56.056 "Beggar" Couple
The truck moved forward at a moderate speed. The three people inside looked around intently. Su Yu sat near the door, glancing back in the rearview mirror from time to time. The road ahead was blocked, but the road behind couldn't be cut off.
Nearly an hour later, the people in the car could clearly see that the soil that had slid down from the mountainside completely blocked the road, and the height was higher than the car itself. Of course, there were no vehicles with their front ends buried, nor were there any tire tracks left by vehicles.
The two men were right; the man who came to her for help the day before yesterday was a spy who robbed her. The last bit of hope and misjudgment was pulled from Su Yu's mind, and she was glad that she hadn't argued with him because of her suspicions.
"It seems the government doesn't know about the landslide yet. The safest thing to do now is to go back to the city, tell the police what happened, and then send a telegram to the factory. We can only go back when the road is open again." After saying that, Old Wang reversed the car. Two days isn't a long time, and it's possible that the highway robbers might come back to wait, since there's more than one vehicle passing by. But clearly, it's only the three of them who are unlucky; they haven't seen a single car pass by yet.
They started driving towards the city at four o'clock and stopped to rest at eight o'clock in the evening. There were only two fried dough twists left, but luckily the dry branches by the roadside could be burned. Su Yu picked some wild vegetables and cooked clear soup noodles. The spicy meat sauce they had fried on the way here had been soaked in raw water and had grown mold, so it was inedible. They ate a haphazard meal without salt or oil, and the three of them returned to the driver's seat to prepare for sleep.
The back of the carriage was dry, and the mat was also dried, but Ning Jin didn't let Su Yu sleep there. They were stuck on the road, and her health was the most important thing. They weren't eating well, and she couldn't afford to get sick again.
After the road was exposed to the sun for three days, and with Ning Jin and Lao Wang repeatedly getting out of the car to scout the route, they finally arrived in the city on the afternoon of the fourth day after the rain, before the diesel in the tank ran out.
Old Su went to the factory to see the leaders again at dusk, and this time he got accurate information. In the transportation department office, someone saw Ning Jin's father-in-law coming over with a frown again, and quickly told him the news: "Uncle, news has come. Ning Jin and the others sent a telegram back. A landslide on the south side of Wugong Mountain blocked the road. He and Lao Wang returned safely to L Province. They will come back as soon as the road is open. You can rest assured."
Old Su's brows relaxed, and a smile immediately appeared on his face. "It's good that you're alright. I was so worried about you. You guys go ahead with your work, I won't bother you." He slowly turned and left, his back hunched.
After watching the man walk away, someone in the office said enviously, "Xiao Wu is really lucky. His father-in-law is closer to him than his own father. He calculated that Xiao Wu hadn't come back by the appointed time, so the old man started coming here yesterday morning, three times a day. His own father probably doesn't even know if Xiao Wu is making a long-distance or short-distance trip." Now, if someone said that Xiao Wu was his father-in-law's biological son, he wouldn't doubt it.
"Last year I heard that the old man broke his leg and was recuperating at Xiao Wu's house when his mother kicked him out. Xiao Wu came back and took him back. At the time, many people said he was afraid of his wife, but I say it's all about mutual respect. Now the old couple has moved to town to take care of their grandson. The day before yesterday I saw Ping An, he was all smiles and very mischievous. He gets along with his stepmother's son like brothers."
Despite the envy, the transportation department office was mostly filled with men who weren't very interested in their colleagues' domestic affairs. When the conversation turned to the mountains south of Wugong Mountain, someone said that there would be more landslides after heavy rains, and it was just a matter of which unlucky person would be affected.
The first thing they did after sending the telegram to the city was to fill up the car with gas, but the two of them didn't have any diesel fuel coupons, so they went to the saccharin factory to ask for help. Next, they waited for news from the police to see when the road was cleared before they could leave.
Old Wang took his letter of introduction to the guesthouse to sleep at night, but Su Yu didn't have one. Ning Jin couldn't sneak her in, so the two of them had to endure the sour smell and continue to spend the night in the front of the car.
"I won't take you out anymore, it's too much of a hassle." Ning Jin felt like his neck was about to break. Sleeping against the car seat every day was so uncomfortable. He pulled back Lao Wang's blanket and said to Su Yu, "Turn around, let me massage your neck."
"Is your neck sore? Let me massage it for you. My neck is fine; I moved around during the day after getting out of the truck." Su Yu thought that many truck drivers suffer from cervical spondylosis, so she got up to massage his neck and shoulders, not minding the dirt that came off her hands.
"When can I leave? Can I leave the day after tomorrow? I went to a restaurant today and they practically kicked me out. The food tasted worse than an old beggar's." Su Yu felt embarrassed and amused at the thought of the woman holding her nose and backing away while collecting her money. She never imagined that she could go six days without showering.
Ning Jin also raised her arm and sniffed it; it was even sloppier than after a long drive. "Let me go wash up, and I'll bring you food to eat in the car," he said, trying to reason with her.
"No way! We're husband and wife. We share happiness and hardship. Don't even think about leaving me, who smells sour, to take a shower." Now that he was clean, she felt too embarrassed to lean against him.
The man chuckled to himself. It was like she had stepped in cow dung but insisted on letting her companion step in it too. Once her feet were covered in dung, she could walk properly.
They spent two nights in the city, but couldn't see Lao Wang no matter what they did. Because of the stench, Su Yu and Ning Jin would find a shady, breezy alley to squat in during the day, not daring to wander around and risk being glared at. Finally, at 10 a.m. on the eighth day, they received news that the road was open and they could finally leave.
With the car window wide open, Ning Jin saw that Lao Wang was clearly disgusted and almost sat outside the car, his face expressionless. He deliberately leaned closer and spoke intimately: "Brother Wang, where have you been these past two days? I couldn't find you to buy something."
Old Wang glanced at him sideways, turned his face to the rearview mirror, took a deep breath while looking out the window, and said in a muffled voice, "I sleep at the guesthouse, and spend the rest of the time waiting for news at the police station."
"Oh, I thought you were avoiding me because you thought I was sloppy!"
To prevent the truck from overturning, Lao Wang stepped on the brakes. The wind stopped, and the acrid smell in the engine compartment became even more pungent. "Alright, I'm just annoyed with you two. I simply can't stand you two." He turned around, grabbed Ning Jin, slapped him twice, pointed behind him, and said, "You two go and rest in the carriage. I'll drive on the way back."
"Are we still brothers? You smelled awful two days ago too, and I didn't mind." Ning Jin continued to approach him shamelessly, forcing Lao Wang to open the car door and jump out. "You drive for a while, and I'll come and take over for you in the afternoon."
"Why……"
"Alright, hurry up and drive. I can't stand the smell on me either," Su Yu urged him.
The car started again, and the fresh air took away the stuffy smell in the driver's cab. Su Yu slapped her thigh and said, "See? If I had let you go to take a shower, I would be the only one who was kicked to the back of the car today."
"You're my wife, how could I dislike you? Don't talk nonsense." He took a deep breath and didn't find the smell too pungent. To be honest, if it stayed like this for another two days, he suspected he would get used to the smell.
As Su Yu passed the landslide site, she saw that the soil piled on the road had been pushed into a low pit on the other side of the road. If no one transported the soil this time, the road would be widened in a year or two. Even if another mudslide occurred, vehicles might be able to pass on the right side.
They didn't stop along the way. They set off at around 10 a.m. and arrived at the outskirts of Pingqiu Town at 3 a.m. the next day. After driving in for another seven or eight minutes, Su Yu and Ning Jin climbed out of the back of the car, carrying the things they had bought in the city.
"Ping An, Xiao Yuan, get up and open the door for me!" Ning Jin pounded on the door, and Xiao Hei excitedly circled around the inside of the door, even jumping up and scratching at it.
"Is Ningjin back?" an old voice asked from the courtyard.
"Father, it's me back." Ning Jin peeked through the crack in the door. "Father, slow down, or you can call Ping An to open the door for me."
Old Su ignored him, scolded the big black dog that was jumping around, and only said after unlatching the door, "This old man isn't that useless, that he can fall and die just by opening a door at night?"
"I'm just worried you'll get hurt, don't talk nonsense about dying." Su Yu didn't like listening to that.
"Ugh~"
Old Man Su only smelled the sour, stinky odor when the two entered the room. He didn't know what was mixed in, and it wasn't even a genuine sour and stinky smell. "Did you two beg your way back? It stinks even more than my feet!"
"..." This is offensive. It shouldn't be so strong that it makes people nauseous, right?
"Go quickly and boil some water for a bath! My God, what happened to you? Have you not taken a bath for so many days?"
Neither of them objected. At first, Su Yu would boil water to wash her bottom every night. Later, when it rained, the water became murky and there was no firewood, so she didn't dare to use raw water to wash. Later, when she could start a fire, she continued to boil water to wash. When she got to the city, she just wiped herself with water haphazardly.
"Mom, Dad, you're back?" The light in the bedroom on the right was turned on, and the voices of two children could be heard from inside.
"Okay, your dad and I are going to take a shower. Don't come out. Ping An, go sleep with Xiao Yuan. Your dad and I will sleep in your bed later." Su Yu maintained her composure in front of the children, preventing them from coming out. She pulled Ning Jin to the kitchen to boil water and locked the door from the inside.
"Are they the two of them back?" the old lady asked the old man who had come into the house. Her eyesight deteriorated at night, so she didn't go out.
"Yeah, I've suffered terribly. I haven't showered for days, and I guess I've been sleeping in the car. I smell worse than the cowshed."
"Serves her right, let her learn her lesson and stop running around outside. Her heart has become too wild, is life at home uncomfortable?" Yu Anxiu didn't feel sorry for her. When she was young, she was fighting in the war and her life was in danger. Who would care about taking a bath? She sat up and stopped the old man from turning off the light, saying, "I guess she doesn't have any clean clothes to change into. I'll find her a couple of pieces. You can take them out and put them on the stool."
Su Yu boiled water and then mixed it with cold water, boiling two pots of water before she could wash herself clean. Ning Jin washed herself directly in the yard with cold water, and only felt her sense of smell return after washing her hair.
They ate dinner and let their hair air dry in the courtyard in the middle of the night. After finishing their meal, they didn't wash the dishes or unpack the things they brought back. In the thin light of dawn, the two of them fell asleep as soon as they lay down on the bed. They were only woken up for lunch, otherwise they could have slept some more.
"Xiaoyu, eat quickly, and then go to the orchard. It's been over ten days and you haven't gone. I don't know what you said back then. Go over today and explain properly, so you don't lose your job." Old Man Su instructed her, and also told her what he had said to others while she was away from home. "I don't know what your work side said, so I didn't go."
"I asked for leave, saying there was something going on at home and I'd be there soon, so don't worry about me." After putting down her chopsticks, Su Yu took out a package that had obviously been rummaged through: the elderly couple's soft-soled shoes, the children's pants, and the leather shoes she and Ning Jin wore when they went out to make a good impression.
"We also bought some fried dough twists, but we ate them all while stuck in traffic. We didn't have time to buy more on the way back. When Ningjin goes again, we'll ask him to buy a few more pounds. They taste pretty good, you should all try them." But she and Ningjin had had enough, and now they had no appetite at the smell of that oily and sugary food.
"It's fine whether I buy it or not, I don't need to worry about food." The old lady said, already putting on the cloth shoes in her hand. She took a few steps and said, "The size is just right, they fit well, and they're very comfortable to walk in. These new shoes aren't too tight, they're great, very comfortable."
It's really good. As people get older, a bump forms on their big toe, and their insteps start to arch. Even shoes they make themselves can be unsuitable. These shoes are great, especially the soft soles, which make walking comfortable.
Su Yu rode her bike out a little after 1 p.m., and was stopped by Old Man Su as soon as she left the alley. "Xiao Yu, didn't you buy anything for your in-laws? Or did you buy something but I didn't see it?"
"We didn't buy them." Seeing the old man's expression change, she stopped his scolding and said, "Ningjin originally planned to buy them, but he didn't remember his parents' shoe sizes, so he didn't."
"I remember you even made shoes for his parents, you weren't..."
"I forgot, I don't remember. I didn't stop Ningjin from buying it. As long as he's willing, I don't care about the price. If he doesn't buy it this time, he can buy it next time. I only worry about my parents, my family, my husband, and my children. I can't take care of anything else." Su Yu spread her hands, not intending to listen to the old man's rambling any longer. "I'm leaving now, Dad. Hurry back to your room. Children's minds are too complicated and they won't grow tall. Old people's thoughts are too many and they won't be able to sleep."
"You..." Old Man Su could only sigh helplessly when he saw that Su Yu had already turned away. "Isn't this just like your sister-in-law? She only cares about her parents and doesn't care about her in-laws."
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