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After a heavy rain, the cobbled road was bumpy.
Because the passenger car must stop to take a break after climbing
a slope, it took more than an hour to advance about 20 km. There
were not many passengers in the car. Two boys dressed like oppidans
sat at the rear of the car. They were smoking and cursing the
terrible weather and the road. We sat in the middle of the car
and also felt vexed. Carrying a basket on her back, a minority
woman was sitting in the front row silently. The driver was fat
and had whiskers. He was driving and complaining himself that
he must have been crazy to take the route, and he would never
take it again.
The car stopped again. This time it was not because the temperature
of the water was too high, but there were some people were repairing
the road before the car. Six or seven robust men were throwing
some stones into the middle of the road to fill and level up it.
The two boys didn't know the reason, so after the car stopped
steadily they began to complain like before again, "what
a worn-out car! It would be much better to walk." The driver
didn't pay attention to them, put his head out of the window and
said to the people repairing the road," you have blocked
the road, and how can the car pass?" An elder pavior turned
about and said," the road was not blocked. The tyres of your
car are not so big that it can pass."
The driver got out of the car and examined, then said," no,
the edges of the stones are too sharp. If the car press over them,
the tyres will be broken." After a while, he succeeded,"
why haven't you chosen an appropriate time to repair the road?
Now, it is blocked, how can we have dinner on time?" He had
been angry for a long time, so his words were not very polite.
"We didn't have dinner either," the elder man also got
angry. These robust men stopped their work and looked at the driver.
The driver backed off instinctively, and his voice became soft,"
these stones are so big that the car can't pass." The elder
man lowered his head, continued to pick up the stones, and said,"
it can pass." The driver stood in amazement for a while,
then turn round, said to the people in the car," you get
off first, and I will try to pass."
The car maybe produced in the 80s of last century tried its best
to press over these stones. The minority woman and we stood at
the roadside and looked at the driver turning the steering wheel
carefully. The two kids were unwilling to get off, and the driver
didn't have any methods for them. The car didn't pass, because
there was a bigger stone just blocking the front tyre. If there
is no impetus, the car only by its power can't pass. Even if there
is impetus, the tyre will be punctured.
The driver said frustratingly that we must complete the last journey
by ourselves. We felt a little worried. It was difficult to climb
mountain road of 10 km, and we still brought a lot of luggage
and investigation materials. The two kids didn't shout, just looked
at the sunset perplexedly. A pavior felt apologetic and said that
the stones could be placed again, and the car could try again,
and just now for the little conflict, they didn't try.
At this time, the woman emptied out her basket, and began to pick
up some small stones into it and fill the road. Her acts make
everybody can't stand still and look on with folded arms. Even
the two kids can't sit. All of us put small stones between the
big stones and leveled the road. We worked for more than 10 minutes.
The car started up again and passed two obstacles that seemed
couldn't be overstepped. All of us laughed. The driver got out
of the car and sent out cigarettes to these paviors. We took the
seats again.
"Why didn't you get on?" the driver asked the minority
woman.
"I have arrived. My home is just in the village near the
road," she said in abrupt mandarin. The driver didn't make
a response, meanwhile she had disappeared in the mountain road.
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