Substitute Driver's Notes

Chapter 59 My First Experience Weighing

Li Wei arrived at his destination before eight o'clock, just as night was about to fall. On the road, two or three pedestrians were leisurely strolling, fanning themselves with large palm-leaf fans.

Li Wei, engrossed in smoking, idly shooed away the enthusiastic mosquitoes. Despite his relentless slaps, the mosquitoes' affection for him remained undiminished, as they vied to give him one "red envelope" after another.

One after another, fully loaded trucks roared in, joyfully heading to all parts of the country, and then bringing back goods from all over the country, making the name of the logistics capital even more resounding.

"If I hadn't come out so late and there were no buses, I wouldn't have come here to feed the mosquitoes!" Li Wei thought bitterly, gesturing wildly.

And then there are those long, slender legs who occasionally pass by, heads held high, high heels clicking rhythmically, swaying their waists and exuding fragrance as they brush past Li Wei.

"Mosquitoes! Their skin is soft and tender, and they taste delicious. Don't bite me, go bite them instead!" Li Wei whispered, watching the slender figure disappear into the distance.

As night fell and the city lights came on, the mosquitoes called to each other, a large swarm buzzing around Li Wei's ears to attract his attention. The other mosquitoes happily and quietly feasted, after all, it was rare to find a delicious meal where people were wearing shorts and short sleeves and standing still.

Great heroes are all known for their heroic spirit, and none of them have ever said that they were bullied so badly by tiny mosquitoes. Why can't these mosquitoes understand human language?

Just before nine o'clock, the phone rang. Li Wei quickly answered it, and Master Chen asked him if he had arrived yet.

"We're here! I've been waiting by the roadside for over an hour. I'm practically eaten alive by mosquitoes. They must have drunk at least two pounds of my blood," Li Wei complained as he swatted at the mosquitoes.

"Why don't you go to the tollbooth? They spray insecticide there every day and there are very few mosquitoes," Mr. Chen asked in surprise.

Huh? Nobody even told me. Even seasoned veterans don't bring up this topic in conversation. They have no conscience at all.

I'm so embarrassed. I only knew that mosquitoes would bite, but how could I have known that there were very few mosquitoes near the tollbooth?

The person on the other end of the phone continued to instruct, "Mr. Li, wait for me at the extra-wide lane of the toll station. I'll probably be there in about half an hour. The license plate number is xxxx."

Li Wei agreed and walked toward the tollbooth through gritted teeth.

Ten minutes later, Li Wei walked into the toll plaza, which was brightly lit and filled with trucks queuing up to get cards to enter the highway.

For some unknown reason, there are almost no mosquitoes.

I don't know if this counts as a life hack, but this is a government facility that automatically repels mosquitoes. I don't usually tell this to just anyone!

Li Wei stood by the railing, listlessly staring at the pretty girl handing out toll cards inside the toll booth, staring until she became uneasy and rolled her eyes repeatedly.

At ten o'clock, the dirty red truck finally arrived. Li Wei, with a sullen face, opened the door and got in. The man, who was about the same age as Li Wei, showed no remorse for being late. He took the pass, turned around, nodded to Li Wei, and asked, "Are you Mr. Li from Jin Ping's place?"

"Hmm!" Li Wei put down his bag, sat in the passenger seat, and looked around the car.

The inside was almost as dirty as the outside; the workbench in front of Li Wei was so dirty it was practically sticky to his hands.

Even in the sweltering summer heat, the steering wheel was covered with a fuzzy cover of indistinguishable color.

This worker is so lazy!

Once on the highway, he pulled over, yawning as he took over the shift: "Master Li, I'm so tired. I loaded goods for seven companies today, but it wasn't too heavy. The total weight of the truck and cargo was only 61 tons. You don't need to call me at the provincial border. The money is here; you can just weigh it and pay the toll."

"Is this appropriate? What if we end up paying more?"

"It's okay, it's only 80 or 90 kilometers, how much more money can I pay? Just go ahead and enjoy your journey."

The eight-speed car has a 310-horsepower diesel engine. The high and low speed gears have relatively short travel. Li Wei had seen the guy who stole roast chicken in the toilet drive it, but before he could even get a chance to fight him, he got into a fight with him. When he got out of the car and went home, his wife and sister-in-law almost beat him to death.

When Li Wei touched the gear shift lever, it was sticky. So he tore off a piece of tissue paper, took out a cup, poured some water, wiped the grime off the gear shift lever, and carefully examined and memorized the position of each gear.

Li Wei threw away the piece of scrap paper that had been used to wipe the gearshift and was now black with dirt. Without even looking at Master Chen's surprised face, he shifted gears and drove off.

Mr. Chen smiled awkwardly: "I've been too busy lately and haven't had time to clean the car. I'll clean it properly when we get to Jinhua."

Li Wei shook his head and used the words the old hand had taught him to deal with it: "It's not that I'm disgusted by the dirt, but when you're working every day, you don't have to be so particular. These days, the gear shifts on these cars are all messed up. If you don't check them, you might accidentally shift into the wrong gear and damage the transmission."

Mr. Chen breathed a sigh of relief: "You scared me! I was afraid of running into someone with OCD. Washing cars is tiring, and I hate washing cars."

"Yeah! Me too."

"Have you eaten, Mr. Li? If not, I'll make you a pancake."

People in Shandong Province are known for their honesty. If they like you, they won't express it directly, but they'll ask if you've eaten. If you haven't, they'll invite you to dinner.

Li Wei shook his head: "I've already eaten before coming here, you should go to sleep!"

"Okay, Mr. Li, the cigarettes are all in this box. Call me if you get sleepy. Just don't go more than 65 km/h, and be careful."

After exchanging pleasantries, Master Chen climbed onto the sleeper berth, lay down on the half-dark mat, and fell asleep instantly.

Li Wei heard that there was no more movement behind him, so he tore open a cigarette, lit it, and rolled down half of the glass.

Did this guy poop in the car? The car stinks and he doesn't even clean it up.

Aside from the first few gear shifts, which made a few clicking sounds due to incorrect timing, Li Wei found that this car was much easier to operate than the old-fashioned gear shifts.

Eighty or ninety kilometers, a little over an hour, Li Wei, who had slept all afternoon, didn't realize he had arrived at the provincial border toll station.

Regardless of anything else, they simply found a lane with less traffic and lined up to go. There were only a handful of cars, but they moved very slowly. Every now and then, a car would switch to another lane, begging and pleading to be cut in line.

Li Wei was confused, but he followed the vehicle to the weighbridge. After the vehicle in front of him left, he slowly approached the weighbridge.

Recalling the details of Wang Fuyou's weighing process, Li Wei shifted into C gear, slowly moved three to five centimeters in front of the weighbridge, pulled down the auxiliary handbrake, revved the engine hard, and gently released the clutch.

As soon as he felt the front of the truck lift up, Li Wei released the handbrake, abruptly released the clutch, and the truck lurched forward.

Li Wei was startled and quickly lifted the accelerator.

The new vehicle handled so well that the truck, which had lurched forward halfway, crashed down heavily, its front wheel slamming into the weighbridge.

Damn, this isn't what I expected! Li Wei was a little confused.

The truck continued to move forward due to inertia. Li Wei got nervous and stepped on the accelerator. Both front guide wheels went over the wheel, and the rear drive wheel was pulled too hard, causing the front of the truck to lift up again. At this moment, the drive wheel landed on the weighbridge.

Li Wei dared not move rashly, maintained a steady speed, and drove slowly until he arrived at the toll booth.

After handing over the pass, the display ahead showed the weight. Li Wei was astonished to see that it weighed 84 tons, indicating an overload of 65%. He was immediately stunned.

"Master Chen, Master Chen, something terrible has happened! Get up and take a look!" Li Wei shouted anxiously.

Master Chen turned over, smacked his lips, and continued sleeping.

"Master Chen, this is a big problem! Get up, I can't handle this!" Li Wei shoved him hard.

Master Chen groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes, and asked, "Are we at Runyang Bridge? How come it's so fast?"