276 Xiao Qiudong (1/2)

Xiao Luo had already packed his bags in anticipation of his journey back home with Zhang Dashan and was about to leave his rented apartment at the Gong Village. They had planned to head back to their respective villages after the annual meeting at Luo's Workshop.

They both hailed from the West District, in the same city, but from different counties. The counties were more than a hundred kilometers apart. The two had visited each other's home quite frequently back during university, and their family members were quite acquainted with the other.

”How much f*cking longer will this d*mn traffic jam last?”

Their car was caught in the highway crawl, and Zhang Dashan was getting very annoyed. ”And they call this a highway, huh! Even walking would be faster,” he complained.

Xiao Luo was much calmer as he reclined his seat, leaned back comfortably, and said, ”It's the peak of the Spring Festival travel season, everyone's returning home, isn't it expected?”

”Old Xiao, I was just pushing my luck, but had I known that there'd be so many cars on the highway like this constipated shit, I would definitely have taken the plane. Anyway, I wanted to drive this car back to show off, let my neighbors know that I'm doing well, and feed my ego a bit, hehe. But now I really regret it,” Zhang Dashan replied. It was typical of him, and being an impatient man by nature, he couldn't tolerate such a long, endless wait in traffic.

Xiao Luo didn't bother with a response, so he closed his eyes to get some rest.

After waiting for four to five hours, the cars finally started moving again.

Zhang Dashan cursed all the way, and when he got to the next toll station, he opted to get off the highway to take the country roads.

And it proved to be a wise decision. The next stretch of highway was choked entirely for more than ten kilometers. As Zhang Dashan drove along at a leisurely pace, he couldn't help casting a sympathetic glance at the poor souls stuck on the elevated bridge.

”Old Xiao, look at those fellas, they are stuck like poor dumbasses, hahaha...”

Zhang Dashan seemed sympathetic at first, but eventually, he couldn't help gloating. As he continued laughing, it helped keep him in a cheerful mood.

But when he turned to look at Xiao Luo, he realized that his friend was fast asleep. It aggravated him so much that he brought his hand down hard on Xiao Luo's thigh. ”F*ck, sleep your head! It's your turn to drive now. I've already driven for more than six hours, it's a long way past the threshold for driving fatigue,” he cried.

Only Zhang Dashan would ever treat Xiao Luo this way.

Xiao Luo opened his eyes and stretched lazily, then asked Zhang Dashan to pull over to the side so that they could switch seats.

”F*ck, stop now, stop now! You really don't care about the car just because it's not yours! Believe it or not, I will beat you up cruelly,” Zhang Dashan hollered, unable to contain his exasperation.

Xiao Luo just shrugged, he didn't disagree.

Zhang Dashan refused to let Xiao Luo drive for the rest of the journey. The next afternoon, feeling just like they had gone through a journey depicted in the classic tale, Journey to the West [1], they finally arrived back at Zhoukou City of the West District.

Xiao Luo did not want to trouble Zang Dashan any further and decided to find another a ride back to his home village.

They duly parted ways and promised to meet up after the new year celebration.

...

Xiao Luo dismissed the idea of taking a bus back as the station was already crowded, and the ride on the bus was not something anyone looked forward to. Xiao Luo then opened the application in his phone to check if he could hitch a shared ride back to his county. He was in luck, there was indeed one, so he quickly booked it.

After about twenty minutes, a white Chevrolet stopped in front of him. He looked at the license plate and confirmed that it was the ride he had booked via his phone.

As the window rolled down, both the driver and Xiao Luo were pleasantly surprised.

”Winter melon!”

”Xiao Luo!”

They both shouted out each other's names at the same time. The driver was a young man about the same age as Xiao Luo. He wore a checkered shirt and kept short, neat hair. He had thick brows, a rather long face, and a rather unique characteristic — a short neck; he truly appeared like he did not have one. Because of this, everyone gave him the nickname ”Winter Melon.”