Chapter 1: The Mighty City Management

  Viewed from the air, the night scene of Haicheng is like a fantastic world, with colorful neon lights reflecting dazzling colors that make people involuntarily fascinated.

  As one of the first coastal port cities to open up to the outside world, Haicheng has been developing at a breathtaking pace for over 30 years, creating a world-renowned dream city.

  The so-called "Hai Cheng Speed" also became one of the iconic terms for China's reform and opening-up.

  Countless tides of people from all corners of the country surged towards Haicheng, carrying with them various dreams to struggle in this vast steel and concrete forest, shedding their sweat, tears, and even lives.

  Some people, having succeeded, became the elite of this city, becoming the new masters of this ancient yet young city, and began to look at those who were once like them with a discerning and critical eye.

  However, more people, after giving up everything, still end up with nothing in their hands, and can only leave the hidden forest of man-eating monsters in despair, leaving no trace behind.

  There was once a singer who wrote a song called "Hai Cheng, Hai Cheng", which told the story of a wandering stranger in Hai Cheng struggling helplessly, greatly touching the hearts of the Hai Piao people and becoming very popular for a while.

  Behind the high-rise buildings, there are shadows; under the neon lights, there are blood and tears!

  It is said that light and darkness are one entity.

  Behind the bright and beautiful Haicheng, lies the blood and sweat of countless ordinary people.

  …………

  The street, which had just been rained on, was filled with a dusty smell. The coolness in the air somewhat weakened the heat brought by the air conditioner exhaust fans and car exhausts, making Duan Lei feel much more relaxed as he rode his bicycle.

  He climbed onto the Haihe New Bridge, which spans the two banks of the Hai River. Duan Lei propped his bicycle up with one foot and wiped the sweat from his face with a nearly drenched T-shirt. He took a few deep breaths. Haicheng is a coastal city, but the heat island effect typical of megacities still kept its temperature high. It was already September, but the heat wave continued unabated.

  In the middle of Xin Bridge, Duan Yue gazed at those magnificent buildings in the distance, took a deep breath, and with a burst of strength, the old second-hand bicycle let out a creaking sound as it sped down the bridge.

  Duan Lei is a third-year student in the College of Agriculture at Haicheng University. To alleviate his family's burden, he started working part-time jobs from his freshman year, including distributing flyers, doing promotions, tutoring, and working as an administrator in the school library... He has almost done all the part-time jobs that university students can do. This semester, Duan Lei found a relatively stable part-time job at a gardening company through his teacher's connections. The pay is decent, but unfortunately, the workplace is a bit far from the school.

  Hai Cheng University is located on the plain south of Haihe River, while Duan Lei's gardening workplace is at the foot of a hill north of Haihe River, quite far from each other. To save four yuan spent on two bus transfers, Duan Lei rides his old N-brand bicycle, which wouldn't be stolen even if left under his dormitory building, to work in the gardening field over ten kilometers away.

  In recent years, the expansion of university enrollment has been very severe, and undergraduate students are everywhere. The phenomenon that graduation is equivalent to unemployment is not surprising at all. The employment pressure on college students is not as optimistic as the media propaganda. Although he is only a junior now, Duan Lei knows that he is not a rich second generation or an official second generation, nor does he have the conditions to continue studying for a master's degree. It is right to prepare early for finding a job after graduation.

  Duan Yue studied horticulture at Haicheng University's College of Agriculture, and working in a gardening field was also a way to apply what he learned, improving his professional skills. Of course, the considerable salary was also an important reason why Duan Yue could persist.

  As he walked through the bustling streets of Haicheng, the neon lights of the skyscrapers, the bright and beautiful stars on the giant LCD screens, and the luxurious cruise ships on the Haihe River were gradually left behind. Along a somewhat dimly lit path, he slowly approached the campus of Haicheng University.

  In recent years, the trend of university mergers has become increasingly apparent. In order to create so-called "world-class universities", Haicheng City merged Haicheng University, Haicheng Medical College, Haicheng Agricultural College, Information Engineering College and several other institutions into a new Haicheng University. For this purpose, the Haicheng municipal government specially allocated a large area of wasteland in the suburbs to start building a massive university town.

  The construction of Haicheng University has transformed the once neglected Haicheng suburbs into a goldmine, attracting throngs of merchants with keen senses of smell, who have created a distorted prosperity in just one or two years.

  Since the undergraduate students of Haicheng University started classes in the new campus, a night market street has spontaneously formed on a road near the west side gate of the school, becoming the favorite of the students.

  Every time the night falls, countless vendors emerge like mushrooms after a spring rain on the originally empty roads, instantly turning the quiet streets into a bustling night market. Here, students can find affordable daily necessities, taste local snacks and street food, buy various small handicrafts, and even get the latest knockoff digital products. The existence of this night market also provides Haicheng University students with a great place to relax at night, without having to take crowded public transportation to the city center every time.

  However, students liking it does not mean that local police stations, urban management bureaus and other units are willing to see the existence of this night market street.

  The vendors on the night market street all belong to occupying road operations, once the business is over, most of the stall owners will leave behind a large amount of garbage, bringing great trouble to the work of sanitation workers. In addition, these unlicensed food vendors mostly do not have health permits, and the sanitary conditions are very poor, with considerable hidden dangers.

  ……

  Duanyue often sees announcements issued by the government and various departments within the school's jurisdiction on the bulletin board, listing all sorts of hidden dangers in the night market street, calling on everyone not to consume in the night market street to avoid bringing chaos to urban management.

  But students don't appreciate it at all!

  "Rock, over here!" Just as Duan Yue rode his bike into the night market street and was looking for a place to have some midnight snacks, he heard a familiar call by his ear.

  "Big Mountain!" Duan Yue followed the sound and looked over, right in the midst of the bustling crowd, he saw Big Mountain, who was exceptionally tall.

  Dà Shān's real name is Lǐ Jùn Dá, he is the tallest and oldest Northeasterner in Duàn Lěi's dormitory. He is a straightforward person, as soon as he entered school, he naturally became the leader of the dormitory. Now everyone either calls him "Lǎo Dà" or "Dà Shān", to the point where his real name has been almost forgotten.

  "Big Mountain, did you win the game again today?" As he arrived at the snack stand, Duan Lei saw that several of his college basketball teammates were also there, and guessed that they had made some extra money today.

  "Today, we defeated that group of young and inexperienced students from the Business School. Teacher Zhang specially rewarded us with 200 yuan. Let's go out and have some fun!" Da Shan said with a smile as he handed a beer to Duan Lei.

  "No wonder Zhang Jiao was willing to shed blood!" Duan Lei tilted his head, finishing a full cup of beer, and a smile of "so that's how it is" appeared on his face.

  The chilled beer was like a clear spring, flowing down his throat and relieving Duans body of its heat, it felt incredibly comfortable.

  Zhang Jiao Zhu's original name is Zhang Jiu Zhe, he is the grade director of Duan Lei and others. Because he loves Jin Yong very much and can get along well with students, he is affectionately called "Zhang Jiao Zhu" by Duan Lei and others. Zhang Jiao Zhu is a graduate student who stayed at Haida, when he was an undergraduate, he had some conflicts with the current third-year grade director of the School of Business because of a girl, they didn't get along, even after work, there was still a bit of tension between them.

  No matter what kind of competition the school organizes, as long as the Agricultural College can beat the representative team of the Business School, Principal Zhang will never be stingy with his rewards. Over time, every time they encounter the Business School, everyone is full of motivation.

  Of course, Zhang Jiao's reward was only symbolic. Like tonight, the basketball team's seven or eight strong men ate and drank freely, and 200 yuan wasn't even enough to fill their teeth.

  However, there are many people in the basketball team who have a good family background and are generous, so it's not difficult to gather for dinner.

  "Boss, bring a plate of stir-fried noodles!" Duan Yue waved his hand in greeting, then turned to Dashan and said: "I've been riding for a while, I'm starving! Let's fill our stomachs first, or else we might have to head back lying down later!"

  Duan Yue knew that the basketball team was quite ruthless when it came to drinking, and he didn't dare to drink on an empty stomach with them. He decided to fill his belly first before making any further plans.

  "You're too cunning, we've never seen you drunk before!" He Jia is from Hubei, with a pair of eyes that seem gentle at first glance, but when playing ball, she's quite fierce and has a set of defensive skills, nicknamed "Tough Candy".

  "With my small build, how dare I compare with you guys? If I'm not careful, I'll end up on the ground!" Duan Lei replied with a smile, then lowered his head to deal with the stir-fried noodles that had just been served.

  Duan Lei was born in the mountainous region of southwest China, where the climate is cold and the people are bold. The men from that area are famous for their ability to drink. Duan Lei's grandfather had a hundred-year-old wine brewing workshop in his hometown, and as for drinking, Duan Lei started when he was in fourth or fifth grade. Duan Lei has a good capacity for liquor, but he rarely gets drunk and is generally able to control himself.

  After finishing the stir-fried noodles, Duan Lei and Da Shan drank beer while chatting about some recent strange happenings at school, which was also relaxing.

  Just as they were getting into the conversation, a sudden shout of "Chengguan is coming!" came from the other end of the night market street, and chaos spread like an epidemic.

  "Hey, a few of you guys, what do you think?" The owner of the snack stand rubbed his hands and stood beside Duan Yue's table, asking somewhat hesitantly.

  "No problem!" Da Shan took out his wallet and signaled to his teammates with his eyes to pack up the leftovers.

  Dà Shān, who often eats at night markets, is already used to such scenes and wouldn't complain about it. After all, they can also understand the difficulties of these stall owners.

  At this time, the stall owners and customers at other stalls were also quickly packing up their belongings and leaving the night market street from various directions, as if they had been through countless rehearsals. Soon, Da Shan and others packed up their things and blended into the retreating crowd, disappearing in an instant. It was Duan Lei who fell behind because he had to push a cart.

  "It's a fight!" Just as Duan Yue was about to leave the night market street, a shrill cry came from behind him.

  Duan Lei knew that, whenever approaching National Day or New Year's Day and other holidays, regardless of whether it was for the sake of tidying up the city's appearance or generating revenue, the urban management, industrial and commercial, and public security departments would jointly take action to sweep away the unlicensed vendors on the night market streets. In the process of law enforcement, you can't really ask those uneven law enforcement personnel to provide smile service, they have always treated these mobile vendors as class enemies.

  Duan Yue turned his head to look, and as expected, the other end of the night market street was already a mixture of shouting, crying, warning sounds, and the sound of things smashing together, a scene of chaos.

  No wonder there are boasts online like 'Lend me three thousand city managers and I will return you a vast China!'

  City Management is mighty!