Chapter 2
Fang Xiaoyu watched the video twice, feeling that she had explained everything she had thought of, and nodded in satisfaction, feeling no longer burdened.
She quickly emptied the trunk, moved the items inside into the car, and then adjusted the angle of her phone to record the shopping list.
Just as I was about to move the fuel, I paused and suddenly thought: Since there are supplies, someone must be buying them and delivering them. Wouldn't it be better to stay here and wait for someone to come?
But then she thought, who knows how long she'll have to wait? A day, two days? Half a month, a month? What if the highway doesn't officially open for another six months... And what about the traffic police? There's no signal, no cameras. What if they don't notice that a grown woman like her has mistakenly driven here...?
Fang Xiaoyu imagined herself, disheveled and exhausted from years of waiting for rescue, crying in front of the police, looking utterly pathetic. She imagined herself possibly making headlines in the future, with distant friends sending her links asking if it was her...
He shuddered, not daring to think any further, and resolved to leave immediately and find a way out. He quickly began moving the fuel.
The fuel can was made of an unknown material; it was dark and heavy, and cold to the touch. The label on the can was the same as that on the gas pump, indicating it was for regular car models. It also stated a three-year shelf life after opening, but there was no product code, no production date, and no signs indicating handle with care or flammability and explosiveness. It seemed like an unregistered product.
Fang Xiaoyu was carefree, thinking that since there had been no problems with the first batch, switching to the tub version would be just as good.
She soon discovered that not only the fuel, but all the products in the convenience store lacked product codes and production dates. The packaging was largely the same, differing only in the expiration dates, ranging from three months to six months. However, the ingredient lists were perfectly healthy, without any familiar additives.
Just in case, she still picked out a few things to try, and filled her stomach, which had been empty for most of the day. After eating, she didn't feel nauseous, had no stomach upset, and the food tasted good, so she felt at ease carrying it to the little white cart.
A sweaty day resulted in a truckload of supplies.
Trunk: 10 cans of fuel.
Back seat: 4 cases of water, 2 cases of different flavored instant noodles, 1 case of ham sausages and braised eggs, 1 case of asparagus, dried tofu, mushrooms and other mixed snacks, 2 packs of toilet paper, and a large bag of cat litter.
Passenger seat: In addition to the rice, smoked meat, ham, honey, bread, and other things brought from home, there was a thin blanket, a thick blanket, two sets of windbreakers, two sets of pajamas, two boxes of underwear, and a small folding bucket. It barely blocked the view in the right-side mirror.
Glove box: 2 packs of tissues, 2 packs of sanitary napkins, 10 rolls of garbage bags, 1 set of toiletries, 1 set of towels, 1 set of tableware, and a pair of kitchen scissors.
Armrest box: In addition to the thermos cup that came with it, there were two packs of wet banknotes and a nail clipper.
It's a pity I couldn't find any ointment, otherwise it could have relieved the soreness in my ankle.
After browsing the gas station and convenience store, she took a stroll around the repair shop and found something there as well.
A car fire extinguisher is hung next to the driver's seat as "accident insurance".
A car electric kettle can be placed on the passenger seat to boil water for drinking, washing, or soaking your feet to relieve fatigue.
Keep a tire-changing tool kit, a portable air pump, and two charging cables under the seat, just in case.
Other tools and auto parts were beyond her knowledge; she could just look at them.
An hour had passed since she finished, and Fang Xiaoyu was covered in sweat.
Do you want to take a shower to relax?
Normally, she would never consider doing this outside, but after driving alone for several hours and arriving in a deserted area, she hesitated.
After a moment of hesitation, she locked her car, went back to the convenience store to pick out a change of clothes, chose one of the only two rooms in the rest area, locked the door, and took a long, refreshing shower.
The new clothes were made of soft fabric and fit her perfectly, no worse than her old ones. Moreover, they didn't have the binding effect of professional attire, making her movements more comfortable and convenient.
She didn't throw away her dirty clothes either. There was a washing machine and a dryer in the room. She washed them, dried them quickly, bagged them, and put them back in the car.
After finishing, Fang Xiaoyu found a note and pen at the convenience store, left a note as agreed, wrote down her name, ID and mobile phone number, and stuck it next to the oil gun. Then she stretched her limbs, checked the time, and saw that it was already 5 pm, so she quickly drove off.
The service area quickly became the size of a sesame seed in the rearview mirror before disappearing from view.
The sky was filled with churning clouds, and the sun peeked through intermittently. At first glance, the highway seemed to stretch on forever. The little white car sped like lightning, its speedometer showing 140 km/h, occasionally surging to 160.
Fang Xiaoyu had been getting up early, driving, and carrying heavy loads. Taking a shower only slightly relieved her fatigue, and she was still feeling listless. So she turned on some local music and moved her shoulders and neck to the rhythm to stay awake.
An hour later, it was already dark, and the streetlights were gradually lit up, but they could only dispel a small amount of darkness, resulting in extremely poor visibility. She turned on her high beams and slowed down.
Two hours later, a few raindrops hit her face with a "plop," falling sparsely and leaving tear-like streaks on the windshield. Soon the streaks became denser, and the rain gradually intensified. Before long, the wipers were not enough, and she had to slow down.
The heavy rain lasted for half an hour, then gradually subsided, and then the sun came out.
By this time, the loud music had numbed Fang Xiaoyu's hearing, unable to bring any emotional uplift, and her eyelids kept drooping.
Just as she was jolted awake from yet another dangerous nap, she suddenly felt a flash before her eyes.
Light!
Car lights!
A regular SUV!
Fang Xiaoyu quickly turned off the music and honked the horn repeatedly to try and get the other person's attention.
The SUV driver, a woman, looked through the fully enclosed window and saw a white sedan frantically chasing after her in the rearview mirror. She exclaimed nervously, "Honey?!"
What's going on tonight? One unexpected thing after another. We finally managed to shake off a group of ill-intentioned people, and now another one is showing up.
The man in the passenger seat took out a defensive "weapon," saying "Don't be afraid," and leaned out the window to observe carefully.
"The driver was a woman, just like you. She looked young and seemed anxious. Did she want us to... stop the car?"
"There's no one in the passenger seat."
"There seem to be... quite a lot of supplies in the vehicle?!"
The driver was blinded by the high beams and couldn't see what was happening in the car behind him, but he was still somewhat wary: "We can't let our guard down with the woman either. It's late at night, I'd better shake her off."
After saying that, she stepped on the gas pedal harder, and the car sped off even further.
Fang Xiaoyu was taken aback by the other party's reaction.
What's going on?!
Without thinking it through, she instinctively followed closely behind, speeding up to 150 km/h.
When she was about 100 meters away from the other party, she rolled down her car window and shouted, "Stop the car, I need directions, and I'll pay you!"
When the other party ignored him, he changed his tune and shouted, "You can call the police if you want!"
Inside the SUV, tire noise reaches its maximum at high speeds, and the sounds of animals chewing food also add to the disturbance.
The woman asked in confusion, "What is she talking about?"
After careful listening, the man hesitated: "It sounds like they're shouting, 'Stop the car, or a critical hit?'"
woman:"???!!!"
She rolled down her window, gave the middle finger to the white car on her left, and thought to herself, "I'll teach them a lesson."
Fang Xiaoyu was delighted to see the car window roll down, but she was met with an uncivilized greeting.
Huh? Why? I got yelled at for asking someone to call the police?
...Perhaps there was a problem during the communication. For example, was there a misunderstanding? The car was going too fast, there was noise interference, or the distance was limited, which are all very likely reasons.
It didn't take Fang Xiaoyu a second to figure it out. As the other driver rolled down the window for the second time, she shouted again, "Help! Call the police!"
After shouting, she belatedly remembered that the white car was still using high beams, so she quickly switched to low beams, turned on her hazard lights and right turn signal, indicating that she was preparing to pull over to the side of the road.
The female driver, who had rolled down her window, heard her shout and saw the other woman's actions in the rearview mirror. She put down the box that was about to spill, glared at her husband who was making wild guesses that almost caused an accident, and then flashed her turn signal.
Fang Xiaoyu looked surprised and delighted.
I was right! I must have misheard because of the wind.
The streetlights on the highway were not bright enough, and the light source was limited, so she didn't turn off the engine when she parked. But as soon as she came to a complete stop, she hesitated for half a second, bent down to take out the warning sign from under the seat, and ran to place it about 100 meters behind the car.
As she took the warning sign out of the car, the SUV swerved suspiciously, and someone burst into laughter when they saw her put the sign down.
"puff--"
Fang Xiaoyu turned around in confusion and saw the SUV stop about fifty meters away from the white car. Then a middle-aged man got out of the passenger seat of the black car.
His expression was somewhat strange, and before he even got close, he asked loudly, "Newcomer? How long have you been here?"
With a look of surprise still on her face, Fang Xiaoyu felt like she was about to split open.
So, is it time travel again?
Is this person a veteran? Or is he guiding a newbie?
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