novelsite Chapter 28 The Difficulty of Travel
Chapter 28 The Difficulty of Travel
After traveling for nearly three hours, the three of them finally managed to cross Ningshou City and reach the other side of the city.
The journey wasn't actually that far, only about 22 kilometers, but as I said before, it was too winding and congested. Plus, the three of them had been traveling for more than ten hours straight, and their energy was completely depleted.
"I can't go on anymore, Uncle. Let's rest for a bit!"
As he spoke, Sun Fumin threw the car on the ground and collapsed, his breathing weak and feeble.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Yuan first secretly glanced at Jiang Hua. Seeing that the other party did not make a statement, he also laid the car down, sprawled on the ground, looking as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant.
In fact, as Jiang Yuan sat astride the motorcycle all evening, he felt like his whole body was falling apart, but he didn't dare say anything. Now that he saw Brother Fumin unable to hold on any longer, he was naturally happy to see it.
Jiang Hua held onto the bicycle with one hand and took out his phone to open the navigation. He saw that there were still three kilometers to go to the high-speed rail station. He wanted to tell everyone to hang in there a little longer.
But then he thought of how Sun Fumin had been running around with him for two days, and this was the first time he had complained of being tired. Even if he was anxious, he couldn't be unreasonable.
"Okay, everyone, let's take a break!"
As Jiang Hua spoke, he continued to stand. He dared not sit down, fearing that if he did, he would want to rest for a while longer, and once he was exhausted, he would feel even more tired.
"Xiao Yuan, get a bottle of water for your brother Fumin!"
"good!"
Although Jiang Yuan really didn't want to move, after hearing this, he still sensibly took out two bottles of Red Bull from his backpack, opened one and handed it to Jiang Fumin, and opened the other and handed it to Jiang Hua.
"I won't drink, you drink!" Jiang Hua shook his head.
Jiang Yuan didn't stand on ceremony. He tilted his head back and drank the entire bottle of energy drink in one gulp. Perhaps it was a placebo effect, but he immediately felt more energetic.
Just then, a large group of people walked towards them on the sidewalk ahead. They didn't say a word and just kept walking, creating a very strange atmosphere.
Hearing the commotion, Jiang Fumin looked up, quickly stood up, and asked worriedly, "Uncle, what are those people doing up ahead?"
Jiang Hua shook his head, pushed his bicycle and silently walked to the side. Jiang Yuan saw this and quickly followed.
Before long, the group approached, and the people at the front were taken aback when they saw Jiang Hua and his two companions.
Then one of them said with a wry smile, "You guys are also trying to catch the high-speed train?"
Jiang Hua was taken aback at first upon hearing this, then secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly took out cigarettes from his coat and offered them to the speaker: "Brothers, what's going on up ahead? And what are you doing here...?"
"Damn, don't even mention it..."
A middle-aged man with a backpack said with a gloomy face, "The lines are full. All the trains scheduled until the next world regression are full. We've waited all day for nothing."
The middle-aged man who spoke first said, "Brother, if you want to take the high-speed rail, you're out of luck today. We've been queuing all day and still haven't made it. There are just too many people at the high-speed rail station, even more than during the Spring Festival travel rush."
"Yeah! Let's go back and come back after the world rolls back again!"
After speaking, the middle-aged man with the backpack shook his head and left first.
"Yeah, let's go back. It's late at night and quite cold outside. No chance tonight, remember to come back early tomorrow to try your luck..."
The others, seeing that their companion had finished speaking and left, said a few more words and then quickly followed.
"Hey bro, what's going on?"
As Sun Fumin watched the pedestrian crossings pass by one by one, he couldn't help but ask loudly.
"Let's go back, we'll miss it today..."
In the crowd, someone responded loudly. Sun Fumin looked up and saw the person smile, wave, and walk away quickly.
Jiang Yuan watched the group silently without saying a word. He mentally counted about forty or fifty people, men and women, mostly middle-aged.
As the group passed by, he noticed that everyone looked exhausted, and upon closer inspection, their faces were filled with disappointment and helplessness.
This group of people came quickly and left quickly, disappearing into the streets late at night.
Once the group had gone, Jiang Yuan plopped down on the steps, feeling a strange sense of relief, but then his face flushed red.
……
"Uncle, should we wait for Xiaoyuan?"
Sun Fumin checked the time: 4:10 a.m., just 105 minutes behind the world.
Jiang Hua, riding his motorcycle, glanced up in the direction of the county town. After a moment's hesitation, he quickly said with exasperation, "We can't wait any longer. That kid was exhausted yesterday and definitely won't be able to get up today. He's also so careless and sloppy; just watching him makes me worry. Taking him along would only be a burden."
"Middle..." Sun Fumin smiled awkwardly and said nothing more.
He then asked, "Second Uncle, which route are we taking today...?"
"Take the first route first, then take the second route."
Sun Fumin thought about it and decided that this arrangement was appropriate.
He vividly remembered the scene from "last night." The three of them did go to the high-speed rail station, but the station square was packed with people, and there wasn't even a place to stand.
The people who approached them on the street were indeed telling them that the subway station was no longer letting people in, and the group waited until the afternoon of the next day but still couldn't squeeze in.
Afterwards, Sun Fumin reflected that this route was indeed fast, but one had to grab a ticket first to get into the inner area.
However, when Sun Fumin woke up this morning and opened the ticket-grabbing software, he was shocked to find that all the trains from Ningshou City to Shanghai for more than a dozen time slots were sold out, not even standing tickets.
The standing tickets here do not refer to the standing tickets before the disaster. The three of them checked online last night and found that they refer to the maximum capacity of the train.
Even so, the entire stock was snapped up in five minutes, leaving the three of them with absolutely no chance.
One interesting thing happened yesterday: before the world went backwards, Jiang Yuan wanted to go to the toilet, but he and Uncle Jiang Hua waited until the world went backwards and still didn't see Jiang Yuan again.
This made the two of them anxious. After finally getting in touch by phone, Jiang Yuan said that he was stuck outside and couldn't get in.
Uncle Jiang Hua angrily berated him over the phone: "You're the one who poops and peees all the time, while others can find a water bottle to catch it, but you're so thin-skinned..."
"Sun Fumin..."
"Uncle Da Hua..."
Jiang Hua and Sun Fumin were about to get onto the highway when they suddenly heard shouts from behind them.
The two men gripped the brakes and looked back, only to see two car lights flashing rapidly in the direction of Graystone Town.
These shouts drew the attention of passersby who happened to be strolling along the roadside.
Sun Lingmin, riding a motorcycle with two oil cans hanging from the back, suddenly braked in front of Sun Fumin, his face full of anger.
"Sun Fumin, why didn't you wait for me?"
"That's right! Uncle Dahua, why didn't you wait for us?" Sun Chengwu, accompanied by Sun Chengxian, also sounded a bit resentful.
Sun Fumin pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tossed it to Sun Lingmin, and chuckled, "Well, you guys still managed to catch up!"
Jiang Hua gave an awkward laugh and looked at Sun Chengwu and Sun Chengxian, explaining, "We happened to be rolling back to the middle of the night, and Fumin and I figured there would be less traffic on the roads at this time, so we set off quickly!"
"But you still had to wait for us!" Sun Chengwu said resentfully. "As soon as we got back, Chengxian and I split up to borrow a car and some gas. Even though we rushed, you guys still got to leave first."
"That's right, luckily there weren't many cars on the road in the middle of the night, so we finally caught up!" Sun Lingsong said with a dissatisfied look, then looked at Jiang Hua excitedly and said, "Uncle Hua, I didn't understand it the other day, but I finally figured it out today. Ningzi is also my brother. How could I miss out on something so daring? When I see Ningzi, I'll definitely make him treat me to dinner at the Shanghai Grand Hotel."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Jiang Hua said with a smile, "Even if we can't eat at a fancy restaurant today, I'll catch chickens for you whenever you want to eat them in the future."
"That's right!"
Sun Lingmin laughed heartily, then vaguely heard someone call out, "Dad... Brother Fumin..."
Sun Lingmin turned his head to look in the direction of the county town. In the dim night, he vaguely saw a figure riding a bicycle quickly toward him. When it got closer, he couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"Uncle Dahua, look, isn't that Yuanzi?"
"It really is Yuanzi..." Sun Chengwu said in surprise, then exclaimed in astonishment, "Oh dear, his trousers are all torn. He must have been riding very fast all this way."