"Did you see it when you ca over? There was a crash over there, burned up several cars."
"I took the other road, didn't run into it. How bad was the fire? Anyone dead?"
"The two trucks were still okay, but the two small cars sandwiched between them had already been smashed out of shape. Once they caught fire, it was totally unbearable to look at. Don't know if anyone died. Word is the cops dug through carefully and didn't see any corpses, and they never found who the victims were."
"Could they have burned to nothing?"
"Even if you burn it, you can still see traces of people."
"True."
"They say the two of us who were traveling together were both fine. When the police ca we were still lying by the roadside unconscious. That's how car crashes are. Here, look at my hand, like this—crack…"
"Were those two cars just parked on the road with nobody in them?"
"Not sure. This shipnt of mine's urgent, so I didn't stay long to watch. Oh right, are you spending the night here?"
"Yeah. My stomach hurts like hell, can't drive anymore. Need to ease up a bit. Anyway I'm empty now, I'll pick up a return load to Zhoushan after I get into Nantong, no rush."
"This place isn't very safe, there are rats around a lot."
"I'll half-keep an eye open and grab a nap. Once my stomach stops twisting, I'll go."
"Then watch yourself. I'm heading out. Here, have another smoke."
"Watch yourself on the night road."
Yongzi took the cigarette from the other man and tucked it behind his ear. After watching the other guy drive off, he went back into the cab.
First he reclined the seat and spread out a blanket, then pulled a length of steel pipe from under the seat. He gripped it in his right hand, pressed his left hand over his stomach, and slowly closed his eyes.
With his stomach acting up he couldn't really fall deep asleep. In that half-dream, half-awake state, he heard so faint sounds. He snapped awake at once, opened his eyes, listened carefully for a while, and after confirming, imdiately grabbed the steel pipe and got out of the truck.
He didn't rush straight over, but banged the steel pipe around, wanting to scare off the fuel rats that way.
In so places the rats are afraid of people; in other places they're bold as hell, not only not afraid, they'll bite.
Yongzi hadn't struck more than a couple of tis when he suddenly felt his neck tighten and his whole body was yanked backward, staggering nonstop.
The wire at his neck kept cutting into his skin. Panicking as he lost his balance, he dropped the steel pipe from his hand.
A figure appeared in front of him—probably the one in charge of stealing fuel. That guy picked up the steel pipe from the ground and cursed:
"Bang bang bang, bang your fucking mother, you son of a bitch!"
The steel pipe swung sideways and smashed into Yongzi's abdon. His body spasd instantly, but with the wire strangling his neck from behind, he couldn't curl up. He could only twist his waist in intense pain, wanting to lift a leg to kick, but he had nowhere to get leverage.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Two more blows in a row. Yongzi's eyes rolled back. Between the strangling and the beating, his consciousness began to blur.
But the other side clearly had no intention of stopping—still choking from behind, still swinging from the front, obviously going for the kill.
They were the ones stealing fuel, but once they got caught, they turned into the ones acting all outraged and grievously wronged.
Just then, there were two dull thuds.
First thing Yongzi felt was the pressure on his neck suddenly easing. He collapsed onto the ground, fresh air rushing into his lungs, his breathing finally recovering. In his daze he felt like he was dreaming—two beautiful won who looked exactly the sa, each carrying a fuel rat in one hand, were walking away.
Right after that, Yongzi completely lost consciousness and passed out.
When he woke up, he found himself lying in a sleeping bag. There was a fire burning in front of him, with a pot hanging over it, sending out a fragrant sll.
He smacked his lips twice. The good news was his stomach didn't hurt anymore. The bad news was that aside from his stomach, everywhere else on his body hurt even worse.
"Don't move, we just finished setting you right. Here, drink this bowl of dicine first."
Looking at Tan Wenbin in front of him, Yongzi first felt he looked familiar. After thinking for a bit he finally rembered who this guy was.
Then he looked around. He recognized quite a few of the others too.
This group had once saved his dad out at sea. To repay them, he'd hauled them by boat from Zhoushan back to Nantong.
Later when he got ho, his dad finally admitted that back when he'd ferried them to the island, he'd not only charged a sky‑high price, but after taking the return fee he'd stood them up.
Yongzi had really laid into his old man for that. If he'd known earlier, he could've at least bought them so smokes and booze. Put himself in their shoes: if the sa thing had happened to him and he saw his dad bobbing in the sea, never mind saving him—if he didn't go over and smack him with an oar, that would already count as being kind.
"I…"
"Save it, it's over."
Tan Wenbin couldn't be bothered to explain too much. They'd made it just in ti—any later and Yongzi's life would've ended right here.
As for those two fuel rats, the Liang Sisters had dragged them off.
Those two sisters had a streak of brutality in their bones. Back in Dujiangyan, when their hands got itchy they'd deliberately show flaws in bars to fish for scum, just to have a proper excuse to vent. If the two fuel rats got played to death, that'd actually be the better outco. If they didn't die… their end would definitely be a fate worse than death.
After drinking the dicine, Yongzi felt much more comfortable. He chatted with Tan Wenbin for a bit, then drowsily drifted back to sleep.
By the campfire, Li Zhiyuan had an easel set up in front of him and was painting.
Next to him, Zhao Yi was also drawing, but he was squatting on the ground to do it.
Tan Wenbin walked over and said, "Brother Xiao Yuan, I've talked it over with Yongzi. Tomorrow we'll send him to the clinic, and we can rent his truck to drive."
Li Zhiyuan: "Mm."
Sitting to the side, Lin Shuyou said, "It really is kind of a coincidence, running into soone we know."
Zhao Yi said, "It's not coincidence. It's because he knows you and has karmic ties with you. He was destined for a calamity, so he 'just happened' to show up here, hoping to seize a chance to break it.
This is what's special about a River Crossing Man—they exert a huge karmic influence on the people around them. Those who act for good are aided; those who act for evil are devoured."
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