Shanghai Bus

Now I'm back in Shanghai, in the process of buying a train ticket to Beijing, where my flight back to the US takes off from. I look in my wallet and only see 150 RMB left. "I need to get some cash," I told my Shanghai friend. He leads me to an ATM and I withdraw 1000 RMB before heading to the ticket office.

At the ticket window, the lady misunderstands me and sells me a hard seat instead of a hard sleeper. "We can return the ticket if you want," my Shanghai friend suggests helpfully.
"It's alright, I've never ridden hard seater on an overnight ride. Maybe it's worth trying once."

And so he leads me to the bus stop and we say goodbye. As I hopped on the bus, I casually put my wallet into my coat pocket, and readjust the shoulder strap to my laptop bag. There was a crowd of people on the bus as always, but it wasn't unbearably stifling.

Getting off the bus, I walked to the subway stop. As I approached the turnstiles, I reached into my coat pocket for my wallet. Only to find... there was nothing there.