Return to the small mountain village in 1986

The main purpose of this trip was to find someone to find a car, so the car was not driven very fast all the way. When Gao Mingcheng drove, he looked ahead, while Xiao Jinfeng and Gao Mingwan stared at one side of the car window.

When they encounter car repair shops and restaurants on the roadside, they will get out of the car and ask if anyone has seen the missing car.

After walking and stopping along the way, by evening, they had not yet reached Pingxiang, but they were already near the Wugong Mountains.

Wugong Mountain is located in the central and western part of JX Province, on the northern branch of the Luoxiao Mountains. The mountain body runs from northeast to southwest and spans Luxi County, PX City, JA City, and Yuanzhou District, YC City, JX Province. Gao Mingcheng and others The place where we park and rest now also belongs to the Wugong Mountain range.

In history, Wugong Mountain, Hengshan Mountain and Lushan Mountain were also known as the three famous mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, and were dubbed "Hengshou and Luwei Wugong Middle".

In later generations, Wugong Mountain was also a famous tourist attraction. Many people would come here to see the strange peaks, meadows, camp and watch the sunrise.

Gao Mingcheng and his friends have visited here before. Compared with the ordinary mountains and forests in Gaojia Village, the scenery here is indeed much better. Even if it is not within the scope of the scenic spot, looking at it, the mountains and rivers here are more majestic and beautiful than other places.

But now that he is here again, Gao Mingcheng's mood is not so happy.

Because for a whole day, they didn't find any relevant clues!

They took the national highway, but there were other roads to take besides the national highway, so they didn't know which road the missing driver took.

Unable to drive to find someone at night, they could only find a nearby hotel to eat and sleep.

This small village is located on the roadside. Although it does not have much fertile land, due to its terrain, the people in the village can do some food and accommodation business, and the villagers seem to be relatively wealthy.

During dinner, Xiao Jinfeng asked the owner of the hotel about the situation, and detailed the characteristics of his company's cars and drivers.

The missing car was an old Huanghe truck with the mark of Integrity Transportation Company on it. Xiao Jinfeng also remembered the license plate of that car.

As for the missing driver, his surname is Li. He looks ordinary, but he has a black mole on his left eyebrow, which can be noticed at a glance.

There were hundreds of passing cars coming and going a day, but the hotel owner thought about it carefully and said that he had indeed seen such a car. The appearance of the car and the appearance of the driver matched, but when the boss saw it The driver was driving towards Pingxiang instead of returning from Pingxiang.

"Didn't you see him driving back?" Xiao Jinfeng was shocked at first, then frowned and asked.

The restaurant owner couldn't guarantee this question, so he laughed and said: "When I saw him, he was driving to Pingxiang, because he happened to have dinner at my house, and we chatted for a few words. But he When I went back, if I didn’t get out of the car and come to eat, but drove away, how would I know?”

The hotel owner is in business, so he has some impressions of the guests he has entertained, but if he doesn't stop for consumption, how can he write down every car?

Xiao Jinfeng knew this and did not want to embarrass others. He politely handed the cigarette to the restaurant owner as a thank you for the information.

After dinner, they were not in a hurry to go back to their rooms to rest. Instead, they sat at the door of the hotel and chatted. Gao Mingcheng's car was parked in the courtyard of the hotel.

Because there were no valuables in the car, Xiao Jinfeng gave the hotel owner a few packs of cigarettes and asked them to help take care of it at night, so that no one would stay overnight.

Some of these family hotels are shady and work with local gangsters to deceive passing drivers, and some provide pornographic services.

But there are also some hotels that are run with integrity. For the sake of sustainable development, they will provide car guarding services. If the person who runs the hotel has some reputation in the local area, then the local gangsters will not dare to come and cause trouble. If outsiders come to cause trouble, they will You can also call on your friends to help you.

After driving for a long time, the driver naturally knows which hotel on which road is reliable, and the hotel gets many repeat customers as a result.

Before setting off, Xiao Jinfeng had a bad premonition.

Now that Driver Li and the car have not been found all day long, the bad premonition is even stronger.

He expressed his suspicions and guesses to see if Gao Mingcheng and Gao Mingwan had any different opinions.

Hearing that it might be a business trap, an idea came to Gao Mingcheng's mind. He thought about it again and felt that it was indeed a possibility, so he said, "Brother Xiao, has the transportation company transported coal before?"

Xiao Jinfeng shook his head and said: "We have never transported coal before. Coal is usually pulled by trains. For the briquette factories in the county, if they want to buy coal, they always go to South Station to buy coal. This time they pulled The other party said that the factory was in a hurry to use the coking coal, but the train was too slow, so he asked the transportation company to help transport a car of coking coal back. "

Urban train stations generally have two stations, one for pulling people and one for pulling goods, which can be staggered. For example, in the county where Gao Mingcheng is located, the one for pulling people is called the North Station, and the one for pulling goods is called the South Station.

Xiao Jinfeng continued: "Because he first asked us to transport a load of goods to Pingxiang and a load of coking coal on the way back, so I agreed. Now that I think about it, this may be a scam!"

Xiao Jinfeng felt that there was fraud, but he didn't know where it was.

It's just a truck of coking coal being transported back. How can the person and the truck disappear?

Although coking coal is valuable, those who rob it may not value it!
After listening to Xiao Jinfeng's words, Gao Mingcheng felt confident. He immediately asked: "Brother Xiao, do you know that when transporting coal, you need to sprinkle water on the coal from time to time?"

Xiao Jinfeng's eyes suddenly widened, with a look of astonishment on his face.

Why sprinkle water?

Xiao Jinfeng wanted to ask, but Gao Mingwan had already asked first: "Second brother, why do you need to sprinkle water to transport coal? Isn't this adding weight! Even if it becomes heavier, we will still charge the price of one truck. If the goods are too heavy, If so, the car won’t be easy to drive.”

The approximate weight of a truckload of goods is estimated, so the price is calculated based on the weight and distance. If the goods become heavier due to watering during the journey, the transportation company will not benefit at all!

Who does something that is not beneficial?

Knowing that they didn't understand, Gao Mingcheng sighed.

If he wasn't born again, how could he know so much?
They don't produce coal here, and coal is usually transported by train. Therefore, ordinary people have no idea that coal needs to be sprinkled with water when transported!
Why sprinkle water?
This is actually for safety and environmental protection!
Because coal will generate heat through friction with high-speed carriages during transportation, and coal is a flammable substance. In order to prevent spontaneous combustion, it is necessary to cool down by spraying water at fixed points to ensure the driving safety of transportation vehicles.

In addition, the structure of coal is loose, and the water in the coal evaporates relatively quickly, so it is easy to generate dust. Sprinkling water will play a role in reducing dust.

Gao Mingcheng broke down these principles and told them to Xiao Jinfeng and Gao Mingwan. Although they didn't know that such a thing existed before, they were not stupid and they quickly understood it.

Gao Mingwan's expression suddenly changed and he said, "Isn't it possible that Brother Li will encounter spontaneous combustion of coal?"

Xiao Jinfeng's expression also changed instantly. The driver and car were missing. He was worried and had a bad premonition, but what if...

Thinking that a truckload of coal might spontaneously ignite and driver Li died as a result, Xiao Jinfeng's heart felt heavy.

At this moment, he regretted it.

The transportation company has been developing smoothly in the past two years, so he was too confident!
Thinking of the high shipping fee offered by the other party, he agreed without much thought! He didn't even think twice about the other party's offer to sign a contract with liquidated damages!

From Pingxiang to their county, if everything goes well, we can get there in one and a half days. The time in the contract is three days, which in Xiao Jinfeng's opinion is more than enough.

In this case, for the sake of the high transportation fees, it is okay to sign a contract.

But he never expected that there would be such a thing as spontaneous combustion of coal!

He was flustered when he didn't know about it, and even more flustered when he found out about it!

At this time, Xiao Jinfeng wished he could grow a pair of wings and fly to find Driver Li. At this time, he felt that even if he had to pay the other party several times the compensation, it didn't matter. He just hoped that Driver Li would be okay.

This night, none of the three slept well.

As soon as the sky dawned, the three of them got up in unison and prepared to continue looking for someone.

There was nothing to eat in the morning, so I bought a dozen freshly baked steamed buns and drank a bowl of porridge. After everyone went to the toilet, they drove on the road.

Gao Mingcheng was still in charge of driving at the first stop. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the iron bar placed at his feet and couldn't help but sigh.

They originally thought that Driver Li might have encountered a robbery, and they were all ready for a fight, but in the end...

Gao Mingcheng shook his head again and felt that spontaneous combustion of coal may not necessarily occur, because in terms of probability, it is not 100% spontaneous combustion, otherwise coal transportation would not have started sprinkling water later.

At first, coal was transported without watering, but later spontaneous combustion occurred. In order to avoid the danger, coal washing and watering began.

With these protective measures in place, the probability of spontaneous combustion is minimal.

Gao Mingcheng continued to drive along the mountain road. When the car bumped due to poor road conditions, Gao Mingcheng just thought that coal would not necessarily ignite spontaneously, but now he felt that there was a 90% chance that it would spontaneously ignite!

why?
When transported by train, it is relatively smooth, but coal still has the risk of spontaneous combustion. When transported by car, the journey is bumpy, and the friction between the coal and the carriage will also increase!

Worse!

Gao Mingcheng glanced at Xiao Jinfeng and Gao Mingwan and saw the worry on their faces, so he didn't say this guess out loud.

One of the three of them looked ahead, and the other two looked to the left and right, not missing any traces left on the road.

Suddenly, Xiao Jinfeng narrowed his eyes and said, "Mingcheng, there are signs of a car rolling over on the hillside ahead. Drive carefully and find a safe place to stop. Let's get out of the car and take a look."

Gao Mingcheng also noticed the road conditions ahead. To be honest, this road is really bad!
There is a mountain wall on one side and a hillside on the other. The hillside is relatively steep and the road is not wide enough. You need to be careful when driving. If you encounter a passing car and your driving skills are poor, you will not be able to drive through it!

There are obvious scratches on the hillside in front, as if a car unfortunately rolled over, and a large piece of soil on the roadside was loosened. When driving by, it is best to drive on the inside, otherwise there is a risk of the car overturning.

Gao Mingcheng's car was a light truck, and its body was smaller and lighter than a heavy truck. He found a safe location to stop the car, and then the three of them hurried over to check the situation.

The three of them stood at the spot with obvious scratches and looked down. Although they saw earth and rocks sliding down and covering some of the plants on the hillside, they did not find the car at the bottom of the hillside, and there were no traces of coal around.

If Driver Li overturned his car here, even if he and the car were taken away, there would be no way that the coal scattered on the ground would not leave any traces!
Thinking of this, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief, guessing that a car might have almost turned over, but they finally passed. It was just that the tires loosened the soil on the side, causing the earth and rocks to slide.

The three of them got in the car and continued driving forward.

This touching road condition made Gao Mingcheng miss the highways of later generations!
Living in a country known as an infrastructure madman, not to mention highways, even remote villages are connected by cement roads!

Gao Mingcheng drove carefully all the way. He felt that his new car would be greatly worn during this trip. He made a mistake. If he had known, he would have driven Xiao Jinfeng's old car!
But when he thought that the old car would be more bumpy and the experience was poor, Gao Mingcheng calmed down.

Because it is located in the Wugong Mountains, there are many mountain roads here, and most of them have steep slopes, which will test the driver's driving skills.

Along the hillside, there are traces of loose and sliding earth and rocks from time to time, which makes people feel frightened. But as long as there are no traces of coal, the three of them can feel relatively relaxed.

Just as I was thinking this, coal fragments were scattered all over the hillside in front of me!

"Stop!" Xiao Jinfeng shouted loudly.

Without him asking to stop, Gao Mingcheng stepped on the accelerator and pulled the car to the side of the road.

The three people immediately got out of the car and headed towards the place where the coal fragments were scattered.

In addition to the coal fragments, there are also obvious signs of loose soil and rocks!
Standing on the edge of the hillside, when they saw the truck stuck in the valley, the three people's hearts were beating wildly. With just one glance, Xiao Jinfeng recognized that the broken truck was his!
From the hillside to the valley, there is about ten meters deep. Because a truck rolled over, the plants along the way were crushed, and there were loose earth, rocks and coal fragments everywhere.

It is worth mentioning that when I stood here and looked around, I did not see the body of Driver Li, nor did I see any more coal.

The truck showed signs of burning, but the entire vehicle was not completely burned, as if the coal was put out shortly after burning.

Gao Mingcheng narrowed his eyes slightly, pointed to the spot where the truck sank half a meter deep, and said, "There happens to be a ditch there. Maybe that's why the coal didn't burn completely."

Xiao Jinfeng was well-informed and said: "Someone should have taken away the coal!"

Otherwise, it would be impossible for there to be only coal slag on the ground, but no large pieces of coal!
Although he didn't see Driver Li's body when he looked down from the hillside, Xiao Jinfeng decided to go down and take a look. (End of chapter)