Chapter 83: Episode 81: Additional update with 120 monthly tickets on board
By the end of December, all the accounting had concluded, and each household had received their share of food and money, many families beginning to discuss marriage arrangements amidst the lively atmosphere.
Li Xianglu and his brothers, Qin Xi and Qin Zhen, also received quite a bit of food and money this year. As there was no one at home, Mr. Li directly entrusted Li Dafu to store Qin Xi’s and Qin Zhen’s food at his house, only then did he start preparing the items needed for the journey with peace of mind.
The most important were the food tickets. Mr. Li had borrowed some from Mr. Lan, and including what had been saved over the past two or three months, amassed over sixty jin in food tickets. Mr. Li still had two hundred yuan on him. Fortify the journey even if the home is poor, thus Mr. Li took out another four hundred yuan to carry with him.
Armed with two letters of introduction, they went to the county to obtain certifications, and after informing the team leader, the four of them set off together.
At this time, the largest county town in the Northern Guanzhong had not yet established a train service to the Provincial City; the only mode of transportation available was the long-distance bus.
So, to travel to another province one must first take a long-distance bus to the Provincial City, then take a train from there.
Buying a long-distance bus ticket did not require a letter of introduction. A bus ticket from the county to the Provincial City cost 6 yuan and took over 7 hours.
By the time the four of them boarded the long-distance bus to the Provincial City, it was already 10 o’clock in the morning.
Tickets were not very scarce; it was Mr. Lan’s security guard who had queued up early in the morning to purchase them—first bus of the day, an old-fashioned large public bus, red and green, without heating. Li Xianglu and Mr. Li sat together, with Qin Xi and Qin Zhen in front of them.
Qin Zhen sat by the window, glued to it, looking outside incessantly, extremely excited, while Qin Xi beside him shook his head helplessly. When would his brother grow up?
Li Xianglu was also curiously looking outside non-stop. Although they called it a long-distance bus, it was essentially just the old large buses, but with double rows of seats on both sides, and it didn’t take long to fill up with passengers.