Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

Chapter 27 The Group of 3

Third trip...

After this world went backwards, time rolled back to around 1 p.m.

As soon as Jiang Hua woke up, he told Xiu Yun to cook dinner quickly, while he drove to the next village to borrow a motorcycle.

He dared not ride that old motorcycle again after two days, fearing that the old thing might break down on the road.

It was an hour later when the motorcycle was finally borrowed.

As Jiang was leaving, seven or eight neighbors gathered in front of the house.

"Uncle Dahua, let's just give up! This road is really difficult to walk on..." a young man advised.

"Yes, Minister Chen Xiao said that the most difficult thing under the current disaster is transportation. It's 800 kilometers from here to Shanghai. Even if the road is open, it would take a whole day to drive there, let alone ride a motorcycle. And now that the road is blocked, it's so difficult!" another young man advised.

Jiang Hua looked up and saw that the two young men who were advising him were Sun Chengxian and Sun Chengwu, brothers who lived across the street from each other. They were considered outstanding young people in the village and had played with Jiang Ning very well when they were young.

Sun Lingsong couldn't help but say, "Uncle Dahua, I'm not trying to be harsh, but cycling to Shanghai right now is really impossible. A classmate of mine works in freight transport, and he told me yesterday that with the national transportation system basically paralyzed, several of his drivers are still on the road!"

"Alright, stop trying to persuade us. There's always a way!" Sun Zhen said as he squeezed through the crowd. The two young men who had spoken first were his sons.

Sun Zhen handed two cans of gasoline to Jiang Fumin, saying, "Dahua, I've found the gasoline for you. I'll also inquire about the motorcycle for you today. Don't pay any attention to them, just go if you want."

Sun Fumin took the two 10-liter cans of gasoline. A pungent smell hit him right in the head. As he strapped them to his car, he laughed and said, "Uncle Zhen, this gasoline isn't expired, is it?"

"You'll have to ask Xiaosong, he's the one who found them!" Sun Zhen lit a cigarette and sighed, "I wanted to go with you guys, even just to join in the fun, but I got orders from above, I can't leave!"

"Hey, now that Uncle Zhen mentioned it, I suddenly feel like joining in the fun too."

Upon hearing this, the young people's eyes lit up, and they all looked at the speaker. "Tiger, why don't we go tomorrow too?"

Sun Hu laughed heartily, "We'll have to ask Uncle Dahua to see if they'll take us!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Fumin quickly responded loudly, "Okay, you guys prepare your own motorcycles and gasoline. If it's not working today, we'll set off together tomorrow. Many hands make light work."

"Exactly!" Auntie Pang chimed in. "You guys have nothing to do at home anyway, so running around with them is just for fun."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Sun Lingsong and said, "Goodness, you've finally done something decent. The sun must have risen in the west."

Upon hearing this, the young people burst into laughter.

Sun Lingsong: "Auntie Pang, what are you saying? I've been there for everyone in our village."

"Ugh~, it's always you who slacks off!" another young man, about the same age as Sun Lingsong, complained.

"Who's slacking off? Who's slacking off!" Sun Lingsong laughed and pretended to kick his childhood friend who was making fun of him.

Seeing this, Jiang Hua smiled and shook his head, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and offered one to Sun Lingsong.

Seeing this, Sun Lingsong turned around smugly, only to be met with a barrage of eye-rolls.

Next, Jiang Hua handed Sun Zhen a cigarette, which Sun Zhen accepted with a smile and tucked behind his ear. Finally, he handed one to each of the men present, both smokers and non-smokers, in turn.

"Alright, it's getting late, we should go!"

"If any of you are really interested in going out for some fresh air with this skeleton of a man, you are welcome to come with me tomorrow."

……

Jiang Hua and Sun Fumin each rode a motorcycle into Huishi Town. Before they even reached the intersection, they heard the distant sound of gongs, signaling that the afternoon's performance was about to begin.

The two walked further in, turning onto a side road at the intersection. After winding their way through the town's residential buildings to the county road, they neither chose to take the highway nor followed the rural road below it.

The two continued walking forward, intending to cross the county town and reach the high-speed rail station in the neighboring city.

This is a new travel route that the three of them came up with after walking five or six miles at night "last night".

The roads are impassable, but the news says that the railway has begun to resume operation. Taking the high-speed rail to Shanghai will only take 2 hours, making it the fastest way to travel right now.

This new route was proposed by Jiang Yuan, and Jiang Fumin praised him at the time, saying, "Your little brain is really sharp."

This made Jiang Yuan very happy. He walked for five or six miles without stopping to catch his breath, and he was very proud of himself the whole way.

However, just as the two were riding slowly along the edge of the county road, Jiang Fumin suddenly stopped his bike and turned to look at Jiang Hua: "Uncle, do you think that person ahead is Xiao Yuan?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hua also gripped the brakes and looked up to examine the scene closely.

It was none other than Jiang Yuan, who was riding a bicycle he'd somehow gotten his hands on. Upon seeing the two of them, he was beaming with excitement and waving incessantly.

"Dad~ Brother Fumin~"

Sun Fumin grinned but didn't say anything more.

Jiang Hua, on the other hand, was furious. He watched as Jiang Yuan, sweating profusely, rode his bicycle from a distance and stopped in front of them. He was about to scold him, but then he saw the bright look in Jiang Yuan's eyes and couldn't help but sigh. He said helplessly, "Get on!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Jiang Yuan's eyebrows lit up with joy. He quickly threw his bicycle to the side of the road, ran a few steps, jumped onto Jiang Hua's car, and only after he was seated did he realize that this was not the old motorcycle from "yesterday".

"Dad, what happened to that old motorcycle from yesterday?"

"Changed!" Jiang Hua didn't want to say anything. He restarted the engine, twisted the accelerator, and drove ahead.

"Dad, slow down!" Jiang Yuan swayed and quickly grabbed Jiang Hua's coat.

Seeing that Jiang Hua was ignoring him, Jiang Yuan turned around and winked at Sun Fumin behind him. Seeing the two oily grease trappings on Sun Fumin's back, he quickly leaned forward and said, "Dad, can I ride that old motorcycle tomorrow? ...That way we can save on fuel."

"Why don't you just fly to the moon...?"

……

It is 110 kilometers from Yicheng to Ningshou City. In the past, it only took one hour to drive on the expressway and at most two hours on the national highway.

However, it took Jiang Hua, Sun Fumin, and Jiang Yuan 10 hours to travel on two motorcycles.

Along the way, we took county roads when the national highways were impassable, township roads when the county roads were impassable, and village roads when the township roads were impassable. We kept turning and twisting, with the navigation system constantly reminding us, "You have deviated from the route. Please turn around ahead."

Regardless, the journey was finally smooth sailing, and the three of them entered Ningshou City around 10 p.m.

Upon entering Ningshou City, the three were dumbfounded again. The city's roads were crowded with abandoned cars, like blood clots blocking blood vessels, causing the entire city to suffer from hemiplegia. The sidewalks were also blocked intermittently. The three managed to ride for a while before having to abandon their motorcycles and walk.

Fortunately, Sun Fumin saw a "bicycle shop" on the street. The three of them called the owner using the phone number on the sign. The owner initially said he didn't want to come, saying, "If you want to ride a bike, break down the door yourself and assemble it yourself."

But after breaking down the door, the three realized they had no idea how to assemble it.

They had no choice but to call the boss again. On the phone, Sun Fumin pestered him relentlessly, vividly recounting how difficult things had been for his group. In the end, the boss was genuinely moved and rode a bicycle for 40 minutes to reach the six-kilometer journey.

This speed moved the three even more. Others might not know the current traffic situation, but the three of them knew it all too well. They could stop every three meters and circle around every five meters, just as Sun Lingmin said, comparable to Tang Sanzang's journey to the West.

Therefore, while the boss was assembling the car, Jiang Hua kept offering cigarettes, Sun Fumin kept offering tea, and even Jiang Yuan kept fanning himself with a piece of cardboard.

The owner, who identified himself as Mr. Jiang, could accept cigarettes and tea.

But it wasn't hot in March, and fanning oneself was unbearable. However, when the boss looked up and saw the young man's expression as if he wanted to do something, he ultimately didn't stop him.

After the three bicycles were assembled and tested, it was already midnight.

Following the navigation, the three immediately rode their bicycles towards the high-speed rail station.