"You are..." Fang Zhicheng asked puzzledly.
"You are so rude. This is the taxi I hailed. Do you know the first-come, first-served rule?" The woman's voice was very clear. Her brows were furrowed as she looked at Fang Zhicheng with disdain. "Why are young people nowadays like this? They run around in tattered clothes, with no manners and no education. It's really ridiculous."
After being scolded by the woman, Fang Zhicheng actually felt ashamed. The taxi driver advised: "Young man, she was the one who stopped the car first, why don't you wait for the next one."
Fang Zhicheng then realized that he was in such a hurry to come out in order to avoid those spies that he did not notice that the taxi was stopped by someone else, so he got in the car first.
He could understand the anger in the woman's heart, but if he went out, he might arouse the suspicion of those spies. He gritted his teeth and simply played the role of a rogue, saying in a pinched voice: "I'm in a hurry, father, please drive quickly. Anyway, she and I are on the road carefully. This way, I can make double the money."
The woman was slightly stunned and said unhappily, "How do you know we are going the same way?"
Fang Zhicheng tilted his head, shook his head, and trembled his legs as he said, "If I say be careful on the road, then be careful on the road. If I say father, I'll send her off first."
The taxi driver saw that Fang Zhicheng was willing to pay more, so he made a profit. Before the woman could react, the taxi started to speed away. The woman's face turned red. She was already in the thief's car, so it was difficult to get off. She could only say, "Go to the Blue Harbor KTV on Jiangyang Road."
Fang Zhicheng clapped his hands and said, "Father, I'll go there too, I'll go there too!"
The woman rolled her eyes and whispered, "Weird!"
Chapter 0459: Current Status of Urban Village Reconstruction
Sitting in the taxi, Fang Zhicheng tilted his head and looked at the woman from time to time. She didn't look very old. She held a makeup mirror in her hand and gently patted her cheeks with a powder puff from time to time. Slowly, her originally pretty face became lively, and her originally pure and pretty face had a more charming aura.
The woman found Fang Zhicheng peeking at her and glared at him. Fang Zhicheng quickly turned his face away and whistled like a gangster. Ten minutes later, the taxi stopped at Blue Harbor KTV. After the woman got off the car, she saw that Fang Zhicheng did not get off with her, and she smiled helplessly.
Fang Zhicheng stopped a taxi at random in order to get rid of the spies stationed near his home. He seemed to be living and working normally, but in fact, he had long known that many people were lurking in the dark to monitor his every move. This increased Fang Zhicheng's suspicion of some people in Xiaguang District. If they were not guilty, why would they monitor him
My arrival infringed upon the interests of some people. In addition, those people were afraid that my arrival would affect the current situation.
"Aren't you going to get off?" the taxi driver asked.
"Go to Sanyuanqiao Community." Fang Zhicheng pulled the brim of his hat and replied.
The taxi driver smiled bitterly, "Didn't you say you were going the same way as that woman? If I knew you were going to Sanyuanqiao Community, I could have chosen another route and dropped you off earlier."
Fang Zhicheng waved his hand and said, "I have an appointment with someone else. There is still some time before the appointment. It's just right for me to kill time in your car. Don't worry, I will give you more money later. I won't let you suffer any loss."
The driver shook his head helplessly. He, like the woman who had just shared the car with him, probably regarded Fang Zhicheng as an alien.
Twenty minutes later, Fang Zhicheng arrived at Sanyuanqiao Community, one of the urban villages that Xiaguang District focused on renovating in the past few years. It was formerly known as Sanyuan Village, but now it has been changed to Sanyuanqiao Community. He found a random restaurant and sat down. Fang Zhicheng ordered three small dishes and chatted with the boss from time to time.
The boss is a local, originally a farmer. After the urban village was renovated, he was allocated a house and used the first floor to open a restaurant. Normally, the business is good, but today after dinner time, it became deserted.
Fang Zhicheng took a bite of sweet and sour pork with pineapple and said with a smile: "Boss, your food tastes good. Your business must be booming."
The boss waved his hand, sighed, and said, "Young man, what you see is just an empty shell. In fact, we don't make much money every day. We can only maintain operations and ensure that we don't lose money."
Fang Zhicheng asked as he ate, "There are many resettlement houses built here, shouldn't there be a lot of people? I looked around and there are no more than ten restaurants around, so there's not much competition. Logically, your business should be very good."
The boss simply sat down and complained to Fang Zhicheng, saying, "It's true that there are many houses here, but the population is very small. People outside compare the Sanyuanqiao community to an 'empty city' and a 'ghost town'. Without people, it's hard for us businessmen."
Fang Zhicheng put down his chopsticks and asked, "When did this phenomenon begin?"
The boss sighed and said, "It was during the renovation of the urban village a few years ago. Although the surrounding environment was a little worse, it was still popular. Some migrant workers were willing to rent houses here because the rent here was much cheaper than other places. But since the renovation of the urban village began, everyone cleared out the people, but the speed of the renovation of the urban village has been very slow, so the current Sanyuanqiao has slowly become an empty city."
Fang Zhicheng asked in confusion: "Hasn't the community come up with a solution?"
The boss sneered and said, "Forget about the community. All those cadres have become multimillionaires because of the demolition. The interests of us villagers have been completely exploited by them. Now they have all bought properties in other places. Why would they care about the life and death of Sanyuanqiao?"
Fang Zhicheng frowned and said, "Cadres are corrupt and are putting public interests into their own pockets. Isn't there anyone who reports it?"
The boss waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "Of course someone reported it, but is it effective?" He pointed to a nearby residential building that looked a bit out of place in the renovated urban village and said: "Do you see the mud house in front? The previous resident was named Zhang Dawu, a famous nail household. He went to the municipal and provincial governments to hold banners to defend his rights. Some time ago, his legs were broken and he is now lying at home. It's really pitiful. The common people have no way out of wrestling with the government and can only endure it silently."
Fang Zhicheng was secretly shocked when he heard what his boss said, because he did not expect that the problems in Sanyuanqiao Community were so serious. The government also established a set of information blockade checkpoints, making it impossible for information from the grassroots to be transmitted to the top.
Fang Zhicheng groaned and said, “I didn’t expect the situation here to be so complicated.”
The boss mistakenly thought that Fang Zhicheng came to rent a house. He felt that he had said too much and revealed a lot of inside information, so he quickly added: "Young man, do you want to rent a house? I have an empty house at home. The price is negotiable, and it is very safe. You can rest assured."
Fang Zhicheng waved his hand and smiled faintly: "Thank you, boss. I'll take a look. If I can't find a suitable place, I'll rent your house then."
The boss was not willing to let the customer go easily. He pulled Fang Zhicheng and said with a warm smile: "The house is not far from here, just a few steps away. I will take you to have a look."
Fang Zhicheng thought that he needed to investigate more first-hand information, so he did not refuse the boss. He followed him and walked for about ten minutes to a group of old houses that looked a little old.
The renovation of the urban village in Sanyuanqiao is not thorough. The outer part has been demolished and large-scale commercial facilities have begun to be built. However, after walking inside, one can still clearly feel the backwardness and chaos of the urban village.
The boss's home is a four-story self-built house, each floor is divided into eight single rooms, with simple furniture and a separate bathroom. However, because of the lack of ventilation for a long time, it is filled with a musty smell.
The boss introduced: "My house has the best environment among the houses nearby. The house is spacious and the furniture inside was recently bought. The rent is not much, only 150 yuan per month. How about it?"
Fang Zhicheng entered a room and looked carefully. It was only about 15 square meters. He thought that if he wanted to know more about the specific situation of the urban village, he must calm down and investigate and obtain first-hand information. The rent here was not very expensive, so he simply rented one. So he asked, "Do you pay for the house here monthly or quarterly?"
The boss was delighted to see Fang Zhicheng was willing to rent the house, and said, "Usually it's paid quarterly, but if you're willing to pay monthly, that's fine too."
Fang Zhicheng took out 150 yuan from his pocket, thought for a moment and took out another 200 yuan, saying, "200 yuan is the deposit, and 100 yuan is this month's rent."
The boss nodded quickly and said with a smile: "Okay, let's go down and sign the contract now."