The development of Atlanta Studies is far beyond most people’s expectations.
And further than what most people expected is the development of the city of Atlanta.
In two and a half years, the city of Atlanta has quadrupled in area based on its original size. What is this concept? It is almost equivalent to expanding a new urban area in each of the four directions of southeast, northwest and northwest.
The population growth is even more exaggerated. After several major waves of immigration, the number is more than ten times that of two and a half years ago. If it weren't for the very scientific planning of housing in the city and the gradual control of immigration qualifications, Atlanta would have been overcrowded.
It can be said that the development and expansion of Atlanta City has become a legend, leaving all cities on the main continent far behind.
Because of its particularity, Atlanta Studies is not very well-known on the main continent and is only spread among people in a specific circle. Atlanta City is different. It has become a "pearl" of Sarin and one of the most desirable places on the main continent.
Here, you can find all kinds of weird creations, incredible entertainment methods, delicious food, and fashionable and beautiful clothing.
Businessmen, craftsmen, poor and rich alike were all attracted.
Ma Qiu stood outside the university gate, looking at the crowded streets in front of him, at the high-rise stone buildings on both sides, and at the clock tower landmark in the distance that almost pierced the sky. Even though I have seen the same scene hundreds of times, I still feel a little uncomfortable and feel it is too unreal.
He has been to big cities and knows that big cities such as Char have a prosperity that does not belong to Atlanta.
However, big cities such as Charia took decades to build, while Atlanta only took a few years to build. According to the current development trend, in just one or two years, Atlanta City will be able to leave all the major cities in the main continent far behind and become the number one city in the main continent.
This is really crazy.
This is not a "city of peace" at all, but a "city of madness".
Fortunately, he is now a member of the "Crazy City" and a student at Atlanta High School in the "Crazy City".
Therefore, he does not need to be afraid and intimidated like those country bumpkins who have just entered the city, but should feel honored and proud.
"call-"
Ma Qiu exhaled and pressed the university badge on his chest again, feeling a calm emotion envelope his whole person. With a shallow confident smile on his face, like a big shot who has seen the world, he turned his head slightly and looked at the row of people squatting on the roadside at the entrance of the university.
There were about twenty or thirty people in that row, with different ages and looks. However, they are all relatively strong men with uniform uniforms, a white gown on the upper body, loose light yellow leggings on the lower body, and a pair of light gray shoes on the feet. They seem to be waiting for something, and their eyes are full of expectation.
Machu knew that those were rickshaw pullers.
Speaking of which, rickshaw driver is also a profession that has only become popular in the past year.
Due to the rapid development of Atlanta and the rapid population growth, urban pollution was once very serious. After several treatments, improvements were made. Domestic sewage and filth were forced to be drained from the sewers instead of being dumped on the streets.
However, the domestic sewage and filth have been dealt with, but another thing is still resisting tenaciously, and that is horse manure.
People are very intelligent, so they know what is right and what is wrong, what will be rewarded and what will be fined.
But horses are different. While working hard and without complaint, they can excrete as they please. This resulted in people in Atlanta walking on horse manure for a long time.
Even if someone invented something like a horse manure bag, the promotion was not smooth, and Atlanta officials did not strongly support it. According to some rumors, Atlanta City officials believe that horses are a relatively backward means of transportation and will be eliminated sooner or later. Instead of investing a lot of energy in improving the pollution caused by horses, it would be better to find a way to completely replace the horses earlier.
However, the replacement of horses is not so easy after all, so so far, Atlanta officials are also improving and taking a multi-pronged approach:
The first aspect is to find ways to reduce the use of horses without affecting efficiency.
The second direction is to restrict the horses to walking on fixed roads.
The third aspect is to use subsidies to encourage horse owners to purchase horse manure bags for use.
I heard that there is a fourth aspect, which is to use legislation to declare that every adult horse walking in Atlanta must have a special serial number.
To get the serial number, you must purchase a horse manure bag and use it. Once found, if the horse manure bag is not used after obtaining the serial number, a certain number of serial qualification points will be deducted - the points will be cleared and the serial number will be recovered.
For those horses that do not have serial numbers and are forced to go on the road, they will be impounded directly.
In this way, we can promote the horse manure bag more quickly.
However, this is just hearsay and has not yet been officially implemented.
But no matter what, the number of carriage drivers in Atlanta is gradually decreasing, and correspondingly, the emergence of rickshaw drivers.
These rickshaw pullers are often poor people who have recently arrived in the city. They have no skills to gain a foothold in the city, so they have no choice but to sell their strength. Each person will rent a light two-wheeled rickshaw, and others can hire them to pull it to most places in the city for only a few coppers.
This method of travel is not much slower than horse-drawn carriages, and it can also take shortcuts through remote alleys, which is relatively more efficient. The disadvantage is that you can only pull up to two people at a time, and you can't bring too much luggage, otherwise you have to hire a carriage.
As for Ma Qiu, he is not a noble young master, and he is not rich enough to hire a carriage. With so much money, he would have already invited a beautiful lady to dinner.
However, having said that, although you cannot hire a horse-drawn carriage, you can still hire a rickshaw to go out occasionally.
The place he had to go to on his school mission today was quite far away, but he didn't want to end up sweating all over. It would be best to hire a rickshaw.
So…
Ma Qiu thought about it, walked up to the rickshaw driver, scanned the twenty or thirty rickshaw drivers several times, and finally reached out and picked a big man who looked more honest.
The big rickshaw puller neatly pulled out his car from the corner. Ma Qiu got on it and asked aloud: "How much does it cost to go to the carriage station in Dongcheng?"
Dongcheng Carriage Station is a transportation hub in Atlanta. It transports both people and goods. Ma Qiu's mission today is to pick up someone there.
After listening to Ma Qiu's question, the big rickshaw driver thought for a moment and discussed aloud: "How about ten copper coins?"
Ma Qiu frowned: "Usually, it's eight copper coins." He suddenly felt that he might have chosen the wrong person. The big coachman looked honest, but he was very cunning in his heart, and he actually wanted to cheat him out of money.
The big rickshaw driver defended: "Today is different..."
"What's the difference? Could the road be longer?" Ma Qiu interrupted the rickshaw driver. Seeing what the rickshaw driver wanted to say, he didn't bother to argue with him, so he said directly, "Use an hourglass. The fee will be charged by the hour. It will be calculated at the location. money."
"That's... okay." The big rickshaw driver pursed his lips and agreed. He took out a small translucent glass hourglass from his arms and hung it on the hook on the side of the rickshaw. The light blue sand slowly poured down from the top, and the timer started.
This hourglass is the official standard timepiece of Atlanta. It is accurate and cheap, with a scale. If the rickshaw driver cannot negotiate the price with the passengers, he will use an hourglass to measure time and charge according to the scale when he goes to the place - one copper coin per scale.
In Ma Qiu's opinion, based on his usual experience, traveling this way would only cost a little more than eight ticks, and he would be able to pay nine copper coins for the fare, which would save him a full copper coin.
This saves you a hundred times and you can treat one more beautiful lady to dinner.
With this thought in mind, Ma Qiu sat on the rickshaw and said, "Let's go."
"Okay." The rickshaw driver didn't waste any time. He straightened up and took Ma Chu away with him.
After the rickshaw had gone dozens of meters, Ma Chu suddenly thought of something and promptly reminded the rickshaw driver: "By the way, don't take the Seventh Avenue, take the Eighth Avenue."
Speaking of which, from the main campus of Atlanta University to the East City Coach Station, the distance is similar between walking on Seventh Avenue and walking on Eighth Avenue.
However, Machu went to Seventh Avenue once when he invited Madam Gianna to dinner some time ago.
At the beginning, he saw that part of Seventh Avenue was being built. He heard that rails were being laid. Why was the rail car being tested? According to his prediction, it should not be completed yet. So taking the Seventh Avenue will definitely delay time, but taking the Eighth Avenue will save time and money.
After hearing Ma Qiu's words, the rickshaw driver was stunned for a moment, then he hesitated to confirm and asked: "Do you really want to take the Eighth Avenue?"
Why, knowing that Seventh Avenue is building roads, you want to trick me into taking Seventh Avenue to earn more money for the car... Don't think about it, I'm not that gullible... Ma Qiu thought, nodded seriously and responded: "Yes, that's right. Take Eighth Avenue.”
"Okay, I got it." The rickshaw driver didn't say anything more. He lowered his head and started running, pulling the rickshaw forward.
Ma Qiu relied on the rickshaw, lay down comfortably, and closed his eyes. He was not closing his eyes to meditate, but was seriously thinking about a series of details of picking up people at the carriage station, and how to get things done without making mistakes.