Chapter 43 Chapter 43 Separation is imminent
*
It is a long way from the mountain city to Xinjing. Fortunately, the smog that lasted for several months has completely dissipated. The four of us took turns driving day and night, and finally, a week after the departure, we were only a few dozen kilometers away from Xinjing.
As the sun came out, the temperature rose day by day, and the second bus was also reaching its limit. Tire blowouts and mechanical failures were commonplace, and we were able to make it this far thanks to the spare tire and repair tools provided by Gang.
At 8:30 in the morning, after changing the last spare tire, Gu Mengran, Liang Zhao, and Zheng Yijie returned to the bus. Their clothes and pants were soaked, and it didn't look like they got off the bus to change the spare tire. Instead, it looked like they got caught in the rain.
It was too hot. The bus had only been running for three days, but the cabin was already filled with an unpleasant smell of sweat. Ventilation had become a luxury. All Gu Mengran and his companions could do was to maintain good personal hygiene within the limited conditions.
The doors closed and the bus started again.
Looking at the three people sweating profusely, Wei Qianlan, who was sitting next to the back door, pulled up the bed sheet hanging between the front and rear compartments without hesitation.
The carriage was divided into two parts. Gu Mengran had no more scruples and decisively took out a stainless steel bucket and a plastic washbasin from the space and quickly poured clean water into the buckets.
The first time he took water directly from space in front of Zheng Yijie, the man stood aside and looked dumbfounded. But he had been exposed to too many unscientific things during this period of time. After just a few seconds, Zheng Yijie suddenly realized and analyzed to himself:
"The water that existed in the space before, right? It turns out that it can be used like this."
Gu Mengran didn't explain to him. He dragged out the backpack from under the seat, took out the dried towel and shampoo, squatted in front of the washbasin and began to scrub his sweaty hair.
It was the first time for Liang Zhao to take a shower in the carriage, and he was very taciturn. He took out a mouthwash cup from his backpack and poured water for Gu Mengran when he needed to rinse his hair.
Short hair is convenient. It took only more than ten minutes for all three of them to wash their hair. The sticky sweat turned into refreshing spring water, and the unbearable sweat odor turned into the fragrance of shampoo.
After washing his hair and preparing to take a shower, Gu Mengran took the basin and the dirty water back into the space and refilled the stainless steel bucket with clean water.
The conditions are quite limited, so it is impossible to take a proper bath. I can only wipe it simply with a towel dipped in water.
The sweaty clothes were sticking to his body, which was uncomfortable, and Zheng Yijie couldn't wait. As soon as Gu Mengran put the water in, he immediately lifted up the hem of his clothes and took off his T-shirt from the top, revealing his standard elementary school student figure.
Zheng Yijie is very thin and not tall, with not a pound of flesh on his body. With a pair of simple black-framed glasses, at first glance, he really looks no different from an elementary school student.
Gu Mengran found it curious and couldn't help but look at it a few more times. At this time, Liang Zhao coughed lightly, grabbed his collar and slowly took off his T-shirt.
Liang Zhao is tall and well-proportioned, with standard broad shoulders, narrow waist and long legs.
Perhaps because he has been doing physical work for a long time, the muscles on his body are smooth without any excess. His abdominal muscles are clearly visible with distinct contours of his waist and abdomen. They are tight but not exaggerated. He has a perfect and powerful body.
Everyone took a shower in the space at night, and it was the first time that Gu Mengran felt Liang Zhao's good figure so intuitively. Although he had seen it in his previous life, he was hungry and full at that time, and his muscles had long been starved.
After the surprise, he felt more awkward. After just two glances, Gu Mengran quickly looked away, lowered his head and exhaled a breath of hot air.
"Fuck, bro, you must have practiced before, you're in such good shape!"
In comparison, Zheng Yijie was much more frank. He spared no effort in praising Liang Zhao's figure and even wanted to touch her.
But unfortunately, Liang Zhao dodged flexibly and prevented him from succeeding.
"Why is there such a big difference between people?" Zheng Yiji turned his head and looked at Gu Mengran.
Both of them had taken off their clothes, and he seemed a little out of place as the only one left. Gu Mengran sighed inwardly, put down the towel and took off his shirt.
If Zheng Yijie has the body of an elementary school student, then Gu Mengran is at most a college student. He has a good body proportion, thin and well-proportioned, but lacks exercise and has no muscles to speak of. His advantage is fair skin.
From the moment he took off his clothes, Zheng Yijie had been staring at Gu Mengran.
Gu Mengran felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, and just as he was about to say something to him, Zheng Yijie immediately twisted his arm and took a look, and suddenly said, "That's not right. Everyone hasn't showered for so many days, how come your body is so clean? It's no exaggeration to say that if I take a bath now, I can definitely rub off two kilograms of mud!"
Gu Mengran smiled and thought that if he went back to the space to take a shower every day, how could it not be clean?
But he didn't show it on his face, and raised his chin towards Zheng Yijie, "Don't dawdle, wash quickly. Let me make it clear first, no rubbing mud in the carriage!"
After taking a shower and changing clothes, the three of them returned to their seats to rest.
It was a little before ten o'clock, and Gu Mengran had already started planning lunch.
If nothing goes wrong, they will arrive in Xinjing this evening. It seems that they are about to say goodbye, and before parting, he wants to cook another meal for the children.
Moreover, since they have known each other for a while, he can't let them leave empty-handed, so Gu Mengran is still thinking about which supplies are easy to carry.
Unable to figure it out no matter how hard he tried, Gu Mengran simply took out two large mountaineering bags from the space and loaded the goods directly into them before the curtain was drawn.
Pack some snacks such as preserved fruits and candies to comfort the children when necessary; bring some cold medicine, anti-heat medicine, and vitamins in case of emergency. The staple food is mainly dry food, followed by instant noodles, self-heating rice, canned meat, canned fruit...
As for milk, chocolate, fruit... these are no longer supplies that should exist now. Gu Mengran wanted to give them, but he couldn't give a reasonable explanation.
The other supplies were easy to explain. The two teachers knew that Zheng Yijie had hoarded a lot of supplies, but they didn't know what specifically he had hoarded. In order to cover up their tracks, they even ran back and forth several times and loaded some of the supplies into the car one after another.
Carrying too many supplies at this time would easily attract other people's attention. Gu Mengran knew this very well, but he couldn't help it. He packed a little here and a little there, and stuffed his two mountaineering bags full.
There will always be a time for separation, but after walking together for a while, he actually felt a little reluctant to leave.
It is impossible to cook a good meal in the carriage. Near noon, Gu Mengran stood up and stretched, then took the electric cooker from the luggage rack and connected it to the outdoor power socket.
Wash the rice and cook porridge, add some of the dehydrated vegetables that Zheng Yiji had stockpiled, then secretly take out a bag of frozen shrimps from the space, clean them and put them in the pot, cooking them together with the vegetables and rice.
Anyway, the question is... Zheng Yijie has stockpiled dehydrated shrimps.
There was no need to think about cooking as the bus was not full. When the porridge was almost cooked, Gu Mengran took out ten boxes of self-heating hot pot with different flavors from the luggage rack and called Liang Zhao and Zheng Yijie to open them together.
The tomato and sauerkraut flavors are not spicy and can be eaten by children. In addition to the vegetable and meat buns that come with the box, Gu Mengran also added a can of luncheon meat and salt-baked quail eggs to each box.
Fifteen minutes later, the hot porridge came out of the pot and the self-heating hot pot was filled with a rich aroma.
The moving bus slowly pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. The children playing in the bus looked over, patting their bellies and saying they were hungry.
"Have you washed your hands? Get ready to eat!"
…
Everyone knows that separation is imminent.
After lunch, the children fell asleep in their seats. The two teachers who had some free time did not choose to take a nap. Instead, they lifted the curtain and went to the front carriage.
Zhou Qin sat in the empty seat next to Liang Zhao, and Wei Qianlan sat next to Gu Mengran. As if they had discussed it beforehand, Wei Qianlan said directly as soon as she sat down: "I feel like we're almost there, can we get there today?"
Gu Mengran smiled and nodded, saying truthfully: "You are right. If everything goes well, we will arrive before dark. But just in case, we plan to rest for a while and send you into the city after dark."
"No, no need to send me off." Wei Qianlan waved her hand hastily. "The location of the official base shouldn't be very hidden. We can just go into the city and find it ourselves."
You don't want to send me? Gu Meng frowned and looked at her in surprise, "What if there is no base in Xinjing? Aren't you worried at all?"
Wei Qianlan smiled disapprovingly: "How is that possible? Just like you said, Xinjing is the capital, the central city. If there is no base in Xinjing, then there will be no base in other places."
This is the truth, but Gu Mengran still found it strange. After thinking about it, he asked directly: "Then why don't you want us to send you? Even if there is a base in Xinjing, it's so hot and you don't know the exact location. When will you find it with a group of children?"
After she finished speaking, Wei Qianlan, who had been looking down at the ground, slowly raised her head, looked into Gu Mengran's eyes, and stared at him for a few seconds.
Then she slowly looked away and lowered her voice, "In fact, I can sense that you don't like, or are very resistant to, the city of Xinjing. You have helped a lot along the way, so let us walk the rest of the way by ourselves."
Is it that obvious? Gu Mengran was speechless for a moment.
Gu Mengran was not unfamiliar with Xinjing, because he had lived there for five years, including a long period of time after the disaster. So he knew that after the disaster, Xinjing was taken over by the military, with sufficient supplies and order, and was relatively safe for the time being.
There were two main reasons why he didn't want to go to Xinjing. First, he had a secret and didn't want to contact anyone from the military for the time being. Second, he didn't want to have any chance of meeting Gu Decheng.
So what if he is his biological father? Gu Decheng could have pushed him out to exchange for supplies in his previous life. Gu Mengran would never be soft-hearted towards such a person, but the same may not be true for his grandfather. He does not want to have a conflict with his grandfather because of an insignificant person.
A few days ago, he just hinted that there was a high possibility that an official base existed in Xinjing. Unexpectedly, with just a few words, Wei Qianlan could see that he didn't like Xinjing.
Girls’ sixth sense is so accurate!
Gu Mengran touched his nose awkwardly and admitted frankly: "I once lived in Xinjing, and it was indeed a little unhappy. But as the saying goes, we are here now, and we can only feel at ease after sending you safely to the base."
Having said that, Gu Mengran thought Wei Qianlan would give in, but unexpectedly the teacher shook her head and forced a helpless smile, "Really, there's no need. It's not just because of you. This is also a joint decision between Zhou Qin and I."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
