In this era, a letter of introduction is required when traveling to some important big cities across provinces.
After the business ended in the morning, Lin Mai made a special trip to Sanyang Village to ask the village chief for a letter of introduction.
The village chief smiled and took out the letter of introduction and pen and asked: "Where are you going?"
"Guangzhou."
The village chief paused with the pen in his hand: "Why do you want to go there? I heard that Guangzhou is very chaotic. I advise you not to go if you have nothing important to do."
Wealth is found in danger. How can one make a fortune without taking risks?
Lin Mai said helplessly: "I just have to go because of something important."
The village chief didn't bother to dissuade her. He opened a letter of introduction and gave it to her, with numerous warnings: "Be careful on the road."
Lin Mai nodded gratefully and went to the bank to withdraw all the money in the passbook. He also went to Uncle Qi's village to collect dozens of kilograms of dried vegetables.
Zhou Caiyun couldn't see through it at all and asked: "Mai Zi, aren't you going to Guangzhou? Why are you collecting so many vegetables?"
Lin Mai said mysteriously: "I have my own magic power." He didn't explain much.
Fang Zhuoran came for dinner at noon and handed her two thousand yuan.
Lin Mai asked in confusion: "Why did you give me so much money?"
Fang Zhuoran said: "Aren't you going to Guangzhou to sell clothes? How can you sell clothes if you don't have any money? Is two thousand enough? If it's not enough, I'll take it."
Lin Mai didn't expect that he would be so attentive and take the initiative to lend her money.
He nodded hurriedly: "That's enough, that's enough, but first things first, the money must be paid back, otherwise I don't want it."
Fang Zhuoran nodded: "Okay."
He couldn't agree, because he was afraid that the little girl wouldn't want his money.
Two days later, the two set off for Guangzhou together.
Because he bought the train ticket at 5:30 in the morning, Fang Zhuoran arrived at Lin Mai's snack bar carrying a canvas backpack before five o'clock.
Lin Mai had already packed it up: the small cart that Master Zhang had made for her, a shoulder bag containing a change of clothes and other necessities, and a net bag of food, and nothing else.
That’s the best thing about traveling in summer, you don’t need to bring too much stuff.
But when I went to Guangzhou with a small cart, I saw that I was going to buy goods, which was very eye-catching.
In order to deceive others, Lin Mai put all the dried vegetables he purchased on a small cart and pretended to go to Guangzhou to sell dried vegetables.
Generally, scammers, pickpockets and robbers will not steal food. By doing this, her safety factor increased a lot.
Moreover, when these dried vegetables are sold in Guangzhou, they can earn a little money to subsidize their travel expenses.
Afraid that Doudou would be sad and scared when she woke up and couldn't see her, Lin Mai woke her up specifically to say goodbye.
Doudou was woken up without a full sleep and asked inarticulately: "Where is mom going? When will she be back?"
Lin Mai answered her patiently, and she wanted to build her sense of security bit by bit.
After having breakfast in their own shop, Lin Mai and Fang Zhuoran set off together.
Doudou, Zhou Caiyun, and Li Mingcheng watched them go away.
There is no high-speed rail in this era, only express and slow trains.
Fang Zhuoran bought them express train tickets.
Although it is an express train, it is still very slow compared to decades later. It takes fifteen hours to reach Guangzhou by train.
Lin Mai followed Fang Zhuoran onto the train, and when she saw him leading her to a soft sleeper carriage, she was a little surprised: "Did you buy a soft sleeper?"
"Is there a problem?" He gently pushed Lin Mai in and pointed to an upper bunk, "That's yours."
Lin Mai put the few things on the luggage rack: "No problem, I just think it's a waste to buy a soft sleeper for a ten-hour drive."
"I don't think it's a waste, I just want you to be comfortable."
However, the soft sleeper was indeed comfortable and quiet, but being in the same room as Fang Zhuoran made Lin Mai a little uncomfortable.
By the time Lin Mai finally got used to it and relaxed, the fifteen-hour drive had passed amidst the clatter of the train, and the train stopped at Guangzhou Station.
While on the train, there were conductors and police officers walking around from time to time. Plus it was daytime, so it was relatively safe. It was only dangerous after getting off the train.
The train station was already a mixed bag, and it was night. Except for Fang Zhuoran next to him, Lin Mai looked like a bad guy to everyone.
I thought so in my heart, but my expression was extremely dull.
All those pickpockets, robbers, and swindlers have sharp eyes. If your eyes are alert, people will know that you have money.
The more relaxed you look, the less likely you are to be spotted.
At the terminal, there were so many passengers getting off the bus that someone bumped into Lin Mai from time to time.
Whenever this happens, Lin Mai will subconsciously press the shoulder bag on his body.
Those who bumped into her were most likely thieves, so she had to be vigilant.
Suddenly, someone screamed: "There is a thief, catch the thief, he stole my bag!"
Lin Mai clutched his shoulder bag more tightly and looked in the direction of the sound with a solemn expression.
I saw a young man in his twenties chasing the thief in the endless crowd.
However, five or six men and women rushed out from the left and right, blocking him either intentionally or unintentionally.
The thief quickly disappeared into the vast sea of people, and the person who was stolen from could only stare.
Even if Lin Mai were to live another life, he would still be frightened when he saw this scene.
After walking some distance further, I saw an aunt rolling on the ground, crying and saying that all the money she had on her was stolen by thieves.
Passengers passing by only glanced at her sympathetically and continued on their way without anyone lending a helping hand.
Who dares to cause trouble when out and about? Who can guarantee that the next victim will not be you?
Lin Mai and Fang Zhuoran held hands and finally got out of the train station.
Outside the train station there was a lot of lights and a lot of noise and chaos.
The timidity of this coastal city is completely different from that of inland cities, and various private parties are very active.
There are quite a few private hotels and short-distance buses pulling people in.
Some passengers were so frightened that they cried and refused to follow, but some were still taken away by private hotels or private buses.
Lin Mai's heart was in her throat, and she just wanted to leave this place of right and wrong with Fang Zhuoran as soon as possible.
At this time, several men and women gathered around and asked them if they wanted to stay in a hotel or take a bus.
Fang Zhuoran ignored him and used his tall and strong body to forcefully break out of the way and lead Lin Mai out of the dangerous area outside the train station.
Lin Mai was relieved and patted his chest: "It's terrible!"
Fang Zhuoran glanced at her sideways: "Before, you planned to break into Guangzhou alone!"
Lin Mai smiled sheepishly. She didn't expect Guangzhou in the 1980s to be so scary.
Although I ate dry food prepared by Lin Mai on the train, it was already nine o'clock in the evening and I was already hungry. I had to find a small restaurant to have a hot meal.
I dare not enter the small restaurants near the train station for fear of being ripped off.
The two people took the bus and got off five stops away.
In mid-June, Jiangcheng is already so hot that people feel like they are in Taishang Laojun's alchemy furnace, and Guangzhou is even hotter.
The city is full of people who can't sleep due to the heat, so the food stall business is particularly booming.
Fang Zhuoran chose a snack bar that looked relatively clean and went in. He ordered boat porridge, shrimp dumplings and rice rolls, and ordered double portions of each.
Fang Zhuoran also wanted to order wonton noodles, but Lin Mai stopped him.
Guangzhou's wonton noodles have both wontons and noodles, which she can't accept.
In Jiangcheng, dumplings are just dumplings, and noodles will never be mixed with them.
It’s not that the wonton noodles in Guangzhou are not delicious, it’s just that I’m not used to eating them that way.
Fang Zhuoran saw a big pot standing at the door of the snack bar, and the beef offal was very fragrant, so he went to buy two portions, one for each person.
When the beef offal soup was served, Lin Mai saw there was a bullwhip in it.
She didn't want to eat this. Before eating, she picked out all the food and put it in Fang Zhuoran's bowl.
Fang Zhuoran tasted several pieces of beef whip and thought it tasted very good. He asked with some confusion: "This is delicious, why don't you eat it? By the way, which part of the cow is this?"
Lin Mai was too embarrassed to tell him: "I don't know, just eat more if it tastes good."
Guangzhou deserves to be the capital of gourmet food. The rice rolls are smooth and delicious, the shrimp dumplings are sweet and juicy, the shrimp meat is chewy and the beef offal soup is hot and fragrant.
The best thing is Tingzi porridge, drink a bowl of hot Tingzi porridge.
Sweating profusely, Lin Mai felt comfortable from the inside out.