Everything I bought on online shopping platforms was genuine.

Chapter 1275 The Fickle Man

Besides leaving some money for Lao Zhao, Lin Mo also left behind a "Safe Travel" tag, an in-vehicle AI robot based on Xu Ying's data, and even evolved to the point of being comparable to a digital life form.

Besides that, there's also the Spark Lens that can turn your shadow into Ultraman. Although it's not very useful, as someone who grew up watching Ultraman Tiga, he still hopes that Old Zhao will always believe in the light.

As long as people have hope in their hearts, they can grit their teeth and face whatever difficulties they encounter in the future, and they will not be discouraged.

Old Zhao left, driving his old car that, though it was a cheap, old-fashioned vehicle, carried many of his memories. But Lin Mo and the other two were in a bit of a predicament.

At 7 p.m. that evening, at a roadside stall in a county town, the Sichuan girl said speechlessly, "Serves you right for showing off. Now look what happened. We still have to drive back, over a thousand kilometers. If the three of us go back, we'll ruin our backs."

The more happy they were when they were putting on this act, the more disheveled they are now!

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo rolled his eyes at him and shouted, "You weren't pretending! You showed it all the time when you were pretending, and now you're blaming me?"

"I'm fine. It's just a thousand kilometers, I've driven before. I can just drive it for a couple more days. My back's strong, I can handle it. What about you, Director Wang?"

Director Wang: "My kidneys make a clanging sound when I dig them out and throw them on the ground. Why would I be afraid to drive? Besides, this is a tank! I suggest we skip the hotel and sleep in the car instead. I like it!"

Sichuan girl:.

"So it's just that my back is bad, and you two are making fun of me! And Director Wang, shut up, you're a driver who's addicted to driving and you don't deserve to speak."

"Should we get a tow truck to take the car back?"

There's no way around it; Lin Mo has really driven that far before. After all, last year he drove all over the important properties of the Qin and Huang families in a week, covering much more kilometers than this, and he still wasn't impressed. Now, a mere thousand kilometers is no big deal!

Needless to say, Director Wang is a man who can drive a tank every day if given the chance, since he doesn't necessarily get to touch a vehicle every day in Jiangning.

Most importantly, even if he had a car, he couldn't drive it as freely as he does now. He really loves the feeling of driving around like this.

"I don't think this is a good idea. Why call for a tow truck? Towing trucks are free!" Lin Mo said.

Sichuan girl: →_→

"What, Mr. Lin, with your grand business empire, are you really that short of this? You've already achieved your small goals!"

Lin Mo shook his head at this: "That's not right. We may have money, but we should save it when we should spend it. We called a tow truck at first because we were really busy. Now we're all free, and time is the least valuable thing. If we spend money to call a tow truck again, wouldn't that be a complete waste?"

“Old Mo is right. I also think it’s better to drive back. Besides, if we drive hard, we can get home in a day or two at most. If we drive slowly, it will only take two or three days. Let’s stay and have some more fun,” Director Wang said.

When the three brothers are in trouble, they unite as one; when they are not in trouble, they fight amongst themselves without anyone needing to sow discord between them.

"You two are unreasonable! Do you really enjoy making things difficult for yourselves? I'm speechless!" After saying that, the Sichuan girl continued to tear into the roasted lamb leg, eating with a ferocious look.

That night, the three of them found a hotel in this unknown small county town and stayed there. Fortunately, technology is advanced now and there is navigation everywhere. Otherwise, the three of them would have been lost and unable to find their way home.

The next day, at 1:30 pm, the three of them boarded the high-speed train back to Jiangning.

Sichuan girl: →_→

"No, I'm just saying, are you two really that fickle? Everyone says women are fickle, but I think you two are just as fickle!"

Faced with the Sichuan girl's mockery, Lin Mo and Wang Chu, who were standing to the side, both smiled awkwardly, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

There was nothing I could do. I was so full of confidence last night, saying it was just a little over a thousand kilometers, no big deal!

But after driving for half a day this morning, all three of them couldn't hold on any longer.

Firstly, driving is really tiring, especially the back, which hurts terribly. They hadn't paid much attention to it before when they were taking Lao Zhao to school, but now that their energy has been depleted, they feel pain all over their bodies, and their physical strength is being lost very quickly.

Secondly, they hadn't had much rest during this period. After nearly ten days of traveling, they had acted as special forces in the capital the day before yesterday, marching and visiting various tourist attractions. They hadn't had much rest that night. Yesterday, they spent a few hours out with Lao Zhao and then drove him about 300 kilometers. After that, they drove back for a few hours before finally stopping in a county town to rest.

Although I slept for a night, I still haven't recovered my strength. Everyone says that traveling is great, but only those who have actually traveled know that traveling is very tiring, especially when you're constantly moving around, even with transportation.

As for the kind that isn't tiring, that's called a vacation. You go to a scenic place and stay for several days. Of course, that kind of thing isn't tiring.

No one can resist the exhaustion of this kind of forced-sightseeing tour. Everyone who goes on vacation needs to stay home for a day or two to recover afterward!

So after driving for half a day, they decided to use a tow truck and took the high-speed train back home.

Driving? I can't drive at all, I really don't want to drive anymore, I feel like throwing up. Even Director Wang was completely listless.

"Hey, times have changed. We're just being pragmatic. Besides, taking the high-speed rail is great! We'll be home soon, then we can have a nice long sleep. After we've rested, we can go back to my hometown with me and stay for a couple of days. That would be wonderful!" Lin Mo laughed. Hearing this, Director Wang nodded: "It's a pity the Dragon Boat Festival is over. Otherwise, we could have eaten zongzi and watched the dragon boat races!"

Sichuan girl: "Of course! Meat-filled rice dumplings are so delicious. I don't know why there are sweet rice dumplings in Jiangning!"

This suggestion was strongly agreed upon by Wang Chu, who also couldn't eat sweet rice dumplings.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo rolled his eyes: "We have both savory and sweet zongzi here, okay? Old Zhao's side is your enemy, they only have sweet zongzi over there!"

Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, Lao Zhao, Chuanmei, and Wang Chu would argue endlessly about the flavor of the zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), each considering the other a heretic and finding the other's zongzi strange.

Lin Mo was fine, because due to the geographical location, he could eat both kinds of zongzi.

However, to put it simply, in terms of taste alone, savory or meat-filled rice dumplings are tastier, but this rice dumpling gives him the feeling of eating dried meat rice.

Although the sweet rice dumplings were a bit lacking in flavor, they were certainly unique, offering a taste you don't usually get.

"It's a good thing that Old Zhao left, otherwise I would have hung him up and beaten him!" Chuanmei said with a look of dissatisfaction.

Director Wang nodded: "Old Zhao is indeed a heretic!"

Lin Mo:

Their country is quite a magical one. Fifty-six ethnic groups live in harmony, but sweet and savory tofu pudding and sweet and savory rice dumplings can fight fiercely against each other.

Every year on the Dragon Boat Festival, the three of them would put on a full-blown fight. Of course, the main force was still Lao Zhao and Wang Chu, while Chuan Mei was just an accessory, since she really didn't have much fighting ability.

As for Lin Mo himself, he watched the show from the sidelines, occasionally recording a video or something, but those days would never come again.

Just like this year's Dragon Boat Festival, the three of them didn't pay any attention to it at all, and only remembered it after it was over. Sure enough, there was no conflict without rice dumplings.

Of course, there are many such conflicts. For example, the class monitor has very strict requirements for Jianbing Guozi (Chinese crepes). Whenever they go to buy Jianbing Guozi, the class monitor remains silent.

She won't watch, eat, or comment. If you force her to say anything, she'll definitely swear!

Once on the high-speed train, the three of them were immediately in a good mood, feeling relaxed and ready to chat.

"By the way, Chuanzi, was it true that you asked Lao Zhao to go to the Rebirth Stone in XZ, or did you make it up?" Lin Mo asked.

Upon hearing this, the Sichuan girl put down her phone and said dismissively, "Of course it's true. Let's find him something to do."

The mother left a message in my comment section, which I saw, so I contacted her. Originally, I was thinking of going by myself. First, I could go sightseeing and travel around. Second, I could do a good deed by helping a mother fulfill her wish. Third, I could use the material to update a video. It would be a win-win-win situation.

But now that I think about it, I should let Old Zhao handle it. He'll definitely be willing to go, and it'll give him something to do, instead of him staying home all day overthinking. People, once they have something to do, won't think about those random things, and going out more will improve his mood!

Hearing this, Lin Mo couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "You're really resourceful, kid!"

Indeed, since they emptied Lao Zhao's rented room, the group of them went out together, visited several places, saw concerts, and visited many tourist attractions. Lao Zhao's condition improved at a visible speed.

Their appetites have improved, and even though they've been working themselves to the bone lately, Old Zhao's face has actually gotten fuller, and his complexion is much better than before.

Moreover, with the safe travel permit attached, Lin Mo believed that Old Zhao's health would be fine for at least a year, which was already quite good.

Another year will pass, and it will be two years since Xu Ying passed away. By then, even if he hasn't completely let go, he will be able to accept it, and that will be good enough.

"I sent Lao Zhao screenshots of the mother's comments, as well as our chat history, and a photo of the mother's deceased son. Lao Zhao won't let that mother down."

"And I told him that after he finishes dealing with his own affairs, he should film every day of his trip to the Rebirth Stone and make it into a vlog, which he should then update on his own account. I'll let that mother watch it then, firstly so he can record his life every day, and secondly so we can know how Lao Zhao is doing. Then I'll tag him on my account and make a collaborative video, which can also give him some exposure. Maybe in a year, Lao Zhao will become a famous travel blogger!" Chuanmei laughed.

Hearing this, Lin Mo nodded: "Old Zhao will!"

(End of this chapter)