The main purpose of this trip was to find someone and a car, so they didn't drive fast along the way. When Gao Mingcheng was driving, he looked straight ahead, while Xiao Jinfeng and Gao Mingwan were staring at the window on one side.
When they come across roadside repair shops and restaurants, they will get out of the car to ask if anyone has seen the missing car.
They stopped and walked along the way, and by the evening they had not yet reached Pingxiang, but were already near the Wugong Mountain Range.
Wugong Mountain is located in the central and western part of JX Province, on the northern branch of Luoxiao Mountains. The mountain runs from northeast to southwest, spanning three places: Luxi County, PX City, JX Province, Anfu County, JA City, and Yuanzhou District, YC City. The place where Gao Mingcheng and his friends are parked and resting now also belongs to the Wugong Mountain Range.
Historically, Wugong Mountain, Hengshan Mountain and Lushan Mountain are known as the three famous mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, and are dubbed "Heng at the beginning, Lu at the end, and Wugong in the middle".
In later generations, Wugong Mountain also became a famous tourist attraction. Many people would come here to see the strange peaks, meadows, camp and watch the sunrise.
Gao Mingcheng had come here to play with his friends before. Compared with the ordinary mountains and forests in Gaojia Village, the scenery here is indeed much more beautiful. Even though it is not in the scenic area now, the mountains and rivers here are more majestic and beautiful than other places.
But now that he came here again, Gao Mingcheng's mood was not so happy.
Because they didn't find any relevant clues for the whole day!
They were taking the national highway, but there were other roads besides the national highway, so they didn't know which road the missing driver took.
They couldn't drive to find someone at night, so they could only find a nearby hotel to eat and sleep.
This small village is located on the side of the road. Although it does not have much fertile land, the villagers can rely on the terrain to run some food and accommodation businesses, and the villagers look relatively wealthy.
During dinner, Xiao Jinfeng asked the restaurant owner about the situation and explained in detail the characteristics of his company's cars and drivers.
The missing car was an old Yellow River truck with the logo of the Integrity Transport Company on it. Xiao Jinfeng also remembered the license plate of the car.
As for the missing driver, his surname is Li and he looks ordinary, but he has a black mole on his left eyebrow which can be noticed at a glance.
There are about a hundred cars passing by every day, but the restaurant owner thought about it carefully and said that he had indeed seen such a car. The appearance of the car and the driver matched. However, when the owner saw the driver, the driver was driving towards Pingxiang, not returning from Pingxiang.
"Didn't you see him driving back?" Xiao Jinfeng was shocked at first, then he frowned and asked.
The restaurant owner couldn't guarantee this, and laughed, "When I saw him, he was driving to Pingxiang. He happened to have dinner at my house, and we chatted for a while. But if he didn't get off the car to eat on his way back, but drove away, how would I know?"
The restaurant owner is doing business, so he naturally has some impression of the guests he has entertained. But if no one stops to consume, how can he remember every car?
Xiao Jinfeng knew this, and he didn't want to make things difficult for others, so he politely handed a cigarette to the restaurant owner as a way of thanking him for the information.
After dinner, the few of them did not rush back to their rooms to rest, but sat at the door of the hotel and chatted. Gao Mingcheng's car was parked in the yard of the hotel at this time.
As there were no valuable goods in the car, Xiao Jinfeng gave the hotel owner a few packs of cigarettes and asked them to help look after it at night, so he did not leave anyone to keep watch.
Some of these family hotels are black shops that team up with local thugs to defraud passing drivers, and some even provide pornographic services.
However, there are also some hotels that operate with integrity and provide car guarding services for the sake of sustainable development. If the hotel owner has some reputation in the local area, then the local thugs will not dare to come and cause trouble. If outsiders come and cause trouble, they can also call on their friends and get a lot of help.
After driving for a long time, the driver naturally knows which hotel on which road is reliable, and the hotel gets many repeat customers as a result.
Before setting off, Xiao Jinfeng had a bad feeling.
Now that we haven't found driver Li and the car for the whole day, that bad premonition has become even stronger.
He expressed his suspicions and guesses to see if Gao Mingcheng and Gao Mingwan had any different opinions.
Hearing that it might be a business trap, an idea came to Gao Mingcheng's mind. He thought about it again and felt that it was indeed possible, so he said: "Brother Xiao, has the transportation company transported coal before?"
Xiao Jinfeng shook his head and said, "We have never transported coal before. Coal is usually transported by train. If the coal briquette factories in the county want to buy coal, they go to the South Station to buy coal. This time they transported coking coal. The other party said that the factory needed it urgently, but the train was slow, so they asked the transportation company to help transport a truckload of coking coal back."
There are usually two stations at a city train station, one for transporting people and the other for transporting goods, so that they can be staggered. For example, in the county where Gao Mingcheng is located, the station for transporting people is called the North Station, and the station for transporting goods is called the South Station.
Xiao Jinfeng continued, "Because he asked us to transport a truckload of goods to Pingxiang first, and transport a truckload of coking coal on the return trip, that's why I agreed. Now that I think about it, this might be a scam!"
Xiao Jinfeng felt that something was fishy, but he didn't know where it was.
It was just a truckload of coking coal, how could both the people and the truck disappear?
Although coking coal is valuable, the people who rob the goods may not value it!
Gao Mingcheng had an idea after hearing what Xiao Jinfeng said. He immediately asked, "Brother Xiao, do you know that when transporting coal, you need to sprinkle water on it from time to time?"
Xiao Jinfeng's eyes suddenly widened, his face full of shock.
Why sprinkle water?
Xiao Jinfeng wanted to ask, but Gao Mingwan asked first: "Brother, why do we need to sprinkle water when transporting coal? Doesn't this add weight? Even if it becomes heavier, we still charge for a truckload of goods. If the goods are too heavy, it will be difficult to drive the truck."
There is an estimate of how much a truckload of goods weighs, so the charge is calculated based on that weight and distance. If the goods become heavier due to water spillage during the journey, the transportation company will not benefit at all!
Who would do something that has no benefit?
Knowing that they didn’t understand, Gao Mingcheng sighed.
If he hadn't been reborn, how would he know so much?
They don't produce coal here, and coal is generally transported by train. Therefore, ordinary people don't know that coal needs to be sprinkled with water during transportation!
Why do we need to sprinkle water?
This is actually for safety and environmental protection!
Because coal will generate heat due to friction with the high-speed traveling carriage during transportation, and coal is flammable, in order to prevent it from spontaneous combustion, it is necessary to cool it down by sprinkling water at fixed points to ensure the safety of the transport vehicles.
In addition, the structure of coal is loose and the water in the coal evaporates quickly, so it is easy to produce dust. After sprinkling water, it plays a role in reducing dust.
Gao Mingcheng broke down these principles and explained them to Xiao Jinfeng and Gao Mingwan. Although the two had not known about such a thing before, they were not stupid and quickly understood it.
Gao Mingwan's face immediately changed, and he said, "Then Brother Li, isn't it possible that the coal will spontaneously combust?"
Xiao Jinfeng's expression also changed instantly.
The driver and the car were gone, and he was anxious and had a bad feeling, but if...
Xiao Jinfeng felt heavy in his heart when he thought that a truckload of coal might have spontaneously combusted and driver Li might have died as a result.
At this moment, he regretted it.
The transportation company has been developing smoothly in the past two years, so he was too confident!
Thinking of the high transportation fee offered by the other party, he agreed without thinking twice! He even didn't think twice when the other party asked him to sign a contract with liquidated damages!
If everything goes well, it would take a day and a half to get from Pingxiang to their county. The time stated in the contract was three days, which was more than enough for Xiao Jinfeng.
In this case, considering the high transportation costs, we might as well sign the contract.
He never expected that spontaneous combustion of coal could happen!
He was panicked when he didn't know about this, and he became even more panicked after he knew about it!
At this moment, Xiao Jinfeng wished he could grow a pair of wings and fly to find driver Li. At this moment, he felt that even if he had to pay the other party several times the compensation, it didn't matter, he just hoped that driver Li was okay.
None of the three slept well that night.
As soon as the sky was getting light, the three of them got up in tacit understanding and prepared to continue looking for someone.
There was nothing to eat in the morning, so I bought a dozen freshly-baked buns and drank a bowl of porridge. After each of us went to the toilet, we drove on the road.
Gao Mingcheng was still responsible for driving at the first stop. He saw the iron rod placed under his feet out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but sigh.
They originally thought that driver Li might have been robbed, so they were all ready to fight, but...
Gao Mingcheng shook his head again, thinking that it was not certain that the coal would spontaneously combust, because in terms of probability, spontaneous combustion was not 100%, otherwise water would not have been sprayed only after the coal was transported.
At first, water was not sprinkled during coal transportation. However, after spontaneous combustion occurred, people started washing the coal and sprinkling water to avoid danger.
With these protective measures in place, the probability of spontaneous combustion is extremely small.
Gao Mingcheng continued driving along the mountain road. When the car body was shaking due to the bad road conditions, Gao Mingcheng, who had just thought that the coal might not spontaneously combust, now felt that there was a 90% chance that it would spontaneously combust!
Why?
When transported by train, it is relatively stable, but the coal still has the risk of spontaneous combustion. When transported by car, it is bumpy all the way, and the friction between the coal and the carriage will also increase!
It's bad!
Gao Mingcheng glanced at Xiao Jinfeng and Gao Mingwan, and seeing that they were full of worry, he did not say this guess out loud.
One of the three of them looked ahead, while two looked left and right, not missing any traces left on the road.
Suddenly, Xiao Jinfeng narrowed his eyes and said, "Mingcheng, there are signs of a car rollover on the hillside ahead. Drive carefully and find a safe place to stop. We'll get off and take a look."
Gao Mingcheng also noticed the road conditions ahead. To be honest, this road is really bad!
There is a mountain wall on one side and a hillside on the other. The hillside is quite steep and the road is not wide enough. You need to be careful when driving. If you encounter oncoming cars, you may not be able to drive through if your driving skills are poor!
There are obvious scratches on the hillside ahead, as if a car had unfortunately overturned, and a large piece of the soil on the roadside has become loose. When driving past, it is best to drive close to the inside, otherwise there is a risk of overturning.
Gao Mingcheng's car was a light truck, which was smaller and lighter than a heavy truck. He found a safe place to park the car, and then the three of them hurried over to check the situation.
The three of them stood at the location where the scratches were obvious and looked down. Although they saw the soil and rocks sliding down and covering some of the plants on the hillside, they did not find the car at the bottom of the hillside, and there were no traces of coal residue around.
If it was driver Li who overturned his car here, even if the people and the car were taken away, the coal spilled on the ground would definitely not leave any trace!
Thinking of this, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. They guessed that a car might have almost overturned, but it finally passed. It was just that the tires loosened the soil on the side, which caused the soil and rocks to slide.
The three of them got in the car and continued driving forward.
This touching road condition made Gao Mingcheng miss the highways of future generations very much!
Living in a country known for its infrastructure construction, let alone highways, even remote villages have cement roads connecting them!
Gao Mingcheng drove carefully all the way. He felt that his new car was worn out a lot during this trip. It was a mistake. He should have driven Xiao Jinfeng's old car earlier!
But when he thought that the old car would be more bumpy and the riding experience would be worse, Gao Mingcheng calmed down.
Because it is located in the Wugong Mountain Range, there are many mountain roads here, and most of them have steep slopes, which really tests the driver's driving skills.
Along the way, there were signs of loose soil and rocks sliding down from time to time, which made people tremble with fear. But as long as there were no signs of coal, the three of them could relax relatively.
Just as I was thinking this, the hillside in front of me was scattered all over the ground with coal fragments!
"Stop the car!" Xiao Jinfeng shouted loudly.
Without him asking to stop, Gao Mingcheng stepped on the accelerator and pulled the car over to the side of the road.
The three of them got out of the car immediately and headed towards the place where the coal fragments were scattered.
In addition to the coal fragments, there were also obvious signs of loose soil and rocks!
Standing on the edge of the hillside, the three men's hearts were pounding when they saw the truck stuck in the valley. At just one glance, Xiao Jinfeng recognized that the damaged truck was his!
From the hillside to the valley, it is about ten meters deep. Because a truck overturned, all the plants along the way were crushed, and there were loose soil, rocks and coal fragments everywhere.
It is worth mentioning that when looking from here, we did not see the body of driver Li, nor did we see more coal.
The truck had signs of burning, but the entire vehicle was not completely burned, as if the fire was extinguished shortly after the coal was burned.
Gao Mingcheng narrowed his eyes, pointed to the place where the truck had sunk half a meter, and said, "There happened to be a ditch there. That's probably why the coal didn't burn completely."
Xiao Jinfeng was well-informed and said, "Someone must have taken the coal away!"
Otherwise it would be impossible for there to be only coal debris on the ground but no large chunks of coal!
Although he didn't see the body of driver Li when he looked down from the hillside, Xiao Jinfeng still decided to go down and take a look. (End of this chapter)
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