The applicable regulations did not allow passengers on city buses to carry too much or overweight luggage. These carry-on items could make other passengers feel uncomfortable. However, these regulations had never been enforced strictly. Usually, the bus crew only asked the passenger to pay double because the luggage was considered the same as the passenger. So that time, Zhengyi and Xinxiu paid the bus fare for four people. They sat in the back row, so they didn't disturb other passengers.
Zhengyi saw that the people following them also got off at the stop where Xinxiu got off. The man was wearing a blue plaid shirt. But, the person following the man remained on the bus. This was beyond Zhengyi's expectations. Since the two didn't seem to be in the same group, or at least they didn't know each other, it was likely that the two of them would either get off the bus following Xinxiu or stay on the bus to follow him. If the person wearing the reversible jacket did not follow the person in the blue plaid shirt, then it was possible that they had different goals.
Zhengyi was actually a bit anxious to face a situation like this. He had acted calmly so that Xinxiu wouldn't panic. Right now, what was on his mind was how to get himself out of this person's stalk. The person wearing a reversible jacket was far more experienced than the man in the blue checkered shirt who had just gotten off at the bus stop. So it took a much harder effort to escape from his observation.
This bus route was quite far, so it was still about 45-50 minutes to reach the last stop. Zhengyi racked his brain to think of the most powerful way he could possibly do in his current state. After ten minutes of not finding any reasonable strategy, Zhengyi gave up.
Later, after arriving at the destination, then I think about the next step. Usually, in a tight situation, brilliant ideas will emerge!
Although Zhengyi tried to enjoy the rest of the trip, he failed to fool his own mind into thinking that the situation was nothing. He knew well that this time he faced a hazardous situation. This was not just an exercise or a test given by the instructors.
Exercises or tests were given was always in a targeted and measurable manner. Everything had been taken into account. All risks had been known long in advance. How to deal with it had been well prepared. Actual events like this differed significantly from practice or tests. Anything could happen. At any time, circumstances could change.
Even students who were the smartest in practice or tests sometimes didn't know what to do when dealing with actual events. The difficulty level in real events might not be too high, but often what happened next was unpredictable. Therefore, the experience was the best thing that everyone should have. As high and as much as any subject matter that people have mastered, they still had to balance it with application in real life.
Finally, the bus arrived at the last stop. All passengers had to get off. For some reason, today, the bus did not operate until evening. After this, the bus must go directly to the pool. So all passengers had to get off. When they arrived at the last stop, only six passengers were on the bus. A man wearing the reversible jacket, an old man who was about seventy years old, a teenage girl, a man in his thirties, a woman in her twenties, and Zhengyi. As soon as he got off, Zhengyi immediately asked the man in his thirties about the location of the train station. The man said that neither the subway station nor the elevated train station was that far away. The two stations were only about one kilometer from the bus stop. Zhengyi had to choose one because the two stations were in opposite directions from that place.
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The sidewalks were still full of pedestrians, so Zhengyi wasn't too worried. He walked south, towards the subway station as the man had pointed out. After walking about three hundred meters, he saw a fairly busy restaurant. At once, Zhengyi went inside. Besides eating, his presence at the place was also to see if the person in the reversible jacket would follow him. After sitting down and looking around, he breathed a sigh of relief that no one was following him. But a few seconds later, he returned to his senses. Zhengyi thought maybe that person was still around the place. It was not impossible that he was waiting outside.
Zhengyi put the backpack on the chair beside the chair he sat on. He rubbed his shoulders and arms. Walking hundreds of meters carrying a large backpack made his arms feel so sore.
After the waiter came, Zhengyi right away ordered food. He then got up from the chair to borrow the telephone in the restaurant. The phone could only be used to make calls within the city. It was not unusual in the city where he lived. The telephone in that place was apparently connected to a device that could automatically calculate the length of the conversation and convert it directly into the costs he had to pay. The cost was far greater than the fee he would have to pay if he made a call using a public telephone. Zhengyi instantly called his house to briefly tell them what had happened.
The one who picked up the phone was Shanquan. During the conversation, Shanquan just listened, knowing that Zhengyi couldn't call too long. Zhengyi narrated in detail but in short sentences, similar to the sentences in a telegram message. Shanquan asked him to come home soon. An idea flashed through his mind. He knew where he would go from there. Zhengyi said he had other things to do first. Therefore, perhaps he would arrive home late at night.
Zhengyi ate quickly because he didn't want to be in the restaurant too long. The train, which stopped at the subway station he was currently going to, did not head straight to the subway station near their house. Zhengyi had to change trains several times. Besides, as he had already told Shanquan, he did have other plans. Zhengyi had to go somewhere first before going home.
There were two reasons he did this. The first was that it made little sense to his stalker if Zhengyi just went straight home after arriving at the station, which was far from home. It was impossible for people to go to a faraway station just to leave things. Something else had to be done to make his actions seem reasonable. The second was that Zhengyi wanted to meet someone.
Just like what he had said to Xinxiu, Zhengyi also left his backpack at the station locker. After leaving the backpack, his steps felt so light that he could move swiftly and freely. The station turned out to differ from what he had previously thought. It was reasonably large. Five train lines passed through this station.
While at the station, Zhengyi did not turn his head right and left to avoid suspicion from those who followed him. After buying a ticket, he speedily walked to the platform to get on the train.
About six months ago, Zhengyi coincidentally met a friend. Even though they hadn't seen each other for a long time, the friend quickly recognized Zhengyi when he was sitting in the train carriage. The friend turned out to have lived in this city for almost five years. At that time, the friend gave his address and invited Zhengyi to visit him. So far, Zhengyi had not complied with this person's request. Now, Zhengyi felt there was no harm in stopping by his friend's place.
It took fifteen minutes to get to the station where Zhengyi had to get off. Zhengyi had never walked around this area, so he was a little nervous. Especially now that it was dark. According to his friend's instructions, the distance from where he lived to the station was not that far. Only about five hundred meters. Zhengyi took about twenty minutes to circle the area before finding the apartment building where his friend lived.