novelsite Chapter 26 Travel
Chapter 26 Travel
Jiang Hua rode his motorcycle into Graystone Town. There weren't many pedestrians on the streets, and most of the shops on both sides were closed. Occasionally, you could see a few children playing in front of their own houses by the roadside.
In fact, the streets of Greystone Town only see a few people on odd-numbered market days according to the calendar, and most of these people are elderly people who come to sell vegetables.
Young people no longer like going to traditional markets; they mostly shop online. If they really want to go out, they'll choose to go directly to the county town.
"How inconsiderate!"
Jiang Hua slowed down, riding slowly on the side of the road, carefully avoiding several cars abandoned in the middle of the street, and couldn't help but curse under his breath.
The further you go, the more cars there are on the road. It wasn't until you're almost at the end of the road that you realize there's a large stage blocking the intersection.
In front of the stage, there were a dozen or so elderly people scattered around.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Hua applied the brakes, and the motorcycle came to a stop.
He looked ahead and counted the days in his mind before remembering that today was the last day of the annual temple fair in Greystone Town.
Jiang Hua remembers the temple fairs very clearly. When he was a child, there would be one on Sanmiao Street in front of his house, and it was always very lively.
During temple fairs, vendors from all walks of life gather, and there are acrobatic troupes, small song and dance troupes, amusement parks, magic tricks, ring toss games, and all kinds of food, drinks and entertainment. It is simply a paradise for children.
However, after I started third grade, the Sanmiao Street Temple Fair became less and less popular, and the last temple fair when I entered middle school was more of a formality than a meaningful event.
By the time I entered middle school, the village temple fair had been discontinued. If you wanted to attend the temple fair, you had to go to the big market town. But after a few years, the temple fair in the big town also became less lively. Fewer and fewer young people went to the temple fair to listen to operas.
However, in recent years, with the country's focus on supporting local traditions, these temple fairs have revived, only now they have become more organized, separating food and entertainment, and are more like a local cultural and tourism event.
"Clang clang clang..."
"Knock knock knock..."
Suddenly, a series of drum and gong sounds came from the stage in front.
Jiang Hua looked up and saw a character dressed in a brightly colored theatrical costume stepping out from the side curtain to the beat of the drum. His flowing sleeves fluttered lightly, and the jewels at his temples trembled slightly with each step. His face was painted with thick, distinct makeup, and with a single raised eyebrow, he already had the air of someone from the play.
"Three cannon shots rang out outside the gate..."
Jiang Hua squinted. As soon as he heard the tune, he recognized it as "Mu Guiying Takes Command," an old opera he hadn't heard for seven or eight years. He thought no one would sing it anymore and it had long been phased out, but he never expected to hear it again today.
Performing traditional operas is an essential part of temple fairs. Jiang Hua remembers that the most lively temple fair he ever attended was one where four operas were performed simultaneously in Graystone Town.
One of them was right in the middle of the road, another was in the old vegetable market in town, and two more were at the two ends of the county road ahead. Every road was packed with people, and vendors lined both sides of the road. Even under the stage, there were people from all walks of life setting up chess puzzles and playing games of chance.
Jiang Hua remembers the time most clearly when he played pinball under the stage and lost five yuan. That day, when he went to the temple fair, he only ate a bowl of cold noodles and a sesame seed cake for lunch and didn't have any money to play any of the other games.
"It's a dead end!"
Jiang Hua got out of the car, lit a cigarette for himself, walked a few steps to the side, looked past the stage, and looked ahead. He found that the other half of the road was full of vendors pushing carts. What used to be orderly was now a mess, and the road was blocked.
Jiang Hua shook his head, quickly went back, turned the motorcycle around, and tried to take a side road next to the street where he had come from.
After finally getting onto the county road, I found that there was a car parked every three or five meters, and a large truck parked crookedly about ten meters away.
Fortunately, as long as you ride slowly, you can still barely get through the roadside ramps.
If you go south along the county road, you will exit the main street of Huishi Town in less than 500 meters. There is a highway toll station one kilometer further ahead. The county town is 20 kilometers further ahead.
Jiang Hua rode his motorcycle into the highway toll station, initially a little apprehensive, fearing that the staff wouldn't let him onto the highway. However, upon closer inspection, he discovered that there was no one there, and no cars on the auxiliary road ahead.
Jiang Hua quickly twisted the accelerator and drove forward along the auxiliary road. Ahead was the Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway. Driving to Shanghai from this road usually only takes about 10 hours on average.
Upon entering the Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway, Jiang Hua was dumbfounded. The cars that had been abandoned on the road stretched as far as the eye could see, densely packed and completely blocking the main road. A few hundred meters ahead, there was a chain-reaction collision involving more than a dozen vehicles of different sizes.
Jiang Hua subconsciously swallowed, looked up at the emergency lane, and although the view was fine, he had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, after driving along the emergency lane for less than 20 minutes, the lane was blocked, stretching for almost 200 meters.
Jiang Hua got out of the car and stood on an abandoned vehicle. He looked up and scanned his surroundings, finding that the main road was alright; there hadn't been any serious accidents, and there were still some gaps between the cars.
Jiang Hua looked carefully for a while, then got back on his motorcycle and carefully weaved through the gaps. When he encountered a difficult spot, he gritted his teeth and crashed through it.
When the road ahead became impassable, Jiang Hua got off the motorcycle and carefully lifted it onto the car piece by piece. Then, standing on the roof of the car, he slowly pushed it forward.
This scene drew curious glances from pedestrians still stranded on the highway.
And so, they continued their journey, stopping and starting along the way, with many curious drivers offering their help. By nightfall, Jiang Hua checked the navigation and realized they had only traveled less than 50 kilometers, still 750 kilometers from their destination.
……
"Uncle, you said you walked for a whole day and night and only covered 120 kilometers!"
Sun Fumin, with a cigarette dangling from his fingertips, rubbed his cheek vigorously with his other hand after asking the question, his face full of worry.
"I think I shouldn't have taken the highway. I should have taken the county road or the national highway, so I could have taken the back roads," Jiang Hua reflected.
"Dad, it's Saturday today, I want to go too..."
"Going anywhere will only cause trouble!"
"How is that causing trouble?" Jiang Yuan said anxiously, his face full of indignation. "If I went, at least I could help you lift the car!"
Jiang Hua stubbed out his cigarette and stomped the butt on his foot several times. "You're not allowed to go. Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You just want to go out and have some fun."
"Mom..." Hearing this, Jiang Yuan looked aggrieved and quickly turned to Li Xiuyun.
Li Xiuyun shook her head with a smile, then glared at Jiang Hua, "Let the child go. It's this late in the year, the child won't be able to concentrate on studying at home. It's good that he can help you carry the tools."
"Yes, I'll help carry the tools! If we encounter any cars blocking the road again, I'll use a hammer to smash those cars with keys so that Brother Fumin can drive them and ram them to clear the way."
"Haha..." Sun Fumin grinned when he heard this, patted his borrowed high-displacement "Zhang Xue" motorcycle, winked at Jiang Yuan, "Come on, ride in my car, as long as you don't mind the discomfort."
……
Late at night, on an unfamiliar country road, surrounded by vast fields of wheat.
"I told you not to come, not to come! Now your car's out of gas!"
After saying this, Jiang Hua saw Jiang Yuan still wanting to drink his cola and felt a surge of anger.
"All you do is drink. You've been peeing or pooping the whole way. I really want to punch you."
Jiang Yuan, looking aggrieved, held up his Coke and stubbornly said, "I just saw you were too tired from cycling and wanted you to rest for a while. Besides, why did you have to carry mine? I'm not afraid of getting my butt hurt..."
Sun Fumin, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but secretly chuckle at the sight. His own motorcycle was a single-person motorcycle, which was more suitable for riding alone. After leaving the county town, Jiang Yuan was called to his old motorcycle by Jiang Hua.
This time, learning from their previous experience, the three of them did not take the highway.
But good heavens, after going around in circles and riding for almost ten hours, when I checked the navigation, it turned out that I hadn't gone as far as Jiang Hua had ridden alone last time.
Coincidentally, Jiang Hua's old motorcycle broke down halfway through the journey. He rode around several villages looking for a repairman, but he couldn't find one. When he returned, he discovered that he was out of gas.
Now the three of them are truly trapped in the middle of nowhere, and the father and son are arguing again.
Sun Fumin wanted to laugh more and more, but he held it in. He stepped forward, pulled Jiang Yuan aside, and then took out two cigarettes from his pack and handed them to Jiang Hua: "Second Uncle, don't be angry. Xiao Yuan was just worried about you. Here, have a smoke. There's plenty of time. If not today, we can come back tomorrow."
"Let's think about what to do tonight!"