Ji Yanjun's expression was not good.

Aunt Wang, Sister Zhou, and others showed no restraint and continued to whisper among themselves.

"His sister is really wicked. Wen Qing didn't provoke her, but she still tried to hit Wen Qing. In the end, she ran into the wall and bled."

"His mother is the same; she looks gentle and generous, but she's actually the most unreasonable."

Ji Yanjun felt his face burning, but he had no way to refute it.

"Ji Yanjun, is this super truck yours?" Wen Peng ran over excitedly and asked.

Ji Yanjun's expression softened slightly: "Yes."

"That's so cool!"

Ji Yanjun smiled and reached out to pat Wen Peng's head.

"Pengpeng!" Wen Liang called out from the side.

Wen Peng turned around: "What are you doing, Second Brother?"

"Come here!"

What were you doing in the past?

Wen Liang stepped forward, pulled Wen Peng to the wall, and found a reason to keep Wen Peng away from Ji Yanjun.

Ji Yanjun understood the Wen family's current rejection of him, and reluctantly touched his nose before continuing to help move the shoes.

Just then, Wen Qing and Yao Shiling carried over a large bag. Ji Yanjun glanced at it, stepped forward, and quickly took it, calling out, "Auntie."

Yao Shiling glanced at Ji Yanjun and gave a weak "hmm".

Wen Qing said, "There's food in the bag, and there's no more room in the carriage."

"Okay." Ji Yanjun put the bag in the truck bed, and then Yao Shiling called him aside.

Wen Qing couldn't hear what Yao Shiling and Ji Yanjun were saying; she only saw Ji Yanjun nodding repeatedly.

After Ji Yanjun returned, Yao Shiling pulled Wen Qing aside and talked to her for a while, saying things like she shouldn't go if she could avoid it.

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Mom, it's such a lot of money, I really won't feel at ease if I don't go myself."

Yao Shiling looked worried.

Wen Qing grabbed her arm: "Mom, don't worry, I'll be back in ten days at most."

Yao Shiling nodded: "Mm."

"Don't worry, I'll call home every day."

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

"Um."

As the villagers of Shuiwan Village saw Wen Qing off, he boarded a truck, which then slowly drove onto the dirt road and disappeared from sight.

The villagers then came to their senses and began discussing their respective concerns:

"There are still lots of clothes in the car!"

"How much does this cost?"

"More than 100,000 yuan! That's more than enough to fit in a small thatched hut if you exchanged it for real money."

"Wow! So much money! Wen Qing is really something!"

"..."

Of course, there are also whispered discussions like this:

"Why is Ji Yanjun driving? Is Wen Qing going to marry into the Ji family again?"

"Nonsense! Wen Qing said she wouldn't marry into the Ji family. Besides, Wen Qing is quite capable now; she can marry whomever she wants. I don't think the Ji family is good enough for Wen Qing!"

"That's what you say, but why ask Ji Yanjun to deliver the goods?"

"You don't know this, do you? Ji Yanjun was one of the first to get on the road, not only in Nanzhou City, but also in every province. There are a lot of highway robbers these days, but Ji Yanjun made it through, so they all give him some face. If you entrust your goods to Ji Yanjun's company, there's no problem, especially since Ji Yanjun is personally handling it."

"So that's how it was..."

"Yes, I'm at ease letting Wen Qing go alone."

However, Wen Liang was unhappy, as he had always disliked the fact that Wen Qing and Ji Yan were involved together.

He had always thought his sister was straightforward, or to put it bluntly, foolish and stubborn. Although she was much more gentle and rational now, he still felt that his sister was foolish at heart and completely unsuitable for the Ji family. He believed it would be best if his sister never saw Ji Yanjun again.

But when the two of them delivered goods to Fucheng together, Wen Liang said unhappily, "Mom, why didn't you stop them?"

"Why are you stopping me?"

"My sister and Ji Yanjun."

"How can you stop it? Can you stop it for a while or forever? If the root of the problem isn't addressed, it will still fester in your heart, and there's nothing a bystander can do."

Wen Liang was speechless. He looked up at the dirt road, but Ji Yanjun's car was no longer there.

Ji Yanjun's truck had already left Wangcheng County by this time.

Wen Qing sat in the passenger seat, initially looking out the window. Then, remembering her senior year textbook, she turned around and found a senior year geography book in the empty space behind the seat. Leaning back in the car, she quietly read it.

Ji Yanjun glanced at her but didn't say anything.

The carriage was therefore quiet.

After about an hour of driving, Ji Yanjun said, "Let's put the books away. The road ahead is bad and it's blinding."

"Okay." Wen Qing put the book away and placed it on the center console. Sure enough, within five minutes, the car began to sway. Wen Qing gripped the handrail tightly.

This era is nothing like the 21st century, where highways and cars are everywhere.

In the 1970s and 1980s, China had almost no highways. Ji Yanjun was inspired to work in the transportation industry after seeing the highways built a few years ago. However, there are still very few highways now, and even the national highways have not been completed yet.

Therefore, the road to Fucheng is sometimes in good condition and sometimes in bad condition, but one advantage is that Ji Yanjun can stop the car at any time.

At noon, Ji Yanjun parked the truck in front of a village, took two water bottles and went into the village to ask for two bottles of hot water. He poured a teacup for Wen Qing and said, "Didn't you bring some food? Drink some hot water first."

"Thank you." Wen Qing took the teacup, held it to her lips with both hands, and took two sips. Her heart and stomach felt warm. She wasn't thirsty, but rather cold.

Ji Yanjun stood outside the car, smoked half a cigarette, stubbed it out, and put the remaining half back into the cigarette pack. He let the cold wind blow on him for a while to dissipate the smoke before getting into the car. He watched as Wen Qing held the teacup in both hands, sipping hot water in small sips, looking quite adorable.

"Always so disobedient." Ji Yanjun said, taking out a water bottle from under the steering wheel and pouring himself half a teacup of hot water.

Wen Qing looked at him.

He turned his head: "Sports cars suffer a lot, this is just the beginning."

Wen Qing lowered her eyes and drank the boiled water.

"So you're not going to be friends with me anymore, so you won't talk to me anymore?" Ji Yanjun asked with a smile.

Wen Qing said with a straight face, "Don't joke around with me, this is my job."

Ji Yanjun looked at Wen Qing's serious expression, lowered his head, wanted to laugh but held it in, and nodded: "Okay, let's talk about work."

Wen Qing: "Go ahead and speak."

Ji Yanjun then said, "At our current speed, it will take five days to reach Fucheng."

"Can you hurry up?" Wen Qing asked.

"Sure, I can drive at night too."

"Driving while fatigued carries a high risk."

"Adjustments will be made according to the itinerary."

Wen Qing thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay."

Ji Yanjun looked at her and asked, "Don't you want to eat something to tide you over?"

"don't want."

"It's a bit far from where we can eat and rest; we won't get there until after dark," Ji Yanjun said.

Wen Qing casually grabbed the bag, took out two white steamed buns, and handed them to Ji Yanjun: "Take them, I feel bad eating them myself."

Ji Yanjun took it.

The two broke open the steamed buns, ate some soybean paste, drank some hot water to replenish their strength, and then set off again.

As they drove further and it grew darker, the interior of the vehicle gradually became colder. Ji Yanjun then pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and pulled out a military green overcoat from behind the seat. This overcoat was specially bought by Ji Yanjun. It was windproof and warm, even warmer than a quilt. He and Gangzi each had one, and they used it as a quilt when they were running transport.

"Put it on." Ji Yanjun said as he helped Wen Qing put it on without giving her a chance to resist.

Wen Qing looked at him, feeling a surge of emotions. Whether in this life or the past, this was the first time she had ever been in his car, so his care for her in the car felt very unfamiliar to her. She couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart, but she couldn't help but say, "Don't be so concerned. I won't be your wife in the future."

Ji Yanjun paused, then looked straight at her and suddenly smiled: "I understand."

And then? What happens after he finds out? Wen Qing waited for a while but Ji Yanjun didn't say anything more. Then she thought that it was enough that he knew, so she didn't ask any more questions.

After Ji Yanjun buttoned up Wen Qing's military overcoat, he asked, "Are you warm?"

"warm."

Ji Yanjun smiled and said, "That's good. We'll be at the guesthouse up ahead soon. Let's rest for the night."

"good."

Ji Yanjun sat back in the driver's seat, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes. He then looked ahead, started the car, and drove forward.

After driving for about an hour, we finally arrived at a place where we could find a job.

For safety reasons, Ji Yanjun booked a double room for 50 cents a night.

Wen Qing was aware of the order and chaos of this era, so she did not object to the two of them living in the same room.

After arriving at the extremely simple guesthouse, two large bowls of steaming hot vegetable and bean noodles were brought to them. The two sat on the bed, the noodles were placed on a simple table, and Ji Yanjun began to eat.

Wen Qing remained unmoved.

Ji Yanjun asked, "Not to your liking?"

"No, I can't finish it and it would be a waste."

Ji Yanjun laughed: "It's okay, you eat first, I'll eat the rest if you can't finish it."

"I'll give you half first," Wen Qing said.

Ji Yanjun laughed: "Didn't you used to just push your leftovers to me? Eat up, try to eat as much as you can, and we'll talk about it if you can't finish."

Wen Qing lowered her head and ate her noodles, but as expected, she didn't finish them. Ji Yanjun took them from her and finished eating. Then she went to the bathroom to take a hot shower, and came out with the washed clothes and said, "Lock the door tonight and use a stool to prop it open. If you need anything, call me through the window. I can hear you."

Wen Qing asked in confusion, "Where are you going?"

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving five thousand sets of clothes in the car without someone watching them,” Ji Yanjun said, then asked, “Has your period started yet?”

"What?"

"Looks like he didn't come. You'll have to do your own laundry then." After saying that, Ji Yanjun added that she should lock the door from the inside and barricade it with a table. He would come and wake her up tomorrow morning.

Then Ji Yanjun left the guesthouse.

Wen Qing walked to the window and saw Ji Yanjun wringing out two or three pieces of underwear from the basin and hanging them on the rearview mirror to dry...

Hanging on the rearview mirror...

Then, he threw the basin aside, opened the truck door, grabbed two quilts, laid one directly on the blue coat in the truck bed, made a simple canopy with a plastic sheet, and then lay down in the truck bed, pulling the other quilt over himself.