Chapter 178 The Mountain Road is Rugged and Difficult to Travel
Wang Min soon sent a message, so Lin Ruoyan took Feng Qiang with her and asked her husband to drive the car and head straight to the prefecture-level city where Chongl County was located.
Lao Zhan drove all the way out of Beijing and when he was driving on the mountain road, he talked about his previous missions in the special forces, driving on mountain roads, even at night, crossing mountains and ridges to go out of the country.
The road conditions over there are much worse than those in Beijing. In many places, the road is so narrow that only one car can pass through. If there is a car coming from the opposite direction, you have to find a slightly wider place to pass it carefully, otherwise you will fall off the cliff if you are not careful.
Moreover, there is no lighting on those mountain roads, and the trees block out the sun. When it rains and is windy, landslides may occur, or huge trees may fall and block the road. There is no village in front and no shop behind, so you have to find a way to solve the problem yourself.
Compared to that climate, the bare mountain roads in the north are always better.
Especially in recent years, newly built winding mountain roads are wide enough that vehicles traveling in opposite directions don't have to stop to pass each other. The mountains are reinforced with cement and mesh, making them less prone to landslides. Since the north rarely rains, without trees blocking the view, the road is clear and easy to drive on.
Lin Ruoyan can drive, but she still doesn't like driving on mountain roads.
Especially the dangerous mountain roads that Lao Zhan mentioned, she felt that she would not drive on them if she just saw them from afar. She really admired the transport personnel who drove on those mountain roads to ensure border logistics.
"My driving skills were honed back then, but we weren't anything special. At least we always had several vehicles on each deployment, providing support. Even if we encountered a landslide or an obstacle, the extra manpower would quickly fix it." Lao Zhan paused. "The ones who really suffered were the undercover comrades over there. They were hanging out with some fierce criminals from abroad, and sometimes they had to smuggle people across the border. They didn't even dare to travel on official roads during the day."
Feng Qiang asked curiously, "Smuggling? Does that mean sneaking out of our country?"
"What's so good about the southwest? It's poorer than us. People are sneaking in from there, carrying all kinds of illegal drugs or trafficking wildlife. There was a period of chaos, and we could often hear gunfire at the border. We would also assist in large-scale round-up operations. My leg was blown off during that time. There were landmines in the forest."
This was the first time that Lao Zhan mentioned the reason for his leg disability.
Lin Ruoyan rarely rode in Lao Zhan's car; she had her own private car. Lao Zhan didn't usually talk about the past, preferring to listen quietly to the conversations of the others in the car. Perhaps the winding mountain road had brought back memories, and she really wanted to know more about Lao Zhan's past career.
After all, that man was also in the same business, and he was an undercover agent, which made him even more dangerous. He hadn't been heard from in all these years, and in the original book, there was only a mention at the end, giving Lin Mengxi the status of a martyr's child.
"Old Zhan, you refused to tell us your legendary story when we asked you before. Why are you willing to tell us today?" Feng Qiang asked half-jokingly while sitting in the passenger seat.
Lao Zhan laughed and said, "That's right. You guys used to discuss work in the car, so there was no way I could get a word in."
Indeed, every time we go out in the car, we must go to conduct research or report somewhere. There are always people discussing work in the car, and there is no leisure to talk about other things.
Lin Ruoyan asked, "Will there be casualties in your actions involving gunfire?"
Lao Zhan's smile faded, a layer of sadness covering his face. "Yes, the weapons of those bandits abroad were no worse, even better than what we had back then. Injuries and sacrifices were inevitable. I only broke my leg but survived. It was our captain who gave me a push, pushing me out of the core of the explosion, but he himself remained there forever."
"Aren't the conditions for doing similar work much better now than they were back then? The national economy has developed, and scientific research and military industry have caught up." Lin Ruoyan added, "I see that Beijing has been installing a lot of surveillance cameras. Will these deter criminal activities?"
According to the book, the construction of the Skynet surveillance system began nationwide in 2001. Tens of millions of cameras were installed in city streets and alleys. They can accurately identify age and gender, match faces and correspond to ID numbers, and can even analyze people's gait and walking posture. In other words, even if the face cannot be seen clearly, the target can still be found.
Of course, this system was not built overnight. It took several years to be basically completed and was officially connected to the national grid around 2005.
Although it is still impossible to cover the deep forests in remote areas, there are such protection measures in places with relatively concentrated populations, which can make criminals feel uneasy and have nowhere to hide once they commit crimes.
Lao Zhan said, "Oh, General Lin is also concerned about this. Indeed, I heard from my old comrades at the police station that their districts have all been installed and are still in the process of debugging. In two years, a nationwide network will be a no-brainer. By then, if we want to catch bad guys, we can find them right from the computer, and we can target them more effectively when we're on the ground, saving a lot of manpower."
Lin Ruoyan sighed, "If there had been such an advanced system back then, I probably wouldn't have been taken away by someone else."
Many people in the company knew that Lin Ruoyan had been swapped at birth. The couple had fled overnight, leaving no trace. Even with the Lin family's deep pockets and the money to pursue the case, it still took over a decade to uncover any clues.
If the couple had not felt guilty before their death and told Lin Ruoyan the truth, she probably would not have been found by her family so quickly.
Suddenly, Lao Zhan slowed down and said, "There's a traffic jam ahead. There's something wrong."
They had been driving smoothly, with few oncoming cars. Their car had been able to overtake several, and they hadn't seen any other cars in front of them. Now, they saw a line of cars ahead, and they all seemed to have stopped.
Lao Zhan turned on the lights and stopped the car without turning off the engine.
There was no convenient online navigation at the time. When driving out, except for the GPS in the car, you had to look at the map or get out of the car to ask for directions.
Feng Qiang is good at socializing. He opened the door and ran to the car in front to ask what was going on.
A moment later he returned and said, "There was an accident with the oncoming vehicle. A three-wheeled pickup truck lost control. The driver and passenger suffered minor injuries, no one was killed, but the truck is definitely dead. They were carrying a heavy load, and it's stuck across the road, so no one can move."
"Is there a powerful car ahead that could pull it over? At least move it over so that we can all pass through." Lao Zhan made a suggestion. "We have a rope on our car. Xiao Feng, take it and ask."
Feng Qiang noticed that there was indeed a four-wheel drive SUV in the opposite direction, but there seemed to be no rope there. He hurriedly took out a rope from the trunk and ran to help.
After another ten or twenty minutes, the car in front finally started moving.
Feng Qiang called to report: "We can leave now. I'll be waiting at the front."
When Lao Zhan drove over, he found a woman standing next to Feng Qiang. She was dressed like a village woman, with some scratches on her body and rough skin, but she was not very old.
The village woman spoke without an accent, her words elegant: "Uncle, can I take a ride to the village ahead? My husband will look after the car and the goods, and I will go back to the village to report the news."
Feng Qiang asked, "The bus we just passed by is full, and they're not willing to take anyone else. Mr. Lin, can we give her a ride?"
Lin Ruoyan noticed the village woman glancing at the old man beside the pickup truck as she spoke. While rural folks often look older due to the weather, the husband looked old enough to be the woman's father. Furthermore, the woman seemed quite afraid of him.
Lin Ruoyan said, "There's room in the car. Let's take her to the village ahead."
The village woman thanked him profusely and got into the car. She didn't say anything at first, until they turned a few bends in the mountain road and Lao Zhan asked which village they were going to. Then she cried and said, "I'm not going to the village. I'm going to the city police station to report the case."
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