Yezi looked around and only found one hostel. Upon inquiry, the price was a whopping eighty yuan per night.
Looking at what little money he had left, Yezi had barely over a hundred yuan. Just buying a ticket to Beijing had nearly depleted his "private savings."
Under the disdainful gaze of the hostel owner, Yezi walked out dejectedly.
After wandering around the town, Yezi’s stomach embarrassingly started growling. This small, unnamed town, thriving only because of the train station, hardly had any places to eat.
Yezi then walked around again, finally finding a barbecue stall by the river that operated at night.
"Boss, two plates of fried noodles," said Yezi, famished. As soon as the fried noodles arrived, he devoured them so quickly that he couldn’t even recall the taste afterward.
While eating, several other customers entered the shop; the busy boss attended to them. With nowhere to go for the night, Yezi lingered at a riverside seat, helplessly sitting and listening to the sound of the river slapping against the shore. The boss, busy with customers, did not bother to shoo him away.
"Hey, boss, what’s going on? You going to keep the stall running or not, whatever we order you’re out of it? And not to mention, I asked for fresh river fish, and you give me these ugly ones, what’s the meaning of this?" the newly arrived customers started arguing with the boss.
Yezi looked back and saw the boss with a troubled face. The customers had ordered several fresh grilled crucian carp, but in such a remote stall, there wasn’t much sell in a day, and the river fish were leftovers from yesterday. Although not fresh, they weren’t rotten.
"Customers, the fish are really not rotten. Besides, at this time, where can we get fresh river fish?" the boss said, troubled.
"Where? Isn’t that water right there? Go down and catch a few," one of the arguing customers retorted brazenly.
The patrons seated in the stall, upon hearing this, all turned to look at the river beside the stall.
The water in Hubei is part of the Yangtze River system. It is late March or early April, with the south just entering the rainy season. A few days ago, it rained in the town, and the river has risen quite a bit.
The reeds over two meters tall by the riverbank were mostly submerged, making the already deep river water even deeper and unpredictable.
High winds and strong waves, catching a few fish in such a river would be akin to sending someone to their death, wouldn’t it?
"Customers, don’t be hard on the boss. The river, with its high and swift currents, usually requires a boat even just for net fishing. We have neither fishing rods nor nets in the stall, you see..." A customer, seeing the unfairness, stepped up to persuade. After all, the owner’s small business was just managing a late-night food stall and having this group of people was indeed unfortunate.
"Who is in the mood to trouble him? Also, look at what we do. How could we ingest such fish? You say we can’t catch fish? I’ll catch a few myself and if I do, this table’s meal should be on the house." A dark-skinned, stout man among the customers responded.
He took off his shirt and walked out of the stall.
Seeing this, the stall owner was terrified and repeatedly tried to dissuade him, but no one paid him any heed.
These customers must be from out of town since his stall had been operating by the river for several years. In previous years, there had been several customers who insisted on diving into the water, believing in their own swimming skills, and several had drowned.
Now, in the dead of night, in this remote town without even street lights, any mishap in going down there would be troublesome.
The stall owner guessed right; these customers were indeed from out of the area.
Yezi had alighted from the train accidentally, but they had specifically chosen to disembark here to discuss a business deal. The deal wasn’t settled yet, and with hungry stomachs, they came out to find food.
Having heard that this riverside stall had been open the longest, they decided to dine here, only to find the fish not fresh, which upset the picky customers, leading to the argument.
"Stop the shouting; my brother is nicknamed Little White Dragon in the waves, he’s seen bigger storms. Forget about such an insignificant river, even entering the Yangtze River Gorge, he would daringly dive right in," a few customers waiting on the shore cheered loudly.
Yezi watched from the side, finding the situation rather amusing, just watching the drama unfold.
"Ni Qiu, got any?" The customers on the shore, hungry and anxious, called out a few times.