Before Liu Bo could figure out whether to go find wood first or set off without delaying the journey, the drivers had already started arguing.
The two drivers who lost the wood were worried that they would be held accountable, so they pulled Liu Fei and the other three drivers who were on duty last night and questioned them, saying that they were not careful on duty last night and must have secretly gone to sleep, which caused the loss of wood on their carts.
The driver on duty certainly didn't want to be suspected like this, and he also scolded the two men for not taking care of their own coach and snoring loudly in their sleep.
Liu Fei was the deputy captain. Although he felt aggrieved after being scolded, he did not dare to say anything and could only try to stop the fight.
Only then did Liu Bo realize that transportation was not as simple as he had imagined.
He took a deep breath and yelled, "Shut up! What are you arguing about? We are all in the same team. If something goes wrong, everyone is responsible, including Liu Fei and me. We are all responsible!"
After all, he was the captain, and Qin Yao was in charge, so the conflict was stopped in time and did not escalate further.
This roar calmed Liu Bo's panicked mind. He called out the people who were on duty last night and asked them if they had found anything unusual and tried their best to recover the lost wood.
Wood is heavy, so one person definitely cannot do this job. There are most likely more than two thieves.
Moreover, he is carrying such a heavy thing, and the wood looks big, so if we go after him now, there is a chance that we might catch up with him.
Liu Fei and another driver who were on duty in the first half of the night said they did not find anything unusual.
However, in the second half of the night, when it was almost dawn, they seemed to hear the noise of horses from the post station, but it soon disappeared. They thought it was the people from the post station getting up to go to the toilet, so they didn't pay any attention.
Upon hearing this, Liu Bo immediately asked Liu Fei to take the two coachmen to check over to the stable. They indeed found a ball of flattened horse manure. Judging from the direction of the footprints, they were heading northwest.
"Those must be the footprints left by thieves!" the experienced driver said with certainty, pointing at the pile of horse manure.
Because the horse manure was trampled very deeply, only someone carrying a heavy load would have such deep footprints.
Liu Fei didn't think twice and immediately called four or five drivers to chase in the northwest direction.
As we went along, we discovered more and more traces.
But the sun was rising higher and higher, and if we continued to chase it, today's schedule would definitely be delayed.
The stationery factory was in urgent need of wood for production. Liu Fei felt very upset when he thought about this, and hated himself for not being careful enough last night, which allowed the thieves to take advantage of the opportunity.
But he still stopped the drivers who were about to chase after him and said, "Let's go back."
"Are you not looking for wood anymore?" the drivers asked in confusion.
"Don't look for it anymore. I can't find it." There is no time to look for it.
My third sister-in-law said that things should be prioritized. If two pieces of wood were lost, we could still bring back two more next time.
If the factory production is delayed due to untimely delivery of raw materials, the delivery deadline will be delayed!
Obviously, the latter is more important.
Liu Fei waved his hand and led the drivers to run breathlessly back to the post station. He shook his head at Liu Bo and said, "We can't find it. Let's set off first. The lost wood will be my fault and will be deducted from my wages."
"That's not possible." The other three drivers on duty grabbed Liu Fei. They were much older than him, and if they were serious, Liu Fei would have to call them uncle. How could the elders have the nerve to let a junior take the responsibility for them?
If people knew about this, I would be scolded to death!
"Captain, just deduct it from the wages of the four of us." The other three drivers said in unison.
Liu Bo snorted and looked at all the drivers: "They all have to be deducted. I, the captain, and the four of them will take the lion's share, and the rest will be divided equally among you!"
Some people were dissatisfied, but before they could speak, they heard Liu Bo say, "Did we all recite the ten rules during training? What does the last one say?"
Liu Fei knew this and actively raised his hand to answer: "Unity and friendship, sharing responsibilities, working together, facing difficulties together, and never being alone!"
Suddenly, no one spoke anymore.
Liu Bo nodded, "This is the first time our team has had an accident, and it will be the last time. It won't happen again!"
There was another important thing he wanted to announce again, "From today on, the two teams of drivers on duty at night must remember to check the car number and the amount of wood on the car before changing shifts. Whoever fails to take good care of it will be held responsible!"
"Also, other drivers who are not on duty should pay attention to their own cars. Don't think that you can sleep peacefully just by letting others watch over you. Do you hear me?"
The drivers nodded and started thinking about how to prevent theft.
When passing through the town, someone took advantage of the lunch break to buy a few bells, intending to hang them on the ropes used to tie the wood. This way, if a thief came over, the bells would ring when touched, scaring the thief away.
It is this bell that is hung on the car. It makes a jingling sound when you are on the road, which is very noisy to the ears.
But the anti-theft effect is really good. When it is quiet at night, the bell suddenly rings, and all the coachmen are awakened. Before they can move, the thieves have already run away.
Liu Fei felt that there was a loophole in the bell. The vehicles were parked in scattered places, so it was not impossible for the thieves to make a feint to the east and attack in the west.
So he bought a large bundle of straw from the villagers in the fields, and while driving the cart he weaved a thick straw rope. At night he parked the carts together, circled them with the straw rope, and tied a bell to the rope. The people on duty would circle around the rope and keep watch.
Liu Fei also studied the height of the rope. It had to be tied just to the waist of the car so that thieves could not pull out the wood underneath, and if they wanted to carry out the wood placed at a high place, it would definitely hit the bell.
Qin Yao came to observe out of curiosity and secretly sighed: This bell formation is so painful that even thieves would have a headache.
After this incident, it can be seen that the two brothers are capable of leading a team well.
Liu Bo is steady, has a global perspective and is capable of taking on responsibilities.
Liu Fei knows what to prioritize and how to stop losses in time. He is quick-witted and loyal, and can get along well with the drivers.
With the two brothers in the team, no big problems will arise and small problems can be solved by themselves. Qin Yao finally put her worries aside for the two of them.
As for the two pieces of wood that were thrown away, just consider it as tuition fee.
One day during the transportation, when Liu Bo and Liu Fei saw Qin Yao riding leisurely on horseback, they suddenly thought, with her skills, how could the caravan be robbed?
Even if she was robbed, would the thief be able to escape from her? What a powerful thief he must be!
"Could it be that my third sister-in-law deliberately let the thief go?" Liu Fei opened his eyes wide and looked at his eldest brother in disbelief.
When the two brothers looked at each other, they became more certain that this was a test set by Qin Yao for them.
That's right, this tael of silver is not a small amount when divided up!
The two of them covered their chests, feeling pain in their flesh.
On the evening of the ninth day after leaving the village, the transport team returned to Liujia Village smoothly with cartloads of timber.
The section of road leading into the village after leaving the official road was washed out by heavy rain two days ago, leaving deep gullies. A horse-drawn carriage loaded with heavy loads almost overturned when driving on such a road.
After finally helping to stabilize all the vehicles, Qin Yao made up her mind that the road in the village must be repaired this year!
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