The two went together to a real estate agency.
Though called an agency, it was merely a street-front room containing a single small table.
People coming to look for housing were numerous: either those conducting border trade in the village seeking convenient transportation, or people from out of town.
At present, Laibin City had not yet undergone urban renewal, lacking commercial housing. There were only old single-story houses in the old district, where local residents squeezed together to free up a room and rent it out to out-of-towners, earning a little extra income on the side.
The agency worker shouted, “No vacant rooms left! Come back in a couple of days!”
Lei Yihong looked at Tong Xiaoxi. “We have a bicycle at home. I’ll ride and carry you back and forth to work every day first.”
Tong Xiaoxi scanned his still-bony frame from head to toe. “Are you sure you can carry me?”
It wasn’t that she looked down on Lei Yihong, but Laibin City was a mountain town; whether in the city or the villages, the roads had an abundance of uphill and downhill slopes.
Riding a bicycle alone required considerable effort, let alone carrying a passenger.
Lei Yihong straightened his back. “Absolutely! Just count it as physical exercise. Come on, stop looking.”
Even if they kept looking, they wouldn’t be able to rent a house.
Housing in Laibin City was extremely tight right now, with many out-of-towners flooding in to do business. Long Province had a fairly large number of port cities—five in total.
Laibin City was the smallest among these port cities, but border pass requirements had been canceled here several years ago, making it very convenient for out-of-towners to enter and exit.
Unlike several other border port cities facing the Russian Federation, where out-of-towners still needed border passes to travel through.
Furthermore, Laibin City was connected by railway and boasted direct highways to the Russian Federation along with barter trade zones; all these conditions naturally attracted out-of-towners to swarm into Laibin City.
Currently, Laibin City faced not only a shortage of housing, but its streets had also become congested.
Previously, there were only a few decent taxis in the entire city, but now the number had suddenly jumped to dozens.
Even real estate agencies were products born of these circumstances.
Stepping outside, Tong Xiaoxi said, “I need to buy a train ticket to Bin City.”
She intended to go to Bin City to procure some goods. Since she was about to start her job soon, she couldn’t possibly carry out trades with empty hands, could she?
“Let me accompany you and help carry things.”
Tong Xiaoxi shook her head. “No need. Mind your own business.”
Lei Yihong pondered briefly. “Alright, just be extra careful on your own.”
One must balance closeness with space; being excessively proactive would make the other person feel a lack of boundaries, which would only breed annoyance.
He could tell that Tong Xiaoxi didn’t want him tagging along. Having lived for over twenty years, lacking even this bit of social awareness would mean living in vain.
The two went to the train station to buy a ticket to Bin City—a train departing after eight o’clock tonight, arriving in Bin City after four o’clock tomorrow morning.
Since it was still early, the two headed home first. Tong Xiaoxi asked Wang Yumei for two woven sacks, which many people at this time called snakeskin bags.
Wang Yumei nagged incessantly, “You haven’t traveled far on your own before. Let Yihong accompany you. With these two large bags of stuff, will you be able to carry them yourself when the time comes? How about I go with you tomorrow? Things in the fields aren’t too busy these couple of days.”
This silly girl had grown up by her side and had never left her. Even though she was only going to the provincial capital now, she still couldn’t feel at ease.
She only blamed her own son’s poor health for his inability to accompany his wife.
“No need, I can manage on my own.”
Even if Lei Yihong were in good health, Tong Xiaoxi wouldn’t want him following along. She had a storage pouch, so she didn’t need to hold anything by hand along the way, making it immensely convenient.
Lei Yihong went to Lei Wanmin’s distillery.
The scale of Lei Wanmin’s distillery wasn’t large, but the liquor brewed there was exceptional; plenty of people from neighboring villages and the town came to purchase it.
Lei Yihong had three hundred yuan in total earlier; after spending some on processing certificates and reserving a bit for living expenses, he gave Lei Wanmin two hundred yuan to purchase liquor along with large and small plastic barrels.
This was something he had ordered two days ago when he first transmigrated, originally intending to buy on credit first and hand over the money to Lei Wanmin after reselling.
He hadn’t expected to pull off a scam and get three hundred yuan, so buying on credit was no longer necessary.
However, Lei Wanmin didn’t usually keep that much liquor in stock, nor could liquor be brewed immediately on demand.
“Yihong, I can get fifty catties ready for you the day after tomorrow. There are only ten catties of head spirits, thirty catties of 60-degree liquor, and ten catties of 50-something-degree liquor. Besides, you don’t need to give me this much money.”
Lei Yihong waved his hand. “It’s fine, the extra counts toward the next batch. I’m not buying this for home consumption; I’m going to barter with it. Uncle, please lend me the tractor again.”
“Take it whenever you want to use it. If I need one, I’ll just borrow from your eldest uncle’s house… Yihong, you’ve just woken up and haven’t fully recovered yet, so take it easy.”
Lei Yihong nodded. “I got it.”
Lei Wanmin wasn’t overly surprised by Lei Yihong’s intention to trade with the Russians.
Too many ordinary folks in Laibin City were engaging in barter trade nowadays; nearly half the people in Laixi Village took advantage of the farming off-season to do this.
Earlier, he had also exchanged a tracksuit for a wristwatch for his wife.
His distillery business was doing well and kept him busy, so he didn’t plan on doing this continuously.
At seven o’clock in the evening, Lei Yihong drove Lei Wanmin’s tractor to take Tong Xiaoxi to the train station.
He had flown airplanes, driven cars, piloted yachts, and ridden motorcycles, but this was his first time driving a tractor.
Facts proved that knowing how to drive a car didn’t necessarily mean one could master a tractor.
Lei Wanmin’s tractor was a walking tractor with a trailer attached to the back, normally driven to town or the city to deliver goods, and capable of performing farm work during busy seasons.
Lei Yihong sat in the driver’s seat, while Tong Xiaoxi sat on the edge of the trailer very close to him.
When the vehicle started up, it suddenly jolted. Tong Xiaoxi bumped right onto him, her nose slamming into his bony back. Tears nearly welled up from the pain, and in her annoyance, she slapped the man in front of her hard. “Big brother, can you handle this or not?”
The slap left Lei Yihong’s back feeling numb and tingling. He turned around and said, “Don’t worry, big brother can handle it just fine.”
Tong Xiaoxi glared at him while rubbing her nose, relieved that it was natural—otherwise, that hit would have dislodged the implant.
Seeing her reddened nose, Lei Yihong wanted to reach out and rub it for her, but Tong Xiaoxi slapped his hand back. “If you can’t do it, let me!”
“I can!” He absolutely had to be able to!
No man could admit defeat when questioned on whether he could handle something.
This time, Lei Yihong finally got the hang of it, driving the tractor smoothly onto the road.
The path out of the village was entirely uphill; if riding a bicycle, it would indeed take immense effort, and in his current physical condition, his blood vessels might burst from pedaling.
“After you get back, shall we visit the barter trade zone together?”
“Sure.” Tong Xiaoxi also wanted to see the legendary, magical trading place.
Though the prerequisite was having goods in hand.
Arriving at the train station, Lei Yihong stopped the vehicle. “I’ll come pick you up tomorrow night.”
Tong Xiaoxi nodded. Just as she turned around to enter the station, Lei Yihong shouted from behind again, “Be careful on the road.”
Tong Xiaoxi waved to him, and Lei Yihong watched her walk into the station before leaving.
What required the most caution when taking the train nowadays was pickpockets, who swarmed like locusts.
However, Tong Xiaoxi had no need to worry; all her money was stored in her storage pouch. Furthermore, the storage pouch couldn’t be stolen by others—if it moved more than two or three meters away from her, it would return on its own. To outside eyes, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary little brocade pouch holding a protective talisman.