Capitalview City Train Station.
It was the middle of the night.
Evan Lin slung his backpack over his shoulder and bought a ticket to River City.
At 1 a.m., Evan boarded the train from Capitalview City to River City.
There weren't many people in the carriage. Evan found his seat, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.
The summer heat made the air thick with unpleasant smells. Every so often, a train attendant would come by pushing a food cart and hawking snacks, but most passengers just dozed off.
When daylight broke, the train arrived at the station. Evan walked out of River City Station, headed straight to the bus terminal, and bought a ticket to Clearstream County.
Clearstream County is part of River City, and it takes about two hours to get there from River City.
After getting on the bus at the station, it bumped along the road for a while before finally heading toward Clearstream County.
It was one of those old long-distance buses, packed with people.
Evan sat in the back row by the window, backpack slung over his shoulder, quietly watching the scenery outside, his expression indifferent.
"Did you hear? This time Doggy Han is actually marrying a super beauty. You guys would never guess who his bride is."
The woman speaking wore a black top with jeans, carried a knockoff designer purse, and had high heels and black stockings. She looked to be in her early twenties, with heavy makeup and a thick layer of powder on her face.
"Doggy Han looks like that and can still marry a beauty? Come on, everyone in the county knows what kind of person he is. Back in school, he caused plenty of trouble." Another woman around the same age rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed.
"You can't say that. You know who Doggy Han's dad is, right? He was one of the first people in our county to get rich, and he owns several construction-material factories. The family's loaded."
"Doggy Han's just ugly and has a bad personality, that's all. Nothing else really wrong with him."
After saying that, the girl herself couldn't help but laugh.
"Right, you still haven't said—who exactly is Doggy Han's bride?" someone piped up, curious.
All of them were heading back to the county for Doggy Han's wedding.
Doggy Han was their old classmate, and with the National Day holiday, his family was throwing a big wedding. Most importantly, his family was one of the most powerful in the county, so even if some of them didn't like Doggy Han, they wouldn't show it.
This trip back was a chance to strengthen their ties with Doggy Han. If they ever ran into trouble or needed to borrow money, it'd be easier to ask for help.
"You all know her too—she's the one who became a teacher after graduating from Normal College," the woman said bluntly.
"Zhong Shuiyu? No way. She's not the type to care about money, and with her standards, there's no way she'd go for someone like Doggy Han," someone protested, clearly skeptical.
At that moment, a young man who'd been silent up front turned around and glanced at them, then grinned, "It doesn't matter if Zhong Shuiyu isn't interested. As long as her dad is, that's enough."
"What's up with her dad?"
The women all turned to look at the young man when they heard that.
They all knew each other and had coordinated to go back together.
"Her dad, Old Man Zhong, is a total gambling addict. Not long ago, he lost everything in Brightsea City, came crawling back, but still couldn't quit gambling. He sold off everything at home, but when he finally ran out of money and couldn't survive, he just wouldn't stop. That's when he ran into Doggy Han."
The young man crossed his legs, looking smug as he spoke.
"So what happened next?"
The women pressed him for details.
"So what happened next? Of course Doggy Han lent Old Man Zhong money to gamble. That guy's a real piece of work—got the cash and blew another hundred thousand in one night."
"But what's that got to do with Zhong Shuiyu marrying Doggy Han?"
Someone was confused.
Someone else rolled their eyes. "Are you dumb? Doggy Han's not some nice guy. Everyone knew back in school he had his eye on Zhong Shuiyu. She was always gorgeous, tons of guys wrote her love letters. Doggy Han even bought her a Nokia phone for over a thousand yuan—which was a big deal back then! But Zhong Shuiyu never paid him any attention."
"Now that Doggy Han finally has something on her, you know he's going to squeeze her for all she's worth. He even said if Old Man Zhong marries off Zhong Shuiyu to him, not only will he forgive the hundred thousand debt, he'll give Old Man Zhong a house in Clearstream County plus two hundred thousand in cash. Of course Old Man Zhong jumped at the offer!"
The young man looked downright envious as he spoke. "You guys have no idea how gorgeous Zhong Shuiyu is now—way prettier than before. She even taught at Brightsea No. 2 High for a while."
"Her looks and aura now? Totally next-level. Doggy Han's basically hit the jackpot—he'll be living it up for the rest of his life."
The young man was full of envy and jealousy.
The women nearby just shook their heads at the sorry state of things.
"Did Zhong Shuiyu actually agree to this?"
Just then, as everyone was getting worked up, a curious voice chimed in.
They turned to look and saw a boy in a black hoodie, backpack on his shoulders, sitting by the window in the back row, propping his head up with one hand and watching them.
Hearing someone ask, the young man was happy to keep talking: "Like she has a choice? Parents' orders, matchmaker's words—her dad owes the money, so of course she has to pay it back."
"But Zhong Shuiyu doesn't have any money. Over the years, her dad gambled it all away—even her dowry's gone. If she can't pay, what else can she do but sell herself to pay the debt?"
The young man acted like this was perfectly normal.
"But at first, I heard she refused—she wouldn't even come back, let alone marry Doggy Han."
"In the end, Old Man Zhong brought Doggy Han's guys all the way to Brightsea, staked out for days, and finally grabbed her and dragged her back."
The young man shook his head, sighing, "Man, having money is really something."
"Zhong Shuiyu is really pitiful," one of the women said, sounding sympathetic.
"Oh, come on. How is she pitiful? She'll never have to worry about food or clothes again. Isn't that way better than us working stiffs? Worst case, she's just marrying someone she doesn't like."
The group kept gossiping, chattering away.
The young man finally noticed Evan Lin and said, "Hey, you look like a student. Are you heading back to drink Doggy Han's wedding wine too?"