Substitute Driver's Notes

Sitting in an air-conditioned room, drinking tea and chatting, is definitely more comfortable than working under the scorching sun.

Li Wei didn't notice Boss Zhu's expression. After chatting for a while and drinking a few cups of tea, he asked, "About when will we finish unloading the goods? Should we drive the car to the parking lot before we go back?"

"Fatty Gao said that after unloading the cargo, we'll load more cargo and head back to Qiantang."

"Oh? This is too tiring! Who can handle loading cargo continuously?"

Wang Fuyou leaned closer and whispered, "Gao Bapi said that everyone will get an extra hundred yuan in wages this time. He's being especially kind to us today, giving us two days' worth of food allowance."

"Really? That's good."

Zhu Changfei asked with a smile, "Master Li, how much does your boss pay you a month?"

Li Wei, unsuspecting, answered honestly, "They said it's 2,800 a month, including smoking and meals."

"Huh? So many?"

Wang Fuyou laughed and said, "This isn't much! Our work is very hard too."

Zhu Changfei muttered, "The drivers here only earn 1,800 yuan a month."

Wang Fuyou took a sip of tea: "That 3.8-meter-long delivery truck from your company? 1,800 yuan is reasonable. It delivers for less than ten hours a day, so it's acceptable."

Zhu Changfei said proudly, "That's right. I'm pretty good to my employees. The loader's wages aren't lower than other bosses'. They can drink as much water as they want from a two-and-a-half-yuan bottle, and I never say anything."

"Yeah! Brother Wei, Boss Zhu is really kind; he always treats us to tea whenever he comes."

"Oh! Thank you, Boss Zhu, the tea is good." Actually, Li Wei had no idea about the quality of the tea; he was just praising it anyway!

Zhu Changfei grinned like a fox who had stolen a chicken, and enthusiastically poured tea for Li Wei: "This tea of ​​mine is no ordinary tea; it costs several hundred yuan per kilogram! Drink more."

Having skipped breakfast and only drunk a few cups of tea, Li Wei's stomach rumbled loudly: "Old Wang, let's go get something to eat!"

Wang Fuyou took out five yuan: "Go by yourself! It's already eleven o'clock, you won't be able to eat anything after lunch."

Li Wei laughed and said, "That's you. I promise I won't eat less than you later."

Wang Fuyou muttered, "What's there to be proud of? Brother Wei, you still need to practice enduring hunger. Sometimes when you're busy, you don't even have time to eat."

"Don't be ridiculous. If you're not enthusiastic about eating, there's something wrong with your brain. I'm going to grab a bite to eat."

Hu Lijing covered her mouth and chuckled, "Brother Wei is quite funny."

As soon as Li Wei entered, he smelled the perfume on Hu Lijing. He didn't like the smell, so he chuckled twice, took the money, and went out to find a street stall to eat.

After exiting the logistics gate, there were many pancake vendors on the roadside. Li Wei ordered two and sat down to eat them.

During my free time, I called my wife and told her that after unloading the goods, we couldn't go home; we had to load more goods and then head back to Qiantang.

After receiving a barrage of instructions, I hung up the phone, quickly finished my meal, and returned to the logistics department.

When he returned, he saw that Wang Fuyou had already come out, sitting listlessly on the pile of tarpaulins wiping his sweat. When he saw Li Wei coming over, he casually greeted him.

Li Wei looked at the truck and saw that half of the cargo had been unloaded, so he asked him why he had come out.

"I was just passing on the payment to Boss Liu, and he said it wasn't our business as drivers. Then he put away his teacup and wouldn't let me drink anymore. He also said he had something to do right away, so I left."

"What am I going to do in this sweltering heat? I was planning to go into the office to cool off."

"Brother Wei, you're dreaming. This pig won't get up early for nothing; he only wants to profit and never suffer any loss. He's already bleeding money just to give us water. And you think you can enjoy his air conditioning?"

Li Wei pulled back a roll of tarpaulin and sat down: "Winter is so much better! You can run to your sleeper berth and sleep under a blanket. It's unbearably hot now."

"There's not that much work to do in winter. After I get back, I just park the car, leave the keys in the office, and go home. After unloading, I'll have Gao Bapi drive the truck. I knew I had to continue loading when I didn't see Gao Bapi when I arrived today."

"Nowhere to sleep? I see there's still a lot of stock left."

"Unloading was completed quickly. Loading was also fast today; three companies loaded and one unloaded. Heading to Xiaoshan District."

"Oh! I've never been there."

The two chatted casually, wiping their sweat and shooing away the buzzing flies.

Finally, the carriage was emptied. Wang Fuyou stood up to take a look, then called Li Wei to lift the tarpaulin and load it onto the train, and to collect the small items scattered under the wheels.

After a flurry of activity, both men were dripping with sweat. Wang Fuyou got into the car, turned on the air conditioning, and asked Li Wei to keep an eye on the surroundings to prevent any scratches.

After leaving the logistics area, Gao Youcai took them to refuel. Once the tank was full, he started muttering, "What happened? It cost three cents more per kilometer than last time. Did you two sell me gas?"

Wang Fuyou flew into a rage and threw the keys at him: "Drive it yourself! You decide how much gas to use. I'm not doing this anymore if you don't pay me. You've added thirty-eight yuan too much gas. How much can we sell it for?"

Li Wei sheepishly admitted his mistake: "Boss, I was in a hurry and ran a little too fast. It's my fault. If you don't like it, you can deduct my salary."

Gao Youcai laughed loudly: "How could that be? Why would I deduct money from your pay for something like this on your first trip? I was just kidding. I plan to train you well, so you'd better work for me for a few more years!"

"Okay, I'll definitely do my best."

Gao Youcai took the bill, left the money, and ran away.

"Brother Wei, why bother with him? Even if the fuel consumption is a bit high, you don't have to agree to anything he says. If you're so capable, find someone reliable. Those long-haul drivers, how many of them don't embezzle a few hundred dollars from the boss on each trip? We're just saving a little money on our meals, and Gao Youcai is still not satisfied. He's so annoying. The boss's heart is completely black."

Listening to Wang Fuyou's cursing, the two headed straight for the loading area.

The loading and sealing of the trucks was tedious, tense, and boring. By the time the weighing was finished, it was already dusk.

After a quick dinner, we got on the highway and stopped again for a shift change.

This time, Li Wei didn't have any trouble starting. He shifted gears, accelerated, made several turns, got onto the highway, and quickly merged into the driving lane.

"Brother Wei is doing well! He's almost at the level of a skilled driver."

"Tch, do you think I'm a pushover? From childhood to adulthood, as long as I want to learn, there's nothing I can't learn."

"Then why don't you go to university?"

"Old Wang, do you feel uncomfortable if I don't beat you up?"

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Calling my wife is the more important thing. Huh?"

Wang Fuyou fumbled around for a moment: "Brother Wei, have you seen my phone?"

Li Wei pointed to the Nokia phone that was standard equipment in the car: "Isn't that it!"

No! My new cell phone is missing.

"It's no big deal, just give them a call and they'll find it."

Wang Fuyou slapped his forehead: "That's right, let me tell you, my cell phone is something else..."

"Alright! You've said it so many times already. Once I get my salary, I'll definitely buy my wife a better one."

As Wang Fuyou dialed, he muttered, "You definitely won't want to part with it, damn it! Why can't I get through?"

The air conditioner was icy cold, but Wang Fuyou was so anxious that he was sweating profusely.

"Don't worry, Lao Wang. Think about where it might have fallen. Maybe you'll remember."

"How could that be? Someone must have found it. It's over two thousand yuan!"

"Ask Boss Zhu. We've been running around there a lot, so maybe it got lost with him."

"That's right," he said, dialing Zhu Changfei's number. Boss Zhu agreed to look for it for him.

After a while, Zhu Changfei called back to say that he had found it.

"Boss Zhu is such a good man! But I can't get through to him!"

"Oh! I don't really know much about this either. It's in my office. You can study it yourself when you get back."

Wang Fuhao was very excited, guessing that the battery might have come loose and the phone might have shut down, and that Boss Zhu was too old to understand the new mobile phones.

The two then discussed driving together and arrived at their destination easily.

As expected, after unloading, he went to Boss Liu's place to load more goods. This time, Li Wei knew what to do and took every spare moment to sleep, resolutely refusing to look at the young ladies.

Moreover, there were no hairy crabs waiting for him this time. Wang Fuyou treated the few remaining bottles of wine like treasures, secretly taking a few sips without any hesitation. He probably got scared by Li Wei's drinking last time.

At the hotel, Wang Fuyou settled the money he had saved on the previous meal, gave Li Wei ninety-five yuan, and sighed, "You've already got good luck since you just arrived. You got lucky because Boss Liu was generous and gave you food for free, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten so much. If you hadn't eaten breakfast, you could have saved an extra five yuan. Are you crazy?"

Li Wei was so excited: "I can get so much from this trip! Almost a thousand yuan a month! Plus my salary, I'm going to be rich!"