48 Hours a Day Novel Chapter 596 - My Friend

Chapter 596 My Friend

It was the hottest ti of the day. Temperatures on the Gobi had already exceeded forty degrees. Zhang Heng put his backpack on his head to block the sunlight, but this action proved pointless. After trudging along the railway tracks for a while, the skin exposed to the sun beca tan, and his vision started to beco blurry.

Finding a rock wall that offered so shade, he sat down to rest for a while, waiting for the scorching sun to go down a little before taking off again. He had a whiptail lizard for company, hiding in the sa spot as him to escape the trendous heat.

In the Apollo program training camp, Zhang Heng underwent an exercise to test how well he could survive a desert. The only difference was that he was given a supply package. NASA had done an excellent job providing proper training to their future astronauts, having accounted for every ergency that could happen and provided contingencies for them. The trainees were even given anti-inflammatory drugs. This ti, it was different. Zhang Heng was being thrown into the Gobi by the ga system. From his clothes to personal effects, he was sorely unprepared to survive the rigors of the desert.

Since he had found the railroad, Zhang Heng originally planned to walk along with it for a while until the train ca, intending to hop onto it and get off at the next settlent. Unfortunately, it seed like he was not in luck today. Two hours had passed, and he still had not seen a train pass. So, he could only carry on the journey with his legs.

After walking for almost four hours, water in his body was evaporating quickly. Not only did the corners of his mouth beco dry and cracked, but the exposed calves and arms were also a little red and swollen, an indication that he was experiencing sunburn. Fortunately, he spotted a small town from far.

He was relieved. Like most of the small towns in the west in this era, the unknown town he spotted was built along the railroad. The railroad tracks went through the town center, with residential houses on one side and taverns, brothels, and casinos on the other side. Drunkards tend to make a lot of trouble. So, it was necessary to keep them on the other side.

When Zhang Heng got closer, he realized that sothing was not right with this town. It looked entirely deserted; and through the open doors of a few houses, there wasn’t a single living soul to be seen in them. Not to ntion how they were devoid of furniture as well. Zhang Heng randomly walked into one and found the ground filled with dust. It seed the owner had not stayed here for a long ti. The other residential buildings of the town were no better than this one. The only one that showed the slightest difference was the bar in the town. Eight horses were hitched outside the bar. Considering that this was probably the only place with humans in the entire town, Zhang Heng did not hesitate to open the door and enter the bar.

Unlike the empty town outside, the atmosphere in the bar was vivacious. Four n gathered around a table playing poker while cursing at each other loudly. There was also a guy who was already drunk lying on a table by the window; he had a booming snore. anwhile, the la barkeeper was counting the bottles of liquor on the alcohol rack. On the other table, two young n were sitting there quietly. One was cleaning his rifle, and the other played with a dagger.

The mont Zhang Heng strolled in, the racket of a bar fell into a hushed silence. Of course, such behavior was completely understandable. His 21st-century attire looked a little too trendy, not to ntion the eye-catching skin color he had.

Since he was not here on a date, he didn’t really care what people thought of him. Glancing around, he walked to the bar and put down his backpack.

“Excuse , give

a glass of water... beer is fine too.”

The la boss did not turn around when he heard Zhang Heng’s request, seeming as if he heard nothing, and continued to sort out the alcohol rack. Zhang Heng frowned. The United States had a very complicated immigration composition. The English and Scottish weren’t the only ones that emigrated here, and though relatively rare, the possibility that the boss spoke no English couldn’t be ruled out completely. So Zhang Heng asked him again in French and Spanish.

Yet, there was no response from the boss.

Instead, a bearded man put down the cards in his hand and walked over. Though coming off as rugged and weathered, he was unexpectedly polite. “Mind if I sit next to you?”

“Please,” replied Zhang Heng after a pause. “Since you are a patron, perhaps you could answer my next question. Is the owner of this bar deaf?”

“Hahaha!”

The man laughed when he heard Zhang Heng’s question. Instead of answering directly, he posed another question. “Where do you co from, my friend? I don’t see your horse outside the bar.”

“It’s in... another town.”

“Well, as far as I know, there are no towns within a hundred miles.”

“So, as you can see, I’ve walked a long way,” replied Zhang Heng. He looked toward the table where the man was sitting and pointed to the bottle of whiskey on it. “Can you give

a glass of whiskey? I have not taken a sip of water for so ti.”

“Of course! As the saying goes, good whiskey is ant to be shared among friends.”

The bear-like man smiled, but he did not get up. He then looked at Zhang Heng and blinked. “You are a Chinese man, right? You look stronger than most Chinese guys, and you are wearing so weird clothes. Also, you don’t have that thing behind your head...”

The bear-like man made a braid gesture. “Don’t be nervous. I had two Chinese friends who owned a grocery store in the town. I truly liked them. I did visit their grocery store frequently... you know, they were like tireless bees flying beside your ears every day. Buzz... Buzz... Buzz... Ah... forgive ; I’m not well educated. That might have been an inappropriate analogy... One day, our friendship ca into a little hiccup...”

The bear-like man suddenly looked very troubled. “You be the judge. That morning, I went to their store as usual and took honey, candles, and two wine bottles. Before leaving, they stopped

and asked

to settle my debts. Their actions hurt

deeply. Considering our friendship, I never thought money could be used as a asure. So I put down the honey, candle, and the bacon in my hand. I opened one of the wine bottles and took two big sips from it. “And as that happened, my two friends kept chattering, and chattering in my ears... So I drew my revolvers from my waist and shot-off their cute little heads! Suddenly, all problems between us have been resolved!”

The bear-like man grinned widely.

“Now, let

answer your previous question. No, one-leg Randall ain’t deaf. Considering his age, this old bastard hears sharper than a dog. He clearly heard every word you said. It’s just that... he doesn’t give a f*ck about you.”