How did hiring someone to press a pig image during Chinese New Year become a top trend?

The night view of Harbin was left behind.

The SUV's heater was on full blast, and Master Zhao Dapao was humming an unknown Errenzhuan tune, both poignant and heroic.

Xu An huddled in the military overcoat in the back seat, still clutching the oiled paper that Lao Zhou had given to Liu Changqing.

Old Crazy Liu kept the letter, but he stuffed the oily paper, which smelled of engine oil, back into Xu An's arms like a talisman.

The idea was to leave him with a memento, so that if the road became difficult in the future, he could smell the aroma and feel refreshed.

Xu An's stomach growled.

The sound was quite loud; in the quiet carriage, it sounded like an awkward croaking of a frog.

Are you hungry?

Master Zhao glanced at the rearview mirror and a knowing smile spread across his face.

"We've reached the Liaoning border service area up ahead. Shall we get off and grab something warm?"

Xu An nodded and buried his face in his collar.

"Uncle Zhao, I don't want to eat anything expensive... I don't have any money."

In fact, he had millions in his bank account, but his ingrained "money-saving instinct" and "poor student mentality" made him feel that the money was public funds for building a canteen in the village.

I feel guilty for even the slightest thing I do.

Ten minutes later, the SUV glided into the Wanjiadeng (Wanjiadeng) service area.

The area was filled with large trucks traveling north and south, resembling a long steel dragon panting in the night.

Xu An didn't let Zhao drive the car to the brightly lit buffet restaurant.

He pointed to the hot water room in the corner.

"There are people there, I'll go and grab a bite."

Mr. Zhao paused for a moment, a complex light flashing in his eyes, but he didn't say anything and parked the car safely.

Xu An pushed open the door and got out of the car. Although the cold wind wasn't as biting as in Harbin, it was enough to make him sober up.

A couple was squatting on the steps next to the hot water room.

The man had dark skin and wore a camouflage uniform covered in oil stains, while the woman, wearing a headscarf, was cooking noodles on a portable gas stove.

The aroma of steaming noodle soup, mixed with the diesel fumes from the truck's still-burning engine, assaulted Xu An's senses.

This is the taste of the road.

Xu An originally wanted to get a cup of hot water to make instant noodles, but his social anxiety kicked in again.

He stood there, unsure whether to go forward or backward, like a greedy cat eyeing someone else's pot.

"Hey bro? Didn't bring a bowl?"

The woman looked up and immediately saw Xu An, who was wearing a military overcoat and hesitating there.

She didn't recognize that this was the "messenger" who went viral online. After all, in the eyes of people trying to make a living, a military overcoat is just a warm work protective item.

"Ah... I... I have instant noodles."

Xu An waved the bucket of braised beef noodles he had just taken out of the car, his voice barely audible.

"That stuff has no nutritional value. Come here, your sister-in-law just made some noodles and a poached egg. I'll serve you a bowl."

The woman waved enthusiastically; it was the kind of chivalrous spirit unique to people who spend a lot of time on the road.

The man shifted his position, making room for Xu An to move half a piece of cardboard.

"Have a seat, is it dirty?"

"No, no, not at all."

Xu An quickly waved his hand and plopped down on the piece of cardboard covered in mud.

That long-lost feeling of relaxation, of not having to put on airs, made him instantly feel that this place was even more comfortable than the lobby of a five-star hotel.

He opened the live stream, hoping to bring some popularity to this man and woman, or perhaps help them promote the hardships of freight transportation.

As soon as the show started, the number of viewers online skyrocketed to hundreds of thousands.

[ID Night Owl]: Anzi! Where are you? Why is the background full of tires?

[ID Logistics Person]: Holy crap! This is a service area! Is Anzi having lunch with his fellow truck drivers?

[ID Top-Level Understanding]: He just delivered a letter to the heroes, and now he's here to check on the people's conditions! That's real vision!

Xu An didn't dare to look at the comments. He took the disposable paper bowl handed to him by his sister-in-law. Inside was boiled noodles with a slightly burnt egg on top.

"Eat it, it's hot."

The older brother lit a cigarette, watched Xu An wolf down his food, and laughed.

"You're out here driving for a living too? Judging by your build, you don't look like a driver."

With his mouth full of noodles, Xu An replied indistinctly:

"I am...I am a messenger."

"Delivering mail?" The older brother paused, "The post office?"

"No...it's just helping the elderly in the village deliver letters home."

The older brother fell silent, the embers of his cigarette flickering in the night.

"Letters from home are great... Now everyone has cell phones, nobody writes letters anymore."

"We used to travel for two months at a time. We really missed home. We wrote letters but couldn't send them. We just kept it all inside."

Xu An swallowed the last mouthful of soup, feeling as if a small stove was burning in his stomach.

He asked cautiously:

"Brother, what if we lost contact before?"

The older brother exhaled a smoke ring, his gaze drifting towards the endless darkness in the distance.

"If it's broken, it's broken."

"Back then, if someone moved, changed jobs, or even changed their village name, they would disappear without a trace."

"Unlike now, you can just shake your phone to send a WeChat message."

"That's why people in the past valued relationships so much, because they knew that once they let go, they might never see each other again in this lifetime."

These words struck the hearts of hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live stream like a heavy hammer blow.

[ID tearful]: I finally understand why Old Crazy Liu guarded that workshop for 38 years. He was afraid that once he left the workshop, Old Zhou would really not be able to find him.

[ID Official Science Popularization]: Back in the days before archives were networked, a job transfer could mean a life-or-death separation.

Xu An felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this.

He took out two bottles of Red Bull that Master Zhao had bought earlier from his canvas bag, and secretly put another hundred yuan under the cardboard.

"Brother, sister-in-law, thank you, this noodle dish smells delicious."

He stood up and bowed deeply to the couple.

The man was startled and quickly got up to help him.

"Hey buddy, what's a bowl of noodles worth! You're out and about!"

Xu An didn't dare to say anything more, and blushed as she climbed back into the SUV.

He glanced back as the car restarted.

The couple was still there clearing the dishes, their shadows stretched long by the lamplight, representing the countless tiny cells that support the arteries of China's logistics system.

"Uncle Zhao, let's go."

Xu An's voice softened considerably, "Go to Tianjin."

"Alright! Tianjin, that place is lively, perfect for you!"

With a press of the accelerator, Mr. Zhao's SUV once again disappeared into the night.

Xu An pulled the tin box out from a hidden compartment in the canvas bag.

Following the order, the address for the next letter is in the suburbs of Tianjin.

But this letter is a bit strange.

The envelope was bulging, and it felt like there was no paper inside, but rather a hard little piece of metal.

The mailing address was written as: [Yangcun Brigade, Wuqing District, Tianjin, Educated Youth Point, Ma Dazui].

This name...

Xu An's eye twitched.

Ma Dazui?

This doesn't sound like the behavior of a proper scholar or gentleman.

On the back of the envelope, there was a note written in pen, so bold it seemed to penetrate the paper:

[They stole my bicycle valve cores thirty years ago; it's time to settle this score.]

The inscription was signed by Grandpa Qian, the "smiling tiger" accountant from Xujia Village who was always smiling and handing out candy to everyone he met.

Xu An instantly pictured Grandpa Qian's kind face, then looked at the murderous note in his mind.

A very ominous premonition welled up in my heart.

"Um... Uncle Zhao."

Xu An asked tentatively, "Are all people from Tianjin... particularly talkative?"

Master Zhao laughed heartily in front:

"That's not called being eloquent, that's called being raised in a world of crosstalk!"

"When you chat with people from Tianjin, you have to be careful. Even the old man selling pancakes on the street can become your straight man."

"Anzi, you're so socially awkward, even in Tianjin..."

Master Zhao didn't continue, but just gave Xu An a "good luck" look.

Xu An shrank his neck, feeling that this was even more despairing than going to the forest farm to feed tigers.

At most, a tiger can kill you.

The elderly folks in Tianjin would pick up his words from the ground and rub them repeatedly!

The atmosphere in the live stream instantly shifted from warmth to joyful anticipation.

[ID Crosstalk Enthusiast]: Goodness! Next stop Tianjin? Is Anzi going to challenge the verbal battle level?

[ID Tianjin Native]: What kind of talk is that! Once you get to Tianjin, you're home! Don't worry, Anzi, as long as you don't say anything, no one can make you laugh... I guess so.

[ID Gossip Netizen]: Ma Dazui? Stealing the valve core? I know this plot well, isn't this just an older version of the "Young and Dangerous" feud?

Xu An looked at the letter in his hand and sighed.

This is hardly a message delivery.

This is clearly a youth angst literature of the previous generation, combined with a suspenseful action film, and now it's going to be turned into a comedy show.

The car sped along the highway.

As dawn approached, the roadside signs finally changed.

【Tianjin Boundary】.

As soon as those three words were uttered, Xu An felt as if the air was filled with the aroma of mung bean flour from a jianbing (Chinese crepe), along with the ubiquitous sound of clappers.

Meanwhile, in Xujia Village.

In the newly built "White Rabbit Canteen", Grandpa Qian is wearing reading glasses and looking at the large screen on the wall.

On the screen was Xu An's face, a face that looked utterly lifeless.

Accountant Qian snorted coldly, twirling two walnuts in his hand, and said to his second uncle beside him:

"Qiangzi, just you wait and see."

"That old bastard Ma Dazui was known for his quick wit and sharp tongue in the surrounding villages back in the day."

"If only Anzi could get the details about the valve core from him..."

"He ate our village's account books for this year!"

Uncle Xu Qiang was drinking spicy soup when he heard this and almost spat it out.

"Uncle, what kind of grudge did you have against him back then?"

Accountant Qian squinted at the Taihang Mountains outside the window, a hint of youthful mischief flashing in his eyes.

"hatred?"

"That's a life-or-death friendship."

"That kid's just too cheeky, so cheeky I wanted to shut him up with the ledger."

At this moment, in an old courtyard in Wuqing District, Tianjin.

A myna bird was jumping around in its cage, calling out:

"Have you eaten? Have you eaten? If not, go home and eat!"

An elderly man wearing a white vest and carrying a birdcage sneezed very loudly.

"Wow! Who seems to be talking about me?"

"It's definitely that old schemer from Xujia Village again!"

The old man rubbed his nose, his eyes revealing a shrewdness.

"Come on, come on! This story of mine has been sitting untold for thirty years, it's practically gone bad with no one listening!"

Xu An was unaware of this.

He is about to face not only a valve core that has been stolen thirty years ago.

It's also a hilarious story about youth, regrets, and the unique "love-hate" dynamic of that era.

And all of this begins with that classic opening line from Tianjin.

"Excuse me, excuse me. Are you... working as a lackey for that old shrew?"

(I know Wuqing doesn't have this accent, mainly because each district in Tianjin has its own unique dialect, so I'll stick to the well-known Tianjin dialect here. Please bear with me~~)