Chapter 12#

Hearing this, Chen Yuanming didn’t make any excuses. He tossed his bundle onto a clean spot on the ground and strode towards the truck.

He hadn’t lied just now. His driving skills were indeed taught by a retired veteran, and he had driven long-haul freight for two years afterward. His skills were quite good, but that was supposed to be something that happened 6 or 7 years in the future, not now. However, driving was like riding a bicycle; with the conditioned reflexes in his mind, picking it up again wouldn’t be difficult at all.

Climbing into the cab in two steps, a strong smell of engine oil mixed with sweat hit his nose. Chen Yuanming sniffed, and a sense of familiarity immediately returned. When his master taught him back then, he would beat and scold him, and the requirements were extremely strict. He spent most of the day in the cab, so he was sick of this smell.

Taking a deep breath, he turned his head and waved to the scarred man, “Make way, let me pull out first.”

In those days, parking wasn’t really a big deal. After all, there were few cars, so parking on the side of the road was no problem, and no traffic police would wave at you to issue a ticket. So many drivers were used to being reckless, and parking randomly was considered natural. But Ma Lei’s small courtyard was different. The space was too limited, with houses in front and back, and only a small space in the middle for unloading and parking. Who would dare to drive such a big truck recklessly? Several drivers had to struggle for a while to get used to the terrain when they first arrived. Newcomers were bound to bump into things.

The scarred man crossed his arms and leisurely took two steps back, standing aside waiting to see a joke. If this kid dared to scratch the car, he would detain him to work off the debt. Anyway, they needed hands for moving goods, and an extra free laborer would save some money. But as soon as the truck started, both he and Ma Lei changed their expressions. This truck was driven too damn smoothly. Reversing out of the spot, parking by the roadside—let alone scratching or bumping, there weren’t even any superfluous movements. In the blink of an eye, it was driven to the small square for unloading.

“Damn, he’s an expert!” The scarred man opened his mouth wide, a bit incredulous. He hadn’t seen such skills before, but those veteran drivers were all over 30 and had been snatched up by those big bosses in Zhuhai to transport cars. There was basically no one left to run long-haul.

“He’s got some stuff.” Ma Lei nodded slightly and shouted to the man beside him, “Idiot, what are you staring at? Go for a spin in the city with this kid!”

The scarred man snapped out of his spectator mode and climbed into the passenger seat without hesitation. He raised his hand and patted Chen Yuanming’s shoulder vigorously. “Alright! Didn’t know you had some skills. Let’s go, take a spin in the city with your brother to test your hand.”

With a burst of excitement, the scarred man didn’t notice Chen Yuanming’s expression at all, nor did he see the boy’s pale face, the rolling sweat, and the palms that were gripping so hard they turned iron-blue.

Actually, driving again for the first time in this life wasn’t as easy as Chen Yuanming made it look. In his previous life, he was already over 24 when he learned to drive. He was 1.8 meters tall, and after years of working as a construction worker, his waist and arms were strong and powerful. Driving a big truck was like playing. However, in this life, Chen Yuanming was only 15 years old, less than 1.7 meters tall, and his wrists were as thin as hemp stalks. Controlling the car inevitably brought a trace of dissonance, and he felt a bit constrained.

However, compared to the physical differences, the mental issues were more fatal. Sitting in the driver’s seat, he couldn’t control himself from recalling the scene of his death in a car accident in his previous life. The huge impact, the terrible catastrophic scene that killed him, shattered his bones, and lifted his skull.

If a person has memories after death, what would leave the deepest impression on him? Chen Yuanming now had the answer to this philosophical question. The horror of death surpassed everything and could almost destroy a person’s will.

But… taking a deep breath, Chen Yuanming revealed a self-mocking smile and relaxed his grip on the steering wheel slightly. But so what if he had died? Hadn’t he crawled out of hell all the same?

“Alright, give me directions.”

His voice was flat and calm, as if nothing had happened. Under the other’s guidance, the big blue truck drove out the gate.

Half an hour later.

The truck drove back into the gate. As soon as it stopped steadily, the scarred man jumped down from the car, giving a big thumbs up.

“Nothing to say!” He grinned so wide his gums almost showed. “It was a bit stiff when we first went out, but after 5 minutes, it was like he was driving at home. Steady and accurate, didn’t hit the curb, and turns were smooth too. A real expert!”

While speaking, Chen Yuanming also climbed out of the cab. his thin undershirt was completely soaked, as if he had been fished out of water. Wiping the sweat from his face, he stood in front of Ma Lei.

“Is it that hot?” Ma Lei looked the boy up and down for a moment and asked. It was April, definitely not hot enough for this. The muscles on the boy’s face were almost stiff.

“New car, needs breaking in,” Chen Yuanming replied lightly. The man in front of him didn’t look as fierce as the scarred man, but under his sword-like eyebrows, his gaze was very sharp, revealing shrewdness and calculation. He had seen many such people in his previous life and knew the tricks to communicate with them. There was no need to play games with him on small matters.

Hearing the kid bluntly admit his nervousness, Ma Lei raised his eyebrows, looked at his thin body for a moment, and suddenly revealed a cold smile. “Since your skills are so good, why don’t you go to the car market? The wages there are much higher, and they are recruiting in large numbers.”

The scarred man didn’t expect his boss to say such a thing and almost got anxious. He had never seen anyone push people away. They were so short of drivers right now! But when the other party swept a glance over, he immediately fell silent, looking eagerly at the boy with no expression on his face.

This time, Chen Yuanming only hesitated slightly before answering, “I don’t want to be just a driver forever.”

The scarred man slapped his thigh. “Exactly! Driving a broken car back and forth is meaningless. Damn Cantonese, playing big with us brothers…”

“Scar!” Ma Lei shouted coldly, interrupting his cousin’s nonsense, but his eyes didn’t leave the boy’s face. “You’re also a driver here! If you don’t drive, what else do you want to do?”

This time he hesitated longer. After a long time, Chen Yuanming lowered his head slightly. “Try to move some goods. I’m very short of money.”

“Yo~~” The scarred man was amused. “Kid, you haven’t even hit the road yet, and you want to smuggle goods? And you’re telling us directly?”

“Oh,” Ma Lei also raised the corner of his mouth slightly this time. “My truck won’t make room for you to transport private goods.”

“It won’t take up space.” Chen Yuanming shook his head bluntly. “I’m doing small business. It definitely won’t conflict with your goods, nor will it affect the serious business. I just want to… give it a try.”

Ma Lei and the scarred man looked at each other, and there was a hint of understanding in their eyes. This kid really had ideas, not just coming for those dead wages. You know, in these years, there were too many idiots who were complacent with earning a thousand yuan. This kind of person was destined to earn a thousand yuan for a lifetime, and sooner or later, they would be pushed out of the water by others and squeezed to death on the riverbank. But there were others, just like the two brothers, who were born to do big things and wouldn’t care about the slight gains and losses at the start.

And if one wanted to learn how to smuggle goods, what could be more convenient than a smuggling convoy? Ma Lei suddenly felt a little interested in this kid. Where exactly did he want to start, and how far would he go?

“Monthly salary of 500 yuan, plus 200 overtime pay for each trip. Do you want to do it?”

At this time, the monthly salary of regular factory workers in Zhuhai was only a little over 100 yuan, and it would only be lower in central and western cities. However, this number did not cause much shock to the other party. The boy just nodded slightly. “Thank you. By the way, my name is Chen Yuanming. ‘Yuan’ as in distant, ‘Ming’ as in crying bird.”

Interesting kid. Ma Lei smiled.

Three days later, loaded with a full truck of color TVs, Chen Yuanming and the scarred man embarked on the journey to sell the goods.

Twisting a few times in the passenger seat, the scarred man fished out a small radio from under the seat and placed it squarely in front of him.

“The signal is bad on the road, and many places can’t receive broadcasts. I specially brought a few tapes to pass the time.”

After rummaging for a while, he inserted one of them. A strong drum beat came from the radio, and a deep male voice began to sing. The lyrics were fast, like rap rock.

“Do you know Cui Jian? This song is meaningless. The song ‘Nothing to My Name’ later is the good one!”

As he spoke, he began to sing himself. His tune was miles off, roaring “Oh~~ When will you go with me!!!”, not far from a wolf’s howl.

Not paying much attention to the other party’s noise, Chen Yuanming’s gaze stopped on the dilapidated radio for a moment, revealing an indescribable smile, and stepped on the gas. In the radio, the tape was still chattering and singing, the voice full of anxiety and confusion:

The future I imagined in the past is not the present,

Only now does it seem clear what the future is,

Oh…

I can’t distinguish the good from the bad in what I did in the past,

I can’t remember the years as time passed,

I don’t understand the things I once thought were simple,

I suddenly feel that the world in front of me is not where I am,

For more than twenty years, I seem to have only learned to endure…

……

Just at dawn, the whole city was silent. Accompanied by this song, the big blue truck emitted a burst of black smoke and drove forward.