Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Transaction
*
"Isn't it nice to go off-road?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Mengran looked a little embarrassed, as if he had been caught lying. He was silent for a long time before he shrugged his shoulders helplessly and sighed, "Okay, I knew I couldn't hide it from you, Brother Gang."
This sounded comfortable, and Gang raised his chin, "Tell me more about it."
"It's like this." Gu Mengran took a sip of the mineral water and explained seriously: "Brother Gang, you also know that Shancheng is very far away from Yinan, and the road is not easy to travel after the disaster. It will take more than one or two days to get there."
"This means that in addition to vehicles, we also need supplies, sufficient supplies. I forgot whether I mentioned it before, but we passed through Jincheng before coming to Shancheng. Because we walked along the river, we passed by Jincheng Port."
"Port?" Gang Ge repeated these two words in a low voice. He seemed to realize something, his slightly frowned brows relaxed, and a barely perceptible hint of joy flashed in his eyes.
Facing Gang Ge's expectant eyes, Gu Mengran felt a little guilty for some reason, and said with a stiff upper lip: "The port was almost emptied, and no supplies were found, but we found a bulk carrier at the anchorage."
Having lived on both sides of the Huangjiang River since childhood, Gang Ge knew a little about it. As soon as Gu Mengran finished speaking, he hurriedly asked, "How many tons is the ship? What's on the ship?"
"A small bulk carrier fully loaded with 1,000 tons of wheat."
Gang's eyes widened instantly, and his shoulders shook violently with excitement. "How much? One thousand——"
"Brother Gang." Gu Mengran interrupted Brother Gang and ruthlessly pierced his fantasy. "We went up to check. The ship must have been overturned by the waves during the earthquake, and then it was forcibly turned back. Most of the wheat on the ship was poured into the Huangjiang River. There is not much left in the cabin. At most, it can hold three cars."
I'm speaking from personal experience, and there's almost nothing wrong with what I said.
But Gang Ge seemed to be poured with cold water, his excitement was gone, and he gradually calmed down and asked again: "Why didn't you find a car in Jincheng at that time? Although it was not far away, why did you run to Shancheng and then run back? Hiss, why?"
"Jincheng is a chaotic place. There are also organizations like yours, but they are much more vicious than you and quite xenophobic." Gu Mengran met Gang Ge's gaze frankly and made up stories in a serious manner.
Three carts of wheat are a lot, and Gang Ge originally wanted to send a few people to go with them to get a share of the pie, but when he heard that there were other forces in Jincheng, he immediately gave up the idea.
Although wheat is tempting, safety is more important. Jincheng Mountain City is not far away, and it will be troublesome if you get into trouble.
Gu Mengran didn't know what he was thinking. Seeing that Gang seemed to be a little shaken, he took the opportunity to throw out a condition that the other party could not refuse: "As long as you are willing to provide us with a vehicle, no matter how much wheat we bring back this time, we will split it 50-50."
"Seriously?" Brother Gang instantly perked up and straightened his back.
"certainly."
Who could resist such a temptation? Gang Ge agreed without even thinking, "Deal! But if you want to transport wheat, I'll give you three trucks, one for--"
"Trucks are too conspicuous. No one would transport unimportant supplies at this time. I don't want to be targeted, so buses and commercial vehicles are most suitable." Gu Mengran explained seriously.
When Gang Ge heard it, it seemed to be right. After hesitating for a moment, he finally agreed.
But his expression was as if a piece of flesh had been cut from his body and he was extremely reluctant to do so.
Gu Mengran was curious about why the other party was reluctant to give up the bus, so he asked more questions.
Brother Gang explained that the weather was too hot, so when they were clearing the road they would put an air-conditioned bus on the road for the workers to take a temporary rest to prevent heatstroke.
It was a very humane preparation. Gu Mengran suddenly felt that it was a wise choice to give some of the wheat to Jiujie, but he still had to take the bus.
Two buses plus four spare tires, two seven-seater commercial vehicles plus two spare tires. Brother Gang was unexpectedly generous and even gave away two sets of car repair tools for free.
In order to prevent any further trouble, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao drove away two buses on the spot. When they returned to the underground parking lot and prepared to drive away the remaining two commercial vehicles, Gang Ge finally reacted and leaned on the car window to stare at Gu Mengran with a distorted face.
"That's not right, kid. Why do I feel like you're just making empty promises to me? I've already let you drive the car away. If you just walk away, who can I complain to?"
What was supposed to come finally came. Gu Mengran fastened his seat belt and smiled at Brother Gang outside the car window. "Don't worry, Brother Gang. We will drive three cars and send three people. One person will stay in Shancheng and wait for us. If you are worried, send someone to look around nearby and let him show his head every morning."
"Who's left? The kid from Emerald City?" Brother Gang looked at Gu Mengran suspiciously.
Gu Mengran nodded, "Yes."
"That won't work. He is originally from Shancheng. Maybe he doesn't plan to go with you." Gang Ge thought for a moment and said, "Well, you said there is an old man. Let him live with us. I promise to treat him well with good food and drink."
Gu Mengran frowned slightly, pretending to be embarrassed: "Let my grandpa stay, then we don't have to go on this trip."
"How come?"
"The boat is at anchor and has broken down. We can either launch the boat to bring up the wheat, or find a way to repair the boat and sail it to the dock to unload the cargo. The former takes a lot of time, which we cannot afford, and the latter requires skills that only my grandfather can do."
"Oh, your grandpa used to be a sailor." Gang nodded thoughtfully, then looked up and stared into Gu Mengran's eyes, grinning, "Then you stay?"
…Where did I get the wheat from?
Gu Mengran was just thinking about how to refuse. At this moment, another commercial vehicle next to him slowly lowered its window. Liang Zhao stuck his head out from the passenger seat and said, "If you must keep one, I can stay."
"That's a great feeling!"
*
Thanks to the people from Jiujie who cleared the road in advance, at noon, four cars drove from Yuedao Park to the main road leading to Jincheng and parked neatly on the side of the road.
He left home early in the morning and was already hungry. After the people from Jiu Street who helped send the car walked away, Gu Mengran stuck his head out of the car window and called out to Liang Zhao, preparing to have a secret meal with him.
Since we were cooking for ourselves, we had to eat things that we couldn't usually eat. Gu Mengran took out two boxes of self-heating rice as the staple food, and then grapes, bananas, strawberries... all kinds of fruits.
“Click.”
Liang Zhao opened the car door and sat sideways in the passenger seat.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw that there was a large stainless steel basin filled with colorful fruits on Gu Mengran's legs, and water was constantly seeping out of his palms until the clear spring water submerged the fruits in the basin.
"Conditions are limited, so we have to wash and eat at the same time."
As he spoke, Gu Mengran picked up a bright red strawberry, rinsed it in water twice, removed the stem, and put the whole thing into his mouth.
With a light bite, the abundant juice burst out in the mouth, and the unique sweetness and slight fruity acid intertwined and blended together, it was so fragrant that Gu Mengran almost bit his tongue.
It was so delicious that Gu Mengran was about to have another one. His eyes accidentally glanced at the passenger seat and saw Liang Zhao standing there motionless, staring at him blankly. He paused and turned to look at Liang Zhao, "What's wrong? Don't you want to eat fruit? There's rice."
Gu Mengran pointed to the front console, on which were two boxes of self-heating rice.
Liang Zhao didn't even look at it, and shook his head slowly, "No, I want to eat. I just think it might be too much. We can't finish it."
"It's okay. Put it back if you can't finish it. It won't go bad anyway." Gu Mengran raised his chin and handed the basin to Liang Zhao. "Don't just talk and not eat. Hurry up."
Gu Mengran originally wanted him to get some fruit, but Liang Zhao took the basin away directly and placed it on his knees, saying that there was more space on his side.
Gu Mengran did not refuse his kindness. He freed his hands to take a garbage bag from the space and enjoyed the delicious fruit meal with Liang Zhao.
It tastes good, but it really takes up a lot of space in your stomach.
After eating half a bowl of fruit, Gu Mengran felt full. However, fruit digests quickly, and if he doesn't eat some staple food, he will definitely be hungry soon. So after Liang Zhao finished eating, he returned the bowl and the fruit to the space, and asked Liang Zhao to steam the self-heating rice.
The heating pack hissed, and smoke with a faint smell of lime floated out of the lunch box, slipped out through the gap in the car window, and soon disappeared on the deserted road.
No one spoke and the carriage was unusually quiet.
Gu Mengran secretly glanced at Liang Zhao out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was staring at him in a daze, his lips tightly pursed, and a hint of uneasiness in his lowered eyes.
Who could bear this? Gu Mengran suddenly raised his head, met Liang Zhao's gaze, and asked softly, "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Are you suffering from heatstroke?"
After Gu Mengran finished speaking, he reached out to touch Liang Zhao's forehead, but failed. Liang Zhao grabbed his wrist first and replied frankly: "I didn't have heatstroke, I was just worried that you were unhappy."
"Ah? Why am I unhappy?" Gu Mengran blinked blankly.
"I didn't discuss this matter with you about staying in Ninth Street." Liang Zhao held Gu Mengran's hand tightly, as if he was afraid that he would run away.
Gu Mengran frowned, his expression suddenly becoming quite ugly, and just when Liang Zhao was visibly getting nervous, Gu Mengran burst out laughing, "Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore."
"What's there to be angry about? Brother Gang doesn't recognize Zheng Yijie, so one of us has to stay. If you say that, should I thank you? Thank you for taking the risk for grandpa, thank you--"
"That's not what I meant." Liang Zhao interrupted Gu Mengran, his expression becoming more serious.
Gu Mengran pulled his right hand out of Liang Zhao's hand, gently patted the back of his hand twice, and said in an elder's tone: "Didn't I tell you last time that it's a good thing to make more decisions. After all, you are also a part of this family."
"Then why are you unhappy?" Liang Zhao glanced at the bony hand and his gaze fell back at Meng Ran's face.
"Am I unhappy?" Gu Mengran asked back.
Liang Zhao said nothing, just stared at him without blinking.
Gu Mengran: "Well, there is a point. Although it is now basically certain that Jiujie is not a school of tigers and wolves, we have never been separated since the disaster. You stay here alone... I am still a little worried."
As soon as these words were spoken, Liang Zhao's expression gradually relaxed, and he seemed a little happy, and unconsciously raised the corners of his mouth.
But before he could be happy for a few seconds, Gu Mengran curled his lips and continued to add: "This is just one of the reasons. We are facing a big problem now."
The smile disappeared in a second, Liang Zhao's eyes darkened, and he asked in a low voice: "What?"
"We have agreed with Brother Gang on three vehicles. If you stay in Shancheng, it means we have to bring an 'outsider' with us. But you know, we are not really going to Jincheng to transport wheat. How can we hide the fact that we are bringing an outsider?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
