"Third Brother, what did you say? We're going to the provincial capital?"
After leaving Feng Jun's tile shop, Qin Gang looked at Qin Chuan beside him in shock.
"Yes!"
Qin Chuan nodded, "We need quite a lot of things for this renovation. Many items are hard to find in our county town. Only the provincial capital has the most comprehensive market."
"Moreover, some things we simply can't do ourselves and need to find specialists. We don't have these specialists in our county!"
Qin Gang listened, his heart filled with excitement, and couldn't help but ask, "If you go to the provincial capital, will you be alone or..."
The rest of his words remained unspoken, but the meaning was clear.
Qin Chuan looked at his second brother's pleading eyes and found it amusing. He feigned a difficult expression, "One more person means one more person's travel expenses and living costs..."
Brother Qin Er immediately showed a disappointed expression, looking dejected.
"However, who am I to you if not my second brother? Of course, we're going together!"
Qin Chuan added at the end.
Qin Gang was stunned for a moment, and then his entire face lit up with surprise. He let out a shout and directly gave Qin Chuan a bear hug, lifting him up by the waist.
"Haha!"
"I knew it, Third Brother treats me the best!"
"As expected of my little brother, you always think of your second brother!"
Feeling his second brother's deep excitement, Qin Chuan's lips curved slightly, his face filled with joy.
Having lived a second life, his greatest wish was to make up for the lack of family. Now, his father was recuperating in the hospital, getting better day by day.
His second brother beside him no longer did any dirty, tiring, or dangerous heavy labor; his body was intact, and he had always been by his side. Such a life was exactly what Qin Chuan envisioned.
As long as he worked hard for a while longer, until his business truly took off, their family's life would be even better.
The next day, the brothers boarded a bus to the provincial capital.
In this era, there was only one round-trip bus service from Yongnan County per day. It departed at six in the morning and arrived at noon, taking six hours to cover a distance of eight hundred li.
Yes, you read that right. Eight hundred li took a full six hours because many sections of the road were not highways, and the road conditions were truly indescribable.
Feeling the bus bump and sway beneath him, like riding a roller coaster, and the churning dust clouds behind the vehicle, Qin Chuan was filled with emotion.
This was perhaps the unique characteristic of the current era. In another ten or twenty years, these bumpy dirt roads would completely disappear, replaced by asphalt roads stretching in all directions.
It was a testament to the nation's rapid development, its prosperity, and the people's improving lives.
Qin Gang, sitting next to Qin Chuan, was incredibly excited, constantly looking left and right. This was his first time traveling far from home, and his destination was the provincial capital, so his mood was understandable.
However, as the road became increasingly bumpy and occasional traffic jams occurred, Qin Gang's good mood quickly faded.
As for Qin Chuan, he had already leaned back in his seat and fallen soundly asleep.
At noon, the bus pulled into the provincial long-distance bus station. They had finally arrived!
Qin Gang was energized, continuously gazing at the tall buildings around him, exclaiming in awe.
"Wow, Third Brother, look! Buildings can be built this high! How many floors must it have?"
"And this street is so wide, at least five times wider than our county town!"
"Look at all these vehicles, flowing endlessly. People in the provincial capital are so rich!"
"..."
Qin Chuan noticed the strange glances cast his way and finally couldn't help but grab his second brother's arm and pull him along.
Even with his experience of two lifetimes, he found this scene somewhat unbearable.
It was truly a bit embarrassing!
"What are you doing, Third Brother? Why are you pulling me? I haven't seen enough yet!"
Qin Gang was being pulled out of the bus station, still unaware of his country bumpkin behavior.
"Second Brother, if you want to express your thoughts, do it in your heart. There's no need to shout them out loud!"
Qin Chuan explained helplessly, "Although we are indeed from the countryside, there's no need to act so obviously. It only makes us look ridiculous!"
"It might even cause us trouble!"
Qin Chuan said the last sentence in a lowered voice, as he had noticed that among the messy crowd at the bus station, several men with unfriendly gazes were watching them.
As someone who had been through it before, he knew very well how chaotic long-distance bus stations were in this era, with constant pickpockets and thieves, and even robberies happening from time to time.
Small towns were somewhat better, but in a big city like the provincial capital, places like bus stations were among the most chaotic.
Having lived two lives, Qin Chuan understood even better the cruel social reality of judging people by their appearance.
Don't talk about digging three generations back; everyone's family were originally farmers.
The real situation was that if you appeared too rustic and overly surprised by things, it would indeed bring you a lot of unnecessary trouble.
In this society, there were too many people who bullied the weak and feared the strong; they deliberately targeted the pitiable lower class.
Conscience and kindness?
They had long been eaten by dogs!
Some people with dark hearts engaged in businesses specifically targeting these ordinary people who had just arrived in the city. Many people had their belongings and luggage looted.
This social phenomenon, despite the government's continuous efforts to crack down on it, was difficult to eradicate in a short period.
There were frequent occurrences of people being robbed in broad daylight, especially those wearing gold necklaces and earrings.
In his previous life, Qin Chuan had witnessed a wealthy woman have both her gold earrings forcibly ripped off in broad daylight.
Her earlobes bled profusely, and she looked utterly miserable.
This time, Qin Chuan was carrying a full twenty thousand yuan given to him by Li Ya. Even though he had put the money in a pocket sewn inside his underwear, he still had to be wary of the surrounding thieves and pickpockets.
These people were truly shameless; they would grab you, drag you into a secluded alley, and strip you naked.
At this moment, Qin Chuan pulled Qin Gang's arm while carefully observing his surroundings.
He noticed that there were indeed four or five guys following them from the entrance of the bus station, their eyes shifty.
"Damn it, we've really been targeted!"
Qin Chuan cursed his luck inwardly and quickened his pace.
Seeing this, the men behind them also sped up, closely following.
Just then, a taxi passed by. Qin Chuan quickly signaled to stop it and urged Qin Gang to get in.
Brother Qin Er was pushed into the car in a daze. Qin Chuan closed the car door as quickly as possible and urged, "Driver, drive quickly!"
After the taxi started moving, he gave the anxious-looking men by the roadside the middle finger and spat out four words: "Fuck your mother!"
The four men's eyes widened in anger, but the taxi was already driving away. They could only give up helplessly, gritting their teeth.
"Third Brother, were those four people pickpockets?"
At this time, Qin Gang in the car also realized.
After all, Brother Qin Er had also dabbled in the underworld. Although he had initially behaved like Liu姥姥 visiting the Grand View Garden, he wasn't stupid. Sensing his younger brother's unusual behavior, he had completely calmed down.
"They're more than just pickpockets; they do robberies, theft, anything!"
Before Qin Chuan could speak, the driver quickly replied.
"I say, you two young brothers, since you're in the provincial capital, you must be very careful!"
"In this era, there are many thieves, scammers, robbers, and pyramid schemes. Never trust any stranger!"
"And don't carelessly flash your wallets!"