Yuedong Province, Yue State City, Train East Station.
The East Station was the oldest station in Yuezhou. It had six waiting rooms and was serviced by high-speed trains, express trains, and old, green-painted trains alike.
Li Banfeng carefully checked his train ticket information: Train No. 1160.
Li Banfeng sent a message, "Didn’t this train derail?"
DING.
He Jiaqing replied, "The accident has been dealt with, and the train service has resumed."
There wasn’t even a "K" before the train number.
That meant it wasn’t even an express train; it was the slowest type of train.
The ticket information stated Gate No. 96 for ticket checking.
Li Banfeng wandered around the various waiting areas. He saw many middle-aged men in suits and also plenty of casually dressed young people.
What struck him most were the elderly people in simple clothes. They carried a lot of luggage—on their backs, in their hands, and even slung over their shoulders. Many had a large enamel mug tied to the outside of their bags. This was the most common and unique sight at the train station.
But after looking around, Li Banfeng didn’t find Gate No. 96.
"Where is Gate No. 96?" Li Banfeng messaged He Jiaqing.
"It’s not fixed; ask the staff."
Li Banfeng asked five station staff members in turn, and the first four said there was no Gate No. 96.
After checking Li Banfeng’s ticket, the fifth staff member led him to the second waiting hall. They went past a toilet, through a hallway, opened a metal door, and entered an underground passage.
Underground passages are common in train stations, but this one was unusual—it was very long, dimly lit, and a damp, putrid stench assaulted his nostrils.
The ground was uneven and puddled, with woodlice squirming in the water. Such a wretched underground passage seemed to belong only in Li Banfeng’s childhood memories.
Back then, he’d often go to an abandoned train station—not to catch a train, but to follow Old Lady Wu and steal scrap metal.
After traversing the long underground passage, the staff member led Li Banfeng directly to the platform.
He took out a black, lacquered box, shaped somewhat like a mailbox.
On the right side of the box was a crank. The staff member turned it, and from a slit at the top of the box, a piece of a train ticket emerged.
It was a piece of a ticket, a ten-centimeter-long strip of soft paper, not the hard paper train ticket Li Banfeng was accustomed to.
The staff member stamped the ticket and handed it to Li Banfeng.
On the front of this ticket were the names of each station on the route and their arrival times.
Three-Head Fork, Hai Chi Ridge, Greenwater Bay, Pants Belt Pit...
He didn’t recognize a single station name. At the bottom of the ticket was the destination of Li Banfeng’s trip. This station was called Medicine King Valley.
Li Banfeng had never been there, nor had he ever heard of it.
He looked at the departure time: June 28th, 1:53 AM, which was almost fifteen minutes away.
Then he looked at the train’s arrival time: June 30th, 7:00 AM.
Next, he checked the seat.
Car 7, Seat No. 7, a first-class sleeper ticket.
There was a line of fine print on the ticket. Li Banfeng scrutinized it and found it said: This train provides hot water but no food. Passengers should prepare their own.
With just fifteen minutes before departure, it seemed too late.
The route back was too complicated, not to mention there was a metal gate to pass through.
On this old and decrepit platform, Li Banfeng was the only one waiting for a train.
At that critical moment, Li Banfeng’s phone rang. He Jiaqing had sent a message: "Brother, have you bought anything to eat?"
"Why the hell are you only asking now? Why didn’t you remind me when I was at the supermarket?"
"The situation was urgent at the time; I forgot. After you get on the train, make sure you don’t leave the carriage."
As Li Banfeng was puzzling over this, he suddenly saw an old lady with a paper box approaching on the platform.
"Young man, want to buy some instant noodles?"
Li Banfeng looked at her warily. Surprisingly, there was someone selling things on the platform!
People usually sold food on the platforms for the green trains, and Li Banfeng had ridden those before, so this wasn’t too unusual.
The old lady said, "The train is coming soon, and there’s no food on it. Better buy a few boxes to take with you!"
"How much for one box?"
"Four yuan."
Forget the train station; even in any random supermarket in Yuezhou City, that price was an absolute steal.
"Give me ten boxes!"
Li Banfeng took out his phone to scan for payment, when suddenly a tall man in uniform stepped onto the platform and snatched away the old lady’s box of instant noodles.
"Who gave you permission to sell here?" the uniformed man demanded.
"I spoke to the stationmaster," the old lady answered shakily.
"I haven’t heard anything from the stationmaster. These goods are confiscated!" The uniformed man shouldered the box and turned to leave. The old lady watched, trembling, heartbroken over her box of instant noodles but too frightened to say anything.