[Our Year Run] At one o’clock in the morning, the driver in the night bus

　　CCTV News(Reporter, Kan Chunyu, younger brother Chenchen): There is such a group of people who go out day and night, rain or shine, and walk through the glorious lights of the city. They observe all kinds of people in society through the rearview mirror of the car, but they are often silent. But when they set off on their way home, they occasionally hold the handlebars of the electric car and sing a song. After that, they walk into the empty room exhausted and lie in bed and fall asleep. Dreaming of hometown, relatives, and yearning for a better life in the future.

　　depart

　　At 1 p.m., 32-year-old Chai Zhicheng pushed his electric car out of the rental house, turned on his mobile phone, took orders, talked to customers, rushed to the destination, and drove. This set of procedures is very familiar to him. Working 12 hours a day, 28 days a month, has become the norm in his life.

Chai Zhicheng is waiting for the order to be dispatched. Photo by Kan Chunyu

　　It was his 523rd day as a chauffeur, but he could still vividly recall receiving his first chauffeur order on August 16, 2018. It was a Mercedes-Benz, and before that, Chai Zhicheng had never driven a car that cost more than 100,000 yuan. He sat in the driver’s seat and looked left and right, not knowing how to start the car, so he had to ask the customer: "Brother, how do you put this in gear?" The customer gave Chai Zhicheng four stars for this order.

　　This "four-star" convinced Chai Zhicheng, and also made him quickly learn how to quickly get started with a luxury car that has never been driven. "When you put on the seat cover, you can scan it with your peripheral vision. Where is the gear and where is the handbrake, the whole structure is basically about the same."

　　The platform stipulates that the driver’s online time cannot exceed 14 hours a day, and he can log off freely during meals and breaks, but when he first started taking orders, Chai Zhicheng made more money and was unwilling to log off during meals. Once, he was eating fried noodles, and the system sent him an order. He had to put the half-eaten noodles into the packing box and stuffed it into the bag. After delivering the guests to the destination, the noodles were already sticky. Chai Zhicheng remembers that there was a slight rain that day, and he squatted in an unlit corner of the community to finish his dinner. Recalling that moment, Chai Zhicheng said: "I felt a little bitter that time."

　　Chai Zhicheng didn’t think it was too hard to ride his electric car back and forth in the wind and snow. In order to save electricity and heat, he would pedal to help. On the longest ride, he rode 48 kilometers. When he was tired, he would sing a few words on the silent road, sometimes "In a Foreign Country", sometimes "Mother".

　　Like other chauffeurs, Chai Zhicheng had to adjust to waiting for the night bus in the early morning, and sometimes in remote areas, they would wait for dawn in the self-service areas of KFC, McDonald’s, and even banks.

At one o’clock in the morning, waiting for the driver of the night bus. Photo provided by the interviewee

　　After getting on the bus, Chai Zhicheng would chat happily with his peers. After getting off the bus, he would return to the house he rented for 800 yuan, wash up briefly, and then fall asleep.

The night buses are packed with chauffeurs and their electric cars. Photo by interviewee

　　Baptism

　　In the past two years, Chai Zhicheng has gone through all kinds of things, and when he encounters difficulties again, he appears more calm.

　　One evening a few days ago, Chai Zhicheng met a customer with a "bad temper". The customer’s friend drank too much and vomited in the car. They were blocked in the straight lane at the intersection of the evening rush hour. The customer was a little anxious and wanted Chai Zhicheng to drive faster, but also hoped that he could drive slower. He directed him to go straight for a while, and then asked him to turn left for a while. Chai Zhicheng had to answer: "Brother, this can’t be turned, we are on the straight road, how dangerous it is to turn."

　　The customer started to curse, and Chai Zhicheng stopped talking. He could continue to retort, but he was worried that if the customer was in a hurry to let him get out of the car and drive himself, he would have an accident, so he endured it.

　　After the friend who drank too much was sent home, the customer took the initiative to apologize to Chai Zhicheng when he returned to the car.

　　"Human nature is like this, there is no real bad person, he may just want to make face in front of his buddies and show his presence," Chai Zhicheng said. "If I continue to refute him, he may let me get out of the car. In this case, I will worry that he will not ask the driver to drive himself, and if something happens out-point, it will be bad. After he apologized, my heart immediately brightened."

Chai Zhicheng is on his way to the place where the order is received. Photo by Kan Chunyu

　　More often, Chai Zhicheng walks between helping people and being helped.

　　There were occasional surprises on the way.

　　Chai Zhicheng remembered this matter for a long time. "I am very grateful to him. We may never see each other again in this life, but this matter touched me a lot."

　　Another time, a customer gave him a cup before leaving. According to the customer, it was a very special cup, specially customized for the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China. Chai Zhicheng was reluctant to use it and treasured it.

　　There will also be accidents on the way to pick up people.

　　In the first snow in Beijing in 2020, a deliveryman bumped into Chai Zhicheng, who was also riding an electric bike. "When I saw him, I thought of me," Mr. Chai said. "When I saw that he was younger than me, in his twenties, and maybe not married, I thought of when I used to be miserable outside." He waved the deliveryman away without compensation.

　　go home

　　When he was away, Chai Zhicheng was used to reporting good news but not bad news. He didn’t tell his parents about being hit. In fact, this was not his first accident.

　　On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month last year, Chai Zhicheng slipped and fell on an icy road on his electric bike. His first reaction was to stand up, but he couldn’t. After getting up slowly, he didn’t want to go to the hospital, pushed the car back to the rented house, opened his trouser legs and saw that his entire legs were bruised, and he couldn’t hold on to the exhaustion and fell asleep. The next day was New Year’s Eve, and he caught the train home early in the morning, but in the end he didn’t tell his parents.

　　"I’m a big man who has suffered so much. My parents were very worried when I was outside, so I can’t let them worry more. Every time I call, I say it’s fine, and I basically don’t tell them about my outside affairs. They also know that I have been here for so many years, and I have experienced a lot outside, and I am used to it."

　　Last year during the Spring Festival, he felt distressed that his wife had to take care of her children and wash clothes every day when she came home from work, and could only go to bed late at night every night. He took the initiative to take his wife to spend 1,300 yuan for a beauty treatment, and another 600 yuan to buy a set of skin care products for her. His wife was reluctant, Chai Zhicheng advised her: "You don’t have to work so hard, but you must pay attention to your body. I don’t feel distressed that you are doing 1,300, 2,300, or 3,300 beauty treatments now, but if you are really uncomfortable, you can’t get the money back." After ten years of marriage to his wife, he felt that he owed her a lot, "especially for the children. My children are so old that I have never washed a diaper."

　　Despite the little time spent together, Chai Zhicheng’s two children still understand their father very well. Seeing Chai Zhicheng’s New Year’s video filmed by the company, the eldest son cried and asked his father: "Why are you so sad?" Chai Zhicheng only replied that it was fine, not sad. But he knew that the child was sensible.

Chai Zhicheng looked at the toys in the window and thought of two children far away from home. Kan Chunyu, photo

　　As New Year’s Eve approached, Chai Zhicheng felt conflicted in his heart, "I want to go home quickly, but I feel that I am far from the goal I want and cannot bring them a better life." But he was still looking forward to getting on the train home. He thought that the moment he walked into the house, the dog he had raised for ten years would run towards him and wag his tail at him.

　　At home this time, Chai Zhicheng was going to give his parents the commemorative water cup that he had been reluctant to use, and he also prepared "daily nuts" as gifts for his two children. After returning home, he was going to use the good skills he learned on the Internet to make a few delicious meals for his family.

　　Chai Zhicheng is looking forward to the arrival ** ******, when he can take **f the leaking cotton shoes he has been wearing and replace them with single shoes, so that he does not have to buy another pair. After another year ** work, he plans to go home, start some business with his wife, and reunite with his family. After that, he can bring his parents to ******* to visit Tiananmen Square and fulfill his longstanding wish.