The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

Jiang Yiming remained unmoved and said, "I paid for the ticket, so I'll sit here!"

"Hey, you're pretty tough, aren't you!"

The driver opened the driver's side door, got out of the car, and then came up from the side door. His face was dark, and he swung a wrench at Jiang Yiming, yelling, "You bastard, how dare you act tough with your grandpa! I'll show you how powerful Wang Daxiong is!"

Just then, Ding Li stood up and grabbed the driver's arm as he swung the wrench.

The driver tried to break free, but felt as if his arm was being clamped by pliers, making his face turn red, yet he still couldn't break free.

"If you cause any more trouble, I'll teach you a lesson!"

At Jiang Yiming's signal, Ding Li shoved him away.

The driver stumbled backward a few steps, fell out of the car door, and landed hard on his backside.

He was about to shout when he felt Ding Li's sharp gaze, which frightened him so much that he dared not say anything more.

He then silently got into the car and continued driving.

The fat woman also felt that Jiang Yiming and his companion were not to be trifled with, so she dared not say anything more.

Fortunately, no one else wanted to get on the bus on the way; otherwise, it's hard to say how many people this bus, which has a capacity of 33, would have ended up carrying.

After entering Xichuan County, the vehicle encountered an overloaded and oversized vehicle checkpoint, which belonged to the Transportation Bureau.

We need to check not only whether large trucks are overloaded, but also whether passenger buses are overcrowded.

As the car passed by, it only stopped briefly, and the driver handed a pack of cigarettes and a red envelope to the staff member.

"pass."

The staff waved their hand, signaling to let them through.

Just as the bus was about to leave, Jiang Yiming said to the staff outside the window, "Sir, this bus is seriously overloaded and there is a certain danger. Please inspect it."

Not only was the driver stunned, but even the staff were caught off guard.

He never expected that someone would proactively report the overloading issue.

"Shut up, it's none of your business!"

The driver cursed angrily, but dared not brandish the wrench.

After realizing what had happened, the staff member laughed and said, "I checked, it's not overloaded."

"You didn't even come up to check, how do you know it's not overloaded?"

Jiang Yiming frowned and said, "Besides, you can see from below that the bus is packed with people, almost to the point where there's no room left. If this isn't overloading, what is?"

"I said it's not overloaded, so it's not overloaded. Are you a staff member, or am I?"

The other person, with a dark expression, said impatiently, "If you obstruct me from performing my official duties again, believe me, I'll detain you?"

Just as Jiang Yiming was about to say something more, a middle-aged man in the back row patted his shoulder: "Young man, forget it, these people are not easy to mess with."

Jiang Yiming remained silent. He had not yet received a formal appointment and was not yet the county magistrate, so there were many things he could not do.

Besides, his purpose was to investigate the situation in Xichuan County. If he revealed his identity now, it would be difficult to learn more about the situation later.

Seeing that Jiang Yiming didn't say anything more, the traffic enforcement team staff said, "Let's go quickly."

The driver glared at Jiang Yiming and continued driving forward.

After driving for a while, the surroundings became very desolate, and the road became significantly more treacherous.

Some of the bends are so steep and sharp that even experienced drivers wouldn't dare to drive on such mountain roads.

As the saying goes, once you open your eyes wide, everything else is up to fate; you can stop yourself from getting covered in dust, but you can't stop a whole box of dust.

The driver stopped the car when they passed a wide open space.

"Add more money, add more money."

Driver Wang Daxiong, carrying a wrench and a military green satchel, squeezed to the back of the bus and said menacingly, "Anyone who doesn't want to pay extra, get off right now."

Clearly, this wasn't the first time these people had been asked to pay more, and they obediently pulled out their money.

A few tried to resist, but Wang Daxiong, holding a wrench and glaring with his bull-like eyes, said, "Hurry up and pay up, or get out of here. I don't even want to pull you up!"

Under Wang Daxiong's intimidation, the man had no choice but to obediently hand over the money.

Each person added three yuan. When they got to Jiang Yiming's side, Wang Daxiong opened his mouth, but thinking of Ding Li's strength, he ultimately didn't dare to ask Jiang Yiming and the other person for money.

Apart from Jiang Yiming and his companion, everyone else paid the difference, and the car continued moving forward.

Jiang Yiming originally wanted to stop it, but seeing that everyone seemed unsurprised, he decided to observe the situation first.

He was very puzzled as to why people were willing to pay extra, as three yuan was a considerable sum for an average family.

Moreover, it's only for one trip, and it costs an extra three yuan. If you take the bus frequently, this can be a considerable expense.

The car continued driving when suddenly six or seven men wielding sticks appeared ahead of them.

The men were dressed in somewhat shabby clothes and looked more like farmers.

"Everyone sit down!"

Seeing the people ahead, Wang Daxiong steeled his heart and decided to rush forward.

However, the other party was prepared and threw a large rock in the middle of the road.

Wang Daxiong had to apply the brakes and stop the car, otherwise it would overturn.

"Brothers, this is just a small business, please have mercy and let us pass."

Wang Daxiong was extremely timid, speaking in a low and submissive tone, a stark contrast to his attitude towards the passengers earlier.

"I'll let you pass, but we brothers have no food. Give us some money so we can have something to eat."

"That's what the man in the lead said."

"No problem, no problem."

Wang Daxiong quickly took out two hundred yuan from his bag and handed it to the group.

The other person snatched the bag, took out 500 yuan from it, waved his hand, and told the driver to leave.

The driver didn't dare say anything more. After getting in the car, he stepped on the gas and drove off.

Throughout the entire process, the passengers on the bus remained remarkably calm, as if they were used to it.

These unusual phenomena left Jiang Yiming somewhat confused.

However, since they were in the car, he couldn't ask any more questions.

"Damn it, these poor bastards, why don't they just starve to death!"

Wang Daxiong cursed, "I've worked for nothing these past few days!"

“Big Bear, why don’t you have your brother-in-law talk to them? These villagers are awful. They’ve robbed us twice in three months.”

The fat woman said angrily.

“What good is it for my brother-in-law to step in? They have no food to eat, and my brother-in-law can’t stop them from blocking the road.”

Wang Daxiong sighed, "Forget it, let's just consider it a relief for them!"

Because of various delays along the way, the car took four hours to reach Xichuan County Bus Station.

Stepping out of the bus station, Jiang Yiming was somewhat incredulous at the sight outside; it was the town of a county.

The streets are narrow, the buildings are old, and the roads are full of potholes.

This is not much different from the streets of a township in Xinping County.

"Let's find a place to stay first, put our things down, and then go out for a walk."

There was a hotel next to the bus station that looked pretty good, but Jiang Yiming didn't choose it.

Hotels near bus stations are usually rip-offs.

After walking about 200 meters, they came across a hotel that looked fairly clean. The two checked in, left their belongings at the hotel, and then went out for a stroll and had dinner.

As they passed a teahouse, a middle-aged man waved to them.