Chapter 225: Chaotic Station

Chapter 225: The Chaotic Station

"Comrade, looking for a place to stay?"

"Comrade, where are you going? We have rides available."

"Excuse me, coming through!"

Su An and Ren San followed closely behind Chu Shuyu as they squeezed through the crowd, all three of them letting out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go, the bus stop is just up ahead. We'll take a bus from there!" Chu Shuyu turned back and said to Su An.

Su An nodded and followed closely behind her, "How long is the bus ride?"

Chu Shuyu walked and talked, "The city buses make frequent stops, with people getting on and off, so it will probably take close to an hour!"

"Are you guys hungry? Hold on a bit, the food around here is pricey. We'll eat when we get there!"

As they entered the bus station, rows of buses were lined up like a parade, each with its destination written on the front. Chu Shuyu led Su An and the others, searching row by row for the right bus.

"Uncle, where are you going?" An honest-looking young man, seemingly out of pity for the middle-aged man bent under the weight of a heavy sack, couldn't resist asking.

Hu Shuisheng, who was leading his wife and siblings as they searched row by row for their bus, looked at the questioner cautiously. But thinking that asking for directions probably wouldn't get them scammed, he replied, "We're going to the Fifth Ring Road in the city."

"The Fifth Ring Road near Taikang, right?"

"That's going into the city, why are you coming this way? You're going the wrong way, it's over there!" The honest young man pointed across with a loud voice.

"I was just about to go there, come on, follow me!"

"Okay, okay, thank you, thank you~" Hu Shuisheng quickly called his wife and siblings to follow the man.

Chu Shuyu, leading Su An and Ren San, watched as the man led his group past them and stopped in front of a bus.

"See, it's written right there, this is the one for the city. The row in front is for buses going to other cities!"

Hu Shuisheng followed the man's finger to look at the destination posted on the front of the bus. He could recognize the simple characters, "Yes, yes, this is the bus."

"Hurry up, the bus is already pretty full! It's 3 yuan per person, so 12 yuan for the four of you!"

"Pay up, get on with your stuff, and wait on the bus, or you'll end up standing if there are no seats left!"

"3 yuan? That's expensive!" Hu Qiuju raised her voice.

"What do you mean, expensive? Do you know how far it is? Where do you think you are? An egg here costs 35 cents, do you think this is the countryside? Is the fuel cheap? Do you think this is a bullock cart? Do you think the station space is free? Do the driver and the conductor not need salaries? Even the station cleaner needs to be paid, nothing is free here. We have a set fare, if you want to ride, hurry up and get on; if not, then leave!"

The honest young man, as if insulted, put on an expression of take it or leave it.

Hu Shuisheng felt a surge of anxiety and quickly stopped his sister, "Okay, okay, we're coming!"

"Quick, Qiuju, put the bags up!"

The woman called Qiuju looked worried, but her voice was much softer, "Brother, why is it so expensive in the city? If we buy the bus tickets, we won't have much money left. Didn't Da Wang say that the work would hold a month's salary? How are we going to survive this month?"

"Get on, stop talking. Once we get there and find Da Wang and the others, it will be easier. We'll borrow some from them then."

Hu Shuisheng put the gray cloth sack on the ground, looked around, pulled down his pants, and fished out a wad of money from his crotch to count. His wife and siblings quickly stood beside him to shield him, looking around warily.

Da Wang had written back to the village saying that there were scammers and robbers everywhere outside, so they had to be careful.

Chu Shuyu stood at the front of the bus with Su An and Ren San, "This is the one."

Su An looked at the man counting money not far away, "Sister Shuyu, is it 3 kuai?"

Chu Shuyu lowered her voice, "No, last time I took it, it was 25 fen. I heard that within five stops, it's 10 fen, and after five stops, it's an additional 5 fen per stop!"

"What about them?"

"They're being scammed. Let's go, hurry up and get on, don't get involved!" Chu Shuyu urged.

"There might be people watching us right now!"

Su An wasn't a particularly kind-hearted person, but seeing the man's family dressed in patched clothes, with rough frostbitten hands and faces, and knowing they were strangers in this place, she thought if they spent all their money, they might end up homeless.

"Let's go, hurry up and get a seat!" Su An raised her voice to call Ren San, following Chu Shuyu onto the bus, the sound of their shoes on the bus steps was unusually loud.

Hu Qiuju looked warily at Su An and the others following the noise, her eyes full of caution.

Hu Shuisheng was mostly holding small bills in his hands, and it took him a while to count out twelve yuan. After handing over the twelve yuan, they had just over one yuan left.

Just as Hu Shuisheng was about to hand over the money, Hu Qiuju realized something.

Those people just got on the bus without paying!

"Big brother!!!"

"Don't give it!"

Hu Shuisheng's outstretched hand hesitated, and at that moment, the seemingly honest young man snatched at the money in Hu Shuisheng's hand.

Because of his sister's shout, Hu Shuisheng tightened his grip on the money, but a large part of it was still snatched away.

The seemingly honest young man snatched a handful of money and turned and ran!

"Ah!!"

Hu Shuisheng reached out to grab the man's collar, his wife and siblings, already on alert, lunged at the seemingly honest man. Hu Shuisheng missed, but his brother Hu Shuibing grabbed the man's collar!

"Give us back our money!!"

The seemingly honest young man, with his collar grabbed, pulled out a small dagger from his pocket and stabbed towards Hu Shuibing's eyes. Hu Qiuju, quick-witted, pulled her second brother back.

The seemingly honest young man didn't stick around, turned and disappeared into the crowd. Hu Shuisheng and his siblings wanted to chase, but then a driver-looking man came out from the side. He glanced at the Hu siblings, got on the bus, and stood at the door shouting out, "Anyone else getting on? Let's go, let's go, we're not waiting anymore, or we'll have to spend the night at the train station!"

"Big brother," Hu Shuibing looked at Hu Shuisheng, as if asking if they should chase.

Hu Qiuju tugged at her big brother, "Let's go, get on the bus!"

Hu Shuibing, young and impulsive, gritted his teeth, "Big brother said, scammers have accomplices. That guy just ran off, and now the driver comes out calling us to leave, maybe they're working together. Let's not take this bus!"

Hu Qiuju slapped her second brother, "What are you talking about? Maybe the driver is trying to save us!"

"Brother, how much did they take?"

Hearing his sister's words, Hu Shuisheng looked down at the tightly clenched notes in his hand. What he held tightly was the only ten-yuan note they had, along with a one-yuan note and a five-jiao note, and five jiao notes that had been snatched away.

"They took two yuan, mostly small bills!"