A month of time flashed like a meteor, and in the blink of an eye, it was the season of spring breeze and drizzle.

Xin Xudong and others successively helped Geng Wenyang purchase 13,500 yuan of five-year treasury bills issued in 85. And the more than 10,000 yuan in his hand has been exhausted, and it is time to go to Shencheng to test the water.

Fortunately, he has completed the first draft of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", and after leaving it to Zhuang Fujin to be responsible for sorting out and typesetting, he can take the opportunity to go to Shencheng to sell the treasury bills in his hand for cash.

Tuesday, April 20, was the rainy season.

At more than eleven o'clock in the evening, Geng Wenyang rode a bicycle and hurried to Baicheng Railway Station against the cold of spring. Of course, he didn't tell his parents the truth, but just excused himself that he had to work overtime in the factory, and it was estimated that he would not be able to go home until the day after tomorrow.

Where could Geng Huizhong and his wife have thought that their son would be so bold and actually engage in a "speculative" business, otherwise they would be so frightened that they would drag their son to prevent him from stepping out of the house.

In the 80s, passenger trains generally traveled between 60 and 80 kilometers per hour, and were divided into general express, direct express and express trains according to their operating speed and number of stops.

If it is a special express, it will take about 12 hours to get from Baicheng to Shencheng, and it will take about 14 hours if it is a direct express. Of course, the express is slightly more expensive than the direct express in terms of fare.

The express train that Geng Wenyang planned to take departed from the provincial capital and arrived in Baicheng at about 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, and if it went well, he would be able to reach Shencheng Station at noon the next day.

After arriving in Shencheng, I used the afternoon to go to the exchange to sell the treasury bills, and then took the return train that departed at five o'clock, and I could return to Baicheng early the next morning.

Although it is very hard to take two night trains in a row, as long as you can successfully sell the Treasury bills and get the expected returns, all the hard work and sweat will be worth it.

Built in the mid-60s, Baicheng Railway Station is shaped like a rectangular box, horizontal and vertical, and is a typical Soviet-style architectural style.

Geng Wenyang came to the ticket window and took out money to buy an express ticket from Baicheng to Shencheng, with a hard-seat ticket of 42 yuan and six jiao.

In the late 80s, the railway ticketing system was not equipped with computers and the Internet, and except for the departure station or the large station with reserved carriages, there were no hard-seat tickets with seat numbers at intermediate stations such as Baicheng Station.

As for sleeper tickets, they are even more in demand, and there is no other way than to find scalpers to buy them at a high price. If you want to queue up on your own to buy it from the ticket window, it is purely whimsical and impossible.

The railway station is a single-storey structure, and turning right at the door is the only waiting hall, where all trains from east to west have to wait for ticket checking. The hall was lined with rows of mottled wooden green benches, and even though it was midnight, it was full of people.

Although Baicheng Station is a halfway station, it is the only railway station that radiates the surrounding districts and counties. People in the surrounding areas want to go to the provincial capital, or big cities such as Shencheng and the capital, and the nearest choice is to transfer to the train, so the station is often overcrowded and there is little free time.

Although the temperature is not too high at night, there are too many people in the closed hall, and the air that is not very mobile is filled with unpleasant smells such as dry smoke, foot odor and sweat smell, which makes people feel a little dizzy in their noses.

Geng Wenyang squeezed to the ticket gate fence and leaned against the fence to wait for the ticket to be checked. On this trip, he carried a black backpack, which contained a cup, a few books, and more than 10,000 yuan of treasury bills, plus a short iron rod with a pattern that he used for self-defense every day.

The Treasury bills in the bag were tightly wrapped in layers of white paper, and from the outside they looked like ordinary bundles of books. In line with the principle of not exposing money, safety must be put first when going out.

There are a total of four ticket gates on the iron fence, each with a small blackboard indicating the number of trains to be inspected. In the corner of the fence, two station staff members lazily leaned on their seats and took a nap, their expressions full of indifference compared to the anxious mood of the passengers waiting outside the fence.

Patiently waiting until 12:10, the ticket inspectors finally came and opened the fence gate, and while scolding the swarming passengers, they began to check the tickets one by one with the ticket tongs in their hands.

Geng Wenyang didn't care about Sven, and with brute force, he rushed through the ticket gate in the first three, trotted through the underground passage in a hurry, and rushed to the second platform where the train stopped, panting.

Although it is a limited express train, it is still the most common green car in the 80s. The passengers who got off the train were pouring out of the door one after another, and Geng Wenyang wittily found a carriage that had already finished getting off the passengers and rushed in. Taking advantage of the fact that the large army had not yet boarded the car, he scrambled for an empty seat by the window.

If he couldn't get a seat, he would have to stand on the train for eleven or twelve hours. If it is in the daytime, standing for eleven or twelve hours can barely accept. But at night, especially in the second half of the night, standing for so long and not being able to sleep is really sinful.

Although he grabbed a seat, Geng Wenyang did not dare to relax his vigilance at all. The trains at the end of the 80s, especially the trains that ran at night, were not very peaceful, and bad incidents such as abduction, theft, and theft were not uncommon.

If you want to survive this dangerous time safely, you can only keep your eyes open and be careful.

Sitting opposite him were two college student couples who had returned to Shencheng, and they had already snuggled up to each other and fallen asleep. On the side of the aisle, there are a family of five, men, women and children, who seem to be urban people from the perspective of their clothing, and the snoring sound of sleeping on their stomachs is shocking.

Geng Wenyang closed his eyes and squinted for a while, opened his eyes and looked around vigilantly, and then reached out and touched a short iron rod with patterns in his backpack. In this era, there is no need for security to enter the train station, and it is not uncommon to carry sharp knives on the train, let alone an inconspicuous iron bar.

When your fingers touch the iron rod, there is a special coldness of hard iron, and at the same time, there is a reassuring reliance and strength.

Geng Wenyang said to himself: "As long as the iron rod is in hand, even if there are three or five enemies, I can deal with it." ”

By two o'clock in the second half of the night, most of the people had already fallen asleep, and there was silence in the carriage except for the occasional snoring and whispering.

Suddenly, a sneaky figure quietly emerged from the junction of the carriages. I saw the man tiptoe down the aisle to observe the sleeping passengers one by one, and from time to time leaned forward to reach out and fumble for their pockets.

Geng Wenyang watched coldly, and his right hand quietly reached into his backpack and held the cold iron bar. He is as hard as iron in two lives, and if this person doesn't provoke him, if he doesn't dare to covet his property, then don't blame his subordinates for being ruthless.

The guy moves quickly and quickly moves on to the next target once he gets it. It didn't take long for him to come to Geng Wenyang's side.

He saw Geng Wenyang sitting alone in the double seat, and he was about to sit next to him. Geng Wenyang suddenly turned his head and glared at him, and shouted, "There is someone here!" ”

The man didn't expect Geng Wenyang to not sleep, he was so frightened that he trembled all over, raised his eyes and looked him up and down.

Geng Wenyang was not afraid, glaring at him angrily.

The eyes of the two touched each other, and it seemed that sparks were about to spark.