Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Transaction

*

"Isn't it great for off-roading?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Mengran looked a little embarrassed, as if he had been caught lying. He was silent for a long time before he shrugged his shoulders helplessly and sighed, "Okay, I knew I couldn't hide it from you, Brother Gang."

This sounded good to him, and Gang raised his chin, "Tell me more about it."

"It's like this." Gu Mengran took a sip of mineral water and explained seriously: "Brother Gang, you also know that Shancheng is very far away from Yinan, and the road is not easy to travel after the disaster. It will take more than one or two days to get there."

"This means that in addition to cars, we also need supplies, sufficient supplies. I forgot to mention it before, but we passed by Jincheng before coming to Shancheng. Because we walked along the river, we passed by Jincheng Port."

"Port?" Gang Ge repeated these two words in a low voice. He seemed to realize something. His slightly frowned brows relaxed and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

Facing Gang's expectant eyes, Gu Mengran felt a little guilty for some reason, and said with a stiff upper lip: "The port was almost emptied, and we didn't find any supplies, but we found a bulk carrier at the anchorage."

Having lived on both sides of the Huangjiang River since childhood, Gang Ge knew a little about it. As soon as Gu Mengran finished speaking, he hurriedly asked, "How many tons is the ship? What's on the ship?"

"A small bulk carrier with a thousand tons of cargo, loaded with wheat."

Gang's eyes widened instantly, and his shoulders shook violently with excitement. "How much? One thousand——"

"Brother Gang." Gu Mengran interrupted Brother Gang and ruthlessly pierced his fantasy. "We went up to see that the ship must have been overturned by the waves during the earthquake and then forcibly turned back. Most of the wheat on the ship poured into the Huangjiang River. There is not much left in the cabin. At most, it can hold three trucks."

I'm speaking from personal experience, and there's almost nothing wrong with what I said.

But Gang Ge was like being poured with cold water, his excitement was gone, and he gradually calmed down, and asked again: "Why didn't you find a car in Jincheng at that time? Even though it was not far away, why did you run to Shancheng and then run back? Why?"

"Jincheng is in chaos. There are organizations like yours, but they are much more ferocious and quite xenophobic." Gu Mengran met Gang's gaze frankly and made up stories in all seriousness.

Three truckloads of wheat were a lot, and Gang originally wanted to send a few people to go with them and get a share of the profits. But when he heard that there were other forces in Jincheng, he immediately gave up the idea.

Although wheat is tempting, safety is more important. Jincheng and Shancheng are not far apart, and it would be troublesome if we cause trouble.

Gu Mengran didn't know what he was thinking. Seeing that Gang seemed to be wavering, he took the opportunity to throw out a condition that the other party could not refuse: "As long as you are willing to provide us with a vehicle, no matter how much wheat we bring back this time, we will split it 50-50."

"Seriously?" Gang Ge instantly perked up and straightened his back.

"Of course."

Who can resist such temptation? Gang Ge agreed without thinking, "Deal! But if you want to transport wheat, I will give you three trucks and one——"

"A truck is too conspicuous. No one would transport unimportant supplies at this time. I don't want to be targeted, so a bus or a commercial vehicle is most suitable." Gu Mengran explained seriously.

When Gang Ge heard it, it seemed to be right. After hesitating for a moment, he finally agreed.

But his expression was as if a piece of flesh had been cut from his body and he was very reluctant to do so.

Gu Mengran was curious about why the other party was reluctant to leave the bus, so he asked more questions.

Brother Gang explained that the weather was too hot, so when they were clearing the road, they would put an air-conditioned bus on the road for the workers to take a temporary break to prevent heat stroke.

It was a very humane preparation. Gu Mengran suddenly felt that it was a wise choice to give some wheat to Jiujie, but he still had to take the bus.

Two buses plus four spare tires, two seven-seater commercial vehicles plus two spare tires, and Brother Gang was unexpectedly generous and even gave away two sets of car repair tools for free.

To prevent any trouble, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao drove away two buses on the spot. When they returned to the underground parking lot and prepared to drive away the remaining two commercial vehicles, Gang Ge finally reacted and leaned on the car window to stare at Gu Mengran with a distorted face.

"That's not right, kid. Why do I feel like you're setting a trap for me? I've already let you drive away with my car. If you just walk away, who can I complain to?"

What was supposed to come finally came. Gu Mengran fastened his seat belt and smiled at Gang Ge outside the car window. "Don't worry, Gang Ge. We will drive three cars and send three people. Another person will stay in the mountain city to wait for us. If you are worried, send someone to look around nearby. You can let him show his head every morning."

"Who stayed? The kid from Emerald City?" Brother Gang looked at Gu Mengran suspiciously.

Gu Mengran nodded, "Yes."

"That won't work. He is originally from Shancheng. Maybe he doesn't plan to go with you." Gang thought for a moment, "Well, you said there is an old man, let him live with us, I promise to treat him well with good food and drink."

Gu Mengran frowned slightly and pretended to be embarrassed: "Let my grandpa stay, then we don't have to go on this trip."

"How come?"

"The boat is at anchor and is broken. We either have to go into the water to transport the wheat, or find a way to repair the boat and unload the cargo at the dock. The former requires a lot of time, which we cannot afford, and the latter requires skills that only my grandfather can do."

"Oh, your grandpa used to be a sailor." Gang nodded thoughtfully, then raised his head and stared into Gu Mengran's eyes, grinning, "Then you stay?"

...Where did I get the wheat from?

Gu Mengran was thinking about how to refuse. At this moment, another commercial vehicle next to him slowly lowered its window. Liang Zhao stuck his head out from the passenger seat and said, "If you must keep one, I can stay."

"That's a great feeling!"

*

Thanks to the people from Jiujie who cleared the road in advance, at noon, four cars drove from Yuedao Park to the main road leading to Jincheng and parked neatly on the side of the road.

He left home early in the morning and was already hungry. After the people who were helping to deliver the car on Jiu Street walked away, Gu Mengran leaned his head out of the car window, called out Liang Zhao, and prepared to secretly have sex with him.

Since he had turned on the stove, he had to eat something that he couldn't usually eat. Gu Mengran took out two boxes of self-heating rice as the staple food, and then grapes, bananas, strawberries... all kinds of fruits.

“Click.”

After opening the car door, Liang Zhao leaned over and sat in the passenger seat.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw a large stainless steel basin filled with colorful fruits placed on Gu Mengran's legs, and water was constantly seeping out of his palms until the clear spring water submerged the fruits in the basin.

"Conditions are limited, so I eat while washing."

As he spoke, Gu Mengran picked up a bright red strawberry, rinsed it in water twice, removed the stem, and put the whole thing into his mouth.

With a light bite, the abundant juice burst in the mouth, the unique sweetness intertwined with the slight fruity acid, it was so fragrant that Gu Mengran almost bit his tongue.

It was so delicious that Gu Mengran was about to have another one. He glanced at the co-pilot and saw Liang Zhao standing there, staring at him blankly. He paused and turned to look at Liang Zhao. "What's wrong? Don't you want to eat fruit? There's rice."

Gu Mengran pointed to the front control table, on which were two boxes of self-heating rice.

Liang Zhao didn't even look at it, and shook his head slowly, "No, I want to eat. I just think it might be too much. We can't finish it."

"It's okay. If you can't finish it, put it back. It won't go bad anyway." Gu Mengran raised his chin and handed the basin to Liang Zhao. "Don't just talk and not eat. Hurry up."

Gu Mengran originally wanted him to take the fruit, but Liang Zhao unexpectedly took the basin away and placed it on his knees, saying that his side was spacious.

Gu Mengran did not refuse his kindness. He reached out and took a garbage bag from the space and enjoyed the delicious fruit meal with Liang Zhao.

It tastes good, but it really takes up a lot of space in your stomach.

After eating half a bowl of fruit, Gu Mengran felt full. However, fruit digests quickly, and if he doesn't eat something staple, he will definitely feel hungry. So after Liang Zhao finished eating, he took back the bowl and the fruit, so that Liang Zhao could steam the self-heating rice.

The heating pack hissed, and smoke with a faint smell of lime floated out of the lunch box, slipped out through the gap in the car window, and soon disappeared on the deserted road.

No one spoke, and the carriage was unusually quiet.

Gu Mengran glanced at Liang Zhao out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was staring at him in a daze, his lips tightly pursed, and a hint of uneasiness in his lowered eyes.

Who could bear this? Gu Mengran suddenly raised his head, met Liang Zhao's gaze, and asked softly, "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Did you get heatstroke?"

Gu Mengran reached out to touch Liang Zhao's forehead, but failed. Liang Zhao grabbed his wrist first and replied frankly, "I didn't have a heat stroke. I was just worried that you were unhappy."

"Ah? Why am I unhappy?" Gu Mengran blinked blankly.

"I didn't discuss with you about staying in Ninth Street." Liang Zhao held Gu Mengran's hand tightly, as if he was afraid that he would run away.

Gu Mengran frowned, and his expression suddenly became quite ugly. Just when Liang Zhao was visibly nervous, Gu Mengran chuckled and said, "Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore."

"Why should I be angry? Brother Gang doesn't recognize Zheng Yijie, so one of us has to stay. If you say that, should I thank you? Thank you for taking the risk for grandpa, thank you——"

"That's not what I meant." Liang Zhao interrupted Gu Mengran, his expression becoming more serious.

Gu Mengran pulled his right hand out of Liang Zhao's grasp, patted the back of his hand twice, and said in an elder's tone: "Didn't I tell you last time that it's a good thing to make more decisions? After all, you are also a member of this family."

"Then why are you unhappy?" Liang Zhao swept over the bony hand and his gaze fell back on Gu Mengran's face.

"Am I unhappy?" Gu Mengran asked back.

Liang Zhao said nothing, just stared at him without blinking.

Gu Mengran: "Well, a little bit. Although it is now basically certain that Jiujie is not a den of tigers and wolves, we have never been separated since the disaster. I am still a little worried about you staying here alone."

After these words were spoken, Liang Zhao's expression gradually softened, and he seemed a little happy, with the corners of his mouth unconsciously raised.

But before he could be happy for a few seconds, Gu Mengran curled his lips and continued, "This is just one of the problems. We are still facing a big problem."

The smile disappeared in a second, Liang Zhao's eyes darkened, and he asked in a low voice: "What?"

"I have agreed with Brother Gang on three trucks. If you stay in Shancheng, it means we have to bring an 'outsider' with us. But you know, we are not really going to Jincheng to transport wheat. How can we hide the fact that we brought an outsider with us?"