Director He naturally didn’t know about the Mechanical Factory’s matters.
They were still on the road, and Xiao Li, who was driving, looked at the sky and asked, "Director He, can we make it to Baihui Town before it gets dark?"
There was no discernible expression on He Jinxuan’s face: "It should be about right. It looks like it’s going to rain, so let’s drive a bit faster with safety as the priority."
Xiao Li kept his eyes on the road and replied, "Okay."
As he accelerated the car, the vehicles behind followed closely.
But things didn’t go as they hoped. After driving for more than ten miles, a car in the middle broke down, forcing the convoy to stop.
After the repairman checked the car, he couldn’t find the cause of the problem and was sweating profusely in anxiety.
They had to reach Baihui Town before dark. If they stopped here, it would be far from any village or shop, and they were worried about the safety of both people and goods.
He Jinxuan inspected the goods of each vehicle, and once he confirmed everything was fine, he came over, "Let me take a look."
The repairman quickly made space for him. Initially, he and his master were supposed to be with the convoy, but his master fractured his shin the night before departure, so he thought that since the vehicles had been inspected prior to departure, there shouldn’t be any issues and accompanied the convoy alone.
After checking, He Jinxuan said: "The shock absorber is leaking oil. Is there a sealing strip on the vehicle?"
The repairman quickly responded, "Yes, yes, yes."
He Jinxuan directed him to replace the seal. After stopping the leak, he removed the shock absorber for a careful examination: "The gap between the piston and the cylinder is a bit large. To prevent cylinder scuffing, it’s better to replace the piston ring tomorrow before setting off again."
After tidying everything up, the convoy continued on its journey.
They had two more days of travel to reach their destination. On the return trip, they had a job to transport goods for the city’s cotton and textile factory, so it wouldn’t be an empty return. However, they would have to wait two more days here before loading the goods, which actually pleased He Jinxuan quite a bit.
He had already decided that he must help Xinyan collect some tea seeds. Whatever she wanted to do, he would try his best to fulfill her requests.
He also thought about making more trips to bring back as much fruit as possible. Given these two requirements, he was determined to satisfy her.
By the time the convoy reached Baihui Town, it was completely dark. They found a familiar guesthouse to stay at, ate dinner, and to avoid affecting the next day’s schedule, they repaired the car overnight.
The following two days went smoothly. They arrived at the destination early, and unloading was straightforward, so they managed to reach the location for picking up goods for the textile factory that night, waiting to load and depart in two days.
He Jinxuan had two days of free time, so he asked around in advance about the local situation.
Knowing there was a market not far from there, he went to scout it out the next day. The varieties of ripe fruits were quite complete, so he decided to come back and buy them when they were leaving, as buying them too early might not preserve them well.
In the afternoon, he went to the countryside to look for tea seeds.
Two days passed quickly. He collected quite a few tea seeds and bought the ripe lychees, durians, and a small basket of bayberries that were in season. However, the fruit seller said: "It’s too hot, the bayberries bruise easily and don’t store well."
He Jinxuan didn’t know where he found a foam box and also bought a stack of pink tissue paper to line the bottom and sides to prevent bruising.
Nevertheless, no matter how careful he was, by the time they got back to the Mechanical Factory, only a few of the bayberries were still edible. They were simply too fragile and didn’t store well. Fortunately, the convoy bought some cherries and strawberries when passing through the Mountain Province on the way back.
Xiao Li joked as he got off the car, "Director He, the vendor did say the bayberries wouldn’t keep, and you insisted on trying. Now see, those money went to waste."