Substitute Driver's Notes

Chapter 10 Failing to Recognize a Gem

How can I put this? A strong and healthy young man suddenly said he was dead, and Li Wei was instantly overwhelmed with shock and astonishment.

"What happened?" After a long while, Li Wei finally caught his breath and asked calmly.

"Sigh! I've never heard of someone with such a stubborn temper. The boss at Zhang Qian's workplace ran away without paying his wages, so he drowned his sorrows in alcohol. He drank a whole jin (500ml) of liquor, but his wife wouldn't let him drink anymore. The couple started arguing, and as the old folks often say, 'A good fighter is no good, and a good argument is no good.' Zhang Qian said, 'If you won't let me drink anymore, I'll drink poison.' So his wife took out a bottle of pesticide and gave it to him, angrily telling him, 'If you're a man, you'll drink it. If you don't, you're not a man.'"

"He was also in a fit of pique, so he took the bottle and drank it all in one go. After drinking the alcohol, he also drank pesticide. His wife didn't even have time to call for help. The ambulance came to his house, took a look, and went straight back. That's how he died. Sigh! It's all because of poverty. Otherwise, none of this kind of mess would happen."

Li Wei's head was buzzing, and his voice choked with emotion: "Last time I treated him to drinks, I told him not to work at that lousy factory anymore. That out-of-town boss has triangular eyes and a cunning look; he's obviously no good. I don't know his background, and withholding wages is a bad sign. He just wanted to be close to home, saying things like 'if someone dies, the debts won't go away,' and that saving up would make the money more. I even joked that he was just being stingy with his wife, but I never expected that woman to be so vicious, driving her own husband to his death."

"Don't talk nonsense. Why blame someone else's wife? It's all that boss's fault for running away. If that bastard hadn't withheld wages, how could someone have died?"

"That bastard boss, don't let him fall into my hands. I'll kill him as soon as I see him."

"Are you crazy? Murderers pay with their lives! What will happen to the three of us then? Go find the police if you see him!"

"It's no use. From a legal perspective, there's no way to bring that unscrupulous boss to justice."

"Oh! Honey, don't be angry. God will punish him. This kind of heartless boss will get his comeuppance sooner or later."

Li Wei shook his head sadly: "When you have time, go see Zhang Qian's wife and comfort her. Sigh! Hopefully, God will help..."

After a moment of silence, Li Wei called his friend to tell him that he wouldn't be drinking anymore because he had something to do.

Ignoring Cheng Youcai's astonishment on the other end of the phone, Li Wei hung up immediately.

After thinking for a moment, Li Wei called Chen Guojun and learned that he was in the team. He wrote down the bank card password and hurriedly rode his motorcycle to return the money.

After some polite refusals upon meeting, Chen Guojun finally accepted the bank card.

Li Wei politely took his leave, declined the invitation to drink that evening, and went straight home to rest.

When Li Wei got home and helped his wife wash vegetables while waiting for their child to get out of school, he talked about wanting to drive a big truck to make money.

Lili was very surprised. She wanted her husband to earn money, but she didn't want him to leave his hometown. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Li Wei made a decision, dried his hands and stopped working, then ran to the living room to call Wang Fuyou.

Wang Fuyou was half asleep on the other end of the phone when he was suddenly woken up by the call. He answered it irritably, but only came to his senses after recognizing Li Wei.

"Brother Wei, there's someone in my car who's getting paid and quitting in about ten days. Don't worry, I've already talked to the boss, it's fine. By the way, Brother Wei, is it okay if you don't get the full attendance bonus for the first three months? Oh! Oh! It's settled then, just wait for my call."

Li Wei hung up the phone, went to the balcony, lit a cigarette, and his eyes became hazy amidst the swirling smoke.

Every day seems so busy. Let's take advantage of these few days of waiting to visit some old friends!

Who knows what will happen in the future? Especially that old fool, who might never open his eyes again once he closes them.

Having made up his mind, Li Wei took a deep breath and regained his composure, hiding his emotional turmoil deep inside.

Time flies, and after chatting with the kids for a while, it's time to rest.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Li Wei bought some things, got on his motorcycle, and headed to the home of the old fool whose memories had been stirred up by Lu Feng.

Standing in front of the still dilapidated house, Li Wei pondered the old man's unremarkable life, then casually pushed open the real wooden gate and stepped into the courtyard.

Standing at the doorway, he cleared his throat loudly: "Old man, are you home?"

An aged voice rang out from inside the house: "Come in, you brat."

Li Wei lowered his head and entered the room. Looking at the unchanged furnishings over the decades, he pulled up a stool and sat down in front of the bed, staring at the old man lying on the bed, remaining silent for a long time.

"What are you looking at? You're not going to die anytime soon."

"I know you won't die. Last night, the King of Hell appeared to me in a dream and said you still have sixty years of sins to endure. It's a long time ahead of you, just take your time!"

"You lied to me again. Why make me suffer so much? I'd rather die sooner. I haven't done anything wrong in this life. May I be reborn into a good family and enjoy happiness in my next life."

"If you are reborn into a good family and then do bad things, you will die and be punished, then be reborn as a poor person to suffer."

"Cough cough cough," the old man pointed at Li Wei, "Are you here to annoy me?"

"Just kidding," Li Wei said apologetically, "I heard you haven't been feeling well lately and haven't come in a while, so I came to see you."

The old man was happy for a moment, then became sad again: "You're the only one who's thoughtful. Nobody in the village cares about me. The collective wants to demolish the streets, re-plan the village, and demolish my house. They only gave me two thousand yuan to move out, and that's it. I said I didn't want the money, and told them to dig the foundation deeper and bury me in it. Then a township leader pointed his finger at me and called me an old bastard. So I deliberately caused trouble everywhere, hoping they'd kill me if they got really angry."

Li Wei shook his head speechlessly: "What else can you do? You can't fight city hall. If they want the house, just give it to them. Otherwise, they'll beat you up, not to death, but until you can't take care of yourself. What will you do at your age then?"

"Sigh! I'll listen to you. If they come to demolish my house again, I'll have to beg for food. Society is so much better now! Everyone has enough to eat, and there are kind people everywhere. They can just give me a pancake and I won't starve."

"Alas! I'm just an old man living alone. Where can I not be buried? I'll ask you for a favor. If you agree, there's a treasure here you can take."

Li Wei curled his lip: "What treasure do you have? If you really had a treasure, you would have sold it long ago to get married."

"It's true. Back then, my father pulled a rickshaw in the capital. He worked very hard. One of the foreign devils from the Eight-Nation Alliance gave him a piece of calligraphy. He said, 'Take a look and see if it's valuable. If it is, you can take it and sell it to pay for my funeral.'"

Following the old man's instructions, Li Wei took out a box from behind the roof beam, took it outside to dry the dust, and when he came back and opened it, he disgustedly pinched the corner with two fingers, shook it off, and examined it carefully.

He shook his head as he looked at the paper, muttering to himself, "It's all infested with worms, the paper is yellow and tattered, and the handwriting is terrible; I don't even recognize many of the characters."

"Who wrote this? Oh! You can't read? Let me see. Duke Hunde Zhao... What's the pronunciation of this character? Never mind, just pronounce it Ji. Duke Hunde Zhao Ji, never heard of it."

"I only know that the calligraphy of our fellow townsman Wang Xizhi is worth some money. I've never heard of this guy called Zhao Ji, the Duke of Hunde. I guess the old man was fooled by those foreign devils. Those foreign devils are all very bad."

"Keep this tattered paper for a fire! I'll ask around and see if we can send you to a nursing home. I've been learning a lot about laws and regulations lately, and according to policy, this should be paid for collectively."

The old man looked frightened: "I have a home, I don't want to go to a nursing home. Can you take this scrap of paper? I just ask that you burn paper money for me during festivals in the future, you don't have to carry my pot on my back."

"No way! It's a shame you didn't go into business when you were young. Give me this piece of scrap paper, and I can buy dozens of sheets of paper money for Qingming Festival, Ghost Festival, Winter Solstice, Lunar New Year, and Spring Festival—it happens several times a year!"

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