Chapter 46: A Journey on a Whim ③

Gu Shisheng felt like the unluckiest person in the world.

He had just confessed his feelings to the older girl he had secretly loved for a long time. Without even getting to touch her hand, he was miserably and flatly rejected. To drown his sorrows, he went out for a drink, only to wake up trapped in a dilapidated old minivan hurtling down the road toward Tibet. He wanted to take a bus back, but he had no money on him, and he was too embarrassed to borrow any from the girl.

And so, he had inexplicably spent over half a month on the road, getting further and further away from his home city...

What kind of ridiculous situation was this! Depressed to the absolute limit, he would scream in despairing silence inside his head every single time, though unfortunately, no one could hear his inner voice. Su Zhou, who was driving up front, remained cheerfully oblivious, acting happy as a fool.

Neither of them had much money left, so they basically had to pinch pennies all the way. Roughly half of the journey was spent sleeping directly inside the car. The windows didn't seal properly, and deep into the night, the biting wind would tunnel inside, capable of freezing a person wide awake.

Whenever this happened, Gu Shisheng could only stare wide-eyed out the window, thinking of Yi Xun. A sudden, piercing sadness would wash over him, tightening his chest with a suffocating ache—a feeling he had never experienced before.

As for why he liked Yi Xun, he couldn't quite explain it himself. There had simply been a vague, lingering shadow of a long-haired girl in his memories, until they met again and he had a sudden realization: Ah, so this girl was his cherished friend, the person who had always kept him company and played with him when they were young.

He was actually quite handsome. Ever since he was a child, the girls in his class had constantly slipped him love letters. While other boys would have been green with envy, he would merely glance at them indifferently and return the letters entirely unopened, without even bothering to peek inside.

Once a single person occupied your heart, no one who came after could ever find a way in.

Up front, the sound of Su Zhou's deep breathing grew lighter at some point. Judging by the rhythm of his breathing, he was awake too.

Yet neither of them spoke, lingering quietly in the stillness. Inside the tiny car lay two people weighed down by their own heavy thoughts.

Gu Shisheng had always assumed Su Zhou was the kind of carefree person who had no worries in the world, but how could that possibly be true? If his heart were truly happy, there was no way he would have deliberately dragged himself out here to suffer like this.

With this thought, Gu Shisheng finally let go of his resentment and stopped complaining, deciding to just go along with him. Occasionally, he would even swap places to drive for a while, though he hadn't held his driver's license for long and his skills weren't trusted, so he would invariably be replaced shortly after.

Even though Gu Shisheng was usually kept under strict discipline, he had always enjoyed a high standard of living—he was essentially raised in the lap of luxury. So even though he was sustained by the thrilling sensation of newfound freedom at first, he gradually found himself reaching his limit.

The specific symptom of this was his desperate, raging craving for meat.

However, the two of them had to travel every day, often missing meal times, or passing through barren, uninhabited countrysides around noon. As a result, their most frequent meal was instant noodles. By the end, the mere sight of those curly noodles triggered a conditioned reflex to vomit.

Later, they switched to self-heating rice. It was slightly better, but the rice was dry and hard, still a far cry from a proper, normal meal.

Eventually, Gu Shisheng issued a firm demand: he wanted to eat a real meal at a restaurant.

So Su Zhou timed their drive carefully, arriving at a service area right around lunchtime. The two of them found a buffet restaurant, paid the admission fee, and prepared to stuff themselves.

Yet just as Gu Shisheng reached out to scoop up some braised chicken pieces, Su Zhou intercepted him again, pointing toward the vegetable section on the side: "My friend, we can only take the dishes over there, otherwise we have to pay extra."

Gu Shisheng was completely defeated by him, feeling an urge to smash his plate: "Since you decided to go traveling, couldn't you have brought a bit more money? You're so stingy every single day, aren't you embarrassed?"

Su Zhou paused for a moment before replying, "The money my family has was earned through my older brother's hard work. I have no right to spend it on self-indulgence."

Hearing this, Gu Shisheng found it difficult to say anything more. He simply marched over to the stir-fried tomatoes and scrambled eggs and piled a massive portion onto his plate, comforting himself with the thought that this practically counted as a meat dish.

The minivan broke down half a month later, just as they were nearing Tibet. It suddenly stalled while they were driving at night, and no matter what they tried, the engine refused to start. After getting out and inspecting it for a long time, neither of them could figure out what was wrong.

When they called to inquire, the towing fees were exorbitantly high, and since the car was secondhand anyway and worth very little, Su Zhou simply called a junkyard, paid a small fee to have it hauled away, and left the two of them standing alone and stranded by the roadside.

Su Zhou had prepared for this early on. He simply stuck his arm out to hitchhike, catching a ride with whichever kind-hearted driver was willing to stop.

However, since they were two strapping young men, female drivers naturally wouldn't dare pick them up, nor would drivers with sparse passengers out of fear of being robbed midway. In the end, most of the vehicles they rode in were cargo trucks. Su Zhou and Gu Shisheng sat exposed in the truck beds, battered by the howling wind until their faces felt nearly peeled off, their skin turning rough and weathered within just a few days.

Su Zhou didn't mind, but Gu Shisheng couldn't take it. He drove himself crazy every day touching his face, though he finally adapted after a few days.

Because they constantly hitched rides on cargo trucks, they didn't follow the conventional tourist routes. After entering Tibet, they passed through tiny, remote villages and towns, offering them a completely different kind of experience.

One day, as they passed through a village, their stomachs were growling with hunger. With no restaurants in sight and unable to get used to the local Tibetan diet, they pulled out some instant noodles they had bought earlier, crushed them up, and ate them dry. Before long, a large group of local children gathered around them—all of them dark-skinned and thin, standing silently and staring intently at what was in their hands.

Su Zhou couldn't bear it. He unzipped his backpack, found some snacks and candy, and handed them out. The children simply held the items without eating them, darted away in a flash, and reappeared a moment later completely empty-handed, continuing to trail behind them. Their food was already scarce, and after a few rounds of this, it was completely gone, yet the children's eyes remained just as hungry.

Gu Shisheng would have preferred to simply walk away, but Su Zhou refused. In the end, he took out some cash and distributed it to them one by one, amounting to several hundred yuan.

Gu Shisheng felt a pang of heartache over the money and was about to stop him when he noticed Su Zhou's expression was off—his brows were furrowed tightly, and he looked almost in pain.

After the children scattered again, Su Zhou turned back and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I just can't stand watching this."

Gu Shisheng didn't say anything more.

Before long, the two of them flagged down a cargo truck heading to Nyingchi along the highway. They traveled with the driver for two days, stopping whenever he paused to rest and eat, and that was how they finally arrived.

Compared to the previous places they had visited, Nyingchi was a bustling tourist destination. The scenery was naturally stunning, with crowds of tourists and a lively atmosphere. After wandering around for a bit, Su Zhou grew enthusiastic and actively proposed having a meal at a restaurant. They found a modest establishment, sat down, and ordered several hearty dishes: yak meat, stewed fish, and spicy chicken, covering the table completely.

Gu Shisheng was stunned when he saw the spread. He never expected this guy to suddenly become so generous. Setting aside all other thoughts, he buried his head and stuffed himself. Afterward, he slumped against the back of his chair, utterly unwilling to move a muscle. For all these days, this was the first time he had eaten a truly satisfying meal.

Su Zhou was the same. They ordered a pot of tea to aid digestion, and then Gu Shisheng motioned for Su Zhou to pay the bill.

Unflustered, Su Zhou called the waiter over and asked, "Where is your boss?"

Hearing those words, Gu Shisheng was struck by a heavy sense of impending doom. Sure enough, when the boss came over, Su Zhou maintained an utterly calm and casual expression: "I'm sorry, we lost our wallet and were starving to death when we came in to eat. Would it be possible for us to stay and work to pay off the meal?"

Gu Shisheng felt like losing his mind. You didn't have any money, yet you ordered such expensive dishes? Are you out of your mind, are you?!

Fortunately, the boss was relatively kind-hearted and didn't hand them over to the police. Noticing that both young men looked physically fit, he actually agreed to let them stay.

However, the specific division of labor turned out to be rather different...

Because Su Zhou looked eloquent and smooth, he smoothly landed the role of a waiter, while Gu Shisheng was treated like an uncommunicative blockhead, met with disapproval, and dispatched to the backyard to tend the boiler.

What kind of discriminatory treatment was this?!

Working continuously like this for several days, Gu Shisheng not only had to tend the boiler every day but also do odd jobs in the kitchen. He had originally been someone obsessed with his appearance, but by the end, he had completely run out of energy to groom himself, growing shabbier by the day. His hair was already quite long and had gone uncut for ages; combined with days without washing, it had practically matted into a felt rug. Yet every night he would collapse straight into sleep, with zero time to fix it.

Then, watching the prime culprit Su Zhou living an easy and carefree life day after day, the stark contrast dealt a devastating blow to Gu Shisheng's tender young psyche, making him want to drag Su Zhou over and beat him up.

Now that he had finally managed to wish his older sister into coming, the boy was practically on the verge of tears of joy. The moment he wanted to step forward for a hug, he was rebuffed instead. Watching his sister's retreating back, he felt wronged enough to cry.

He could only cast a glance at the side toward Su Yu and call out ingratiatingly, "Brother-in-law~"

Yet that man merely swept a cool, indifferent glance over him and turned to walk outside.

Could you all please not make your disgust so obvious, would you?!

Gu Shisheng lowered his head, slinking along behind them like a timid newlywed bride. Beside him, Su Zhou cheerfully threw an arm around his shoulder: "How about it, buddy? Aren't you happy to see your family?"

Gu Shisheng gave his shoulder a sharp jerk, knocking that claw right off.

If not for this disaster of a troublemaker Su Zhou, would he ever have fallen to such a wretched state?

After stepping outside, Gu Gu walked straight over to the car and sat down leisurely to wait for a moment. Su Yu led the two unruly boys over, apparently having used money to bail them out.

As everyone piled into the vehicle, Gu Shisheng squeezed miserably into the back seat, his nose stinging as he felt like he had finally emerged from endless suffering and would no longer have to endure hardship. Gu Gu, sitting in the front seat, turned around, pulled out her camera specifically, flashed the light, and snapped a close-up photo of him.

"Sis!" Gu Shisheng's voice was full of accusation. He wanted to lunge forward and delete it, but didn't dare, so he could only stare longingly at his older sister's back.

He heard Gu Gu let out a faint sigh and say to Su Yu beside her, "Do you know the one flaw this car of ours has?"

"What is it?" Su Yu obligingly cooperated and asked.

Gu Gu continued smoothly, "It's missing a cargo bed in the back so we can just toss these two troublemakers inside and save ourselves the headache of having them crowd the interior."