An Ning slipped the note into her pocket and followed An Guoming. The two of them flowed with the crowd out of the station.

The station in Yangcheng was a world apart from Beijing.

This place was so much more alive!

Bright colors, flowing skirts, perms and curls, fashionable handbags.

The fashion was completely different from Beijing—or from the North in general.

"There’s a bus over there. Let’s go take a look. We can’t stay near the train station."

An Ning had no objection, but first, she pulled out the note Jiang Xia had given her.

It was a palm-sized slip of paper, covered in tiny, densely packed words.

"What’s this?"

An Guoming leaned in for a look, and An Ning didn’t try to hide it.

"Information from Jiang Xia."

’Jiang Xia?’

An Guoming’s heart began to pound. ’His little sister left home, and she made a point to tell Jiang Xia?’

’And that kid Jiang Xia even prepared a note for her?’

’Why did he suddenly feel like his little sister was about to be stolen away?’

An Guoming’s mind raced as he searched for the right words.

"When did you see Jiang Xia?"

"Just now. He was on the train, but he didn’t speak to me. He just handed me this note."

An Ning studied the note carefully. The information was very useful.

Jiang Xia had told her not to stay near the train station and had listed several other areas with lodging.

Not only that, but the note also listed the addresses of several factories for profitable "buy low, sell high" trades.

At the end, he had even written down his own address and the phone number of the place he recommended for lodging.

Once An Ning had committed it to memory, she put the note away.

An Guoming, standing to the side, felt a panic he hadn’t even experienced during a fistfight.

"So, sis... are you and Jiang Xia... really close?"

An Guoming asked tentatively, his eyes fixed on An Ning, afraid of missing a single detail.

"We worked together to hunt wild boars and sika deer."

An Ning’s uniquely calm expression made An Guoming relax a little.

"Oh, well, that’s good. Shall we get going?"

An Guoming dropped the topic of Jiang Xia. ’What if she doesn’t think of him that way? If I keep bringing it up, she might start to.’

An Ning truly hadn’t made any romantic connections. She followed An Guoming and found the trolley.

They bought tickets and boarded.

"Second Bro, where are we going?"

"Lai Cheng Street."

An Guoming had been asking for directions along the way and had managed to get some useful information.

An Ning recognized the name. It was one of the places Jiang Xia had mentioned on his note for lodging.

She nodded without comment.

An Ning didn’t even realize it herself, but she trusted Jiang Xia a great deal.

After a ride of over twenty minutes, the two of them got off the trolley at Lai Cheng Street.

"It’s so different."

An Guoming scanned the pedestrians and buildings on both sides of the street, his eyes landing on a cluster of inns.

"Over there. Let’s find a place to stay, then we’ll get something to eat."

"Okay!"

Lai Cheng Street seemed to be a hub for inns. Many of the people coming and going carried bundles and packs of all sizes.

The two found an inn with a relatively clean-looking entrance: Customer Inn.

"Welcome! Are you two looking for a room? How many?"

Just inside the entrance, there was a counter to the left. Behind it stood a kindly proprietress with a pleasant, well-fed face.

The proprietress’s attitude took An Guoming by surprise.

’Back in the North, you wouldn’t find staff with such a good service attitude yet. But it makes sense; these inns are probably all privately owned.’

"We need two rooms, preferably next to each other."

An Guoming stepped forward. The proprietress smiled cheerfully and replied, "Alright, no problem. Two rooms. Standard rooms should be fine, right?"

"What’s the difference?"

After he asked, the proprietress led them upstairs for a look, and they settled on two standard rooms.

The proprietress, having learned they were siblings, personally showed them the location of the restrooms, the hot water room, and where to go for breakfast and other meals.

"Thank you so much," An Guoming said before closing the door.

They were both in one of the rooms. An Ning sat in a chair, watching An Guoming lean against the door.

"Second Bro?"

"Yeah?"

An Guoming snapped out of his daze and sighed. "You really don’t know until you leave home. The second you step outside, you realize how big the difference is."

"Back home, all the state employees act so high and mighty. But here, they’ve already started selling..."

"Service!"

"Right, service! Such a good attitude."

An Ning stood up and pushed open the window. "There are a lot of inns out there. It’s competition."

"You’re right. Competition is what drives better service."

After talking for a bit, they sat down to plan their next steps.

"We’ll get something to eat, sell our goods, and look for contacts. We need to see if we can bring a shipment of things back with us."

An Ning agreed. She emptied her backpack of clothes and other personal items, zipped it shut, and slung it over her shoulder to head out.

They locked their doors, went downstairs, waved to the proprietress, and headed out to find some food.

"The proprietress said there’s a place nearby that has delicious cheung fun and stir-fried rice noodles. Want to go try them?"

"Sure!"

An Ning loved trying new foods.

They walked a short distance; the cheung fun shop wasn’t far.

"The proprietress wasn’t exaggerating."

Looking at the long line, An Ning wondered if everyone staying in the nearby inns had come to eat here.

"It must be good, then. We’re not in a hurry, so let’s wait."

An Ning nodded and followed An Guoming to get in line.

Standing in line, An Ning watched the owner at the front. He poured a thin layer of white, watery batter onto a flat, heated metal tray.

In just a moment, the batter steamed into a soft, translucent sheet. The owner then used a scraper to skillfully fold it into a wrinkled roll.

The cheung fun was placed on a plate, and another person at the station started adding seasonings.

Some customers had minced meat added, others pickled long beans, and some even fruit. An entire table was covered with various jars of toppings and sauces.

The line for the cheung fun moved along at a decent pace.

When it was their turn, An Guoming ordered six portions straight away.

The owner began preparing them with deft movements. An Ning got two with minced meat and one with pickled long beans.

An Guoming got the same.

With no seats available, the two of them carried their plates of cheung fun over to the roadside, squatted down, and ate their first meal in Yangcheng.

"This is pretty good."

"The flavor is great."

They returned their plates, wiped their mouths with their handkerchiefs, and continued on their way.

As they walked, they bought two shaobing, two orders of pan-fried buns, and a couple of small pastries.

By the time they had finished all the food, An Guoming had managed to gather the information he was looking for.

"Sis, let’s go. Over on Yulin Street, there are a lot of pawnshops and places like that—all old, established businesses."

"Second Bro, you’ve gotten really good at this." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

An Ning’s blunt praise made An Guoming uncharacteristically bashful.

"Well, I can’t be too embarrassing if I’m your second brother."

"You’re not. You’re my second brother, and that’s enough. You don’t need any extra halo."

An Ning finished with a slight smile, then turned and headed for the bus stop.

An Guoming, following behind, was surprisingly touched by her words.

"Hurry up, Second Bro! We’re going to miss the number two bus!"