Chapter 96: Chapter 95: Theft

The two drank some hot water, rested for half an hour, and then went out for another round. After the first detailed inspection, subsequent patrols were much easier. They could finish a round in less than ten minutes. Ma Dajun felt he had seen everything—carriages, engine, roof, and undercarriage—confidently without missing anything.

After three patrol rounds, it was already close to midnight. Ling Chengyan pulled out half a jar of meat sauce and two buns from somewhere. She placed the buns on the stove cover to toast, turning them over once one side turned yellow. Soon, the buns were crispy and golden brown, smelling delicious. She then spread a spoonful of meat sauce on them. The crispy, fragrant buns combined with the rich, spicy meat sauce were extremely tasty. Ma Dajun ate one and a half by himself, while Ling Chengyan only ate a small half, mainly snacking on the crispy parts of the toasted buns.

“Hey, you two sneaking some snacks, huh?” Liu Xianghu ran in with Zhang Wanxiang, wrapped in the cold wind.

Ling Chengyan smiled, raised her chin, and Zhang Wanxiang ran over to her bag with a grin, pulling out two more buns.

“Hey, got more? Toast a couple more…” Liu Xianghu, being young with a big appetite, found one was not enough.

Zhang Wanxiang glanced at Ling Chengyan and chuckled, “Still got two more…”

Implying, there were two more people in the back.

Liu Xianghu smiled and didn’t insist, only urged Ling Chengyan and Ma Dajun to get some sleep.

Ling Chengyan got up and quietly instructed, “The car should be fine, just pay more attention to the dog hole under the courtyard wall behind car number three.”

At the mention of the dog hole, Ma Dajun was a bit puzzled. He thought he had meticulously inspected everything like his senior sister, not missing anything, only focusing on the vehicles and goods on them, unaware of the surroundings. Was there a ’dog hole’?

Liu Xianghu and Zhang Wanxiang both admired Ling Chengyan greatly and responded promptly.

Ling Chengyan returned to her room, didn’t even take off her coat, pulled the blanket over and went to sleep with her eyes closed.

When she awoke, she checked her wristwatch. It was a little past three, according to the schedule, Zhao Guangrong and Zhao Dahu should be on the third shift.

Ling Chengyan quietly got up, put on her hat, wrapped her coat tightly, and headed out to the toilet in the corner of the courtyard.

After returning, she went around the vehicles, not spotting Zhao Guangrong and Zhao Dahu. Then she peeked into the ’duty room’ and saw the two sitting around the stove on chairs, one resting his chin and the other reclining on the chair back, both asleep.

She pushed the door open, and the sound startled the two.

Zhao Dahu looked up to see Ling Chengyan entering, quickly getting up to greet her, “Sister Ling!”

Ling Chengyan smiled, lifting her bag, “I packed a few buns last night, and here’s this…”

Zhao Dahu’s eyes lit up at the sight of the jar of spicy meat sauce, “Wow, Sister Ling, you’re the best! … Hehe, with such good stuff, one bun ain’t enough!”

Ling Chengyan laughed, “It’s almost four, have a bun to tide you over. Breakfast is soon. I heard they have special shi zi er xuan bing with lamb soup here, supposedly something good enough for the old Emperor back in the day.”

Zhao Dahu toasted the buns on the stove cover, his eyes bright while listening to Ling Chengyan describe the special foods, swallowing involuntarily.

Ling Chengyan did a quick turnabout and went back to her room to sleep again.

Zhao Dahu flipped the buns, grinning as he said, “Sister Ling is so thoughtful, she even brought meat sauce… I tasted her meat sauce once, truly was simmered with beef, very aromatic…”

Zhao Guangrong leaned against the chair back, a lukewarm expression on his face, not responding, only letting out a light snort through his nose: That big fool really thinks she brought it for him specifically to eat? It’s just a disguised inspection. The leaders temporarily appointed her to be the squad leader for the rookies, and she really takes herself seriously. Once the rookie period is over and she’s officially in a unit, what kind of squad leader will she be? She’ll just be another rookie!

He had been driving for five or six years; when he was on long-distance tasks alone, she was still at home nursing a baby, wouldn’t she? Showing off like a big shot! Saying she’s capable!

Zhao Dahu didn’t quite understand why Zhao Guangrong was displeased, but he could sense his hostility towards Ling Chengyan.

Unaware of Zhao Guangrong’s hostility, Ling Chengyan returned to her room, slept with her clothes on again, and when she opened her eyes, it was nearly six. She simply got up to wash and pack a simple bag, then headed straight to the vehicles. While loading her luggage onto the car, she checked the goods and vehicles again.

After nearly a full round, nothing unusual with the goods, but she noticed under the number three car parked against the courtyard wall, there were a lot of footprints.

Squatting down for a closer look, in the dim dawn light, she could make out a few faint yellow marks under the car… Looking up, it led to the vehicle’s fuel tank.

Ling Chengyan quickly returned to the ’duty room’, where Zhao Guangrong was sleeping across two chairs. Zhao Dahu wasn’t asleep, just yawning and warming himself by the fire.

Ling Chengyan pushed the door open, the cold wind that followed startled Zhao Dahu awake, “Sister Ling!”

Ling Chengyan gestured for him to be quiet and they went outside; Ling Chengyan directly asked how much fuel was left in the car.

She knew that although Zhao Guangrong hadn’t taught Zhao Dahu to drive yet, he’d left all the maintenance and repairs to Zhao Dahu. Zhao Dahu looked naïve, but he worked meticulously. The amount of fuel was crucial for the vehicle’s normal running; it was a basic maintenance task.

Indeed, Zhao Dahu immediately replied, “When we parked last night, I checked and there was half a tank left, it should make it home without issues today.”

Ling Chengyan furrowed her brow slightly and said, “Go wake up your instructor.”

Zhao Dahu knew something was wrong, didn’t dare to delay, and quickly went in to wake Zhao Guangrong.

If the gauge was working, inserting the car key should show the fuel level. Zhao Dahu said there was half a tank left when parking the previous night, but now the fuel gauge indicated it was empty, and without refueling, the car wouldn’t get beyond ten kilometers before breaking down.

“What’s going on, I saw half a tank when we parked last night…” Zhao Dahu exclaimed.

Zhao Guangrong was fully awake now, his face flushed with anger, staring at the fuel gauge for a long moment before squeezing out, “We patrolled twice an hour and found nothing unusual…”

Once he said that, not only Ling Chengyan but even Zhao Dahu was shocked, staring at his instructor, almost asking aloud what he was thinking.

He heard Zhao Guangrong continue, “With Ling Chengyan on watch, your shift should be fine… but if it wasn’t during our two shifts, then naturally it was…”

Ling Chengyan looked at him steadily, making Zhao Guangrong hesitant to continue.

She looked away, directly instructing Zhao Dahu, “Dahu, open the fuel tank and check it.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep