Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That day, my Master was on that road specifically to perform Chongsha.

When he first saw me on the road, he thought I was a veteran out doing the same thing.

It wasn’t until he saw me swerving blindly, nearly grinding my truck into the roadside guardrail, that he realized I was just a greenhorn who didn’t know a damn thing.

Fortunately, I was obedient enough to follow him into his truck.

It was during that drive that I first learned about the existence of Chongsha.

I drove that route many times later. It cuts through mountains and ridges; there aren’t any villages nearby, not even a stray grave plot.

To this day, I still don’t know what that opera singing I heard that night really was.

After that ordeal, my Master felt there was a certain fate between us and saw that I was a quick study, so he took me on as his apprentice.

I stayed in his truck for two years.

My Master’s name was Kong Jia. By the time he took me in, he had been driving heavy rigs for nearly twenty years and was well-known in the industry.

He never held anything back from me, teaching me every skill he possessed.

Relying on the experience my Master passed down and my own resilient fate, I also began a career of driving for Chongsha.

By the time I was thirty, I had started my own logistics company and was living a good life.

But fate took a sharp turn for the worse overnight.

My parents passed away one after the other, and then my wife died of an illness.

My company was hollowed out by my partners, leaving me saddled with massive debt.

During my darkest days, I tried to keep it from my Master.

He had already retired, and I didn’t want the old man worrying about me anymore.

But he heard about it anyway. He showed up at my house carrying dozens of pounds of beef.

Before leaving, he tucked a bank card with two hundred thousand yuan into my hand.

He said to me:

“Changdong, who has a perfectly smooth life?

“We live our lives with integrity. First, find a way to pay off the debt, then start over.”

I lit incense for my Master and kowtowed three times before his funerary portrait.

I only stood up when my Master’s Wife came over to help me.

“Master’s Wife, why would Master suddenly go out for a Chongsha?

“And what was with those people earlier? Is Master in debt because he was trying to help me?”

I was anxious, terrified that I had somehow dragged my Master down with me.

“No,” my Master’s Wife said, shaking her head gently.

“Your Master never borrowed a cent from anyone in his life. The money he gave you was our family’s savings from over the years.”

“Then-”

“It’s all my brother’s fault!”

An angry voice rang out from the doorway. It was my Master’s daughter, Kong Yi.

Kong Yi was born late and had just graduated from university this year. Her eyes were red and swollen as she carried several bags of Joss Paper and gold ingots.

I hurried over to take them from her. “Is Kong Liang the one in debt?”

Kong Liang was my Master’s eldest son. He was only three years younger than me, but he had no job, no family of his own, and had always been a constant source of trouble.

“Why haven’t I seen him? Where is he?”

It was only then that I realized that even though his father had passed away, the son wasn’t even keeping watch in the mourning hall.

“Who knows where he went? He’s probably rotting away in some mahjong parlor!”

Kong Yi wiped the tears from her face. I quickly pulled her over to sit down.

“Don’t cry. I’ll stay here tonight. You and your mother should go back and get some rest.”

Kong Yi shook her head repeatedly. “I’m not going back. It’s the last day. I want to stay with my dad.”