Chapter 33: Baimahu Animation Festival
The bus was traveling through the city at the 8 o'clock rush hour. To say it was traveling was a bit of an exaggeration as the bus was moving at a snail's pace. Although Hangzhou is not as bad as Beijing, which is known for its traffic conditions that can starve people to death, the city is not as vast as the northern plains. With the crazy increase in the number of private cars in recent years, the city's infrastructure construction has not kept up.
Zhang Dadao sat happily at the back of the car, looking at the world outside the window with great interest. Paine and the head maid also sat at the back with Zhang Dadao. In addition, there were two men and women wearing ancient clothes, claiming to be COSing Qin Shi Ming Yue. Zhang Dadao didn't know what that was, so he chatted with them for a while and didn't communicate much.
The head maid was whispering with the girl who claimed to be COS Gao Yue. Pan En had a good impression of Zhang Dadao. As soon as he got in the car, he asked him curiously, "Brother, what's your major? I don't even know its name."
Zhang Dadao nodded and lied: "I'm a freshman in medical school, Zhang Dadao."
"Medical School? Are you from Zijingang or Huajiachi? Zijingang, right? But both places are not close, and you get up early enough. That doesn't make sense? I've been to Zijingang quite often? Why haven't I seen you before? You didn't really come from Huajiachi, did you?" Paine was quite surprised, but he also imagined the origins of Zhang Dadao.
Zhang Dadao couldn't explain it clearly, so he could only laugh twice. Pan En seemed to be a bit talkative, and he didn't really want to know the answer. He straightened his hair and asked again: "Brother, where did you buy this clothes? It looks like this, and the workmanship and materials are much better than ours!"
Zhang Dadao's clothes are the work clothes of the fake Taoist priests in Baopu Taoist Temple. They are worn every day, which is totally different from the Cosplay clothes that are worn once or twice a year. Zhang Dadao looked at Pan En's clothes and realized that their clothes looked good, but the quality was really average, so he explained: "I didn't buy them, I borrowed them from Baopu Taoist Temple ."
Zhang Dadao adjusted the cushion under his buttocks. Pan En looked at Zhang Dadao blankly for a long time before he gave him a thumbs up. He nodded and said, "Brother, you are really ruthless! Is this a real Taoist robe? You are playing it professionally!"
Zhang Dadao took out the bamboo sticks that were pressing against him uncomfortably and said awkwardly, "It's just so-so."
When Pan En saw Zhang Dadao take out such a bamboo tube and bamboo sticks, he saw that they looked smoky and had a sense of time accumulation. His eyes lit up and he looked at Zhang Dadao and exclaimed: "Brother, you are really professional. You have this too. Did you borrow it from Baopu Taoist Temple? Do you have relatives there? Otherwise, they are not so easy to talk to!"
Zhang Dadao smiled and said proudly, "Of course, I am related to them! I am older than them, so they dare not refuse to give me money if I ask them for it."
Paine nodded and said happily, "You're really good at pretending. When you get to our stall later, you can set up a stall and do fortune-telling for fun! It can also attract some popularity!"
Zhang Dadao was stunned and asked curiously, "Setting up a stall? What do you sell?"
The burly boy pretending to be Nie Gai next to Paine interrupted, "Didn't the president of your branch tell you? We've bought in a lot of action figures! We also printed some doujinshi to earn some funds for activities. It would be even better if someone takes our Cosplay seriously and invites us to perform! The most important thing is to make a name for ourselves." The boy was dressed like a butcher, and Zhang Dadao felt that he was really inconsistent with the legendary swordsman.
When Zhang Dadao heard him say that he wanted to set up a stall, his eyes lit up and he nodded, saying, "I really can tell fortunes, and I'm very accurate! If I really learn the skills from a master, I can earn some living expenses!" Zhang Dadao had this idea when he stole the fortune stick tube. Now that it was possible to realize it, he was naturally very happy and secretly admired his foresight and luck.
When Paine heard this, he didn't take it seriously. He just thought it was a joke and said with a smile, "That's great. I'll talk to the president and give you a seat. You just need to pay a little venue fee! The seat we rent is quite large. But there are a lot of people at the anime festival. If you really calculate it accurately, you will definitely make money!"
Zhang Dadao was very confident in his abilities, but he was a little confused about this animation festival. He thought to himself, "Isn't it May Day? Why is there another animation festival? There are more and more festivals these days, or maybe May Day has been renamed?" Although he was confused, he did not ask, for fear of arousing the suspicion of these students.
The car got on the elevated road, and the speed increased a lot, heading south. Zhang Dadao opened the electronic map in his hand and compared the actual situation outside. He found that he was getting farther and farther away from the Seventh Hospital, which made Zhang Dadao happier. He couldn't help but ask Pan En: "Brother Pan? This is my first time to participate in an event, and I don't know where we are going? Where is Baima Lake?"
Zhang Dadao had a good memory. The maid only mentioned it once and he remembered the place name. When Paine heard his question, he nodded and said, "This is my second time attending this event. It's in Xiaoshan, and it'll be a while! It looks like I can arrive before ten o'clock. Today is the first day, so I won't be able to make it to the opening ceremony, but it doesn't matter! The president and his team went there yesterday to make arrangements in advance, so they will definitely not be occupied by others."
Pan En seemed to have misunderstood something, and comforted Zhang Dadao instead. Then, seeing Zhang Dadao holding a cell phone, he also took out his own cell phone and said, "Come on, let's change our numbers!"
Zhang Dadao was stunned, and then he thought, "I'm afraid I can't change it. My phone was stolen before, and I just sold it online. I haven't even processed the card yet!"
Pan En was stunned, and looked at Zhang Dadao's phone before nodding and saying, "Is that so? The card sent with the notice is not linked to the ID card, so it's hard to get a new one. Wait a minute!" Then he shouted to the front, "Ercai! Ercai!"
"What's going on?" A boy who was sleeping in front of him suddenly woke up and stood up and spoke to Paine over the backrest. The boy was a little short, with a golden wig, a few beard-like patterns on his face, and a shit-yellow outfit that made him look very rustic. He looked like the rural non-mainstream guy that Zhang Dadao had heard of.
Paine said to the guy called Ercai, "This junior is from the medical school. He wants a SIM card. Do you have it with you?"
The "idiot"'s eyes lit up and he nodded, "I don't have it with me right now, I'll give it to him when I get back to school!"
Zhang Dadao didn't expect that he could solve this problem by following these people on a whim. He was very happy, but he remembered what old man Han said and said hesitantly: "Brother, I didn't bring my ID card!"
Paine was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. He's selling cards for China Mobile, not a business hall, so he doesn't need that thing! Just bring the money!"
Zhang Dadao was even happier when he heard that he didn't need an ID card. He thought to himself, "No wonder the 'failed students' always want to go to college. College students are really omnipotent!"
After thinking about it, Zhang Dadao decided to take action. He immediately nudged Pan En beside him mysteriously and asked in a low voice: "Brother Pan, do you know which classmate can apply for an ID card? Can you help me get one?"
