Mile Mountain Service Area.
Ahead were roads and cliffs, and behind was a deep gully, tens of meters deep, overgrown with shrubs and weeds.
This was a third-class Service Area that could be described as being in the middle of nowhere, only providing basic facilities such as fuel, water, a Convenience Store, dining, drinking water, and restrooms.
"We're here."
After the driver brought the bus to a steady stop, he conveniently turned on the interior lights, then stood up and loudly addressed everyone, "Wake up, everyone wake up! Everyone get off and rest for half an hour. Be back here in half an hour. Don't miss the departure time."
"Make sure to keep your valuables with you!"
With that, the driver opened his umbrella and got off the bus.
He walked to a corner not far away, smoking and waiting for the passengers to disembark.
"Whoosh whoosh~"
As soon as the bus door opened, cold, damp wind rushed in, assailing them.
The passengers instantly became more alert, rustling as they put on their coats, quietly muttering, "It was summer when we got on, and now it's winter when we get off."
The temperature difference between day and night in the mountains was quite large.
But a temperature difference of over ten degrees was truly unexpected.
Some college students wearing short sleeves shivered from the cold and were too embarrassed to ask the driver to open the luggage compartment for clothes, so they braved the cold and ran towards the Service Area to escape the wind.
"No umbrella, so wear a hat."
Xu Wanli opened his handbag and rummaged through it, making a clinking sound.
Soon, he found a black baseball cap.
He put the baseball cap on his head, pulled the brim low to block the wind, and walked out with his handbag.
As soon as he reached the bus door, a strong cold wind seeped through his collar and onto his skin. The chilling sensation made Xu Wanli shiver, and he couldn't help but quicken his pace.
Before getting off the bus, he unconsciously looked back at the Woman.
The Woman had already woken up, her face was still pale, but her coughing symptoms had lessened considerably, and the veins on her face were no longer prominent; her condition seemed to be improving.
But the next second.
"Thud!"
The Woman stood up, preparing to walk out. Whether she missed a step or was simply too weak, she fell straight forward, face down, with a "thump" sound, as if she had hit something hard.
"Sis!"
"Wife!"
The two middle-aged men, who were cleaning up food waste, were startled. They hastily put down their things, knelt down, and helped the Woman up.
The bus seats were a small step higher than the aisle.
The Woman's forehead had hit the step, and blood was flowing freely.
"I'm fine."
The Woman looked up at her husband and younger brother, calmly patting her clothes, her face showing no sign of pain.
As she looked up, the blood from her forehead flowed into her eyes, and her vision became half-red.
"Huh?"
The Woman instinctively reached up to wipe her eyes.
When her vision returned and she saw the crimson bloodstains on the back of her hand, she looked astonished, as if she didn't understand what had happened.
"Sis, your forehead is bleeding!"
The dark-skinned man frantically opened his backpack, rummaged for tissues, and wiped the blood from the Woman's face.
Presumably from years of manual labor, his movements were a bit rough.
He occasionally touched the exposed wound.
But the Woman's expression didn't change at all, as if he wasn't wiping blood from her body, but sweat, her face completely calm.
A blank expression, a constantly bleeding, gruesome wound...
The combination of the two scenes seemed quite eerie.
"Let's take her to the Hall of the Service Area first."
From the back of the bus, a soft, gentle voice could be heard.
"The Service Area has water and hemostatic medicine. Take her there to clean and treat the wound. See how serious the injury is, and based on that, decide whether to call an ambulance or wait until we reach the destination to take her to the hospital for examination."
Xu Wanli looked up in the direction of the voice.
His view was obstructed, so he could only see that the speaker was a girl about 1.7 meters tall, wearing a mask and a cold-weather hat, making her appearance unclear.
"Yes, yes, yes, let's go to the Service Area to stop the bleeding first."
"I'll carry Xiao Yi, you pack up the things."
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, the two men immediately had a plan and acted with clear purpose.
Xu Wanli quickly moved to the driver's seat, clearing the way.
Soon, the man with glasses carried the Woman, carefully walking off the bus.
Then, without bothering to open an umbrella, he ran through the heavy rain towards the Service Area Hall.
"Brother-in-law, wait, I'll hold the umbrella for you."
The dark-skinned man held an umbrella in one hand and two backpacks and a bag of trash in the other.
He found the trash cumbersome, so he casually tossed it towards a nearby trash can.
Unfortunately, his aim was a bit off; it didn't go in, and the trash bag wasn't tied, scattering food scraps and blood-stained tissues all over the ground.
"How rude, he can't even walk two steps."
"Say less, they're in a hurry to take care of the injured."
"So cold!"
"Walk faster, it'll be warm once we get to the Service Area Hall."
Other passengers got off the bus one after another.
Some couldn't help but complain about the dark-skinned man's littering, but soon they couldn't stand the cold and damp weather, pulling their clothes tight and quickly walking towards the Service Area Hall.
The last ones to disembark were the group of college students experiencing life.
Xu Wanli saw that the girl who had just spoken was among them.
She was wearing light blue jeans, showcasing her long and slender legs. On top, she wore a loose white hoodie with black letters, paired with a dark green jacket, giving her a somewhat neutral feel.
But her figure was not neutral at all.
The jacket zipper couldn't even be pulled up!
It was quite something!
Regrettably, this girl was wearing a mask, so her exact appearance couldn't be seen.
But with such a figure, her looks didn't even matter anymore.
"Do you need me to share my umbrella?"
Seeing that Xu Wanli didn't have an umbrella, the girl casually asked.
She regretted it as soon as she spoke.
This young man's gaze was very oppressive. He had pulled down his baseball cap, and was carrying a black handbag, staring at them motionlessly, like a wild wolf biding its time, choosing its lamb. Coupled with his vintage attire...
It was quite frightening.
"Thank you, no need."
Xu Wanli was slightly surprised.
He hadn't expected her to initiate conversation, and he promptly refused.
Over the years, he had long developed the habit of not easily troubling others.
"Yu Sihan, hurry up, I'm freezing to death."
Several lightly dressed companions urged her loudly.
"Xiao Hao!"
Hearing someone call her full name, the girl rolled her eyes, and at the same time, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, turning to run towards her companions.
"If you dare to call my full name again, do you believe I'll sleep with Xiao Ling every night from now on?!"
"No, no, no, Han Jie, I was wrong."
"Begging won't help, I'm sleeping with Xiao Ling tonight."
"Tonight? Tonight is fine, anyway, we don't even know if we'll make it to Qinglai City."
"Then I'll sleep with Xiao Ling tomorrow night too."
"Don't be like that, Han Jie, just say whatever you want to eat, I'll go buy it for you right now."
"Then... luosifen, don't forget Xiao Ling's portion."
"Don't worry."
"......"
The voices gradually faded away.
Xu Wanli looked at the group's retreating figures, feeling quite envious.
Whenever he scrolled through videos and saw young couples, he would feel that college life was wonderful. You could attend classes, leave classes, stroll on the campus, and travel with the person you liked, doing whatever you wanted carefree, without having to consider other factors.
Unfortunately, he would never be able to experience college life in this lifetime.
"I'll work hard, and try my best to let my child go to college."
Xu Wanli's gaze was firm.
Then he lowered his head and rushed into the rain, heading straight for the Service Area restroom.
The driver took a deep drag from his white Honghe cigarette, then flicked the butt away, locked the door, and left.
The parking lot gradually fell silent.
The blood-stained tissues on the ground were washed away by the rain, and streaks of blood spread outwards.
A dark shadow darted out from a gloomy corner, crawling directly towards the trash can, lowering its head to gnaw on the blood-stained food outside the trash can...