eat?"
"Why the hell are you only asking now? Why didn’t you remind
when I was at the supermarket?"
"The situation was urgent at the ti; I forgot. After you get on the train, make sure you don’t leave the carriage."
Why can’t I leave the carriage?
Does going to the toilet count as leaving the carriage?
I can’t possibly hold it for two days, can I?
As Li Banfeng was puzzling over this, he suddenly saw an old lady with a paper box approaching on the platform.
"Young man, want to buy so instant noodles?"
Li Banfeng looked at her warily. Surprisingly, there was soone selling things on the platform!
People usually sold food on the platforms for the green trains, and Li Banfeng had ridden those before, so this wasn’t too unusual.
But why didn’t I see this old lady just now?
The old lady said, "The train is coming soon, and there’s no food on it. Better buy a few boxes to take with you!"
"How much for one box?"
"Four yuan."
Only four yuan!
Forget the train station; even in any random supermarket in Yuezhou City, that price was an absolute steal.
"Give
ten boxes!"
Two days, ten boxes. That should be enough.
Li Banfeng took out his phone to scan for paynt, when suddenly a tall man in uniform stepped onto the platform and snatched away the old lady’s box of instant noodles.
"Who gave you permission to sell here?" the uniford man demanded.
"I spoke to the stationmaster," the old lady answered shakily.
"I haven’t heard anything from the stationmaster. These goods are confiscated!" The uniford man shouldered the box and turned to leave. The old lady watched, trembling, heartbroken over her box of instant noodles but too frightened to say anything.
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