hotmtlnovel 044 Leaving the city
044 Leaving the city
Holding the steering wheel, they wander through the city's streets and alleys all day long, looking at the dazzling lights and bustling activity outside, but it has nothing to do with them.
They knew the city intimately, as if they held its pulse, knowing when it began to drowsy, when it began to awaken, when it became excited, and when it became languid. By day, the wheels chugged; by night, the headlights flashed. They traversed street after street, as if traveling through the city's veins.
But in reality, they are marginalized by this city, and its rise and fall have little to do with them. All they do each day is hold the steering wheel and dream aimlessly, whether it's day or night. Their thoughts are scattered, sleepwalking, somewhat dazed and numb.
A recent dream circulating in their ride-hailing driver group is "Youth has no price, Didi goes directly to Lhasa." Many short video bloggers have posted videos of themselves paying nearly 10,000 yuan in advance to book trips to Lhasa, Sanya, or Xishuangbanna.
Some ride-hailing drivers even posted screenshots of their ride requests. One driver from Xuzhou, Jiangsu, posted a bill saying he took a girl from Xuzhou, Jiangsu, along the G318 Sichuan-Tibet Highway, enjoying the scenery all the way to Lhasa, Tibet.
The bill posted online stated: "8000 kilometers round trip, 650 kilometers on one tank of gas, 12.3 tanks of gas were used for 8000 kilometers, each tank cost 280 yuan, totaling 3444 yuan in fuel costs, 2200 yuan in toll fees, and 5644 yuan in round-trip costs. The passenger paid 2 yuan, and the net profit was 14354 yuan."
Drivers from Shenzhen and Shanghai also posted their bookings for trips to Lhasa and Xishuangbanna.
Such a fare made other ride-hailing drivers extremely envious, especially the driver from Xuzhou, who was making money, enjoying the scenery, and even had a beautiful woman by his side. Such a good thing could only happen in a dream.
For these people, a trip to the airport is a big deal these days, and a trip to Shaoxing or Ningbo across regions is an even bigger deal. Especially during the day, with transportation so developed now, and high-speed rail extending to almost every third- and fourth-tier city, who still needs a taxi?
It only takes an hour and a half by high-speed rail from Hangzhou to Wuhu, and the ticket price is 120 or 130 yuan. I never expected that there would be people who would rather spend more than three hours and pay several times more than the high-speed rail ticket to call a ride-hailing service. How could this not surprise and delight Yu Wenhao?
After starting the car and feeling happy, Yu Wenhao became increasingly puzzled and alert. Something was definitely fishy going on. What was the reason behind this?
After the car started moving, Brother Wang, sitting in the passenger seat, began looking down at his phone. Yu Wenhao, while driving, secretly took a picture of Brother Wang from the side with her phone, then pretended to just remember and called out:
"Haha, I forgot to tell my family. They're waiting for me to come home for dinner. We'll definitely be back in the middle of the night, right? I'll call them."
Brother Wang looked up at him, but didn't say anything, and continued looking at his phone.
Yu Wenhao didn't call Cao Fang, worried that she would be concerned. Instead, he called Meng Zhen and told her that he had to take a guest to Wuhu.
"Where, where, brother, where do you mean?" Meng Zhen asked.
"Wuhu, Wuhu in Anhui, please tell Cao Fang for me that I won't be coming home for dinner tonight," Yu Wenhao said.
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhen immediately sensed something was amiss. Why did she have to relay the message to Cao Fang herself? And why did Yu ask which trip he would take and when he would come back for dinner?
Meng Zhen took a few steps back and asked softly, "Brother, are you alright?"
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Oh, there is something, it's good news." Yu Wen said with a smile, "I just started driving today and I got a big order. It's from a customer in the neighborhood next door, and he wants to go out of the province."
After saying hello, Yu told Meng Zhen all the key points he needed to know. After hanging up, he immediately added Brother Wang on WeChat and sent Brother Wang's WeChat ID and photos to Meng Zhen.
Upon receiving the photos, Meng Zhen immediately understood that Yu Wenhao wanted him to keep them on file. He didn't call Cao Fang because he was afraid she would worry. It was indeed strange that someone would rent a car and go all the way to Wuhu in a neighboring province. Meng Zhen knew about Yu Wenhao's phone number because he had some doubts.
If everything is fine, then it's a really big order, a great thing. If there's something wrong, we can use the clues to find this person directly.
Meng Zhen put her phone away, having already decided that she would call Yu Wenhao every hour to check on him, as long as he was alright.
At this moment, Meng Zhen, Qianqian, and Cao Fang had arrived at the riverbank. Meng Zhen put her phone away and went back. Cao Fang looked at her, but Meng Zhen didn't say anything to her.
After entering the Hangchang Expressway from the Hangcheng North Expressway Exit, Brother Wang had already put away his phone, tilted his head to the side, and fallen asleep.
Yu Wenhao turned to look at him, realizing her worries might have been unnecessary. This guy looked fair-skinned and a bit chubby; the way she had blurted out "General Manager Wang" earlier did seem to fit the description. He looked like a company boss, much like Old Yao without a suit, rather than someone from the underworld.
Yu Wenhao thought to himself, "If we really had to fight, he might not be my match. What am I worried about?" Thinking of this, Yu Wenhao couldn't help but laugh.
Wang's phone rang. He slumped there, too lazy to even open his eyes. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, didn't even look at it, and weakly said, "Feed."
Unable to hear what the other person was saying, Yu Wenhao only saw Brother Wang's mouth twist into a smile, and he said:
"Yes, she's sleeping. She's already in the car, so don't worry, she'll definitely get there. What? More is fine too? Hmm, let me check. Okay, that's all."
After finishing the call, Brother Wang opened his eyes, sat up straight, and greeted Yu.
"How long did I sleep?"
Yu Wenhao said, "Not long, we just got on the highway."
Brother Wang reached out and slapped himself twice in the face to wake himself up. He then picked up his phone and started making calls.
The first call went through, and Brother Wang said:
"I've already set off and will arrive tonight. I'll get everything arranged here tomorrow. You all must arrive tomorrow night, as the funds need to be deposited first thing the day after tomorrow. Oh, right... I don't want to know where you're staying. What would I do if I knew? You can arrange things yourselves. Once the funds are deposited the day after tomorrow, just wait at the bank, collect all the money, and leave."
There was a buzzing sound on the other end of the phone, and Yu Wenhao still couldn't hear what was being said. He only heard Brother Wang continue:
"You can get the interest subsidy first, but the depositor has to be with the banker. Are you willing? Yes, don't try anything funny. Don't you trust me? ... You promise, don't make a fool of yourself and shut me down. Okay, I know. By the way, is it only 80 million? Can you arrange a little more? ... Oh, never mind, that's too much trouble. 80 million will do."
After hanging up that call, Brother Wang made a second call and said to the other party, "Can you still arrange the money? How much? How much can you arrange? Forty million? Forty million is fine. The price? Three-thousandths."
After hearing what the other person said, Brother Wang suddenly raised his voice: "Go to hell! 1300 a day isn't enough? It'll be in today and out tomorrow, just two days. Sure, if you want something higher, 1300 a day, are you in? A rural bank, dare you go?"
The other party's tone softened, and Brother Wang's voice also softened:
"Nine major banks, Wuhu... of course it's reliable. I have direct access to the platform myself... Yes, if you want to do it, come to Wuhu tomorrow night, open an account and deposit funds the day after tomorrow morning. That's it. Okay, I'll wait for your call."
After hanging up the phone, Brother Wang breathed a sigh of relief and said to Yu Wenhao, "Impressive, Brother Wang, you're dealing with big deals, tens of millions at a time."
"Bullshit, it's not my money. I'm just a pimp," Brother Wang snorted.