Substitute Driver's Notes

Chapter 48 There are ultimately more good people in the world.

Li Wei dodged by tilting his head, leaned forward and pressed his body close, raising his hand and punching the guy hard in the stomach.

"Ouch!" The guy clutched his stomach and bent over.

Li Wei raised his elbow and delivered another elbow strike to the back.

This guy looks all tough, but he's actually a weakling with a combat power of only five.

With a "thump," the guy fell to the ground, and Li Wei took a few steps back to avoid the bits of roasted chicken that the guy spat out.

He curled his lip and said, "You think you can fight with this little bit of skill? You want to beat me up?"

"I'm being assaulted! I'm being robbed! Help!" the guy shouted, lying on the ground.

What kind of people are these? They don't say a word for ages, but when they start yelling for help, they're this loud.

What I admire most is the Chinese people's unbridled love of gossip. In the truck parking lot, a group of onlookers suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Some were carrying thermos flasks, some were munching on pancakes, and others were shouting into the distance, "Come and see the fight!" in their thick Langya accents.

He shouted a few times, and seeing that more and more people were gathering, and with Liang Jingru giving him more courage, he whispered and yelled at Li Wei, "I have no money, but you can take my life. You've definitely worked for nothing this time. If you have the guts, kill me."

Li Wei wasn't used to being surrounded and bossed around. In the past, he would have definitely beaten the man up and walked away without saying a word. But now, he was worried about his meager salary, so he had no choice but to swallow his pride and go.

He kicked the guy's fat ass hard and shouted at the crowd that had gathered around:

"Friends, please be my judge. We are drivers in the same vehicle. He is the one who manages the vehicle and accounts. We've worked all afternoon, and he still hasn't given me any food. He went to steal some food, but I caught him."

He bent down and picked up the ten yuan that the guy had pressed down on him, showing it to himself: "It looks like most of us drive big trucks. This is the living expenses and cigarette money that this bastard gave me for three days. Do you think that's enough?"

I told him I was quitting, asked for my wages and today's food expenses, and that I was going home. Not only did he refuse to pay, but he also tried to hit me. He lay down and started trying to extort money from me after I touched him. Now, everyone's come to see what's going on. What do you guys think we should do?

"Beat him to death!"

"Beat him to death!"

Hearing the onlookers' boastful comments, Li Wei felt a headache coming on. He thought to himself, "Hey you guys who were yelling at me to beat him to death, which of you will come and kill him so I can see? So you don't have to pay for his medical bills, huh?"

The guy lay on the ground groaning, "Someone call the police for me! I've been badly beaten."

The onlookers immediately cheered: "Great! Call the police! When they come, they'll arrest you both!"

"If you park your truck here, you'll have to pay an overtime fee again when you pass through the toll booth later."

"I heard that you have to pay for your own meals when you're in detention, and they're ridiculously expensive and you can't even get anything good."

"Huh? How did you know?"

"Oh! I live not far from the detention center, and there's a market nearby. I often see the cooks from the detention center picking up discarded vegetable scraps from the vendors. They can't possibly pick them up for the leaders to eat, can they?"

"That's right! How can a leader eat rotten vegetable leaves!"

"Fellow villagers, you two are in luck. You get to try the vegetable soup here and see if it's good."

A murmur of discussion arose. It seemed this guy hadn't been inside before. Hearing this, sweat beaded on his forehead, and he scrambled to his feet to stop the crowd: "Don't call the police! We were just joking."

Then he took out some money from his pocket: "One hundred a day's wages, plus food and cigarette expenses, I'll give you one hundred and fifty. I don't need you anymore, you can find your own way back."

Some onlookers were unhappy: "Aren't you going to give them some money for the journey back? It's over 100 kilometers!"

"Yes, yes! It's best to let the police settle this."

This guy was clearly a bit confused by what everyone was saying, so he took out another fifty yuan and handed it over: "That's fine! You hurry up and get off the bus with your things."

Li Wei was dumbfounded. This guy must be out of his mind. Isn't he afraid of exhausting himself running all by himself?

He took the money, along with the ten yuan he found, put it away, got into the car, took off his bag, and tossed the car keys to him.

Without stopping, it drove off.

Seeing that there was no more excitement to be had, the onlookers dispersed.

"Hey buddy, do you know how to get back?"

Li Wei turned around and saw that the person looked familiar; it seemed like he had seen him at the real estate agency that morning.

"You didn't get the agency fee, did you?"

Li Wei nodded, then suddenly woke up with a start and shouted, "Oh no, I forgot!"

"Forget it, they've already left, you can't catch up with them anyway! Besides, you've already paid quite a bit. Go to the service area across the street, find a local car, ask if anyone has a ride home, it's free to hitch a ride."

"Oh, will they allow it?"

"Can't you be a little more polite? If all else fails, call Jinping and ask if she knows any passing cars. Ask her to help you find a way. Go over tomorrow morning and have Jinping arrange a car for you again. You won't have to pay the agency fee anymore."

Li Wei's eyes widened: "This works?"

"Why not? This guy didn't give you a commission. Let Jinping ask the car dealer for it. It's not our fault for doing the work."

"That would be a bit unfair to Boss Jin."

"Actually, neither of you loses out. The driver has left your card, so you can just ask the car owner for reimbursement later. It's the wages and food expenses for two people. He just puts in a little more effort and can earn double the money."

You've received your wages for today, so you can continue working tomorrow; it won't cause any problems. If you feel it's not suitable, just give Jinping an extra agency fee; you earn more money anyway.

Li Wei blushed: "Our hard-working monthly salary is only equivalent to Jin Ping's income for two days."

"If you know the truth, why pretend to be generous? Then don't make a call. Go find a car yourself and go back. Tomorrow morning, just say you were dumped by the driver and only got paid. Let Jinping argue with the driver."

Li Wei was completely baffled: "What kind of situation is this?"

"Alright, I'm leaving now. Think about it when you can't sleep."

Li Wei, carrying his bag and feeling lost, walked through the underpass to the service area on the other side.

The layout is basically the same, with parking lots filled with cars even in the passageways, and restaurants that are incredibly bustling.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that eight out of ten large trucks in the parking lot had license plates from Langya.

Many drivers looked at Li Wei curiously as he strolled around with his bag.

Remembering what the substitute had said, Li Wei politely smiled and inquired in his local dialect who was going home.

Perhaps because he had seen too many bad people, more than ten people in a row shook their heads and refused to take the money.

Just when Li Wei was about to give up hope, someone suddenly asked, "The substitute driver? He got dumped by the driver in charge?"

"Hmm!" Li Wei replied dejectedly.

"Do you have any cigarettes? Cigarettes at the service area cost way too much extra."

Li Wei looked up and sized him up. The man who had struck up the conversation was only in his forties, with a somewhat simple and honest appearance, and he was holding a pancake in his hand. Next to him, another man of similar age, also around forty, was happily munching on a pancake rolled with scallions.

Li Wei felt a warmth in his heart: "I have cigarettes. I have four packs in my bag."

After saying that, he took out cigarettes from his bag and handed them over in one go.

"Just give me two packs to smoke, and have a pancake on the bus!"

Li Wei was incredibly touched: "How about I treat you two to a buffet?"

"Forget it! How much money can you earn working? Save it for the family. What's a little hardship for us men?"

Li Wei quickly got into the car and sincerely thanked them, saying, "Thank you!"