novelraw Chapter 87 The driver collapses! A desperate situation in a race against time!
Chapter 87 The driver collapses! A desperate situation in a race against time!
The sky grew completely dark.
The mountain wind howled, carrying a biting chill.
The film crew's camp was completely silent.
Everyone looked at each other, their eyes filled with despair.
Driving a bus?
This is no ordinary family car!
This is a large bus that is twelve meters long and weighs more than ten tons!
Let alone the Nujiang River's eighteen bends, which are only four meters wide and have cliffs on one side and steep walls on the other.
Even on a smooth highway, who would dare to touch the steering wheel without several years of experience driving an A1 large passenger vehicle?
What's more, this is a life-or-death situation! We have to drive down the mountain in the pitch black of night!
The assistant director held his phone, his hands trembling.
He had just dialed 120 (emergency services). Based on Tang Xiaoxiao's description of her symptoms over the phone, the emergency center doctor made a preliminary diagnosis: it was highly likely a perforated acute appendicitis. She needed to be taken to the hospital immediately for laparotomy; otherwise, she risked septic shock and death!
"The city hospital's emergency center said... said they would send an ambulance immediately. But..."
"But what?! Speak!" Xu Xing roared.
"The operator said that fog rolls in at night in the mountains, making visibility extremely low! And that road is too dangerous; even if an ambulance drives up at full speed with sirens blaring, it will take at least... at the earliest, more than an hour!"
More than an hour?!
Xu Xing gasped, feeling as if the sky was about to fall.
By the time the ambulance climbed up, the daylily buds were completely cold!
It’s over.
What if the second female lead dies on set?
This film, with an investment of several hundred million yuan, is completely ruined. Xu Xing's directing career is also over.
The only local driver in the crew who dared to drive on this road was completely out of commission.
"Who?! Who else can drive a bus?!"
Xu Xing, his eyes red, stared at the dozens of crew members around him. "Who among you has ever touched a truck before?! Step forward! I'll personally give you 100,000! No, 200,000!"
The generous reward was met with an awkward silence.
The men looked at each other, and then all lowered their heads.
It's not that they're cold-blooded, nor that they don't want the 200,000.
Rather, they dare not!
Who the hell would dare?!
This is the Nujiang River with its eighteen bends!
During the day, they sat on the bus, watching the wheels brush past the edge of a sheer cliff, their hearts pounding in their throats.
That was Mr. Wang, a local veteran driver with fifteen years of experience, and he was sweating profusely and driving very carefully.
It's nighttime now!
The streetlights in the mountains are practically useless, and in some places, fog has even started to roll in!
The narrowest part of the road is less than four meters wide, with hairpin bends one after another, creating terrifying blind spots!
Should we have them drive a twelve-meter-long bus down the mountain?
This is hardly a rescue mission.
This is practically being forced to commit suicide!
If you don't step on the brake in time, or turn the steering wheel half a second too late.
The car and its occupants rolled directly into the raging Nu River to feed the fish!
Two hundred thousand? I'd rather burn twenty million in ghost money for you!
"Is nobody here?!"
"Has no one ever even touched a steering wheel?!"
Everyone is very anxious.
"This is bad, what should we do?"
"This road is impossible to drive on at night. Even experienced drivers with A-class licenses might not dare to go down the mountain."
"If the ambulance can't get here, isn't that just waiting to die?"
In the center of the crowd.
Lin Zhixing took off his coat and spread it on the gravel ground.
"Put her down, make her lie flat."
Lin Zhixing said in a deep voice to his assistant who was holding Tang Xiaoxiao.
The assistant was already terrified and cried, and did as instructed in a panic.
Lin Zhixing knelt on one knee and placed his hands on Tang Xiaoxiao's wrists and abdomen.
Actually, he wasn't very confident either.
But he had a very good impression of Tang Xiaoxiao.
This sweet-looking, straightforward girl with no airs of a celebrity told herself today that she would listen to "Dong Feng Po" every night before bed.
He couldn't bear to watch a vibrant life end like that.
Lin Zhixing pressed his thumbs and index fingers together precisely on Tang Xiaoxiao's "Neiguan" acupoint on her wrist and "Zusanli" acupoint on her leg. A gentle force penetrated her body to relieve pain through acupoints.
"Lin Zhixing, what are you doing?!"
"Don't touch her! You can't touch her if she has appendicitis!"
People around him gasped in surprise, thinking he was about to do something reckless.
A miracle happened.
Just a few minutes later, Tang Xiaoxiao, who had been convulsing in pain and biting her lip tightly, miraculously relaxed her furrowed brows.
His rapid, weak breathing visibly became much calmer. The cold sweat on his face also stopped.
"Zhixing! She's better?!" Xu Xing asked in surprise upon seeing this.
The crew members around were also dumbfounded. What kind of magical technique was this? Just two presses and it was done?
"no."
Lin Zhixing withdrew his hand, let out a long breath, and looked solemn.
He knew very well that massage could only promote the flow of qi and blood.
This only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause.
Can't wait any longer!
He looked at the crowd, now utterly silent.
Looking at Tang Xiaoxiao lying on the ground, though she was no longer convulsing, she was still hanging by a thread.
Lin Zhixing gritted his teeth.
Oh shit.
Fight!
It's just driving, isn't it?
Do you think I'm afraid of your crappy mountain road?!
Lin Zhixing stood up and glanced at the bus parked in the open space.
Lin Zhixing wasn't actually very confident either.
But a man can't say no!
If it's time to go, then we have to go!
Lin Zhixing turned around and walked straight to the bus.
He flung open the driver's side door and stepped inside.
Lin Zhixing suddenly turned his head and shouted at his still-dazed assistant and Xu Xing, "Bring him in! I'll drive!"
The entire room fell silent.
Everyone was stunned.
Pairs of eyes stared incredulously at Lin Zhixing, who was sitting in the driver's seat.
Xu Xing suddenly snapped out of his daze, rushed to the car door, and pulled Lin Zhixing aside to ask:
"Zhixing! You...you can drive a large bus?!"
"How many years have you driven large trucks? How many times have you driven on mountain roads?!"
The assistant director also asked, "You have an A1 driver's license? How many years have you driven a bus?!"
Even Zhang Yue was stunned.
He remembered clearly that Lin Zhixing had said to him during a casual chat on the bus yesterday that he only had a C1 driver's license!
How can someone with a C1 driver's license drive a bus?!
"Zhixing! This isn't the time to show off!" Zhang Yue, sweating profusely, rushed forward and pleaded with the car window, "This is a matter of life and death! Even experienced drivers tremble on this road, how can you, a novice who's never driven a big truck before, possibly drive it?!"
This is no joke!
The length and blind spots of a bus are completely different from those of a car.
Especially driving a bus at night!
Lin Zhixing looked at Xu Xing's bloodshot eyes.
He didn't speak.
Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small brown plastic notebook.
"Smack."
Lin Zhixing tossed the notebook aside and handed it to Xu Xing.
Xu Xing looked down.
The assistant director also leaned in.
With the help of the dim light in the carriage, the two could see clearly.
Driver's license.
It features a headshot of Lin Zhixing without a hat.
Name: Lin Zhixing
Shift your gaze downwards.
Permitted driving type: [C1].
"..."
"..."
"..."
Xu Xing felt a sudden darkness before his eyes and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Holy crap!"
"You son of a bitch!!!"
The entire audience almost fainted!
"Lin Zhixing! Are you fucking crazy or am I?!"
Xu Xing shoved the driver's license aside, furious.
"This is a 12-meter-long bus! Air brakes! You're driving it with a C1 driver's license, which is only for cars?!"
"And this is the Nujiang River with its eighteen bends! There's a bottomless abyss right next to it! In the middle of the night, this is murder! Everyone on the bus will be killed with you!"
The surrounding staff also stepped back, looking at Lin Zhixing as if he were a madman.
"Teacher Lin, please, stop joking!"
"This is a bus! The steering wheel is bigger than a washbasin! We can't mess around like this!"
"If someone falls in, they won't even be found with a complete body!"
Despite Xu Xing's roar and the fear of the crowd, Lin Zhixing remained expressionless.
He put his driver's license away and put it back in his pocket.
"I know the rules."
"But I'm determined to drive this road today."
Lin Zhixing pointed to Tang Xiaoxiao, who was on the ground and had started convulsing again.
"She can't wait any longer."
Xu Xing followed his finger and looked at Tang Xiaoxiao, whose face was pale.
Xu Xing gritted his teeth, the muscles in his cheeks trembling.
Yes.
Are there any other options?
there is none left!
The experienced driver collapsed, and the ambulance couldn't get up.
Apart from this novice driver with a C1 license, no one dares to touch the steering wheel!
If they don't leave, Tang Xiaoxiao will surely die!
We left. Although it was a near-death experience, at least there was still a glimmer of hope!
"Damn it! Let's try anything, even if it's a dead end!"
Xu Xing whirled around and yelled at the film crew behind him, "Everyone else, stay on the mountain! Wait for the rescue vehicle!"
The assistant director swallowed hard: "Director Xu! Who's in this car?"
"I'll go myself!"
Xu Xing took off his coat and threw it hard on the ground.
He was almost fifty years old after all, and when faced with such a life-or-death situation, he was terrified.
But as the director and the head of the crew, if he doesn't step up in this situation, how will he maintain his reputation in the industry? How will he lead the team?
"Who else is willing to come along and take care of Xiao Xiao?!" Xu Xing shouted.
"I...I'll go!"
The assistant who had been crying while hugging Tang Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and stepped forward.
finally.
Only Xu Xing and his assistant carried Tang Xiaoxiao onto the bus.
Xu walked to the back of the driver's seat, gripped the armrest, his palms were sweaty.
He looked at Lin Zhixing, who was sitting calmly in the driver's seat, and his voice trembled violently, "It's all up to you."
"Brother Lin, the young lady's life depends entirely on you," the assistant said, crying from the back row.
"No problem, watch me," Lin Zhixing said expressionlessly.
then.
He fumbled around on the dashboard for quite a while.
"Um... do you guys know where the button to close the bus door is?" Lin Zhixing turned around and asked seriously.
Xu Xing: "..."
assistant:"......"
Xu Xing's eyes rolled back, and he almost died on the spot.
You don't even know where the door-closing button is, and you're telling me it's okay?!
"Sizzle—bang."
Under Xu Xing's guidance, the car door was finally slammed shut.
Lin Zhixing sat in the spacious driver's seat.
Close your eyes.
He gripped the black steering wheel, which was much larger than a small car, with both hands.
My experience driving buses came flooding back.
That's right!
This is the effect of master-level driving skills!
[Description: You will possess god-like driving skills. Whether it's racing, drifting, off-roading, or navigating the congested rush hour traffic with ease, you will handle it all with effortless mastery. Any vehicle in your hands will reach its full potential. You are the wind, you are electricity, you are a legend on the road.]
The 12-meter wheelbase, the air brake response delay, the clutch's semi-engaged engagement point, the grip limit of each tire...
Lin Zhixing opened his eyes.
I pressed my left foot down hard on the clutch pedal.
He gripped the long lever with his right hand.
"Click!"
A crisp sound rang out.
Shift directly into starting gear!
Pull the handbrake valve with your right hand and press it down sharply.
"Sizzle—!!!"
A loud hissing sound came from under the bus chassis!
That's the signature sound of a heavy vehicle releasing its air brakes!
Hearing the professional sound of air being released, Xu Xing was taken aback.
How come those movements are so practiced?
But he didn't have time to think about it further.
Lin Zhixing's right foot had already slammed down on the accelerator!
"boom--!!!"
The heavy-duty diesel engine at the rear of the bus roared to life!
"Hold on tight."
Lin Zhixing didn't turn his head, and simply uttered three words.
next second.
The bus was under the watchful eyes of everyone in the film crew.
With a roar, it plunged headlong into the downhill mountain road of the Nujiang River's eighteen bends!
Inside the car, the assistant clung tightly to Tang Xiaoxiao.
Xu Xing gripped the handrail, looking out the window at the cliffside trees rushing past, so close yet so far.
Then look ahead at the dark mountain road that twists and turns like a pretzel.
Xu Xing closed his eyes in despair.
Two lines of clear tears slid down uncontrollably.
It’s over.
This time, the whole village is really going to have to eat.
This guy is driving a bus like he's in Formula One!