53.053 On the Road
For this trip, which could last anywhere from two to four or five days, Su Yu baked two plain flour pancakes, then baked them in a large vat until they were hard and completely dry before letting them cool and wrapping them up. She also fried dried red chilies and minced lean meat to make a sauce. Ning Jin saw this and complained that it showed how perfunctory she had been towards him in the past; he didn't even receive this treatment when driving long distances.
Su Yu chuckled and said she guaranteed it would be available next time.
The day before they were to leave, Su Yu had already brought the elderly couple over. She tidied up her and Ning Jin's bedroom, hiding anything that couldn't be seen in public under the suitcases, and let the elderly couple sleep in her room. That night, she and Ning Jin slept in Xiao Yuan's bed, and sent Xiao Yuan to sleep with Ping An.
Early in the morning, Su Yu handed over all the things she was carrying to the man, and walked out of the town with light steps, waiting at the intersection where she had arranged to meet Ning Jin.
When the truck stopped, Lao Wang jumped off first, followed by a bamboo mat. Su Yu went to check the truck bed and found that besides the canvas tied to it, there was also an empty section of the truck bed.
"Brother Wang, I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble." Su Yu said to Old Wang.
"Don't be so polite. I'm good friends with Brother Ning. It's just a small matter. You sit in the cab and talk to him from time to time to make sure he doesn't doze off." Old Wang instructed her before climbing into the truck bed. Sitting in the truck bed was indeed not a big deal. When he and Ning Jin were delivering goods, they would sometimes have people pay to give them a ride. If the goods were valuable, they would put them in the cab, and if there was no room for anyone else, they would squeeze into the truck bed.
"Okay, I understand."
The truck had a high cab, and Su Yu could see the road ahead from inside. She could clearly see the weeds on both sides. If the grass wasn't so dense, she could easily spot someone hiding inside.
After driving for about an hour, we went a long way out of town before the dirt road turned into a sand road. Only then did the man, who had been keeping a close eye on the road to avoid potholes, have the mind to talk.
"How is it? Is it like what you imagined outside?"
“It’s different, but more interesting than staying in town.” She rolled down the car window. It was a bit chilly when she first got in, but now that the temperature had risen, the breeze felt very comfortable.
"Just don't complain about the road ahead." They travel this road every month, so they know the road conditions well. He pointed to the faintly visible stone tablet ahead and said, "Once we pass that stone tablet, we'll be out of the county. If nothing goes wrong today, we'll be out of the province by nightfall."
"Where will we spend the night when it gets dark?" Su Yu asked.
Ning Jin was stunned by the question. They had mostly slept in the car before, and had gotten used to it so much that they hadn't thought much of it. He had considered eating, but not sleeping.
“I’ll find a guesthouse then. I have my letter of introduction on me… Uh, no, you don’t have a letter of introduction. Even if I book a room, I can’t bring you in.” The man rubbed his face, put his foot on the brake pedal, hesitated for a moment and said, “We’re not too far from the county now. How about I turn around and go back, drop you off outside the town, and you can go back. I haven’t thought about sleeping with you yet.”
"No way!" Su Yu immediately refused. "I'm not going back. You can sleep in the car, and I'll sleep in the car too. It's not like I can't sleep without being in bed."
"Then don't complain when the time comes, because complaining won't get you back." Ning Jin was thinking that he would pay for a room for Lao Wang to sleep in. It wasn't safe to sleep in the carriage at night. What if they encountered some reckless robbers? They would be stabbed before they could even react. Before, when it was just him and Lao Wang, they would rest whenever they were tired. They would stop the car in the middle of nowhere, leave a crack in the window on both sides, and fall asleep.
It wasn't until the afternoon that the terrain began to change, and high mountains started to appear in the distance. As time went by, the cloud-shrouded mountains began to grow closer to the roadside, the trees lush and dense; imagine a person standing under them, unable to distinguish east from west.
"Is this our province?" she asked.
“Yes, we’re still within the province. Once we get around this mountain, we’ll be out of the province.” Ning Jin glanced at the lush mountain range, looked in the rearview mirror, honked the horn, and braked to let Su Yu get out of the car first.
Su Yu was a little confused, but she still obediently opened the door and got out of the car, immediately closing the door behind her.
"Do you need to use the restroom? We won't be stopping again after this stretch of road, and it's not safe to park uphill," Ning Jin asked her.
“That works too.” Su Yu took the man’s hand and followed his lead, walking down the road to a place with lots of trees and grass. He went in first, stepping flat a patch of grass, and said, “You go over there, I’ll keep watch for you.”
He was so serious that Su Yu felt embarrassed and quickly squatted down to relieve herself so he could take over.
"Brother Wang, you drive the rest of the way. I'll sit in the back and rest for a while. If you need anything, just honk the horn," he said to Old Wang.
“What could possibly happen? I’ve been driving longer than you, and the car has been inspected. You can rest in the truck bed with your heart at ease, just like me.” Old Wang watched the two climb into the truck bed before opening the door and getting in. There used to be a simpleton who would only drive his own car and leave the other driver behind. When it was time to switch drivers, he would find that there was no one in the truck.
Ning Jin looked at Su Yu leaning against the canvas and asked with ill intent, "Was that your first time peeing in the wild? You were acting like a young woman getting married for the first time."
"Who's like you, always acting like a scoundrel? You're so shameless you could tear your skin off and use it as a shoe sole." Su Yu didn't deny it, raising her hand to slap him, while also letting out a sigh of relief. To be honest, Ning Jin, who was driving, was very different from the men she knew. He was serious, earnest, and very masculine, yet unfamiliar. If Su Yu had met him like this from the beginning, she wouldn't have felt uncomfortable. It was just that the contrast was too great, and she suspected that the familiar image she knew was an act, which made her a little panicked. Now that he had revealed his true colors, Su Yu felt like she had returned to her comfort zone.
"Is this really your first time? You never have to hold it in when you're out in the wild? I've heard that people sometimes just find a secluded spot to relieve themselves when they're working in the countryside." No wonder she was so quiet when she went to pee and on the way back; he thought he'd done something to upset her.
“I used to be frugal, keeping the good stuff in the family, and even holding my excrement in my own outhouse.”
Despite being a big spender, she shamelessly tries to embellish her own reputation. Ning Jin chuckled, patted her shoulder, placed the bag of clothes under his head, and lay down on the mat, with Su Yu also lying on top of him.
"You can lie down and rest for a while, but you don't feel tired after sitting for most of the day?"
"I'm not tired. I'll sleep later tonight. You can sleep whenever you want. I'll just watch the scenery along the way." Su Yu lifted his arm to sit up and turned his jacket over to cover his face to block the light. "You sleep, I'll keep watch for you." They would probably have to keep watch at night while they slept in the car.
"Then I'm going to sleep."
After sitting for a while, she quietly took out her coat and put it on her head. It was breezy and not hot, but it was still sunny. The roar of the car engine grew louder and louder. Su Yu leaned against the car and glanced at it. They were climbing uphill. The road was paved along the foot of the mountain. The mountain was right on the left. You could reach out and grab a handful of soil.
Su Yu looked up and wondered to herself, "This mountain is so steep, and there are so few trees here. Wouldn't it be easy for a mudslide to form if there's a heavy rain?"
"Yes, this is an acquired condition. It's easy to cut down trees but difficult to plant them. Trees will have a hard time surviving on this mountain because the soil can't retain water."
Su Yu fell silent. A flock of birds flew into the mountains overhead, chirping loudly. She looked back at the back of the car and saw that there were indeed stones of different sizes on the right side of the road, but little soil and they were more than a meter lower than the road surface.
"This is?"
"It was you humans who took the soil back to cultivate the land." They covered the barren soil with new soil, turning it into people's private plots.
“I’ll go back and plant the twenty trees I owe you, and add ten more as interest,” Su Yu suddenly said.
Shu Manpo was surprised. This shameless opportunist has finally learned to reflect on his actions? This trip was a good thing; it seems I should encourage her to go out more often in the future.
"You said it yourself: if you don't plant trees when you get back, I'll... I'll add interest to your price, turning thirty trees into fifty." It took the opportunity to raise the price.
"I said it." She replied calmly, ceasing her joking.
As darkness fell, Su Yu felt as if they had already bypassed the previous mountain, but they were still in the mountains, only the mountain's color had lightened. She patted Ning Jin awake, "Get up, it's getting dark."
The man responded, propped himself up on the mat, and sat up. After a moment of stunned silence, he stretched his neck, took Su Yu's hand, and rubbed his face. Coming to his senses, he looked at the disheveled woman and asked, "Didn't you rest?"
"No, I'll sleep tonight."
Tsk, she's in such good spirits, her eyes are so bright and she's looking around like a silly old lady. She's nothing like the shrewd woman who used to bully him and coax the kids at home.
He reached his hand out over the railing and waved. The car horn sounded once. He continued waving, and the car stopped.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Old Wang asked, leaning out of the car window.
“It’s getting dark. I’ll go ahead and keep watch for the road. You can sit here. Are you scared?” Ning Jin draped his jacket over her shoulders. “The night air is chilly. Wear another layer so you don’t catch a cold.”
"Don't worry, no thief is falling from the sky. You can go down now."
“Don’t be afraid. You can sit here. If you need anything, just wave like I did before.” He jumped out of the car and said to Lao Wang, “I’ll drive for a bit. You can sit in the passenger seat.”
The roads at night are complicated, and both of them need to keep an eye on things.
Ning Jin drove for a while, glancing at the left rearview mirror every now and then, and asked, "Old Wang, where's a guesthouse around here?"
"The guesthouse is in the city, which is quite far from here. Are you planning to stay overnight at the guesthouse?"
Ning Jin scratched his head and mentioned the fact that he hadn't considered sleeping, "If there's no guesthouse, we can find a village. Su Yu and I or you can stay there for the night."
"Come on, there are hardly any people around here. Even if there were villages, the three of us wouldn't dare go there. Don't come up with any stupid ideas. It's far from the county town, and it's more dangerous to be in a crowd than to be alone. Let's find a place to park later, pack up the tools in the back, and have your wife lay out a mat to sleep on behind the seat. She's thin, so she can sleep comfortably." To Old Wang, Su Yu was a complete stranger, a complete stranger. He couldn't possibly drive a longer distance and take risks just for her comfort. Besides, it wasn't just for one night; they'd be home tomorrow night.
"Then I'll ask her later." Actually, he was thinking that he and Su Yu would sleep in the back of the truck tonight, he would keep watch, and Lao Wang would drive the truck the next morning while he took a nap.
After parking, he told Su Yu his thoughts, "The back of the car seat is filthy, with wrenches and screwdrivers and other car repair tools, as well as oil stains. It's more comfortable to sleep in a dusty place than there." He also didn't want his wife to sleep in the same car seat as another man. Su Yu was used to sleeping without a bra, and if she was uncomfortable, she might take her clothes off while she was asleep.
"I'll listen to you." Su Yu remembered the scenery along the way; from the moment the sun began to set, she hadn't seen a single person.
That's how it was decided. Ningjin went over and told Lao Wang his decision. He pulled out two quilts from under the canvas, one was his and the other was Lao Wang's. He threw Lao Wang's quilt on the car seat.
The three of them lit a fire, cooked some white noodles in an earthenware pot, poured on the spicy meat sauce made by Su Yu, and had a simple dinner. Ning Jin took Su Yu to the water's edge to wash up briefly, then climbed into the back of the truck, covered her with a blanket, and talked.
No matter how Old Wang shifted his position in the truck bed, he was still uncomfortable. Even though they were an old married couple, they were still incredibly affectionate. Lying in the truck bed eating dew, they acted like they were on a vacation, chatting and laughing.
He thought about his wife, then spat and pulled the blanket over his head to block out her annoying voice. If it were his wife, she would have pinched his thigh until it was bruised just because he hadn't thought about sleeping.
After Su Yu fell asleep, Ning Jin, afraid of falling asleep in bed, sat up and looked at the stars. After a while, he quietly got out of the car, knocked on the door, and said, "Old Wang, get the axe out from under the car. It's so dark, I won't feel at ease without something in my hand."
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