Chapter 168 Gold Nuggets
After nearly ten hours of bumpy ride, the train arrived at Guangzhou Railway Station at eight o'clock in the evening.

As the first gate facing the wave of migrant workers coming south, for most of the migrant workers who come here for the first time, the first impression of Guangzhou Railway Station is probably that it is majestic and shocking.

But after exiting the station, they smoke a cigarette, chat, fart, take a nap, return a phone call, and find some change, and then they find that their luggage is missing for no reason, the money sewn into their underwear is gone, the gold they bought is fake, they encounter the most expensive public telephone in the world, the employment agency that cheats after they pay the deposit, and the scalpers who block the ticket gate and don't let them buy tickets... Only then, perhaps they will realize that they are not in heaven.

In the 1990s, Guangzhou, this gold-digging land, was never short of wealth, but it was also never short of sin. Shocking crimes and sad stories were played out here every moment.

It was not a long walk from the exit to the square, no more than 1000 meters, but Zhang Yunqi and his group walked for more than half an hour. During this time, they saw countless TV scenes: two men were caught in the act and beat plainclothes officers with long wooden sticks until their faces were covered in blood; an underage child was strangled by a patrolman and coughed up a pair of dented earrings; a young couple lost their money and tickets and hugged each other and cried, with big tears sliding down the woman's cheeks; a reporter was blackmailed in the square, and the urban management officer not far away spread his hands expressionlessly and said, "I helped you but I am dying myself."

Except for Zhang Yunqi, Wang Gui, Bingma Shi and the other two, what they saw and heard was beyond their cognition. It was a bit like a beautiful shattering. The advanced metropolis they imagined collapsed in an instant, and the so-called blue sea and blue sky no longer existed. On the way out, Ji Ling held Zhang Yunqi's arm. She was not afraid, but just very surprised. Her eyes were big and black and white, and she asked Zhang Yunqi: "Why is this place so messy?"

There were too many people and it was noisy. Zhang Yunqi leaned close to her ear and said loudly, "To put it simply, there is a large flow of people, a complex mix of personnel, and insufficient police force."

Ji Ling raised her little head and looked at him: "What about something more complicated?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "Money."

Ji Ling pouted and stopped talking.

Zhang Yunqi protected her and Chu Jian Chunlan as the three girls squeezed forward and laughed. In his impression, the chaotic situation here was not completely curbed until 2017, when the Guangzhou Railway Station was upgraded and transformed into a high-speed railway hub station. The old appearance was replaced by a new one, and the strange stories and incidents in this former gold rush land naturally withdrew from the stage of history along with the old railway station.

Looking back now, we have to say that every seemingly thrilling plot that happened here coincides with the historical process of China's reform and opening up. The station will change, the city will change, and the direction of the tide will also change. The only thing that remains unchanged is people's unremitting desire to get rich.

The migrant worker from Sichuan got off the train in Guangzhou with them. Before getting off the train, Zhang Yunqi invited him to have dinner with him after leaving the station, and he readily agreed.

After leaving the station, Zhang Yunqi couldn't find anyone.

In the dense flow of people rushing into the darkness, it may not take long for him to get lost, just like the blind flow of migrant workers gathered near the Guangzhou Railway Station, a few or dozens of people gathered together, at the edge of the scorching sun, in the depths of darkness, in a corner of the city, waiting and looking for a job opportunity.

After leaving the train station, the group went straight to the White Swan Hotel.

The White Swan Hotel is located in Baietan, Shamian, Guangzhou. It was invested and built by Henry Fok and the GD provincial government. It opened more than ten years ago and is China's first five-star hotel with Sino-foreign cooperation.

After arriving at the hotel, Zhang Yunqi asked Wang Guibing to book four luxurious rooms with river views. He planned to stay in Guangzhou for two days and have a good time. He had some important things to do in Xiangshan later and had no time to play with Ji Ling and the others.

We had dinner at the local restaurant on the third floor of White Swan.

If you come to a place like this and don't bring these little fools to eat authentic seafood, you'd be sorry for the people and the Party. There were king crabs, mussels, salmon, scallops, dace, octopus, and freshly arrived oysters. Maybe for these people who grew up eating Hunan cuisine, the only flaw was that it wasn't spicy enough, but it was fresh and authentic. Except for a few girls, everyone ate a lot. They were all starving after sitting on the train for nearly a day.

After wolfing down his meal, Wang Xiaokai sat in the brightly lit and luxurious restaurant, picking his teeth and sighing: "To be honest, in my entire life, I have only admired two people, and classmate Xiao Zhang ranks second."

Ji Ling asked: "Who is ranked first?"

"Of course it's Mao Diadia." This flattery was so pure and refined that Zhang Yunqi's bones softened. Wang Guibing next to him couldn't help but smile at Wang Xiaokai: "I think you don't need to study anymore, just come to Lianzhong to work in sales, I guarantee you will have a bright future."

Wang Xiaokai was very excited: "Really?"

Yang Wei, who was standing next to him, took a small round mirror to check the acne on his face and said, "It can't be fake. With your ability to flatter people, it's easy for you to attract a few clients."

Wang Xiaokai said, "I'm talking about impotence. It's not your fault that you're ugly. It's wrong to come out and annoy others."

"What the hell, how am I ugly?"

"I'm really not trying to hit you, but your nostrils look like they're made to look like they're made of green onions."

"Fuck you, you immortal."

Yang Wei almost fainted from anger. Everyone was laughing, but Wang Xiaokai hadn't finished his big mouth yet. He said to Yang Wei: "I'm not saying anything bad about you. I just think you've become stupid from studying too much. What's wrong with flattering me?"

Ji Ling smiled: "It seems you are quite proud of it?"

Wang Xiaokai immediately said: "You don't understand this, right? Look at the textbook knowledge we learned in elementary school, it's old-fashioned and boring. We were taught to be strong-willed and act like a big shot, but the result is that we are full of sourness. But what happens when we get out into society? We will make enemies everywhere and suffer for the rest of our lives. You should know that all the big shots in this world started out as grandsons. You can't expect others to bow and scrape to you to satisfy your vanity, while you never act like a grandson. Isn't flattery a necessary weapon for being humble and harmonious? Of course, if you can get to the level of Xiao Zhang, then OK, you can sneer at flattery and ignore everyone except the truth."

Zhang Yunqi was quite impressed with Wang Xiaokai. He could talk so much about flattery, and it seemed like he had some real insights. He smiled and said, "Everyone has their own way of living. The world is the same, but it is different because of different interests. It's getting late, so let's stop talking nonsense and go to bed."

Zhang Yunqi and Wang Xiaokai sleep in the same room.

After sitting on the train for a whole day, he was very tired. He took a shower and went straight to bed. No one spoke that night. The next day, Zhang Yunqi got up early and met Ji Ling while having breakfast in the restaurant downstairs.

Zhang Yunqi didn't expect Ji Ling to get up so early. He took a plate of breakfast and sat opposite him and said, "Why are you up so early? When we were in Yunxi Village, I would only get up when I saw you in the sun."

Ji Ling rolled her eyes: "It's my first time going out so far. I'm not used to it. I woke up early."

Zhang Yunqi nodded: "Where do you want to go today?"

Ji Ling asked with great interest: "Where is the most old-fashioned place in Guangzhou?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "Xiguan."

Ji Ling narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Then let's go to Xiguan."

(End of this chapter)