My Terrible Life in Those Years

I walked out of the Huacheng Railway Station with the huge crowd, paused at the exit, and looked at the eight big characters on the building that resonated throughout the country: Unify the Motherland, Revitalize China.

Looking at these eight large characters, a surge of emotions welled up inside me, and then, I fiercely uttered a sentence to the sky:

"Flower City, here comes Jiangning!"

No wonder I was excited.

Finally, at the turn of the millennium, I left behind the poor, remote place where I was born and raised, and the third-rate adult education college, and came to this most developed city in the country to begin my career.

There weren't many things: a huge woven bag, a large canvas backpack, and deep inside the backpack, I kept five hundred of my last eight hundred yuan.

There are still three hundred left, which I put in my underwear pocket.

In the few minutes I stood there, at least three or five people had bumped into me, which shows how terrifyingly large the crowds were in this place.

This place, this station, has one of the highest passenger volumes in the country, and I can attest to that ranking without any exaggeration.

But I can't help liking it. The more people there are, the more opportunities there are, right? And the more opportunities there are, the more choices and opportunities I have for myself.

My excitement subsided, and I completely ignored the glances of some of the people who had just passed by me.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera, so I couldn't leave any commemorative record or trace of this historic moment.

Looking around, there was a newsstand a few dozen meters from the exit with a sign that read: Telephone.

In recent years, newsstands have developed so rapidly that there is one every few hundred meters, selling books, newspapers, magazines, drinks, and some bolder ones even sell cigarettes.

This is what a big city is like. In our area, if we want to buy books, magazines, and such, we have to go to the Xinhua Bookstore in the county.

I need to call my classmate Liu Le to let him know I've arrived, and then I'll take the bus to find him.

"Boss lady, make a phone call."

I put down my big bag and backpack and greeted the short, fat, dark-skinned proprietress.

The proprietress was cracking sunflower seeds, one in each hand, at lightning speed, and glanced at me.

"Go ahead and fight."

The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered.

"Old Liu, I've arrived. I just got off at the station and was about to come find you."

"Huh? Jiangning? You really came to Huacheng?" Lao Liu is my classmate from adult college. He came to Huacheng a year earlier, and it was because of him that I embarked on my journey to pursue my dreams.

But something seems off about his tone.

"What do you mean? Didn't I tell you last month that I was coming?"

"Hey, I thought you were just kidding. You actually came? Damn, it really is a local call." He looked at the phone number on his phone.

"Of course! I just got off the train and called you right away," I repeated.

"Hey, Lao Jiang, I'm not in Huacheng right now!" Lao Liu said hesitantly.

"Huh? What did you say? Where are you?" At that moment, I had a vague sense of foreboding.

"Well, I was just sent on a company assignment last month, and I'm in Kuancheng now. It's more than 300 kilometers away from Huacheng."

When Lao Liu talked about this, he was clearly feeling guilty, and his tone became much lower.

I got a little annoyed at that moment.

"Hey you, why didn't you tell me you were being sent abroad?"

If it weren't for his bunkmate, how could I have come to this unfamiliar place all by myself?

"When I got your call last time, I really thought you were joking. I never expected you to actually come so quickly. Besides, even if I wanted to let you know, I couldn't find you. You don't even have a cell phone."

This guy's specialty is that he can first back down, then slowly explain until he finds out where you're wrong, and in the end you suddenly realize that you really can't get angry at him.

All my assets are these clothes and these 800 yuan. Where am I supposed to get a cell phone? A brand new one costs at least 1,000 yuan. I've been to the secondhand market, and any phone that's been used for more than six months costs at least 200 or 300 yuan.

This little bit of money will have to last me until I find a place to live and a job, and it will be a long time before I can get paid, at least a month after I finish working.

Where would I possibly find the extra money to buy a phone?

Besides, part of the 800 yuan was the deposit returned to the school when I graduated, and the other part was my income from working part-time cleaning the auditorium.

Okay, I'm poor, I don't have a cell phone, it's my fault!

I quickly adjusted my mood.

"Have you vacated your place yet? Can I stay there for now?" It would be terrible if I had nowhere to stay.

"I used to live in the company dormitory, but after I was assigned to another location, someone else definitely moved in. Besides, since I'm not there anymore, the company's accommodations are definitely not available for you. However, I can teach you how to find a cheap and comfortable place to stay!"

My feelings right now are like riding a roller coaster.

I just got off the train and arrived at the highest point. Well, I've been falling ever since I started making that phone call.

I just don't know how high it is that it falls!

"Okay, then tell me where I can find a cheap and comfortable place to stay!" He disappointed me twice in a row, and I hope the place he introduced won't give me a third chance to be disappointed.

"Take the bus from the train station, take tram number 862, and ride for 11 stops. It costs two yuan. Get off at Xiancun. Go straight into Xiancun. There are plenty of empty houses there, with prices ranging from a little over one hundred to a little over three hundred yuan a month. Find a place to stay first, and then look for a job."

After hanging up the phone, I composed myself, grabbed my bags, and prepared to take the bus.

"Hey handsome, you haven't paid yet!"

I slapped my forehead. I had just been so confused by Lao Liu that I had completely forgotten to call and ask for the money.

He took some change from his outer pocket: "Boss lady, how much?"

The proprietress stopped eating sunflower seeds and glanced at the time on her phone: "Three minutes, that'll be fifteen in total."

I raised my voice as if I'd been electrocuted: "How much?"

Don't try to fool me, boss lady. Landline phone calls only cost three or five cents a minute at most, okay? Adding a service fee or something, two or three yuan a minute is acceptable, but raising it to five yuan a minute, is that really reasonable?

"Fifteen! Are you deaf, young man?" The proprietress sneered.

They looked at me, a newcomer to the big city, like I was fish on a chopping board.

At this moment, the owners of several nearby shops heard the proprietress raise her voice and all poked their heads out, looking at me with ill intent.

I immediately backed down, took out my money, grabbed my bag, and left!

We've run into Sun Erniang!

It took me less than ten minutes to go from feeling excited to plummeting into despair.