Chapter 201 - 109: Helping Hand – The Woman Driving a Ford Bronco [Bonus Update! 12,000 Words!]
(An additional Chapter for the invincible leader Wu Sheng 1!)
After passing the entrance of Jiuhuang Airport, the view ahead suddenly becomes wide open.
Strictly speaking, Songpan isn’t considered a grassland.
But compared to the scenery in the gorge of Jiuzhaigou, this place suddenly seems much broader.
On both sides are grassy plains, and in the farther distance, glaciers and snow-capped mountains merge with the skyline.
However, the altitude here is already quite high. Li Younan glanced at the altimeter on the dashboard; it had already reached 3300.
This altitude is enough to cause altitude sickness for many people.
Li Younan naturally didn’t feel anything, and his mother looked okay too.
The ones feeling worse were Zhao Ruoxuan and her mother.
Zhao Ruoxuan had already put her phone away, leaning half-dead against the seat, muttering constantly, "Today is so weird, how come I’m car sick?"
Zhao Xiaofang also felt a bit puzzled, sighed with closed eyes, "Could it be because of the mountain road?"
Li Younan pulled the car over to a more open spot, smiled, and took two oxygen tanks from the trunk, saying, "You two probably have a bit of altitude sickness. Rest and inhale some oxygen, and you’ll be fine." Then he looked at his mom and asked, "Mom, are you okay?"
His mom blinked, somewhat puzzled, touched her forehead, and said, "I don’t feel anything."
"That’s good." Li Younan unfolded a folding chair from the car, placed it on the roadside clearing, and let them rest for a while, saying, "Anyway, it’s still early."
For their mother and daughter’s situation, there’s no better remedy, just inhale some oxygen and gradually let the body adapt to this altitude.
In September mornings, Songpan is already a bit chilly, and at this altitude, the temperature is only about ten degrees.
Li Younan took a jacket from the car and put it on his mom.
Zhao Xiaofang looked at this scene with some envy, then glanced at Zhao Ruoxuan, who had regained some spirit and was playing games on her phone, and sighed slightly.
After some thought, she deliberately said, "Ruoxuan, are you cold?"
Ruoxuan raised her head, felt carefully, and nodded, "It is a bit cold, mom, I’ll go get a jacket."
Zhao Ruoxuan’s mother nodded, somewhat expectantly watching as Ruoxuan got up and walked over to open the car door.
Then, Ruoxuan took a jacket from the car, put it on herself, and strolled back to lie comfortably on the folding chair and continue playing games.
Zhao Xiaofang’s mouth twitched slightly, feeling the weather getting colder.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and she directly kicked the back of Zhao Ruoxuan’s chair, saying irritably, "You’re just taking one jacket? Leaving your mom to freeze!"
Ruoxuan stood up a bit aggrieved, rubbed her kicked sore butt, and said, "You didn’t say you were cold earlier, I thought you felt the chill was just right."
Ruoxuan a bit reluctantly went back to the car to get her mom a jacket.
On the other hand, Li Younan had already poured a cup of ginger red tea from the thermos and handed it to his mom.
Of course, this time, wanting to be fair, Li Younan also handed a cup to Aunt Zhao.
Zhao Xiaofang felt warm drinking it, but her heart was cold, ah, other people’s children...
...
By this time, there were quite a few cars on the road already, but most were service vehicles, taking tourists to the railway station and airport.
Cars like theirs doing self-drive tours tend to enter and exit from the Mianyang direction.
Only a few have the same destination as them, intending to go to Ruoergai and Hongyuan, these grassland routes.
Li Younan leaned back in the chair, chewing on a packet of jerky bought from Jiuzhaigou; it’s pretty chewy.
To distinguish genuine jerky, first look at the price—generally, if it’s less than 120 per pound, it’s probably fake.
After all, beef is expensive, and by the ratio of three pounds of fresh beef to one pound of jerky, the cost price alone is 100. Are they not making money?
The packet in his hand was genuine yak jerky given by Ze Wangxiu, very tasty but a bit of a jaw workout.
While chewing, Li Younan gazed towards the end of the road.
The sun was fully risen now, and the sunlight from the Jiuzhaigou direction made the asphalt road glare somewhat.
A Ford Mustang off-road vehicle emerged slowly from below the horizon, then cruised slowly in this direction.
Li Younan showed a hint of contemplation in his gaze, touching his chin as he watched the car.
His curiosity arose because the car was driving a bit oddly.
It’s worth noting that throughout Aba, at least since Li Younan entered Jiuzhaigou, the national highway roads have been excellent.
Despite being two lanes, the road is wide, with maintenance crews inspecting daily, and the asphalt is of good quality, so local drivers aren’t usually slow.
Entering Songpan territory, especially this stretch, mostly consists of long straight lines, inadvertently allowing speeds over 100 km/h.
But that Ford Mustang was only moving at about 20 km/h, slowly heading this way, the driver seeming hesitant, almost a moving obstacle, as several cars overtook it.
The vehicle came closer and seemed to spot the roadside clearing as a great parking spot, or perhaps noticed the also parked Land Cruiser.
The Ford Mustang engaged its turn signals at a slightly closer spot and slowly pulled over.
