Chapter 38: Fuel

Zhang Yibao kicked the oil barrel over with one foot, letting it roll five or six meters away.

“Do you know what the fuel price is now? Two hundred yuan per liter, it has risen more than thirty times.” Zhang Yibao lifted his foot again and kicked the fuel pump beside him hard, directly smashing the fuel gauge; glass scattered all over the ground, but he acted as if he hadn’t noticed. “But damn it, even with money, you can’t get fuel. Don’t tell me there isn’t any here; there isn’t any in the city inside either.”

“But Bro Bao, what does this have to do with us?”

Zhang Yibao immediately flew into a rage and roared, “Damn you pig brains? Didn’t you usually complain about having no money? Now there is such a good opportunity to make a fortune, and you dare say it has nothing to do with you. Do I have to give you a few kicks for it to have something to do with you?”

The person who had just spoken giggled and said, “Bro Bao, if we were as smart as you, we would have been Big Brothers long ago.”

The other four all laughed, and one of them said, “Pheasant, no wonder among us brothers, you’re the only one who can pick up a girl in a day. That mouth of yours, hahaha…”

Zhang Yibao enjoyed this very much. He gave a grunt and said, “Use your heads and think about it. Among the people waiting here, which one doesn’t have a car but lack fuel? People without cars have long since crossed over the mountains from the other side. This blockade line blocks shit. Tsk tsk, if we drove a fuel tanker here, how much money would that be? I dare say, at four or five hundred yuan per liter, these grandsons would obediently pay up.”

A fuel tanker generally carries four or five tons of fuel, and one ton of gasoline is about fourteen hundred liters. At four or five hundred yuan per liter, this one fuel truck would be worth millions.

As soon as this number was calculated, the eyes of the other few people turned green with greed, but Pheasant scratched his head and said, “But Bro Bao, we can’t even handle our own car, so why talk about getting rich.” Actually, Pheasant was just a nickname of his; his real name was Chen Shanji, and precisely because of this name, Chen Shanji could only resign himself to this crappy nickname.

Zhang Yibao laughed and said, “This is our next key point. There is a fuel tanker transfer station in Qiaomu Town. Every day, at least ten vehicles gather there. Think about it, everyone is busy fleeing, only remembering gold, silver, and money. Who would care about this fuel? You know as well as I do that we haven’t gained any benefits along the way; anything valuable has been taken away by others.”

Qiaomu Town was only about ten-plus kilometers from the county town where Zhang Yibao and the others were staying. They knew about this transfer point, but in the past, this stuff wasn’t worth money, so who would have ideas about fuel tankers?

As soon as Qiaomu Town was mentioned, everyone hesitated. It was fifty or sixty kilometers away from here; who knew if there were Fierce Beasts appearing? This was a matter of losing one’s life.

Zhang Yibao snorted coldly, slapped the fuel pump, and roared, “If you want to get rich, how can you not take some risks? You fled all the way here, have you seen the shadow of a Fierce Beast? Think about it, as long as we drive a few fuel trucks back, there will be plenty of money for us to squander. In the future, you can pick up pretty girls and drive nice cars. All of you, pull yourselves together. Otherwise, after entering the city later, we will be nothing but a pile of shit, just like beggars on the street.”

At Zhang Yibao’s roar, the others gritted their teeth and said, “Bro Bao, just tell us how to do it.”

They couldn’t be considered desperadoes, but there were plenty of people they had beaten and crippled. Who didn’t know their Bro Bao’s name and their own nicknames?

Zhang Yibao said, “Very good, worthy of being Zhang Yibao’s brothers, you are man enough. Pheasant, how far can the fuel still take us?” Chen Shanji said, “A hundred kilometers or so is no problem.” Zhang Yibao nodded and said, “Very good, actually we don’t need a plan. Now, anyone in Qiaomu Town who could run has run away. We just need to go to the transfer station and drive the fuel trucks back. It’s that simple.”

This job was simple; it just meant taking the risk of possibly running into Fierce Beasts. But thinking of the value of a fuel truck, who would care about that?

Their van wasn’t blocked. Taking advantage of the fact that it was afternoon, there was still enough time to make a round trip.

Seeing them get into the van, Zhou Liming, who had been listening to their conversation from the side all along, pretended to look silly and ran over. “Big brothers, can you take me along? With one more person, maybe we can drive one more fuel truck back. I… I only need a hundred liters or so; the rest will all be yours, big brothers.”

Zhang Yibao’s eyes revealed a fierce glint, and he said viciously, “You kid, were you eavesdropping on us?”

Zhou Liming put on a smile and said, “Big brothers, how could I? I just saw you talking about fuel and stuff, so I wanted to tag along with you big brothers to gain a little something. Don’t worry, I just want enough fuel to fill my dad’s crappy car; the rest… the rest is all yours, big brothers.”

Chen Shanji and the others started cursing and wanted to get out of the car to beat Zhou Liming up, but Zhang Yibao stopped them. He rolled his eyes and said, “Alright, get in.” Having an extra fool help drive a fuel truck back meant gaining another few million; not taking advantage of a bargain would make one a fool. When they got back, they would just give him a little fuel to send him away. If he dared to cause trouble, humph… he would have hell to pay.

Actually, if he knew that Zhou Liming couldn’t even drive at all, would he be so angry that he would vomit blood?

Fuel had currently become the biggest concern for everyone at the blockade checkpoint. If a car has no fuel, can it still be called a car? Zhou Liming had walked around once, came back to ask An Xiaowei, and only then discovered that the heavy truck, which had been running for half a day and a night, had very little fuel left. However, the gas station here had been looted empty long ago, and even the boss didn’t know where he had run off to.

As long as he knew where there was fuel, Zhou Liming had a way to go get some while it was dark, but the problem was that Zhou Liming was not familiar with this place at all, so even if he wanted to go, he didn’t know which direction to take.

Fortunately, after hearing the conversation of this Bro Bao and his group, while admiring their economic sense, Zhou Liming inevitably set his sights on them.

Zhou Liming had it planned out: when they reached the Qiaomu Town they spoke of, he couldn’t drive anyway, so he would just use an oil barrel to fill some fuel and run back. For him, this wasn’t anything challenging. As for them talking about driving fuel trucks, Zhou Liming couldn’t care less.

After getting into their van, Pheasant drove, and Zhang Yibao sat in the passenger seat, smoking.

Seeing Zhou Liming’s inexperienced and slightly dull look, one could tell at a glance he was the type of social doormat.

Zhang Yibao didn’t worry at all that Zhou Liming would play any tricks. Just based on this high school student look and that thin, bear-like body, he could crush him to death with one hand. Because of this, everyone in the car was relaxed, loudly discussing what they should do after they had money. At most, they collected protection fees in the county town and watched over venues for people; plus, they spent money like water. Having a hundred thousand or so on hand was already the limit for them.

Pheasant’s driving skills were impressive. In this crowded place with many cars, he drove in the opposite lane, yet he managed to drive the van like a loach, leaving Shuangqiao Town in a moment.