Chapter 423: Blocking the Car, Intercepting People

Lu Cheng originally thought the shortcut was a small road; in fact it really was a small road, but the surface was full of pits and hollows, alternating between uphill and ditch, simply terrible.

Yet there was hardly any feeling of jolting, mainly because the driver had been instructed by Bureau Chief Qian to take good care of Lu Jingzhang.

So the driver drove extremely cautiously, fearing a bump like Lu Cheng's, and the speed was very slow.

That would be fine in normal times, but now they were racing against time.

"Stop the car, I'll drive!" Lu Cheng had to shout.

Instead it startled the driver; even their bureau chief was deferential to Lu Jingzhang, so he naturally had to be even more careful.

"Lu, Lu Jingzhang, this road can be a shortcut, but it's truly hard to travel; I'll try to drive even slower."

The driver thought it was a bump like Lu Cheng's; being the bureau chief's driver, his driving skill was naturally good, so even on such a broken road he considered his driving fine.

But the jeep's suspension was poor, inevitably causing jolts.

Lu Cheng realized the driver's misunderstanding: "You're driving well; now we need to hurry, let me drive, you give directions."

The driver originally said he could also drive fast, but seeing Lu Cheng's insistence, he switched seats.

The driver had doubted Lu Cheng's driving skill, but when Lu Cheng first touched the steering wheel, skillfully shifted gears, released the clutch, and pressed the throttle, the car shot forward.

Straight-line speed isn't a skill, yet whether over low hills or curves, the speed remained high the whole way, not slowing at all.

The speed increased, but the whole vehicle jolted so much you could barely stay seated.

Lu Cheng's body bounced like a spring, moving up and down nonstop, his hands constantly gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Meanwhile the others suffered; the driver's head hit the roof several times from the jolts, as if his internal organs were about to burst out.

The driver inwardly lamented that if he dared drive the car like this, he'd already have been assigned to feed the pigs.

In the back seat, Yang Yin also complained: "Lu San'er, drive slower, I'm about to vomit, ugh…"

Yang Yin forced herself to hold back the urge to vomit, just rolled down the window, and the dust kicked up outside slammed into the car, so she quickly shut it again.

"If you want to vomit, vomit inside the car!"

Hearing Lu Cheng's inhuman words, Yang Yin covered her mouth and shouted: "I really regret coming out with you; you're not considerate at all, it's just pure suffering."

Lu Cheng ignored her complaint and kept his foot pressed to the throttle, driving forward.

Chasing on the main road would have taken at least two hours, but taking the shortcut, after about an hour and twenty minutes, he saw two jeeps cruising at constant speed on the main road far ahead.

Perhaps Qin Shousheng hadn't expected Lu Cheng to catch up and take the people away, so his speed was neither fast nor slow.

"Lu Jingzhang, the intersection ahead turns left; you can get onto the main road."

The driver finished speaking, and Lu Cheng floored the throttle again; when they reached the intersection, he slammed the steering wheel, sending Yang Yin in the back from the left side straight to the right.

Yang Yin lay there almost crying, and decided not to get up, to avoid being tossed again.

After turning onto the main road, the jolting eased considerably.

But unlike later times, where everywhere has smooth asphalt roads and every village has cement roads, the bumpiness still remained.

It was close now; the taillights of the two jeeps ahead were already visible.

Lu Cheng paid no heed to the two passengers' suffering, and accelerated to catch up.

As the gap narrowed, the two jeeps ahead noticed the trailing vehicle but treated it as just passing traffic, not taking it seriously, and kept cruising at constant speed.

Until Lu Cheng floored the throttle, then drifted and swung the rear, positioning his car across the front, forcing the two jeeps to slam on their brakes and stop.

In the passenger seat of the first jeep sat Qin Shousheng; when the vehicle stopped abruptly, his forehead slammed into the front, and in pain he grimaced and cursed.

"Bastard, how are you driving! If you can't drive, don't do this job anymore."

The driver was terrified: "Section Chief Qin, I didn't do it on purpose; there was someone ahead, ahead, blocking the car, look…"

Qin Shousheng's first reaction was that the driver was making an excuse; after all, who would be bold enough to block a Ministry of Public Security vehicle.

But when he covered his forehead and looked up, indeed a car ahead blocked the road.

The car ahead had just stopped when two strangers—a man and a woman—got out, rushed to the roadside and began vomiting loudly, making Qin Shousheng frown.

The driver beside them cautiously probed: "You see they're all vomiting; maybe the Masses need help, should we…"

Qin Shousheng glanced and said, "Are you telling me what to do?"

"No, no, I don't mean that…" The driver knew an explanation was useless, so he wisely kept quiet.

Qin Shousheng ordered again: "Go around from the side."

Even if someone truly needed help, he had no time; right now the local Ministry of Public Security needed to capture a group of Educated Youth and urgently transport them to the Capital City.

During this period, Educated Youth were causing disturbances nationwide; to curb and deter this, Qin Shousheng proposed to the bureau to imprison several of them, to see if the rest would still dare to cause trouble.

This move could also serve as his political achievement, helping him continue to rise as a district section chief, assisting a few members of the Masses—what a political feat.

The driver obeyed, steering, while the jeep hauling the Educated Youth followed closely behind.

Just as they were about to pass the rear of the front jeep, the vehicle suddenly rolled back a bit and slammed into the front of their own jeep.

Qin Shousheng instantly flared up; this wasn't help at all, it was clearly a deliberate provocation.

Unable to tolerate it, Qin Shousheng immediately called out, opened the door, and stepped out.

He hurried to the car and pounded the window hard.

"Get out! What's going on? Do you know which unit this car belongs to? You dare crash! Get out immediately! Hurry!"

Lu Cheng didn't get out, letting the other side pound the window; after all it wasn't his car, if they didn't mind hurting their hands they could keep pounding.

When the other side had pounded enough, having vented most of their anger, Lu Cheng finally rolled down the window, flashing a big white grin.

When he saw who was sitting in the car, Qin Shousheng's anger vanished, but there was no joy either; his expression was a mix of many emotions.

Confusion, helplessness, then turning back to anger…

"Why is it you?"

Lu Cheng smiled: "Long time no see, Section Chief Qin, I heard you got promoted; you didn't even tell me, so I'll host a celebration at our State-run Hotel for your advancement."

Faced with Lu Cheng's words, Qin Shousheng was extremely puzzled, thinking when this guy had become so courteous.

Little did he know, Lu Cheng was deliberately stalling to wait for Bureau Chief Qian to bring the Railway Troops over.

Qin Shou, still alive, didn't know Lu Cheng's thoughts and said without any gratitude.

"My not being promoted is none of your business; I don't need your congratulations! Look at how you smashed the front of our car—it's all deformed. How are we supposed to drive it? What do you think we should do?"