241: Chapter 241 A Little Interlude on the Road

Seven in the morning.

Qiang Zi appeared in the villa living room right on time.

He wore a floral shirt, a khaki straw hat perched on his head, and sunglasses hung casually from his collar.

On his feet were brand-new outdoor boots; the brand tag on the tongue hadn't even been torn off yet, looking exceptionally new.

Li Xin raised his eyes and swept a glance over this outfit, but said nothing.

Qiang Zi, however, felt quite good about himself. He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, slowly turned halfway around, and sized up his appearance.

"How is it? Do I have that mining tycoon vibe?"

"Mining tycoons don't wear floral shirts."

Qiang Zi was unconvinced and pursed his lips.

"That's just because you're narrow-minded."

The off-road vehicle for this trip had been rented in advance: a dark gray Toyota Land Cruiser.

Its chassis was high enough, and it had a luggage rack on the roof, looking perfectly suited for wild road conditions.

Qiang Zi scrambled to claim the driver's seat. He sat inside, repeatedly adjusting the seat and the rearview mirror, fussing for a full three minutes.

He then spent a long time studying the gear shift and the center console screen, figuring out the operations before finally turning the key and starting the car.

"Let's go, set off!"

For the first forty minutes after driving out of the Perth city center, Qiang Zi was in high spirits.

The car windows were half-down, and the wind from the wilderness poured in, causing his shirt collar to flutter constantly.

The further they traveled, the fainter the traces of the city became.

Buildings along the street gradually became sparse, and vast stretches of farmland unfolded. Further on, nothing remained but endless, low-lying shrubbery.

An hour later, Qiang Zi glanced at the car's navigation system and muttered in a low voice.

"How come this road is getting more and more remote?"

Li Xin leaned against the passenger seat and turned his head to glance at the screen.

There were two roads to Kalgoorlie; they had chosen the northern shortcut, which was shorter but passed through an extremely desolate area.

The navigation clearly indicated that there were no gas stations for dozens of kilometers ahead.

"Didn't you plan for gas stops before we left?"

Qiang Zi stiffened slightly, his tone a bit guilty.

"I only planned for restaurants and attractions along the way..."

Li Xin didn't say anything more.

"Just drive. We'll figure it out when we get there."

The scenery along the way was constantly changing.

The initial emerald green slowly faded into grayish-green, and finally, it completely transformed into a vast expanse of reddish-brown red-soil wilderness.

The shrubs became increasingly sparse, with a few deformed eucalyptus trees standing sporadically. Their trunks were twisted and gnarled, their leaves covered in a layer of dust, devoid of any vitality.

On the distant horizon, rows of wind turbines stood silently.

Their massive blades turned slowly in the morning light; on the empty, dead Gobi desert, this artificial regularity seemed particularly abrupt.

Qiang Zi played music the entire way.

Rock, old Cantonese songs, trending internet hits—he switched between them back and forth.

He didn't listen to full songs; he only hummed along to the choruses and switched to the next song immediately after.

Over and over, endlessly.

Li Xin simply took out his earphones, put them on, leaned against the seat, and closed his eyes to rest.

The car drove on a bit further when the navigation suddenly alerted them that there was an abandoned town ahead.

Qiang Zi slammed on the brakes, and the car's speed slowed abruptly.

"This place is incredible! Look at those houses; they must all be weathered by the wind and sand, right?"

A few old wooden houses were scattered by the roadside, standing crookedly in the wasteland.

Most of their roofs had collapsed, and the wall panels had faded to a grayish-white after years of exposure to the sun and rain.

Standing next to the houses was a rusted-through old-fashioned fuel pump; the glass on its dial had long since shattered, and the markings were so blurred they were impossible to read.

Qiang Zi's interest surged, and he pushed the door open and jumped out of the car.

"I'm taking some photos; this post-apocalyptic atmosphere is maxed out."

He raised his phone, framing shots around the rusted fuel pump, and then took over a dozen photos of the dilapidated wooden houses, shooting with great seriousness.

Li Xin didn't get out of the car; he just lowered the window halfway to let in some air.

The air was bone-dry, and the desolate scent of dust and withered grass rushed in.

While Qiang Zi was backing up to frame a shot, he stepped onto a loose wooden board.

His foot went into empty space, his body lurched sharply to the left, and the phone in his hand nearly flew out of his grip.

In a flash, Li Xin reached one hand out of the window, precisely grabbed the back of his clothes, and steadily pulled him back.

After steadying his footing, Qiang Zi looked down at the upturned wooden board and clicked his tongue with lingering fear.

"That was close; I almost became a human landmark on the side of the road."

"Don't you look where you're walking?"

"I only have composition in my eyes."

He patted the dust off his pant legs, glanced at the loose board with lingering fear, and obediently retreated to the flat road surface, not daring to step around carelessly anymore.

The car set off again, and after driving for another twenty minutes, they saw a white pickup truck parked on the side of the road ahead.

Its hood was propped up high, and wisps of white smoke were constantly billowing out.

A couple over sixty years old stood by the car.

The man had gray hair and wore a faded cowboy hat; the woman wore a floral long-sleeved shirt and was hunched over, staring at the smoking engine compartment, at a loss for what to do.

Qiang Zi slowed the car down.

"Should we stop and ask what's going on?"

Li Xin nodded slightly.

The car stopped steadily behind the pickup truck, and the two pushed the doors open, got out, and walked over.

The old man straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, and gave them a helpless smile.

"The radiator burst. We've been stuck here for two hours. This road is so desolate; we haven't seen a single passing car."

Li Xin walked closer and looked down to inspect it; the coolant hose had a small crack, and more than half of the antifreeze in the tank had leaked out.

He turned back and retrieved spare tools and a small bucket of coolant from the trunk of the off-road vehicle.

"It can be temporarily fixed, but we need to seal the crack first. Do you have any tape in your car?"

The old man was stunned for a moment, then turned and shouted to his wife inside the car.

The Old Lady searched for a long time before handing over a roll of electrical tape, admitting that it was the only thing they had in the car.

Li Xin took it and glanced at it.

"It'll do, no problem."

He crouched down, his movements steady and orderly as he dismantled the damaged hose.

Qiang Zi crouched nearby and watched for a long time, unable to help at all, feeling anxious for nothing.

"What can I do?"

"Hand me a wrench."

Qiang Zi fished out a wrench from the toolbox, but held it the wrong way around when he handed it over.

Li Xin silently took it, corrected it, and didn't say a word.

Seeing the two helping, the Old Lady hurriedly took out mineral water and handmade cookies from the car and handed them to Qiang Zi, who was standing nearby.

"Young man, where are you two headed?"

"Kalgoorlie, we're coming to see the Super Pit."

The Old Lady smiled upon hearing this, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes layering over each other, made especially clear by the sunlight.

"I went there when I was young too. Back then, the mining industry was booming, and the town was very lively, crowded with people. Now, it has long since declined."

Qiang Zi opened the cookies, took three, and chewed them, the crisp sound carried away by the wind.

The Old Lady thoughtfully handed over a bottle of ice water as well.

On the other side, Li Xin had already removed the damaged hose, wrapped the crack with tape layer by layer for reinforcement, and then reinstalled it, his movements crisp and efficient.

The old man crouched nearby, watching him work, chatting idly.

"I can tell you're from out of town. This area has been a bit chaotic lately, so you'd better be careful, especially since you're foreigners."

He paused, deliberately lowering his voice with a touch of warning.

"There's a group stealing ore at night, and they've even clashed with the mining security. Just last month, they used live ammunition."

The cookie in Qiang Zi's mouth suddenly stopped.

"Stealing ore? And using live ammunition?"

The old man looked at him seriously, his tone solemn.

"Young man, don't take this as just some exciting story. That bunch isn't playing around; they haul out whole truckloads of ore. If you encounter their vehicles on the road at night, whatever you do, don't stop, don't open the windows, just keep driving."

Qiang Zi swallowed silently, chewed the cookie in his mouth, and swallowed it, his heart feeling inexplicably heavier.

At this moment, Li Xin tightened the last screw and packed up all the tools.

"Start the engine and try it."

The old man climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key.

The engine made two soft sounds and started smoothly, running steadily.

He turned it off and tried again; the state remained stable, and the radiator temperature needle slowly dropped back into the normal range.

Getting out of the car, the old man patted Li Xin's shoulder hard, full of gratitude.

"Thank you, young man. If you run into any trouble in Kalgoorlie, go find Old Jack in town and mention my name, Old Tom; it'll work."

The Old Lady followed up by stuffing a box of cookies into Qiang Zi's hand, being very hospitable.

"Homemade. If you get hungry on the road, fill your stomach with these."

...

The car was back on the road, the cabin quiet, with no one speaking for a long time.

Only the faint sound of the air conditioning blowing and the tires crunching over gravel kept up a continuous rustling noise.

After quite a while, Qiang Zi spoke up in a low voice.

"Brother Xin, that bunch of ore thieves the old man mentioned... could we really run into them?"

Li Xin gazed at the red soil sweeping backward outside the window and asked back in a flat tone.

"What, are you scared?"

Qiang Zi suddenly straightened his back, stubbornly refusing to back down.

"Who's scared! I'm just curious, how much can you make stealing ore?"

"Depending on the grade of the ore vein, it's normal to make hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars in one trip."

Hidden behind his sunglasses, Qiang Zi's eyes suddenly widened.

"Hundreds of thousands? And in Australian dollars?"

He subconsciously pressed down with his foot, lightly stepping on the gas pedal. The car lurched slightly, but soon leveled out again.

At 3:00 PM, the two arrived at a wilderness highway service station.

The place was very small, just a convenience store, a simple gas station, two tin tables at the entrance, and an old sun umbrella standing there.

Qiang Zi went into the store and bought two hot meat pies and two bottles of ice-cold cola.

The meat pies were extremely hot; he took a big bite, burned his mouth, and kept gasping, chewing hastily while exhaling.

At a table in the corner of the service station sat an old man wearing blue-gray work pants.

In front of him was a cup of half-cooled black coffee, and he was staring blankly at the empty road.

Li Xin walked over with his meat pie and asked softly.

"Do you mind if we sit here?"

The old man raised his eyes and swept a glance over the two, speaking indifferently.

"Sit."

Qiang Zi sat down as well, and the three of them gathered around a crude tin table, resting quietly.

The old man looked at the two and initiated the conversation.

"Are you two heading to Kalgoorlie?"

"Yes."

"You're here to see the mines, right?"

"Yeah, we're a bit curious, so we came to take a look. I heard it's quite interesting. Do you know much about it, sir?"

He picked up the lukewarm coffee, took a sip, put the cup down, and spoke with a tone weathered by time.

"Haha, you've asked the right person. I worked in drilling in Kalgoorlie for forty years; I'm as familiar with that place as anyone can be. The shallow surface ore there was mined out in the eighties. Now, mining is all about going deep."

He held up five fingers.

"At least five hundred meters down. Big companies find the cost of deep mining too high and aren't willing to invest. But there are always those who are bold, specifically targeting deep ore veins."

Qiang Zi put down the meat pie in his hand and asked seriously.

"Five hundred meters underground? How do you get in and out to work?"

The old man glanced at him, his tone flat but revealing danger.

"Abandoned mine shafts are everywhere. Some are half-sealed, some aren't sealed at all. People who know the ropes crawl in, and they might not even come out for two days and two nights."

The expression on Qiang Zi's face shifted several times.

From the initial curiosity, it slowly turned to nervousness, and finally, he forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart, pretending to be calm.

He lowered his head, took a big bite of the meat pie, chewed silently, and didn't say anything more.

Saying goodbye to the old man, the two set off again.

After this, Qiang Zi drove much more steadily, deliberately slowing down.

The evening glow spread across the horizon, and the setting sun's rays spilled down, dyeing the entire expanse of red-soil Gobi into a rich, ochre red.

Occasionally, one could see the wind-dried carcasses of small animals on the road, mostly kangaroos and wild rabbits, lying dead and silent by the roadside.

On the way forward, a huge kangaroo carcass lay in the middle of the road; its size far exceeded that of a normal gray kangaroo, as sturdy as a small calf.

Qiang Zi's heart tightened, and he jerked the steering wheel.

The tires rushed onto the grass by the roadside, bumping violently. He narrowly avoided the carcass, and the car came to a stop.

The two got out to check, and there was no damage to the car's tires.

Qiang Zi looked back at the stiff kangaroo carcass, secretly shocked.

"This is too big, just like a little calf."

"Fasten your seatbelt." Li Xin checked the car's condition and said indifferently, "We must reach the town before dark."

Qiang Zi got back in the car, his fingers gripping the steering wheel tightening slightly, and he spoke much less.

The sky turned completely dark, and the red soil by the roadside turned deep brown.

Heaven and earth merged into one, pitch black; only the headlights cut through the night, illuminating a short stretch of road ahead.

After eight o'clock in the evening, scattered lights finally appeared in the distance.

They had arrived in Kalgoorlie.

The town's main street was only a few hundred meters long, the streetlights were dim and yellow, and most of the shops along the street were tightly closed.

Only one bar had a glaring neon sign lit up, with a few pickup trucks parked sporadically at the entrance.

Qiang Zi parked the car at the inn's entrance, killed the engine, and let out a long, heavy breath.

"We finally made it. Driving this whole way, my butt is numb from sitting."

The inn's facade was old and simple; the front desk wall was covered with old mining tools—shovels, pickaxes, old-fashioned mine lamps—polished until they shone, serving as unique decorations.

Sitting behind the front desk was a woman in her sixties with short hair, graying locks, and a sturdy build.

She took the unlit cigarette dangling from her mouth, tucked it behind her ear, and raised her eyes to quietly size up the two.

"Out-of-towners? Here to pan for gold?"

Qiang Zi immediately answered.

"Tourists! We're specifically here to see the mines."

The landlady twitched the corner of her mouth, sneered, noncommittal, and lowered her head to flip through the registration book.

"Second floor, the last two rooms in the hallway. No air conditioning, just make do with the fans."

The room was exceptionally simple.

Two single beds, each with an old-fashioned desk lamp on the nightstand; when the floor fan in the corner turned, it continuously emitted a creaking, strange noise.

Qiang Zi threw his suitcase on the floor and collapsed straight onto the bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling, not moving for a long time.

He took out his phone, planning to scroll for a while to relax.

In the top corner of the screen, there was absolutely no signal.

He walked back and forth in the room with his phone, trying every corner, but it always displayed "No Service."

Finally, he threw the phone hard onto the pillow, slapped the bed frame, and complained helplessly.

"This place really doesn't feel like the twenty-first century."

Li Xin took a satellite phone out of his backpack and handed it over.

"Use this."

Qiang Zi took it, studied it back and forth for a long time, muttering that it was hard to operate. After fiddling with it for a moment, he took a selfie with the lens.

He casually posted a status on social media: "Deep in the Australian outback, no cell service, relying entirely on satellite to keep going."

On the other side, Li Xin leaned against the bed and quietly opened the system panel in his consciousness.

Large patches of golden light points clearly appeared on the map, extremely close by.

He stared at the marked coordinates, repeatedly verifying the path, the direction of the ore veins, and all the geological data.

All the information matched perfectly.

Qiang Zi, on the bed next to him, fell fast asleep before long. He was lying on his side, hugging the satellite phone, breathing evenly, and emitting faint snoring sounds.

Li Xin closed the system panel and raised his hand to turn off the desk lamp.

In the pitch-black room, only the creaking sound of the old fan turning remained, echoing repeatedly in the silent night.