87: Chapter 87 This is a sad story

After finishing his bowl of Ranmian, Chen Sheng felt satisfied with his little moment of showing off. He paid via mobile scan, returned to his car, naturally opened the ride-hailing app, and began his day's great undertaking of earning money.

They say misfortunes never come singly, and good fortune doesn't come in pairs. Sure enough, for his very first order today, the system assigned him a long-distance trip to Qingjiang District.

The passenger seemed to be in a great hurry, as they had added a tip, driving the price of what was originally a fifty-yuan one-way trip up to nearly a hundred.

Following the address provided, Chen Sheng quickly picked up the passenger—a man of about his own age. The man also had the surname Chen, so they were technically of the same clan. The man was indeed very anxious and began urging him on as soon as he got in.

"Driver, please hurry up."

"I'll do my best! But safety always comes first." Facing the passenger's urging, Chen Sheng already had his standard line ready.

"Driver! Under the premise of safety, please go as fast as you can. I really have an urgent matter. I have to rush back to stop my parents. If I'm too slow, I'm afraid I'll have to go to the police station to bail them out."

"That's like trying to put out a fire with water from a faraway source!" Chen Sheng thought to himself, "What were you doing earlier?"

Even if he drove as fast as he could, it would still take half an hour to reach Qingjiang District.

"I have no choice either!" The man seemed to have found an outlet for his frustrations and immediately began pouring out his grievances. "Who knew their entire residential compound would unite to protest the subway construction? I really don't know what a subway line has to do with them!"

"Subway construction? Qingjiang District?" Chen Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously asked, "Is it in Tianjiao City in Qingjiang District?"

The man's eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief, "You know about this?"

"I heard a passenger mention it while driving." Passengers were definitely a very useful excuse.

The man slapped his thigh hard. "It's over. Now the reputation has even reached Shu City."

"It's not that big of a deal, is it?" Chen Sheng didn't quite understand why the man was having such a strong reaction. "Isn't it just protesting the subway passing under the compound? Surely that doesn't warrant having to go to the police station to bail people out?"

"It absolutely warrants it." The man complained. "Guess how they're planning to protest?"

"How are they protesting?" The intelligence had already provided the standard answer, so Chen Sheng recited it directly: "The subway construction unit is Shu City. They can't possibly come to Shu City, so if they want to protest, they can only go to the sub-district office or the District Government."

The man excitedly slapped his thigh again. "Driver, you're simply amazing! You even guessed that! That's right! They went to the sub-district office this morning. A huge crowd of people surrounded the office, and the local police station even had to call for reinforcements to maintain order."

"That must have been quite a spectacle." As a professional onlooker, Chen Sheng felt a tiny bit of regret that he hadn't been there to witness it.

Of course, he didn't show any of this on his face. On the surface, he continued driving while analyzing seriously: "However, subway construction involves province-wide planning, and the sub-district office certainly doesn't have the authority. I imagine they probably wasted their morning for nothing."

The man slapped his thigh again, even more excitedly. "Driver, you really are amazing. You could even guess that."

"Exactly! In the end, the director of the sub-district office gave them an answer: the office would report their demands to the relevant higher authorities, and once the higher authorities replied, the office would notify them immediately."

"That's the correct way to handle it." When an issue exceeds one's scope of authority, reporting it level by level is the only path.

Level by level—take note of that.

Skipping levels is a major taboo in official circles.

"It's definitely the correct way!" At this point, the man changed the subject. "But the old men and women think the sub-district office is shirking responsibility and just trying to smooth things over, so they're planning to go directly to the District Government this afternoon to protest."

"I reckon it'll be useless even if they go to the District Government; they'll still have to report it eventually," Chen Sheng predicted again.

"No, no, no, that's not the point." The man waved his hand to interrupt. "Do you know how they're planning to protest?"

Noticing that the man's pupils dilated involuntarily as he said this, as if he had thought of something terrifying, Chen Sheng shook his head consciously. "I can't guess, but it's probably just sending some representatives to talk with government officials and clarify their demands."

"No, no, no. If it were just that, I wouldn't be in such a rush to get back. They..." At this point, the man couldn't help but swallow hard, then said with lingering fear, "They're planning to go straight to the District Government and hang banners."

Chen Sheng: "..."

Hanging banners was something he hadn't expected.

He couldn't help but comment, "That's a bit wild!"

"That's just the beginning!" The man continued to complain. "They even prepared a gong and drum troupe, and they plan to carry the banners all the way from Tianjiao City to the District Government while beating gongs and drums."

"Damn! Is it really that wild?" Chen Sheng was so shocked he nearly slammed the accelerator through the floor. After a while, he managed to steady his nerves and affirmed the man's decision to rush back. "You're right to rush back. If they really let them carry banners and beat gongs and drums all the way to the District Government, it would undoubtedly be like trampling the District Government's face into the dirt and grinding it in."

If it were a reasonable demand, this behavior might not be a big deal, but protesting subway construction because it affects residential foundations looks like unreasonable trouble-making no matter how you look at it.

"Isn't it?" The man slapped his thigh in pain and sighed despairingly. "Sigh~ The overall environment hasn't been good these past few years. I've been working while preparing for the civil service exam. I missed it by a little last year, and I'll most likely pass this year."

"But if something like this really happens, I don't know if I can pass the interview stage." The man looked at Chen Sheng hopefully and pleaded, "So, Driver, please, you really have to hurry. I must get back to stop them."

One can only say that this is a sad story.

However, the corners of Chen Sheng's mouth curled up involuntarily.

He didn't say anything, but his right foot on the accelerator pressed down just a little harder, and the speed quickly reached sixty.

Don't misunderstand; the maximum speed on city roads is only sixty, so even if he wanted to go faster, he couldn't.

However, once they entered the Third Ring Road, Chen Sheng immediately increased the speed to eighty, and when the vehicle entered the highway, the speed was quickly pushed up to one hundred and twenty.

As for going any faster?

Do you think the platform's real-time speed monitoring is a joke?

Besides, a hundred yuan isn't enough to make him risk his life.

You have to pay more!

Apparently, the man didn't understand the implication. Chen Sheng thought to himself that perhaps the reason he didn't succeed in getting the job last time was that he needed to look for the reasons within himself more!

Just like that, the vehicle sped all the way to Qingjiang District, but it seemed they were still one step too late. When they were halfway from the highway exit to Tianjiao City, a rhythmic sound of gongs and drums drifted into the car and reached both their ears.

The two of them subconsciously exchanged a glance, and the man immediately wore a pained expression, muttering to himself, "It's over!"