Chapter Eighty-Five: The Vehicle Breaks Down

"Xiaochen? What a coincidence!" Brother Niu was beaming too. The two had gotten along well on their trip to the Northeast before, and now that they were headed even farther away, having a familiar face along the way would make the long haul much more bearable.

This mission was difficult, and yet not difficult. In simple terms, they had to deliver this batch of special steel safely to a designated location within the allotted time.

What made it hard was the schedule: it was fixed at just seven days. They had to travel from Capital City to the Gobi wasteland of Western Frontier.

More than three thousand kilometers, and in an era with no highways, a driver who could cover fifty or sixty kilometers an hour on these roads already counted as a veteran. If they wanted to arrive on time, the men had to rest in shifts while the trucks kept rolling.

So this time, every vehicle had two drivers. They ate on the road, slept on the road, and pushed onward without pause, day and night, bound to finish within the deadline.

Every time they stopped to refuel and take on water, Chen Liang would leap down from the cab like a gust of wind.

He had to move fast; each stop lasted only ten minutes, and they also had to rotate among three men—Brother Niu, Little Meng, and himself. Slow down even a little, and they would miss the deadline.

Sitting in the cab, breathing the stench of his own body, now foul from days without a proper wash, Chen Liang looked utterly broken. This life was unbearable. When would it ever end?

No one here was in any position to laugh at anyone else. The entire convoy looked like a band of disheveled vagrants. After five straight days of living in the trucks under sun and moon alike, no one looked much like a human being anymore.

Damn it, the purely natural, completely unprocessed beauties of Western Frontier were really everywhere. One stunning woman after another, all long legs and dazzling faces—just enough to drive any old lecher mad without even trying.

At the final resupply stop, in the Western Frontier Corps, the convoy at last prepared to enter the uninhabited deserts and wastelands.

Lob Nor was a forbidden zone of life. The nation's most mysterious Project 596 was located there, and the special steel Chen Liang escorted was meant to meet the needs of their experiments.

As the saying went, it is one thing to rely on your father, another to rely on your mother, but far better to have it yourself. Since "Miss Qiu" was successfully launched and detonated on the dressing table last year, our nation could speak with its back straight on the international stage; even the Eagle Americans were politely deferential. That "Miss Qiu, the Nuclear Peace Envoy," truly lived up to her reputation.

The convoy had been peaceful the whole way, and yet after crossing ninety-nine steps, just one step from victory, something went wrong. Chen Liang saw the lead truck suddenly stall.

He hurriedly took out the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and fired a warning shot into the sky. Then he pulled open the door and climbed down.

This had been their agreed signal: if anything went wrong, fire immediately to warn the others. With no radio available, this was the only way to notify the vehicles ahead.

Chen Liang's gunshot brought the trucks behind them to a halt at once. After several more shots were heard from the front, it was quite some time before the lead truck, driven by Master Uncle Lu Youwei, turned around and came back.

As soon as he got out, the uncle asked anxiously, "What happened? Who fired the shot?"

Chen Liang quickly stepped forward. "Uncle, it was me. This truck broke down and won't move."

"No good. The engine has boiled over. We'll have to wait for it to cool down on its own. I can't do anything about it." Brother Niu also poked his head out from under the hood.

When the uncle heard this, anxiety immediately seized him. "How long will that take?"

Brother Niu estimated the time in his head. "Section Chief Lu, it's hard to say, but at the very least, one or two hours."

At that, the uncle's gaze turned cold as he fixed it on the two drivers standing nearby. At such a critical moment, they had caused such a huge mess. The two men truly deserved to die.

With the deadline nearly upon them, it was obviously impossible for the entire convoy to stop and wait one or two hours. The uncle was so anxious he was like an ant on a hot pan, pacing in circles.

Knowing they had caused trouble, the older driver immediately tried to dump the blame elsewhere. "Xiao Zhang, what did I tell you? This truck is our very life. What on earth have you been doing? Is this how you maintain a vehicle?"

"Master, I... I did everything exactly as you told me! I didn't slack off even once..." Xiao Zhang was so frightened he looked ready to cry.

"Enough, stop talking. Go back and wait to be disciplined!" The older one hurriedly shifted the blame. He absolutely could not let this matter touch him. If there really was a problem, it would not be worth ruining himself for the sake of an apprentice.

"Come on, Wang the Lazy, with that lazy, rotten nature of yours, hoarding whatever technical skills you have and refusing to teach them properly—what kind of decent apprentice could you possibly raise?"

Brother Niu could not bear to listen any longer and mocked him outright. "And now you're blaming the apprentice? What does Xiao Zhang even know? Have you ever taught him anything at all?"

"Niu Dali, don't spit blood and slander people. What do you mean I never taught him? He's just stupid and can't learn. How can that be my fault?" Wang the Lazy shot back at once.

Seeing his uncle's face dark as a cooking pot, Chen Liang quickly cut off the argument. "Enough. Uncle, does this road lead straight on to the base if we keep going?"

"Yes. The comrades from the corps said there's only this one road to the base." The uncle nodded.

"Then fine. Brother Niu, I'll ask you one thing too: once this truck is fixed, can you drive it?"

Brother Niu nodded. "Aside from the radiator, this truck has plenty of other problems. If I fix it up, it should be fine."

"Good. Then it's settled. Brother Niu, you drive this truck. I don't trust that Wang fellow. And Uncle, you go on ahead first. I'll stay here and wait for the truck to be repaired, then catch up to you."

Chen Liang's tone was firm as iron. Seeing the uncle looking as if he had something to say but could not bring himself to speak, he said, "Uncle, don't let sentiment get in the way. The military has no mercy—have you forgotten? If we can't deliver within the deadline, we'll all be dragged before a military tribunal!"

"All right, then it's settled! Everyone back into the vehicles and prepare to depart!" The uncle gritted his teeth and made the decision.

At parting, the uncle even handed Chen Liang a signal flare gun. "If you still haven't found the base by nightfall, fire a flare into the sky. Understand?"

"Got it. Don't worry, Uncle. Your nephew's life is a tough one."

Brother Niu, too, said to Xiao Meng with a strange smile, "Xiao Meng, I'll trouble you to keep an eye on this truck for me. It's my life we're talking about, so make sure you watch it well. Don't let just anyone touch it at random. Understand?"

Xiao Meng grinned from the truck. "Don't worry, Master. Your life is in my hands. I won't let outsiders lay a finger on it!"

"You! Niu Dali, I..." Goaded by the pair's back-and-forth, Wang the Lazy was so furious he could not even get the words out.

After the convoy left, Brother Niu took the toolbox and, with Xiao Zhang, began repairing the truck. Brother Niu gave careful guidance from the side while Xiao Zhang worked with his hands.

Do not think of this as a master exploiting his apprentice. For a one-on-one lesson like this from Brother Niu, an apprentice would not even dare dream of it.