Chapter 2: The Old Man Taking the Bus

Starting from the origin station to the paper mill, there are only seven stops, but it takes an hour's drive. This is what we call a short and long distance in our industry.

If Old Tang hadn't said these words to me during dinner, I wouldn't have had any concerns at all.

It's really that I don't think Old Tang looks serious like he's joking, and more importantly, there is a stop at this reservoir location called Tangwazi that must be stopped.

This reservoir was used by a local village tycoon to open a fishing park more than ten years ago. Later, I don't know how he lost money and then ran away, and the reservoir has been abandoned since then.

The reservoir is located one mile away from Tangwacun.

There are only a few rare households here. I just hope there will be no one getting on the bus at the reservoir stop now, so that I can step on the accelerator and pass by directly.

Not far from the starting station, a large number of villagers got on the bus one after another. The villagers went in groups of three or five, carrying baskets and carrying leftover vegetables with shoulder poles, and they were very happy talking and laughing.

This makes my nervous mood relieved a lot, thinking that this trip to the paper mill is still right.

These villagers sell vegetables until this time. If there is no return trip to the village, they will have to stay in the city for the night.

Thinking about the money they earn from selling vegetables in a day is not enough to open a room in the hotel, maybe they can only find a corner where no one is to spend the night.

After leaving the city, no one gets on the bus again.

The villagers may be a little tired after squatting in the market all day, and the compartment gradually became quiet.

Sitting opposite me in the driver's seat is an old man in his sixties, with dark skin and a dirty white towel wrapped around his head.

Although it is already past 11:30 in the evening, the old man still looks energetic, taking out a dry tobacco pipe, looking up at me and asking,

"Young man, can I light a cigarette? Is that okay?"

I looked at him and said, "Okay, sir. You can smoke by the window as you like."

The old man nodded, took out a match and lit the tobacco pipe, took a puff, and said,

"Young man, you look good. Why do you get this job? Didn't you study hard?"

I didn't like what the old man said, and whispered back, "What's wrong with my job? It's pretty good."

The old man spat out a mouthful of smoke and laughed twice.

"Still good? What's good about it? Sitting here every day without moving, having to take risks with your life, and not making much money."

The job of a bus driver is not very promising in the eyes of many people, which is also a pain in my heart.

Because of this job, the matchmaker introduced several objects to me, but in the end, they all looked down on my job and broke up.

I remembered this, and I became a little impatient, saying,

"Sir, what you said is not right. If I didn't drive, you wouldn't be able to sleep in the bridge hole tonight."

The old man seemed to hear the wrong tone in my words, and didn't say anything for a long time. He just lowered his head and took a few puffs of smoke, put the tobacco pipe out of the window and knocked off the ashes, and said,

"Young man, it's almost at the reservoir, drive slowly."

In fact, without him saying that, I started to slow down a long distance away. I didn't forget what Old Tang told me.

There is a stop right by the roadside of the reservoir. I saw that there was no one at the bus stop, so I didn't stop and drove past.

When the headlights flashed past the sign of Tangwazi Road, I felt a chill on my back.

I thought I could take this opportunity to ask Old Tang what I mentioned.

"Sir, I heard from my colleague that something happened here in the reservoir, right?"

The old man seemed to have anticipated my question. He nodded and said slowly, "Well, there was an accident. A driver drove a car into the reservoir with a full load of people."

This was the same as what Lao Tang had said, but when I heard it said again by the old man, I instantly felt nervous again.

But my curiosity drove me to continue asking. "How did this happen? I think this road is fine, and there aren't many cars. How could there be an accident?"

As soon as the old man finished speaking, I was almost scared to step on the brakes. The car jolted suddenly, waking up many villagers who were dozing in the back seat. Several confused villagers asked in the local dialect, "My goodness, what happened?"

I forced myself to suppress my nervousness and turned around to shout at the back, "I'm sorry, fellow villagers. The road is not good. I'm avoiding a puddle."

The villagers seemed very annoyed, and some even cursed, "This driver is really sick. His brain isn't smart. Why doesn't he go to the hospital to get treated?"

This was a very unpleasant word. During the day, I would have already fought back, but it was late at night, and they were uneducated villagers, so I didn't bother to argue with them.

I didn't have the mood to chat with the old man for the next section of the road. I would have to drive back by myself after arriving at the station, so there was no need to scare myself.

I glanced at the old man sideways. He seemed to have no intention of talking to me either, just lowering his head and smoking. This cigarette had been smoked from getting on the bus until now and hadn't been finished yet.

At exactly twelve o'clock, the car finally arrived at the final stop of the paper mill. The villagers got off one after another. I stretched and was about to start the car to go back when suddenly, a pale-old lady appeared in front of the window and pounded on the window with her hands. "Bang bang bang."

I was scared out in a cold sweat. Where did this old lady come from after the villagers got off for so long? I gritted my teeth, reached down and took out the wrench in the repair box, and tightly held it in my hand. I opened the door and shouted, "What's the matter?"

The old lady's face was wrinkled and overlapped, as if she would be unable to distinguish her features if she were a little older. She looked at me, whispered, "Ouch, my basket fell in the car."

I looked back and saw indeed a vegetable basket on the back seat. I let out a sigh of relief.

The old lady got on the car to retrieve the basket, got off with one foot, and slowly turned back, saying to me, "Little kid, I see you are so young and a nice person, why are you not in good spirits?"

I was confused by what I heard and asked, "What's wrong, grandma? Just because I braked abruptly and shook everyone, why do you keep scolding me?"

The old lady shook her head slowly, pointed to the seat opposite the window, and said, "You've been looking at this seat and talking to yourself all the way. It's quite scary."

When I heard this, I broke out in a cold sweat. My hand holding the steering wheel was shaking a little. I turned to look at the seat, took a moment to recover, and stammered, "How, how can I talk to myself? I've been chatting with the old man sitting there and smoking all the way, grandma. Your eyesight isn't good, is it?"

The old lady looked very angry and pointed at me, saying, "My eyesight is fine. Since I got on the bus, this seat has been empty and no one has sat. Are you lying? Are you crazy?"

After saying that, she muttered some curse words and walked away slowly with the vegetable basket in her hand.

I was completely panicked. I had been talking to the old man for the whole way, and now I was told that I was talking to myself?

The countryside was surprisingly quiet and dark at night. Apart from the small area illuminated by the headlights, I couldn't see anything else.

My cold sweat kept flowing non-stop, and in a short while, my back clothes were already wet.

I looked at my watch, it was 12:10. It would take another hour to return to the station. I really wanted to call a tow truck to tow me and the car back.

At this moment, the harsh "The Most Dazzling Folk Style" sounded, and I was scared almost to jump out of the driver's seat. It was Lao Tang who called. I quickly answered the phone.

"How are you, buddy? Have you arrived? Are you on your way back?"

I felt that I had no strength to speak, and whispered,

"Brother Tang, I just arrived. I'm so scared that I don't even have the strength to shift gears."

Lao Tang heard that something was wrong with my condition, and quickly continued,

"What's wrong, buddy? There's nothing wrong. Don't scare yourself. I just found a fortune-teller to look at it for you. The master said that with your fate, it's okay to go and dig graves at night."

I was overjoyed when I heard Lao Tang's words, and quickly asked,

"Wow, really? Did the master really say that?"

"Of course. The master said that all of your five elements are in the positive water, and there is not a single yin deficiency in your fate. Even ghosts have to walk around."

I suddenly felt that the world was filled with light, and couldn't help laughing.

"Wow, did the master really say that??"

"Look at your cowardly look. It's a waste to give you this fate. Okay, come back quickly. I've bought good wine in the dormitory, and I'll wait for you to come back and have a drink."

Lao Tang hung up the phone after saying that.

This phone call was really a life-saving straw for me. I now feel full of energy.

It seems that in this instant, I have become the person who rules the darkness of this world.

Put it in gear, start the car. Shouted loudly

"You damn little ghosts, come on! Come on!"

This journey went by really fast. I hummed a little tune and returned to the station smoothly.

Everyone in the dormitory was asleep, only Lao Tang had set up a table of wine and food in my room waiting for me. I gave Lao Tang a big hug as soon as I entered the room.

Lao Tang seemed to see that I wasn't really happy. He just said in a low voice,

"Brother, you're finally back."

I heard something wrong and asked,

"What's wrong, big brother? With my fate, when can't I come back?"

Lao Tang sighed and said,

"Brother, I was afraid you would be too scared to come back, so I made up a fortune-teller for you. Don't be angry."

After listening to Lao Tang's words, the smile froze on my face. So I wasn't the kind of person whose fate made ghosts walk around?

I suddenly thought of that old man and felt a gust of cold wind on my back.

Before I could recover, Lao Tang put his hand on my shoulder and said,

"Buddy, I inquired about it for you today. Ten years ago, before the three drivers had an accident, they all carried an old lady who left her vegetable basket in the car. Did you not meet one today?"

After listening to Lao Tang's words, not only was there a cool breeze on my back, but I felt that my soles were sweating!