The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 250 Supplementary votes
Jiang Cheng and his family arrived at the bus station at around 7:40.

Six years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the bus station is much better than before. There are more vehicles, both freight and passenger, than when Jiang Cheng first joined the company.

It's only been six years, and the roads between cities are still not very good. It's better than before, but there is still no cement road.

When Jiang Cheng was still here, he had an apprentice named Feng Hua. Because his father used to be a driver in a local unit, apprentice Feng Hua only studied for four years before becoming a formal driver at the bus station.

However, Feng Hua did not become a freight driver. Instead, because of the expansion of the bus station, he was transferred to the bus station to work as a shuttle bus driver.

In this era, not every city has access to railways. If people in cities near Changcheng want to take the train, many of them have to take a long-distance bus here and then transfer to the train.

In recent years, due to the demand for long-distance buses, the bus station has added a batch of long-distance buses, and therefore some new drivers have also come.

When Jiang Cheng was with Feng Hua before, he only let him ride on the bus once, to Jiujiang. I don't know if it's a coincidence or something, but Feng Hua is now driving the bus to Jiujiang.

As a long-distance bus driver, Jiang Cheng felt that he and his apprentice might have new encounters in a year or two. This was something Jiang Cheng once disliked, but now he planned to do it himself.

The 'Jiangdonglai' that Jiang Cheng runs in Hong Kong is just one of his projects. He also plans to get involved in the service areas on long-distance bus highways in the future.

These service areas may have gradually increased in number as many cities in later generations had highways. Even the first highway service area was not built until ten years later.

But Jiang Cheng has always felt that this is not the case. He thinks the earliest service area was actually in the second year after the reform and opening up. Those long-distance drivers often took a car full of passengers to a remote restaurant at mealtime.

In those remote places, there are no shops or other restaurants nearby. The driver doesn't care whether you eat or not, and together with the conductor, he will drive you off the bus first.

At that time, the prices of those restaurants were not cheap, and many people took long-distance buses and brought egg buns or biscuits with them. But there were also many people who were hungry and wanted to eat, and did not mind spending a little more.

Jiang Cheng has connections at the bus station, so the bus station cannot close down, and there is no possibility that he can contract it. But Jiang Cheng brought the drivers of the entire passenger station to increase their income, and they can eat for free at the restaurant with their ID. He doesn't believe that in Gan Province, this piece of meat can be eaten by others.

Of course, Jiang Cheng didn't intend to cheat people out of their money. Many things can be understood by everyone, and they understand that the driver did that just to increase his income.

But many people hate those remote restaurants, which have bad service, high prices and bad food. Jiang Cheng never thought about making the price cheap, he wanted to make sure the taste and hygiene were good. It doesn't matter if he makes more money, at least people feel that the food is acceptable after eating.

Later, those restaurants gradually disappeared due to countless reports and complaints about their drivers.

It's just that the highway service areas seem to be perfectly "connected". In the past, people could complain and report that drivers deliberately took detours to some remote restaurants, and there were even undercover investigations by TV stations.

The emergence of service areas is straightforward. It is impossible to have a service area on the side of a highway without thinking it is remote.

It’s just that it was done privately before, but now it has an official background. It’s still done privately, but the private individuals have to pay the contracting fee, and the drivers don’t make much money.

When Jiang Cheng and his friends boarded the bus, only the conductor was there. It was not until eight o'clock that the bus driver got on the bus with a thermos cup in his hand. He looked very arrogant. There was nothing you could do. Drivers in this era were just so awesome.

This is in winter. If it is May or June, the bus driver will drive by some riverside roads and see pheasants, wild ducks, etc. He will leave the whole bus of passengers behind, take out his gun and shoot a few shots before returning.

The driver drank tea after getting on the bus and didn't leave immediately, but the conductor immediately came up to him and said something. Then~~.

"The one with the kids, please buy another ticket~." The driver turned around and said to Jiang Cheng and the others while sitting in the cab.

Because Jiang Cheng and his group of seven bought three tickets, according to the regulations, children under 1.1 meters tall are free of charge, while those over 1.1 meters but under 1.4 meters will have to pay half the ticket price.

Now Zhou Lingying was holding the third and fourth child, Jiang Zhaodi was sitting on Jiang Cheng's lap, and Jiang Pandi was sitting on Jiang Juan, which meant that they occupied three positions.

"Driver, these children are only a few years old and they still need to buy tickets." Zhou Lingying responded.

"You have too many children. You need an extra ticket." The driver said impatiently.

"No matter how many there are, they are still children. Isn't it the rule that children get free tickets? Besides, we are not occupying any seats." Zhou Lingying said angrily.

"Get off the bus if you don't want to buy a ticket. There are so many children here, but I asked you to buy a ticket and I'm still nagging you." The driver said with a frown. He felt that his authority was being challenged.

In fact, it was the ticket seller who recognized Zhou Lingying. Although he didn't know her name, she had previously taken three children to Yi'an County alone.

At that time, Zhou Lingying hadn't given birth to the baby in her arms yet, and because it was inconvenient for one person to take care of three children, she took the initiative to buy a half-price ticket for Jiang Zhaodi to sit in one seat.

But we have bought three tickets today, so what’s wrong with one person bringing a child?

"I won't get off the bus. If you dare to force us to get off, I will complain about you immediately." Zhou Lingying said firmly.

Jiang Cheng sat aside. In fact, he wanted to ask for a replacement ticket at first. In the past six years, the ticket price has increased from 20 cents to 30 cents.

But Jiang Cheng knew that although many things had not increased in price and everyone's salary had not increased, the price of diesel had increased, and the expenses of the bus station had increased a lot, so it was necessary to increase the price.

Now that Zhou Lingying had spoken first, and the couple was in public, if Jiang Cheng didn't really know that the other party was wrong, then he would definitely not destroy Zhou Lingying's stage. He didn't care about the few cents, but he had to stand on the same side with his wife.

If this driver really dares to kick them out of the car, Jiang Cheng doesn't mind teaching him a lesson.

At this time, the bus driver looked at Jiang Cheng and his group. He was not afraid of complaints, but he didn't want to be complained about for a few cents. The key point is that it is not a matter of a few cents now. He has lost face.

"Let the oldest girl measure her height." The driver said to Jiang Zhaodi on Jiang Cheng's body.

Jiang Cheng and Zhou Lingying had no way to refuse this request. There was a fixed ruler next to the door inside the car, so there was no need to use a tape measure.

Jiang Zhaodi walked to the car door and stood with her back against the ruler, and then an awkward scene occurred between Zhou Lingying and Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Zhaodi was just over 1.1 meters tall, so she had to pay for a ticket. But even so, she only had to pay for half a ticket. And she could sit in an extra seat, without having to sit on Jiang Cheng's lap.

But even if she could sit in an extra seat, Jiang Zhaodi would only want to sit on Jiang Cheng's lap so that she could be warmer in her father's arms.

This half-ticket supplement actually gave the driver a way out. Otherwise, given the status of the driver in this era, if he did something wrong, it would really be a headache.

(End of this chapter)