Substitute Driver's Notes

Chapter 30 The Beautiful Qiantang

People who have never driven a large truck cannot understand that in that kind of environment, besides the roar of the engine and the snoring of their companions in the sleeper berth behind them, plus the pitch black and silence all around, many people will feel sleepy and doze off in less than an hour.

The truck runs very smoothly at economical speeds. Li Wei is very grateful to the designer. There is a large bridge not far away. The truck needs to accelerate before going onto the bridge, and it needs to downshift for larger bridges.

Every now and then I'd pick up my water glass and take a sip, smoke a cigarette every ten minutes or so, and stretch out occasionally to ward off the drowsiness.

A few hours later, Li Wei finally saw the road sign leading to Yangzhou. He glanced at his phone, tapped it, and couldn't help but feel happy.

Like a ghost, Wang Fuyou got up and slipped to the passenger seat to start getting dressed.

"Not bad, Wei! You did so well on your first long-distance run. Looks like you were born for this."

I'll take that as a compliment.

Seeing several slow-moving cars ahead, Li Wei turned on his left turn signal to prepare to overtake.

"You got cocky after I just praised you? You can't overtake. There are only two kilometers left before the highway turns on. How are you going to get back if you run into the overtaking lane? Do you think this is a small car that accelerates with a whoosh! Shift to neutral, slow down, and coast along with them."

As Wang Fuyou spoke, he lit a cigarette and kindly offered it to him, saying, "Brother Wei, have a smoke."

Li Wei shook his head repeatedly in disgust: "No, I can light my own cigarettes."

"Tch! Pretentious. If you're not going to smoke, then turn right and turn right again." He started smoking himself.

I slowly followed the convoy and merged into the lane divider, as they began to climb the hill.

Just one kilometer past the highway is a service area. Wang Fuyou asked, "Do you need to use the restroom? If you can hold it, keep going. There will definitely be a lot of cars around at this time. Once we cross the Yangtze River Bridge, the hot water at the service area will be much better. The water in Shuang Gou is too alkaline. The best water is after Taihu Lake; it's especially sweet there. No wonder there are so many beautiful women there; the water and soil are so good! The water in my hometown is very alkaline, and the girls' skin is incredibly rough."

Well, you old bastard, no wonder people say nine out of ten drivers are sluts, and the other one's a big drinker. It's all because of scum like you that they ruin the reputation. If I ever see your wife, I'll definitely give her a piece of my mind.

Li Wei endured the piercing sound, mentally cursing as he kept his hands and feet moving.

The journey of over 30 kilometers passed quickly, and Li Wei breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the sign for the Runyang Bridge toll station.

After driving hundreds of kilometers, I skillfully followed the car into the toll plaza and pulled over.

Li Wei opened the car door to relieve himself by the roadside, and Wang Fuyou did the same.

The two men stood a few steps apart and drained the water side by side. Then the guy went back to his car, took out a crowbar, and started circling the car.

"So dedicated!" Li Wei followed Wang Fuyou around under the light to see how he worked.

After returning and switching places, Wang Fuyou got into the car and looked ahead: "You can go to sleep after we get past the tollbooth! Huh? What bad luck! Why is lane eight closed? Oh no, we'll only get about ten tons less."

"What happened to Route 8?"

"The weighbridge at No. 8 weighs less than 30 tons, while the other weighbridges are very accurate. Even with the best technology, they are only a dozen tons less."

"Why don't you wait a bit? Maybe they've changed shifts and it'll be up and running soon."

Wang Fuyou sighed: "I dare not wait. The provincial border road administration is on duty on time. If we are caught, it's a fine of three thousand yuan. We are out-of-town vehicles, so it doesn't matter! They are doing their job, and no one can say anything wrong."

Li Wei watched him slowly follow the convoy forward, arriving at lane seven. Looking at the construction workers fiddling with the weighbridge ahead, he said, "Old Wang! Looks like they knew this weighbridge was inaccurate and replaced it."

"Are they crazy? Why would they change the weighbridge for no reason? Doesn't it cost money?"

"It probably won't cost much, but it's still cheaper than the toll fees that were reduced."

"These guys used to walk around with weapons, shouting, 'This mountain is mine, this tree is mine; if you want to pass, leave your toll.' Now they're much more sophisticated. They've put up a sign that says, 'Toll station a few kilometers ahead, please slow down,'" Wang Fuyou complained.

As he spoke, Wang Fuyou steered the large vehicle over in a series of lurching and bouncing maneuvers.

Peeking at the young woman at the payment window, she turned to Li Wei and introduced her: "She's of the caliber of a bandit's wife."

The young girl probably heard this, rolled her eyes, and slowly counted the money.

"Hey lady, can you hurry up? There are so many cars behind us, you're not being efficient enough!"

The little girl ignored him and counted the money again.

"Oh my god! There really are traffic cops! My mouth is so loose." Wang Fuyou slapped himself.

After waiting for the traffic police to arrive, the young woman counted out the money and handed it over along with the receipt, saying calmly, "That'll teach you to be so talkative."

"You ugly freak, I wish you'll never find a boyfriend in your life!" Wang Fuyou yelled angrily at the girl.

The little girl ignored him and raised the barrier to let him pass.

The traffic policeman standing in front walked over and saluted: "Hello, driver's license and vehicle registration."

"Hey! Officer, I'm not overweight, could you please take care of me?"

"But you're too wide and too tall. Pull over to the side of the road and fix it."

......

Li Wei stared blankly at everything before him, only asking as they neared the top of the hill, "How did you handle it?"

"Go to sleep! Don't ask anymore. It's just a temporary worker's job anyway. As long as we don't lose points, it's fine."

Alright, my all-powerful temporary worker, it's past 2 AM and you're still not asleep. I'm going to bed now.

Looking at the large truck that seemed to crawl along the slope like a snail, Li Wei took off his clothes and lay down on the sleeper berth to sleep.

Listening to the roar of the engine, lying on the swaying sleeper berth, I soon drifted off to sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Wei heard the engine shut off. He was half-asleep when he was woken up by a phone call. When he opened his eyes, he found that it was already daylight. The car was parked in an open space in front of an old, dilapidated warehouse, and it was drizzling outside.

On the upper bunk, Wang Fuyou answered the phone: "Hey, boss! We've arrived. Daqiao got a 100 yuan fine, but they didn't ask for a ticket. If they had, it would have been 200 yuan in points and a fine. It's raining! They haven't started work yet. Okay! Got it. After unloading, we'll go to Lao Liu's place to load the goods."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Fuyou cursed, "I'd only been lying down for ten minutes when that damn boss called to nag me. What the hell can I do if someone doesn't come to work? I can't exactly carry them down myself! They weigh several tons, who can lift that? That scumbag, black-hearted bastard."

Wow, that's impressive. Why didn't you say it on the phone? What kind of skill is it to hang up and yell at people?

"Brother Wei, get up! You slept really well last night! Let's untie the big rope of the net, and when they come to work, we'll unload the truck using the tarpaulin."

Li Wei got up and dressed, and saw that Wang Fuyou's eyes were bloodshot. He checked the time and it was past seven o'clock. This guy had been up since one o'clock and had been staying up all night. He really could stay up all night.

Huh? Why are this guy's thighs all bruised? (Note: When you're really sleepy from staying up all night, try pinching your thighs like crazy. The author has tried it personally, and it's very effective.)

The two got out of the car and untied the large rope net in the rain. Then, dripping wet, they stood under the eaves to take shelter from the rain. Although they were soaked, they were sweating profusely from their busy work.

Wang Fuyou pulled out a plastic bag, grinned, and opened it: "I'm so smart, I put the cigarettes in a plastic bag so they won't get wet. Wei-ge, have one?"

Li Wei took the cigarette and lit it: "I put it in the driver's seat. Aren't you sleepy?"

"We've gotten used to it. I was worried you wouldn't be able to stay up late driving, so I let you drive a little longer in the first half of the night. Once you're familiar with the route and we can work together well, neither of us will be tired."

As he spoke, Wang Fuyou's eyes gleamed with hopeful anticipation.

Li Wei watched as the rain dripped incessantly, his vision obscured by the curtain of rain.

Just as my friend said, this industry is indeed a tough business where you only earn money through hard work.

The two men didn't see it. Several security guards in raincoats came from the side. When they saw the two men smoking, they excitedly ran over, stood next to them, and shouted, "Smoking in the warehouse can easily cause a fire. You'll be fined five hundred!"

Wang Fuyou became agitated: "Which eye of yours saw us smoking in the warehouse? It's raining so hard, and this is outside the warehouse, why can't we smoke?"

"Damn it, if I say it won't work, it won't work. I'm the one who calls the shots here."

"Are you being unreasonable? What gives you the right to impose a fine?"

"I'm right, stop talking nonsense, or you'd better pay up if you don't want to get beaten up."

Is this the beautiful Qiantang River? Not only did I get soaked to the bone by the rain, but someone also wanted to beat me up.

Li Wei threw his cigarette butt into the rain and pulled him back a few steps: "Old Wang, you've worked hard. Want to fight?"