Chapter 5
Fang Xiaoyu directly experienced the second amazing aspect of the Infinite Highway.
With the trash can as a backdrop and the reminder from last night, I was somewhat moved, but not much.
What should we do next?
She decided to verify another mysterious phenomenon: there was no turning back.
She first made sure that no other car would pass by in a short time before placing a half-empty bottle of water on the ground, making sure the side with the writing was facing forward. Then she turned the car around and drove back, keeping her eyes on the rearview mirror at all times.
At first, the half-full bottle with no writing on it was always behind the car, gradually moving further away and getting smaller.
After driving for only a short while, less than a few hundred meters, her vision blurred, and the water bottle in the rearview mirror suddenly moved closer, and the bottle in the mirror changed to the side with words on it.
The water was still half a bottle, and its position hadn't changed.
What changed was her and the car she was driving; they instantly teleported to the position before the U-turn, and because it took time to react, they drove forward an extra ten meters or so.
There's no going back.
The possibility of returning the way we came has been eliminated; we can only continue forward.
Fang Xiaoyu picked up the water bottle and put it back in the car. Taking advantage of her good spirits after a night's rest, she drove for four hours straight without encountering a single car on the road.
When it was lunchtime, she stopped by the roadside, ate some honey bread, ate a sausage, and drank some warm water from her thermos. That was her lunch.
I glanced at the fuel tank out of the corner of my eye; it was still a little over half full.
I made a quick mental estimate of how long the tank of gas had lasted, and the result was astonishing—it had been six and a half hours!
Her little white car can barely go 700-800 kilometers on a full tank of gas, which is about 7-8 hours on the highway.
However, simply by switching to unlicensed or substandard products from the service area, the mileage nearly doubled.
Is this really not the kind of fuel she recognizes?
If I could bring all this fuel back, pry open a black hole-like garbage can, and hand it over to the state... would I ever have to worry about employment discrimination, middle-aged unemployment, or old age care again?
Fang Xiaoyu indulged in a wild daydream for a few minutes before quickly returning to reality. Still feeling refreshed, she restarted the accelerator and hit the road again.
Let's set a small goal for today: to finish this tank of gas.
One person on one side wants to use up all their gas, while another person on the other side, with their tank empty, is begging their fellow travelers to let them into a service area.
There were two people blocking the entrance to the service area, and two large trucks parked behind them, preventing anyone who wanted to go in.
The tall man on the left shouted, "This is our territory, get out of here and go somewhere else!"
The driver who was stopped was a kind-looking man. Even though he was furious, he could only plead in a low voice for a little help: "I didn't know this was private property. My gas tank is almost empty, and my phone is broken so I can't call for roadside assistance. Could you please help me out and give me a full tank of gas, or lend me your phone? I have a 20g gold bar here that I can exchange with you."
The person on the left scoffed, realizing it was just a newcomer.
But he just watched the spectacle, looking him up and down without offering any advice.
The shorter man on the right was somewhat tempted, but then he thought, what use are gold bars? They can't be used for eating or drinking, nor can they be used as fuel. Like cash, they would take up space if he kept them.
So he pushed his hand away and shook the large wrench in his hand: "Go, go, go! If you don't leave now, you're not leaving!"
Seeing that even gold bars couldn't sway the other party, the car owner became somewhat disheartened.
A little boy's voice came from inside the service area: "Uncle, what's going on outside?"
The tall man's expression softened for a moment, then he said loudly, "It's nothing, someone just asked for directions, they'll be gone soon."
The shorter man also dropped his rudeness, his voice softening slightly: "What are you doing here? Have you finished your homework?"
The child stomped his feet behind the car, snorted loudly through his nostrils, and ran away with a clattering sound.
The driver was about to leave dejectedly when his daughter in the back seat said, "Dad, that kid ran out to play before he finished his homework."
The car owner straightened his expression and said softly, "My dear girl..."
The tall man knocked on the car window to interrupt him: "Hey—"
The driver rolled down his window again, a hint of expectation in his eyes: "Brother, what's up?"
The older brother he mentioned brought over a bucket of fuel: "That's all, no more. The rest depends on your luck."
"Thank you—thank you—" The car owner was overjoyed. He carefully placed the fuel can on the passenger side and handed over the 20g of gold. "This is a small token of my appreciation. Thank you for your help."
The shorter man's eyes lit up, and he was about to take it when the taller man scoffed and pushed it back: "No need, hurry up and leave, or I'll regret it."
The driver smiled apologetically and drove off without stopping until the service area was out of sight. Only then did he stop, open the gas can, and fill the tank with gas for a while. Suddenly, his expression changed: "Oh no, I forgot to check what kind of gas it is."
He stopped and noticed that the container only had an expiration date and was labeled as "for ordinary car models only," as if it wanted to list every car model on Earth. It didn't look like a legitimate oil at all.
His face paled at the thought. Could those people be smugglers? Were they making a deal in the middle of something, blocking the entrance completely? No wonder they wanted to kick him out. And a deal in broad daylight on the highway—how terrifying must that force be?!
In an instant, my mind raced with possibilities. Even the child's appearance felt like a conspiracy—the cover-up, the humanoid props…
But we've already filled it halfway with gas. If we don't do it right, the engine will be mostly ruined. Without it, the car won't last long either.
He couldn't very well have his elderly mother-in-law and young daughter accompany him on a hike along this seemingly endless and sparsely populated highway, could he?
He sighed, lifted the oil drum again, and continued pouring oil into it.
After the fuel tank was filled, the fuel can was exactly empty.
After hesitating for a moment, the car owner sealed the empty can and put it in the trunk, preparing to leave and go to the police station. The oil can was one of the pieces of evidence.
He restarted the vehicle and drove cautiously for a short distance, not daring to go too fast.
But as time went by, they found that the car hadn't had any problems, which put their minds at ease.
It seems he was quite lucky; he even got a can of oil as a gift after encountering a smuggling gang, and it just so happened to be the type he used. Even so, he didn't give up the idea of going back to report it to the police.
But what's wrong with this terrible road? I've been driving for an hour and can't find even half an exit. It's getting more and more unfamiliar.
The daughter rubbed her eyes and asked, "Daddy, when are we going to get home?"
The car owner was in a panic, but he still whispered to comfort her, "It'll be soon, little girl, take a nap first, Daddy will take you and Grandma home soon."
The young daughter, unaware of her father's sorrow, obediently responded and, with her grandmother by her side, quietly drifted off to sleep as dusk fell.
The streetlights chased the afterglow of the setting sun, illuminating themselves one by one.
The moment Fang Xiaoyu turned on her high beams, she suddenly noticed a glittering patch on the ground ahead. She had a bad feeling, but it was too late to brake.
The tires kept rolling over uneven surfaces, making a crackling sound, and the car body only stopped after a slight tremor.
She quickly identified the pieces: they were actually shards of clear glass and nails scattered all over the ground!
The first thought that popped into my head was: There's someone nearby.
But as she held the pepper spray and kitchen scissors and waited quietly for a while, no one from the shadows came up to her.
Looking around through the car window, there wasn't a single car or person within a hundred meters.
Am I mistaken? Was it left over from before?
She didn't rush to get out of the car. She waited a few more minutes and judged that it was unlikely to be a trap. Only then did she open the car door, step on the broken glass on the ground, listen to the creaking sound, and deliberately sway the car slowly in front of and behind twice to make sure it was safe. Only then did she turn on her phone flashlight to carefully check the situation.
There were four lanes, and in the second lane where the white car was traveling, there was a bunch of these little gadgets. If it hadn't been night, she wouldn't have noticed them so late, and she wouldn't have encountered this unexpected situation.
The front left tire was punctured by a nail, but the other three tires were fine. The glass shards did not puncture the tires, and the wear looked quite severe, but it's not a big problem once it's cleaned up.
There is a spare tire in the car, which is an original wheel that was given away as a gift when the car was purchased.
However, before that, the ground needs to be swept clean, otherwise even if the tires are replaced, they will still be damaged again by these debris.
But there's no broom in the car, what should we do?
Fang Xiaoyu looked around the car and came up with a solution.
She found four empty water bottles, removed the bottoms and a small portion of the bottle openings, and cut them into strips from bottom to top, stopping about a finger's width from the bottle opening.
Next, nest the four uncut plastic bottles one inside the other, and then join the plastic strips together.
Then flatten and compact the uncut part, divide the stubble into two parts in a 1:2 ratio, wrap them separately with plastic bags, and then combine them together.
A simple broom without a handle can be made in about ten minutes.
Although her palms were red from being squeezed, the results were still acceptable; she was able to sweep up the small shards of glass.
As for heavy, large fragments and nails, just pick them up by hand.
Holding the small broom, Fang Xiaoyu spent more than half an hour slowly sweeping up the debris and pieces scattered on the ground and putting them into a garbage bag.
Sweating profusely, I had only one thought in my mind.
A broom. Next time I come to a service area, I'll definitely bring a broom.
At this moment, even the strong demand for portable toilets has taken a backseat.
The road is cleaned up; all that's left is to change the tires.
For Fang Xiaoyu, who had never even used a gas pump before, she had never changed a tire herself. In fact, because she usually took great care of her white car and never took back roads, she had never even had the experience of getting a tire repaired at a repair shop.
However, she had seen other people change tires in videos before, and she remembered that it wasn't difficult.
You have to take the first step.
Although it was past dinner time, Fang Xiaoyu didn't feel hungry at the moment. Being stranded on the empty highway made her feel unsafe, so she pulled out a toolbox from under the passenger seat and decided to change the tire first.
Because she had forgotten the specific steps, she gestured to the left front tire, found the corresponding tools, and removed whichever one she could take apart, thus removing the protective cover and anti-theft bolts one by one.
Because I usually value symmetry, I did the same thing when tightening ordinary bolts, and unexpectedly, I got it right by accident.
Then, as I loosened one of the bolts, a new question popped into my mind.
All that's left to remove are the bolts, but we haven't even used the jack yet.
If we don't use it now, when will we?
So she loosened all the regular bolts, sat on the ground and used her phone flashlight to find the jack markings on the car body. Once she found them, she aligned them and installed them, lifting the vehicle to a certain height. When she felt it was about right, she removed all the bolts from the bottom up.
With a gentle push, the left front tire was successfully removed.
"yeah!"
Fang Xiaoyu let out a soft cry, supported her waist as she got up from the ground, and with a burst of strength, emptied the trunk and found the spare tire under the mat.
Install the new tire following the reverse steps of removing the old one. Then remove the jack. Still feeling uneasy, I tightened the bolts again. After that, I packed up the toolbox, put the punctured tire under the trunk mat, and loaded all the fuel that had been stored outside into the car.
After restarting the vehicle and driving it a short distance, I didn't feel anything was wrong, and then I confirmed: It worked!
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