Chapter 102 2/2

Gradually, both sides become so dark that nothing is visible, relying solely on the headlights.

Qiao Wei also dozes off for a while, unsure if she had slept or not. Suddenly waking up, she rubs her eyes and looks outside, only to see pitch darkness.

“Are we nearly there?” she asks softly.

Master Li responds in a hushed tone, “Almost there.”

In reality, it’s not yet late; it’s not even 8 o’clock. But without streetlights, it feels eerie.

Qiao Wei plans to close her eyes and sleep a bit more. Just then, a dark figure appears suddenly in front within the range of the headlights!

Qiao Wei’s pupils dilate!

The sharp sound of tires scraping against the ground echoes! The world spins as if it’s just a moment. Bodies are violently thrown, and heads violently collide with the car frame!

…

Qiao Wei opens her eyes, first seeing the windshield covered in spiderweb cracks. As consciousness returns, she feels the pain in her head and shoulders.

She gasps for air.

After a few seconds, she feels like she has regained control of her body. Turning her head, she sees Master Li covered in blood, collapsed over the steering wheel. The driver’s side window is shattered.

Qiao Wei takes a few deep breaths, then fumbles for the seatbelt buckle and unlocks it. She checks Master Li’s breathing and pulse; he’s still alive.

She turns to look behind.

The situation there is worse.

These people hadn’t even thought of fastening their seatbelts. In this situation, like Master Li, they’ve all suffered bruises and cuts from the violent jolts. Both of them are covered in blood.

Secretary Meng is unconscious.

Secretary Huang’s side door is flung open, with his body leaning out of the car.

Qiao Wei opens the car door and steps out. She nearly loses her balance on the first step, feeling dizzy and with a throbbing head. She shakes her head to clear it up and fully wakes up.

She quickly walks around the car to Secretary Huang’s side.

Secretary Huang’s eyes are open, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “Qiao Wei…” he says.

Qiao Wei’s gaze fixes on Secretary Huang’s thigh, where a large piece of shattered glass is embedded, blood flowing profusely.

His face is covered in blood, unable to hide his pale complexion, yet he manages to say, “Secretary, look at Secretary…”

At this moment, shouldn’t one’s own life be the most important?

To what extent can one be loyal to their leader?

Qiao Wei doesn’t bother with such thoughts; she first helps Secretary Huang sit up. Otherwise, he would have fallen out of the car.

She unfastens his belt and takes out a handkerchief from her pocket.

In this era, there are no disposable tissues, so Qiao Wei habitually carries two handkerchiefs in case they’re needed.

She loops the belt around Secretary Huang’s thigh, loosely securing it. With the handkerchief tightly pressed against the wound the moment the glass is pulled out, she quickly tightens the belt to stop the bleeding.

Secretary Huang’s breathing remains rapid as he watches his colleague, Qiao Wei, do all this.

After finishing these tasks, Qiao Wei moves to the other side to check Secretary Meng’s breathing and pulse; he’s still alive, just unconscious.

Now, two unconscious individuals.

Only Secretary Huang and she are awake.

“Qiao Wei…” Secretary Huang weakly directs her, “Can you, can you check if there’s a village nearby, try to… try to find a solution…”

Qiao Wei directly rejects his suggestion, “It’s pitch black outside, it’s hard for me to find a village. They’re both unconscious, and I don’t know if they have internal bleeding. We need to seek medical help as soon as possible, we can’t delay. And you, you can’t afford to delay either.”

Secretary Huang knows very well that seeking help from villagers might delay treatment for the three injured individuals, but if they don’t seek help from villagers, what other options do they have?

Master Li is also unconscious, and the car has rolled off the road into the wilderness. Although it’s now back on all four wheels, there’s no driver to operate it.

Just as he realizes there’s no driver, he sees Qiao Wei crawling from the passenger seat into the driver’s seat, kneeling on the passenger side and struggling to drag Master Li over.

Secretary Huang’s eyes widen, “Qiao Wei, what are you…”

What is she planning to do?

Qiao Wei isn’t particularly short, but dragging an unconscious man is still too difficult for her.

She finally manages to pull Master Li onto the passenger seat. She’s thankful for this old-style car, where there’s just an empty space between the driver’s and passenger’s seats, without any other structures or obstructions.

Qiao Wei closes the passenger door and swiftly walks around to the driver’s side, getting into the car and slamming the door shut.

Secretary Huang is somewhat incredulous, “Qiao Wei, can you drive?”

“I can’t!” The lives of three people are in her hands, and despite her calm demeanor, Qiao Wei is nervous, her hands trembling as she checks each component one by one, “Steering wheel, gear, brake, accelerator… Clutch? Clutch…”

She isn’t exactly lying.

She only knows how to drive an automatic transmission. She chose to learn automatic from the start, aiming for simplicity. Who would have thought that one day she would have to drive this type of car?

“Clutch!” Qiao Wei shouts, “Huang Zengyue! How do you operate the clutch?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know how to drive!” Secretary Huang says.

Driving is a skill mastered by a few professional individuals at this time.

Ordinary people can’t even touch a car in their lifetime. Without connections or arrangements from their families, or without being selected by their workplaces for training, it’s difficult to learn to drive.

“I don’t care.” Qiao Wei grits her teeth and starts the engine.

Although she hasn’t learned how to drive a manual with a clutch, she observed during driving school and has some memory of it.

You have to press the clutch first, then slowly release it.

Qiao Wei feels like she’s releasing it slowly, but the car still stalls.

Secretary Huang’s lips are tightly pursed.

Qiao Wei stalls the car for the second time.

On the third attempt, Qiao Wei releases the clutch very gently, and this time, the car finally doesn’t stall.

With the clutch fully released at last, Qiao Wei steps on the gas, and the car starts moving.

“Gear!” Secretary Huang suddenly reminds her.

He’s a very intelligent person with a strong learning ability. Although he doesn’t know how to drive, he has seen it many times while accompanying leaders in cars, and he has some impressions.

Master Li usually changes gears when accelerating.

With the reminder, Qiao Wei shifts gears, and the car finally picks up speed, no longer crawling like a snail.

Pressing on the gas, they climb up from the wilderness onto a slope, back onto the road.

In terms of hospital quality, Linshi is definitely better than Bocheng County, but they have driven a long way, too far from Linshi and closer to the county.

Qiao Wei turns the steering wheel and heads towards the county.

Glancing at the rearview mirror, she shouts, “Huang Zengyue! Wake up!”

Secretary Huang is on the verge of losing consciousness, but he jolts awake at her shout.

Looking in the rearview mirror, he sees his colleague Qiao Wei, her face pale, blood streaming from her right temple, tears streaming down her face.

She’s obviously scared.

In the pitch-black winter night, two of the three colleagues are unconscious, and one is bleeding so much that he’s about to lose consciousness.

She’s driving an unfamiliar car, not proficiently, rushing towards the county on the dark road.

She’s braver than many people he knows.

“Talk to me…” Huang Zengyue says, “Talk to me… Don’t let me… Don’t let me pass out…”

“Qiao Wei… I’m counting on you…”

“Okay!” Qiao Wei wipes the tears from her face, “Huang Zengyue, you stay awake for me!”