Substitute Driver's Notes

Li Wei, who gets a headache just thinking about exams, ran away and decided to go talk to Wang Fuyou.

After going around in circles, I found that this guy was hanging under the carriage in a hammock, and he was sleeping soundly.

Li Wei called out a few times, and Wang Fuyou woke up. He checked the time, packed up the hammock, and said, "Let's go! We can't set it up this morning, let's go eat."

"No way? They're not loading the trucks before midnight?"

"See you at 2 PM, Wei-ge! If you're planning to work a bit longer, I'll take you to buy a hammock so we can sleep anytime. By the way, try not to wake me if I fall asleep. You've just started working, so I need to keep an eye on you at night and make sure you don't fall asleep. Let me sleep more during the day!"

Li Wei nodded in agreement.

The two went out the gate, and there were small restaurants attached to the factory area right outside the gate.

Li Wei frowned and looked around: "Fuyou! The hygiene conditions here are terrible!"

"Hey! A little dirt won't hurt, and this place is more affordable. Boss, bring me two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, and a few pancakes. Wei, how about a beer?"

"I don't drink, and I don't drink and drive."

"I'll let you open it tonight, have a bottle! I'll have one too."

"Okay. I'll have a bottle then."

"Brother Wei, I'm just too busy. When I have time, I'll show you my drinking capacity. I can drink a whole jin of baijiu."

"Oh! Good capacity for alcohol." Li Wei said casually, his expression unchanged.

Wang Fuyou proudly looked up and boasted, "That's right, I'm not bragging, but most people can't outdrink me. I can even drink with Old Liu, the truck driver from Qiantang, for a while. That guy can drink more than two jin (1 kg)."

Just then, Li Wei, who was feeling extremely thirsty, saw the beer being delivered. Without even using a cup, he wiped the bottle with his hand, opened it, and blew it straight into his mouth. He then put the bottle on the ground and picked up a teacup.

As the restaurant owner brought over two plates of oily and salty dishes, Wang Fuyou picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and invited Li Wei to start drinking.

Li Wei pointed to the wine bottle on the ground, picked up a pancake, and started eating it with the vegetables.

Wang Fuyou looked at Li Wei and said, "Hey, Brother Wei, you can drink! Alright, when you get to Qiantang to load the goods, have a drink with Boss Liu. That old guy is unreliable. He complains that our boss is stingy and wants to change trucks. We need to find a new source of goods. Once we stabilize the supply, Boss Liu will let our boss give you full attendance pay directly."

Li Wei became interested: "Oh? Drinking costs money! Who pays?"

Wang Fuyou laughed: "You actually took it seriously, Brother Wei? Boss Liu is from Northeast China, he can really drink! We still have work to do!"

"That's right. I told my wife to drink less in the future. It's not worth drinking too much for two hundred yuan."

"Hehe! Brother Wei, if you can drink two jin (1 kg) of liquor, I'll really be impressed. Everyone says people from Shandong can drink a lot, but actually, not many can really drink. We just drink heartily, unlike southerners who are so slow and drawn-out. Holy crap, you ate all six pancakes?"

Li Wei wiped his mouth: "This restaurant is really ripping people off. Their pancakes are even smaller than other places. I see there are still quite a few left. Would you like a few more?"

Wang Fuyou patted his head: "Alright, eat whatever you want in Qiantang. Restaurants there charge by portion, two yuan per person, and there's no limit to the amount of food."

After saying that, he took three more pancakes and ate them with the vegetable soup.

After leaving the sweltering little restaurant, we bought Li Wei a hammock and found a shady spot for him to rest.

Li Wei lay in the hammock, thinking that Wang Fuyou was a good person. That's how it is when you go out to work; it's lucky to meet someone kind-hearted and caring.

Li Wei hadn't slept for long when the phone rang. He took out his phone and answered. Wang Fuyou was calling him to come and load the goods.

After hurriedly packing up the hammock, I rushed to the loading area and saw Wang Fuyou using tools to dismantle the baffle.

Li Wei asked curiously what was going on, and Wang Fuyou told him that the width of the board exceeded the limit, so only one side could be removed, otherwise it wouldn't fit.

Seeing him skillfully disassemble it, Li Wei quickly offered his help.

As the forklift brought in five bundles of boards, they were assembled in less than ten minutes. Then, Wang Fuyou directed Li Wei to help tie them up with a large rope.

After signing, he called Li Wei and drove to the next place.

Five!

Seal the vehicle, untie the rope when you arrive at the destination, load it up, and then go to the next place, untying it again.

Li Wei's clothes were quickly soaked with sweat. He didn't care about being elegant or not. He took off his shirt, wrung it out, and a large puddle of water appeared on the ground.

"Old Wang, untying the rope and then sealing it up is such a hassle. I think the boards are packed quite securely. Wouldn't it save a lot of effort to just load them up and then seal the truck?"

Wang Fuyou wasn't in much better shape either, panting heavily and wringing out the sweat from his clothes: "Brother Wei, we can't hold back! The truck could be dangerous if it moves. There are so many cars and people on the road. If the cargo falls off, someone could die. We're a big truck, so we're fine. Each piece of cargo weighs over two tons; if it hits anyone, they can't take it. Many accidents happen because drivers take chances. It's worth it for us to put in a little extra effort."

"Alright! You're the experienced one, so you call the shots. By the way, you can remember all these board factories, that's impressive!"

Wang Fuyou laughed and said, "Didn't you notice? These factories have a common feature. You're called Xinfeng, I'm called Xinhua, and he's called Xinfeng. They're all clustered together. Huafeng, Huafeng, and Huafeng are also in a group. It's simple."

Li Wei shook his clothes a few times, and the cool breeze felt very comfortable after putting them on.

After loading the cargo, as they sealed the truck, one person on each side, Wang Fuyou instructed Li Wei: "Make sure to seal the truck firmly and tighten the winch."

Li Wei watched him tighten the rope with a crowbar and followed suit.

Wang Fuyou, still worried, ran over again, muttering, "Don't hold back, use all your strength."

With the creaking sound of the rope winch, Wang Fuyou ran back.

With a bang, the winch on Li Wei's side snapped. Wang Fuyou ran over again upon hearing the sound, looked at the broken winch, and said, "Brother Wei, even an iron thing can break. Let's not use so much force."

Li Wei couldn't help but retort, "You're not an official! How come you can still use your mouth anyway?"

"I thought you were a glutton because you can eat so much. Usually, gluttons can eat but can't do anything."

"Believe it or not, I'll hit you! Who are you calling a good-for-nothing?"

"Brother Wei! Don't think I'm nagging, but since you've chosen this line of work, we've spent more time together than with our wives. We eat, sleep, and work together. If we work well together, it'll be easy; otherwise, it'll be exhausting."

Perhaps seeing that Li Wei wasn't an unreasonable person, or perhaps feeling that he had been directing Li Wei for a while and had forgotten Li Wei's former prestige in the detention center, this guy was joking around and giving instructions on how to seal the car.

Then, driving to the weigh station, Wang Fuyou called on the way: "Da Zuo, is it raining in Qiantang? Look at the sky. Huh? Cloudy? What's God trying to do? It rains every day. Sigh! We still have to cover the tarpaulin, can't even slack off. Haha, I'm not a substitute anymore, a friend of mine, a long-term employee. We met in the detention center after the last fight, they're pretty good. Okay, go to sleep! Nobody's born a pro, you just need to practice. I'm not driving with you anymore, I can't bear the embarrassment. Huh? Yeah, so what if you're my mentor? You and Lao Liu are at the same gas station, one at Chiye and the other at Danye, and I only realized the character was pronounced Zhou after looking at it. So embarrassing."

Li Wei could hear the roar coming from the other end of the phone, and Wang Fuyou laughed loudly as he hung up.

Afterwards, the two men covered themselves with a tarpaulin and were soaked to the bone again. They weighed the goods and went straight to dinner. Then they called Gao Youcai: "Boss, the total weight is sixty-three tons, eight tons over. Hmm! No problem."

After getting in the car and turning on the air conditioning, a gust of cool air blew in, and Li Wei angrily said, "Why didn't you use the air conditioning earlier?"

Wang Fuyou, driving the car, said, "It's useless even if you use it. You'll be covered in sweat in no time, and the sudden change in temperature will easily make you catch a cold. You don't even bring a change of clothes to wash yourself, so you'll smell bad when you get back."

How would I know that?

"That's true! You're a virgin."

"I really hit you."

"Alright, alright, you're awesome! Okay, we're on the highway now. Wei, you drive!"

............

P.S.: These past few days, when I've been cooking, the brat keeps saying the food isn't good and he doesn't want to eat it. I'm thinking of letting him go hungry for a few days and then it'll be fine.

I secretly watched him and discovered that he was sneaking food. He bought a big ham from somewhere, cut it into slices, heated it in a frying pan, washed some lettuce leaves, spread sauce on it, and put it in a hamburger.

He secretly gave some to his girlfriend. I was watching the two kids chatting downstairs from the window, taking turns eating, and I was furious.

When they came back, they questioned him about where he got the money to buy things, and it turned out that this brat had been thinking about making money since the start of the semester.

Because of the pandemic, the school supermarket was closed, so this brat immediately started running errands for the boarding students, charging them one dollar and fifty cents each time.

Then, accumulate the total amount and go bargain with the owner of the small supermarket outside.

It actually made him earn several hundred yuan a month.

That's outrageous! How can you charge your classmates? It's a waste of their efforts to set a good example.

I criticized him, and the brat actually retorted: Why should I run errands for free?

Without lifting a finger, I actually got roasted pretty badly by that brat.

I was about to give him a good beating, but the brat actually ran away, and I couldn't catch him.

If a seventh grader is this calculating, what will they be like when they grow up? They'll definitely be unfilial!

I locked the door so he wouldn't go home, and I even found his piggy bank—it had several hundred yuan in it. I'll keep it for him for now and give it to him when he grows up.

What was I doing in the first year of junior high? I think I was imitating Hong Qigong by holding a stick, chasing after a dog, and practicing the Dog-Beating Stick Technique.