Once on the highway, the car maintained a speed of over 160 kilometers per hour, constantly being photographed by fixed checkpoints along the way. However, Zhao Qiang was currently using a military license plate, so he wasn't afraid of being fined. Even if he were fined, Zhao Qiang would pay without hesitation. Even if the military stopped the car, they wouldn't dare touch Zhao Qiang's vehicle because the license plate was reserved for Yang Shiqi's military unit. Now, her special forces unit was like an emperor to the locals.
Around noon, they passed through a county town. Zhao Qiang stopped the car and got out with Yang Shiyun to find a place to eat. Since their plan was to travel and explore at the same time, they couldn't just skip over the place. Zhao Qiang decided to stay there for the night and spend the afternoon visiting the county town's attractions.
Zhao Qiang walked into a roadside restaurant and said, "Having beautiful women accompany me on my travels, this is a good life."
Yang Shiyun giggled and playfully kicked Zhao Qiang from behind, saying, "Dream on." Yang Shiyun wasn't as cold towards Zhao Qiang anymore; the two laughed and joked, making them look like a couple deeply in love to anyone who didn't know the situation.
"Boss, what are some of the local specialties?" Zhao Qiang asked, always wanting to try the local specialties when visiting a new place.
The owner, sitting behind the bar, glanced up and said, "Roast pork." Judging by his plump appearance, could it be that he'd been eating too much roast pork?
Yang Shiyun frowned; for girls, meat was practically their nemesis. Zhao Qiang, however, was delighted: "Okay, get us a big bowl, and also make four dishes and a soup, pick the specialties." With Zhao Qiang's current wealth, there was no need to ask about the price.
The boss didn't say anything, but quickly scribbled a few words on a piece of paper, then tore it off and handed it to a window behind him. That was the kitchen, and the sounds of pots and pans clattering could be heard from inside. Yang Shiyun said, "How can you eat so much?"
Zhao Qiang said, "You still don't understand? My energy comes from food, unlike you who can directly use electricity."
Yang Shiyun said, "No wonder. I think you're the best. You can store your energy to the maximum extent." As she spoke, Yang Shiyun glanced at Zhao Qiang's abdomen, where there was quite a bit of fat. If a girl looked like that, she would definitely want to die, but Zhao Qiang was proud of it.
Zhao Qiang said, "Actually, you also have the ability to store energy, but the storage capacity hasn't been unlocked yet."
Yang Shiyun said, "Then you should teach me quickly."
Zhao Qiang said, "Sis, please, I'm also feeling my way across the river. Our energies are different, what works for me may not work for you."
Yang Shiyun said, "You can practice on a few more stones before you teach me."
Zhao Qiang said helplessly, "Okay." At this moment, a dish was handed out from the window behind the bar. The owner put the dish on the bar with a thud, and then a waiter quickly ran over, carrying the dish to Zhao Qiang's table, and said, "Sir, your dish, braised pork."
The bright red chunks of meat, half fat and half lean, were seasoned with soaked dried green beans. The aroma was irresistible, and even Yang Shiyun couldn't help but take a sip and exclaim, "So fragrant!"
Zhao Qiang grabbed his chopsticks and started eating, saying, "Hurry up and eat!" Zhao Qiang already liked this kind of food, and now, under the pretext of increasing his energy reserves, he was even more eager to eat it.
The fatty meat crumbled easily with a bite, its salty flavor tinged with sweetness, just to Zhao Qiang's liking. He exclaimed repeatedly, "Great! Great! Boss, give me three more plates!" A group of more than a dozen diners at the next table were startled, their eyes all turning to Zhao Qiang.
Then the second dish arrived, which turned out to be stir-fried bean curd sticks. It was stir-fried over very light heat, almost as if it was just drizzled with a spoonful of oil before being served. At least it wasn't meat, so Yang Shiyun picked up a piece with her chopsticks to try it. It was a bit spicy, but the taste was quite good. Yang Shiyun nodded and said, "This is good, you should try it."
Zhao Qiang said, "I'll finish the braised pork; you can eat yours."
The third dish was served shortly afterward: a large bowl of chicken pieces. Zhao Qiang wasn't particularly interested in it; it didn't excite him as much as braised pork. However, having soup to drink was nice. As for gnawing on the chicken bones, it was a bit of a hassle, unlike braised pork which could be easily eaten piece by piece.
The fourth dish was beef liver salad. Yang Shiyun also tried a bite, and the taste was alright. So she ate some dried bean curd and beef liver. Meanwhile, Zhao Qiang was drinking soup and eating meat with his mouth full of oil, which made the dozen or so guys at the next table stare at him. They almost forgot about the beauty Yang Shiyun.
One of the tour leaders at the next table gently patted the table: "Hey, stop looking, it's impolite. Let's eat quickly, we still have a long way to go."
Everyone said, "We're full, we're full, let's hurry on our way."
The tour leader said, "Alright, boss, check please."
The owner was still sitting behind the bar, and casually said, "1200, I'll leave the change as a discount."
The dozen or so people at the table were shocked: "What? 1200? I only ordered a few dishes, you're ripping us off!"
The boss finally stood up from behind the counter. He was a good 1.9 meters tall and quite obese, standing like a mountain. His voice was laced with ruthlessness: "These are my prices. If you're not satisfied, you don't have to eat, but if you do, you have to pay." As the boss spoke, several staff members in white coats came out of the kitchen, each carrying a cleaver. One of them was stained with blood, and it was unclear whether it was used to chop chickens or cut meat. These people were probably used to this kind of scene, so they held up the cleavers and positioned themselves to block the doorway.
The team leader said, "Could you at least show us the vegetable prices?"
The boss slammed a piece of paper on the table, and the tour leader exclaimed after just one glance: "One hundred and eighty-eight yuan a plate of braised pork?"
The owner said, "What's wrong? My braised pork is just that delicious, worth the price."
"Eighty-eight yuan for a plate of dried bean curd?" The team leader's eyes widened even more; he had never eaten such an expensive dish before.
The owner said, "My dried bean curd sticks are made from carefully selected high-quality soybeans and processed over a period of 49 days. They are tender, flavorful, and nutritious, and worth the price."
Yang Shiyun, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but ask, "Boss, what about your beef liver?"
The owner said, "Of course, it's made from carefully selected yellow cattle. It takes more than a year of feeding to produce a plate of liver like this. You can imagine its value."
"How much?" the person leading the table asked, because they had also ordered the same dish.
The shopkeeper said, "One hundred and eight."
One of the diners, a tall, thin man, shouted, "Call the price bureau!" Yang Shiyun couldn't help but slam her hand on the table. To be fair, the food at this restaurant was indeed delicious, but it shouldn't be priced so high. It was outrageous.
The boss snorted, "Go ahead and fight, but be prepared today. Don't even think about leaving my shop standing up." The boss's imposing physique, coupled with the cleaver in the chef's hand, was truly frightening. Most of the diners were thin, plastic-looking people, and compared to him, they were simply no match.
The diner who wanted to make a phone call glanced timidly at his friends. Seeing that no one spoke up, he wisely kept quiet. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down; if he didn't shut up, he might be the first one to be killed.
The team leader discussed the matter with everyone and said, "I think we should just pay it. At worst, we won't eat at this restaurant again. There's no need to worry about such a small thing."
Everyone looked at each other, but no one spoke up, no one paid, and no one dared to accuse the owner of overcharging them, much less mention calling the price bureau, because someone was waiting nearby with a cleaver. The tour leader opened his mouth but swallowed his words; the scene was incredibly awkward. Not wanting to be ripped off but afraid to resist—human psychology is truly contradictory.
By this time, Zhao Qiang had almost finished eating and waved his hand: "Boss, the bill."
The shopkeeper didn't even glance at it, saying, "Your nine hundred, I'll take the change."
Zhao Qiang immediately tossed out two thousand and said, "Here's two thousand. Settle their bill too. That's all you need."
The boss grabbed the money on the table: "Forget it, consider it a loss on my part."
The team leader cursed, "Damn, you call this a loss? Then we're losing money hand over fist!" Turning back to Zhao Qiang, the team leader said, "Thanks, buddy. We'll make it, and we'll pay you back when we've scraped together the money." With more than a dozen people, the average loss would be at most a hundred yuan per person.
Zhao Qiang waved his hand, "No need, consider it my treat to dinner." Zhao Qiang didn't care about the money and didn't plan to beat up the rip-off boss. He just felt sorry for the tour leader who seemed at a loss. People with more money like to act like big shots, and Zhao Qiang had the same mentality.
A man behind the team leader said, "That's great! We're planning to climb Wulong Mountain. Do you want to come along?" If they could get along with such a generous tycoon, wouldn't their food and lodging be taken care of all the way?
Zhao Qiang heard this place name for the first time: "I know there is a story about suppressing bandits at Wulong Mountain, but this Wulong Mountain is definitely not that Wulong Mountain."
The speaker said, "Of course not. It's still more than 80 kilometers away from here. We'll reach the county town ahead this afternoon, stay overnight in the town, and set off early the next morning. The journey will take about three days."
Zhao Qiang said, "Oh, you're a fellow hiker. Is there anything special about Wulong Mountain?"
The tour leader said, "There are so many beautiful sights to see. It would be such a shame if you didn't go."
Without even asking Yang Shiyun's opinion, Zhao Qiang made the decision directly: "Okay, I'll go with you."
The tour leader accompanied Zhao Qiang out of the restaurant, saying, "Brother, thank you for treating us to dinner. Let me be your tour guide from now on, as a way of repaying this meal." It seemed he had no intention of returning the money. The tour leader knew that it would be difficult to get the money back from his companion smoothly, so he simply gave up on Zhao Qiang's idea of getting it back.
Zhao Qiang said, "You're too kind." Whether or not the money was returned was irrelevant; Zhao Qiang just did things as he pleased.
Having received payment for the meal, the restaurant owner naturally didn't stop them anymore, and everyone left smoothly. The team leader said to Zhao Qiang, "My name is Li Hua. You wait here for a moment, we'll go to the backyard to get the car." It turned out that these people had come by car.
Yang Shiyun said to Zhao Qiang, "Are you really going to climb Wulong Mountain? I don't know the name of that mountain."
Zhao Qiang said, "It's precisely because neither of us knew there was such a mountain that we're going to go and have some fun. Do you have anything else to say?"
Yang Shiyun shook her head: "No, you said you'd go, so go ahead. Oh, so they're rich. Aren't you being taken advantage of?" It turned out that Li Hua and the others had driven out six SUVs. Although the brands were ordinary and the models weren't particularly valuable, they were still worth at least tens of thousands of yuan. It was indeed unreasonable for people who drive these cars to not be able to afford a meal costing 1,200 yuan.
Volume 2 [634] Entering the Mountains
[634] Entering the Mountains
Zhao Qiang smiled wryly: "It's not that I was taken advantage of, but rather that I was being presumptuous. Do all rich people like to play the stingy card these days?"
Yang Shiyun said, "They probably just don't want to be ripped off, but you're the opposite, willingly letting yourself be ripped off."
Zhao Qiang laughed heartily, "Don't you think it's funny that someone dares to rip us off? Let's bring a few more people to eat here and see how far this restaurant can go." Originally, Zhao Qiang planned to invite a group of people to eat braised pork for dinner and teach the restaurant owner a lesson, but he suddenly had to go to Wulong Mountain with Li Hua, so he had to give up on that idea for the time being. Anyway, the braised pork at this restaurant suited Zhao Qiang's taste, and he planned to come here often in the future, so there would be plenty of opportunities to teach the rip-off owner a lesson.
Zhao Qiang was driving a mid-range sedan, which was inconspicuous compared to those SUVs. Li Hua stretched out his arm from the car and waved: "Oh, so you guys drive too. Then follow us. Come on, don't get lost."
Yang Shiyun muttered to herself in the car, "I wonder whose car is faster."
Zhao Qiang said, "You and your sister are quite similar, both of you like to compete. We'll just follow behind them and drive slowly, without competing with them."
Eighty kilometers is only an hour's journey for these vehicles. A town appears ahead, and the convoy gradually slows down, eventually stopping in front of a Fenghua Hotel at the town's entrance. Li Hua, who had been walking in front, got out of his car and walked to Zhao Qiang's car: "Brother, we've arrived. We'll abandon our vehicles here and take a tractor. Tonight, we'll stay at a farmhouse and try the local cuisine."
Zhao Qiang got out of the car: "Great! I didn't know there was such an activity. That's really nice." As a child from a farming family, Zhao Qiang didn't care about this. Yang Shiyun also thought it would be fun and readily agreed.
Li Hua then said somewhat awkwardly, "But brother, there's something I need to ask your opinion on first. We were all recruited through the forum, and the fees were agreed upon in advance. You two..."
Zhao Qiang pulled out his wallet: "How much per person?"
Li Hua patted Zhao Qiang on the shoulder and said, "He's a straightforward person indeed. We each paid 380, which includes round-trip transportation, two nights' accommodation and several meals on the mountain, as well as mountaineering insurance and some tools."
Zhao Qiang handed 600 yuan to Li Hua: "Here you go. We'll cover the transportation costs, mountain insurance, and mountaineering equipment ourselves. That should be enough for food and lodging, right?"
Li Hua returned two hundred to Zhao Qiang, feeling embarrassed: "This is enough, brother. You have to believe me, this trip will definitely not be in vain."
"I hope so." Yang Shiyun said somewhat displeased. She had just paid 1,200 yuan for their meal, and this group of people hadn't said a word. Instead, they were asking for more money for the meal. Luckily, she was driving an SUV. If she had been driving a Chery, wouldn't she have been ripped off like the restaurant owner before?
The people on the bus got off and carried their equipment out. Everyone had a large backpack and a bag, and they also carried trekking poles. It was obvious that they were going to climb a mountain. On the other hand, Zhao Qiang's clothes were not only inappropriate, but he also did not have any equipment. Going to climb a mountain like this would probably make people laugh. Even Yang Shiyun complained: "We are going to climb a mountain like this, without any equipment. I am even wearing high heels."
Zhao Qiang said, "This is the time to test your learning progress during this period, so you must take it seriously."
Yang Shiyun suddenly realized: "Oh, I see. Thank you, Zhao Qiang. I thought you were just being playful."
Zhao Qiang said, "No matter how much you learn in a repair shop, it's useless. We need to learn and apply what we learn. You've been Spider-Man and the Invisible Man for so long, you can't be unable to handle these kinds of things, can you?"
Yang Shiyun rolled up her sleeves, full of confidence: "I should be able to. Although the city environment is better than the wild, I can move freely in the concrete jungle, and a mountain can't stop me."
At this moment, two more SUVs drove into the parking lot of Fenghua Hotel, and four men and two women got out. Their clothes were more luxurious than Li Hua's. Li Hua stepped forward and said, "Manager Hu, Section Chief Wang, you've come just in time. Welcome, welcome."
The man referred to as Manager Hu was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, while Section Chief Wang was younger, probably no older than thirty. However, the girls beside them looked to be only twenty-five or twenty-six, and were unlikely to be their wives.
Manager Hu glanced at the situation: "Can we proceed?"
Li Hua said, "The tractor is already waiting outside. As long as there are no problems on our side, we can go into the mountains."
Manager Hu took the arm of the girl next to him and said, "Let's go and enjoy the pleasures of nature."
The girl was wearing Adidas sportswear, and her white sneakers were particularly eye-catching. She said in a coquettish voice, "I can already feel it, the air is so fresh." As she spoke, she deliberately sniffed the air, which was very feminine.
Section Chief Wang was the first to spot Yang Shiyun at the back of the crowd. His eyes lit up. Yang Shiyun wasn't the type to be stunning at first glance, but her figure was perfect and her seemingly ordinary appearance grew more beautiful the more you looked at her. Furthermore, she wasn't as cold or aloof as Zhao Qiang, so men would all pay attention to her.
With a series of thuds, three tractors drove into the hotel parking lot. Li Hua organized the people to board the vehicles, loudly instructing them: "Make sure you bring all the equipment, lock the vehicles securely, there are people here to watch over them, nothing will happen."
Section Chief Wang and the girl next to him frowned. The girl asked him, "How can we sit in this car? It's so dirty."
Section Chief Wang said, "It's an outdoor activity, so don't be too fussy. He, could you help us save some seats?"
He is Section Chief Wang's secretary, and Manager Hu also came with an assistant. Their task is to take care of these two 'couples' during the trip.
Stools were placed in the tractor bed. The three tractors seemed to have plenty of space, but everyone had more equipment, so there wasn't enough room. Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun ended up sitting on the edge of the tractor bed with a piece of cardboard under their bottoms. Section Chief Wang sat on the other side of Yang Shiyun. He glanced at Yang Shiyun and said to his secretary He, who was sitting opposite him, "Give this beautiful lady a seat."
He quickly stood up, and Yang Shiyun said, "No need, thank you." After saying that, she put her arm around Zhao Qiang's arm, and Zhao Qiang could only pretend to put his arm around Yang Shiyun's arm as well. The two were as intimate as a couple.
Section Chief Wang looked displeased. The girl beside him was even more unhappy, but she dared not utter a sound. Section Chief Wang had given her money, so she had to do her job. As for Section Chief Wang taking a fancy to other women, given her current position, she dared not say anything, otherwise there would be no good outcome.
"What's your name, beautiful lady?" Section Chief Wang asked. Yang Shiyun didn't intend to tell him. Just then, the tractor started up, and the sound of the diesel engine was deafening. Section Chief Wang's words were drowned out by the noise. Yang Shiyun turned her head away, not giving Section Chief Wang another chance.
The tractor was really bumpy, making my butt hurt. It was okay at first on the asphalt road, but after about three miles we entered the mountain road, and it swayed from side to side like we were on a boat. In fact, it was even more painful than being on a boat. At least on a boat, your butt doesn't bounce around, but sitting on a stool, there were no handrails. One moment I was being thrown to one side of the trailer, and the next I was sliding to the other side.
Moreover, as the mountain road became steeper and steeper, there was even a ditch more than ten meters deep outside the truck bed, which made everyone break out in a cold sweat. If they were not careful, they would all be overturned and lost. The only ones who didn't care at all were Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun. The two of them didn't take the danger seriously at all. Section Chief Wang was so shaken that he had no mind to bother Yang Shiyun anymore.