Substitute Driver's Notes

Chapter 29 This chatterbox!

He didn't understand, but he still obeyed. He didn't drink much water all day but sweated a lot. After barely managing to squeeze out some, he saw Wang Fuyou run to the passenger seat, take out a crowbar, and start circling the car, tightening the rope and net, and tapping the tires.

Li Wei followed behind and asked, "What's going on now? Wasn't it all tightened up?"

"I ran for a while, taking advantage of the time to make sure there were no loose spots."

This guy is such a sissy, he's so long-winded and he treats this old car like royalty.

After one lap, Li Wei started steadily.

"Huh? It's driving much more steadily now. We'll switch to the highway at kilometer 961 and take the Runyang Bridge to the Yangli Expressway. We can only stop at the Shuanggou Service Area. If we're not in a hurry to relieve ourselves, we'll wait until we reach the bridge to change shifts."

As the car picked up speed and stabilized at 60 mph, this guy started giving instructions.

With some free time, Li Wei asked about the details. He explained that the reason they dared not stop along the way was because traffic police and road administration officers liked to ambush large trucks at service areas on this route.

According to Wang Fuyou, this is quite serious. Once they see a large truck, it's no good. They won't let you leave without causing some trouble and inflicting some bloodshed.

"Tch, it's all because the truck owner is greedy. If everything was done according to the regulations and the cargo couldn't exceed the limit, I don't believe they would have any reason to impose a fine."

"Yes! The 'three no' rule is good, but it doesn't make money. The truck owners can't do anything about it. There's only so much work. If you don't do it, someone else will. We're considered lucky. We can take the highway. There are countless other truck drivers who take the off-road to make more money and save on tolls. Someone has to go ahead and make sure the checkpoints are off duty before they dare to cross."

"It would be terrible if I got caught."

"Definitely. Those who drive on the back roads usually overtake recklessly. Heavy trucks can carry more than 100 tons, and they can't brake at all when they're going fast. In the summer, the roads are completely ruined by them."

"Doesn't the road administration care?"

"Them? Heh, who do you think sold the route information? This is a lucrative business. Money comes in just a few words. Who outsiders know what time they're on duty and when they get off work? Besides, you're not without connections. Ask your relatives who work for the government to help you make a connection, buy a line to run heavy loads, and you'll definitely make a fortune."

"What do you mean? I don't understand!"

"We usually work for steel mills, hauling iron sand from the docks to the mills. The freight is calculated by the ton. If you load it to the standard load, you will definitely lose money. You can only overload it, haul more and run faster. The fuel cost is not much more, but the freight cost is tripled. You can earn at least one or two thousand yuan a day."

"So many? They've ruined the road."

"Brother Wei, are you stupid? What business is it of yours if the road is damaged? The traffic bureau is in charge of road repairs. It's not like you're the only one doing this. Let me tell you, power left unused expires. These days, nobody cares where your money comes from; making money is the only truth."

"Are they stupid?! Selling routes to allow overloaded trucks to pass, damaging the roads so they have to repair them themselves, are they out of their minds?"

"Brother Wei, saying something like that just shows you're not thinking straight. Selling cables is a personal matter, while road construction is a public matter and doesn't involve spending your own money. Don't you understand that?"

"I understand, stop talking. It was definitely done by temporary workers. If we say any more, it will go too far and we'll get a 404 error."

"Okay! I'm going to sleep for a while. Call me if you get sleepy. Call me if you can't find your way or are unsure of what to do. Are you thirsty? I see your water bottle is empty, I'll refill it. Just don't wander off."

"Okay, thanks. But you've made it sound so scary, I can't drink any water. What if I need to go to the bathroom? You go to sleep!"

Wang Fuyou poured himself some water, checked the time, sighed, and pulled out his phone: "Can't sleep! This is the car phone, unlimited calls with a monthly plan. This is my personal phone, look, the latest model, 300,000-pixel camera, can even record video, the phone seller even saved twenty songs on it, awesome, right!"

Li Wei glanced at the photos Wang Fuyou had pulled up, which looked like a scene from a horror movie, and nodded insincerely in praise: "Great! It must be expensive, right?"

Wang Fuyou smiled smugly: "That's right, it cost nearly three thousand yuan, and our boss only used a beat-up Nokia."

Li Wei exclaimed with an exaggerated expression, "Wow! That's amazing! You've even surpassed the boss!"

Wang Fuyou quickly put away his phone: "Your expression is so exaggerated and sarcastic. I'm not showing it to you. You're definitely using a broken phone from who-knows-how-many years ago. This is just envy and jealousy."

Li Wei touched his phone in his pocket and remained silent.

"Hey honey! Haha, we've already left the province. Yeah! Don't worry! I'm doing great, I've eaten and drunk my fill and there's air conditioning, you should get some rest too! Don't worry about the electricity bill, turn on the air conditioning to cool off. It's so close, we can take turns sleeping and we'll be there, it's so easy. Haha, son, have you finished your homework? Oh! What did we eat? We eat out every day, it's always four dishes and a soup, and when we're driving, we even have big bowls of noodles, ham sausages, milk, and bread in the car. Of course, the best noodles are Master Kong braised beef noodles! Want some? No, you can't..."

Seeing that Li Wei was not speaking, the talkative Wang Fuyou picked up his phone in the car and started harassing his wife and children.

The phone call lasted for more than twenty minutes. After hanging up, the guy looked around boredly.

"Brother Wei, is your wife pretty?"

Li Wei's eyelids twitched a few times. This guy has lived to be this old without being beaten to death, and he even got married and had children. God must have been off work back then.

"Hmm! It's alright!"

"Sigh, it'll do. It can't be too pretty. We're never home these days, and someone might try to seduce us."

"No way, at your age, why would you act like a young person?"

"Come on, don't be ridiculous! Haven't you heard the saying 'Thirty is like a wolf, forty is like a tiger'? This young girl is all shy and hesitant. So, since nobody can see her anyway, when we get there and are waiting to load the goods, why don't you go and experience it for yourself?"

"You have too much money to burn? You work yourself to the bone for a month and only earn this much, and a few tens of minutes can wipe out several days' wages? Are you crazy?!"

"Brother Wei, did you eat Brother Wei? Ten minutes is already good, not tens of minutes."

"You're not up to par, Lao Wang! You're in trouble. Your wife might cheat on you one day."

"I...he...you...your wife is the one who's cheating on me."

Li Wei said earnestly and irritatingly, "Old Wang! Since you can't see it, why not pretend you don't know? People are just like that; they seem to want to grasp everything while they're alive, but when they die, they can't take anything with them. Just live in the moment, cheer up. By the way, the child is yours, right?"

Wang Fuyou panicked: "Huh? Brother Wei, what do you mean? My wife didn't cheat on me, we're doing great."

Li Wei smirked, staring straight ahead, flashing his headlights as he overtook a car stopped in the emergency lane with a flat tire, exclaiming dramatically, "Wow! I even overtook an Audi! Who says trucks are slow?!"

Wang Fuyou squatted on the passenger seat and started taking off his clothes: "If I weren't so weak against you, I'd be going to sleep. You can just wait and see!"

Pshaw, who could be sleepy at this hour! Going out for barbecue and drinking until midnight, only a fool would go to bed early.

It was quiet; the only things on the road were cars whizzing by and the road surface under the stark white lights.

Li Wei glanced at the dashboard; the speed of 60 km/h was very stable, and there was no need to overtake even at the minimum speed limit. He held the steering wheel with one hand, rolled down the window slightly, and started smoking.

Gradually, the long, seemingly endless road stretched on, with no end in sight, and time seemed to pass very slowly.

Li Wei looked at the distance markers: 770 km, 771 km, 772 km, 773 km. He counted one number per minute, and only needed to count a few hundred times.

............

............

P.S.: These demolition crews are so inefficient. To prevent them from suddenly collapsing the building without warning, I gave my child some money this morning so he could go out for lunch.

I ran away and went to eat vegetarian food at the temple where the kind and amiable monk I met last year was.

With Buddha's blessing, we have nothing to fear. However, the abbot who said last year that I had an exceptionally strong affinity with Buddhism has completely forgotten about me.

After chatting for a while, the abbot seemed to remember me and instructed me to worship Buddha and burn incense.

Then my master warmly instructed me to eat vegetarian food and personally brewed tea to chat with me. The tea was really fragrant, much better than the tea dust that cost me five yuan a pound.

Master said that if I pray to Buddha more sincerely, I can stay here tonight.

The abbot's Buddhist practice is profound, and our conversation made me want to become a monk. But why did he suddenly say that I still have worldly ties?

I don't know why, but they won't let me stay here again, and I didn't even get to eat vegetarian food. I felt so wronged the whole way.

Oh! Right, it's Saturday today, and the kids need me to cook for them.

Hmm! Master must be able to tell fortunes.

As expected, everything was under Master's control.