Two-faced arrived in Taiyuan. With more than half a tank of gas already used up, upon seeing a service area, Two-faced pulled the car in to refuel, while several Shanxi men took turns going to the restroom. Two-faced finally relieved himself after holding it in for so long, feeling much better, but suddenly sensed that something was off.

Along the way, every time they stopped at a highway service area for a restroom break, that woman never took the opportunity to go, and with the car full of people and the heater on, her red hat and bright red scarf had never once been taken off.

Back in the car, Gray-haired hadn’t returned yet, so Two-faced said to the woman, “Sister, aren’t you going to use the restroom too?”

Before the woman could answer, the Short Guy next to her spoke up first: “She’s wearing an adult diaper. We’re all men here, and it’s really inconvenient to take her to the restroom. Should she go to the men’s or the women’s? There’s no other way, we just have to make do!”

Two-faced suddenly understood—anyone in this situation would have no choice but to let the woman use a diaper. But the woman sat motionless, head down, leaning against the back seat. If it weren’t for her two brothers supporting her on either side, she would have surely collapsed. Two-faced frowned, just about to say something, when Short Guy said, “My brother went to buy food. Driver, could you give us a moment? The two of us need to help our sister change her diaper.”

Since they put it that way, Two-faced had no choice but to get out of the car to avoid embarrassment, muttering to himself about how that Tall Guy Shanxi man had been sullen and silent the whole trip—could he be mute? After a while, Gray-haired came back carrying a big plastic bag, and upon seeing Two-faced, said, “Sorry for the trouble. There are too many coal trucks in Shanxi, and I’m worried the road ahead will be jammed, so let’s not eat in the restaurant. I bought some food, let’s eat on the road as we go.”

The car left the service area and continued toward Linfen. Gray-haired took out some bread with sausage and handed it out for everyone to fill their stomachs. Two-faced was hungry too, so after a polite word, he took it and started eating. The car was filled with the aroma of braised beef, but the sausage was mostly starch. As Two-faced ate, he cursed inwardly: Old miser, so stingy—hiding the good braised beef and only giving us sausage made from scraps! With food in his belly, his mind became more alert, and he noticed that while all the men were eating heartily, the woman still sat there, not eating or moving.

Just as Two-faced was about to glance at her again in the rearview mirror, he heard the woman mumble behind him, “How much farther is it?”

The Shanxi men were too busy eating to respond, so Two-faced felt it was awkward and quickly swallowed his bread before saying, “It’s my first time on this road too, I’m not familiar with it. Judging by the distance, we’re only halfway—still about five hundred kilometers to go.”

The woman said nothing more. As the taxi drove on, they soon ran into a traffic jam—a long line of vehicles stretching as far as the eye could see, almost all of them big coal trucks, packed tightly onto the two-lane highway. At first, Two-faced tried to squeeze the small car through the gaps between the trucks, but after forcing his way a few hundred meters, there were no more gaps, so he had to wait patiently. After half an hour, looking back, there was also a never-ending line of cars behind them, with no room to move at all.

After another hour or so of being stuck, the line of cars began to inch forward at a snail’s pace, barely moving a few dozen meters every ten minutes. The car was burning fuel but not moving, and Two-faced was getting anxious. The Shanxi men seemed even more anxious than he was. Gray-haired got out several times to investigate, but couldn’t find out the cause of the jam, and came back sighing, saying they definitely wouldn’t make it home before dark now!

While Two-faced was getting frustrated, he heard the woman say, “I’m a bit thirsty.”

The Short Guy in the back seat said, “Sis, try to hold on. If you drink too much water, you’ll need to pee again, and it’s inconvenient. Wait until you really can’t stand it.”

The woman said nothing more.

Two-faced was worried the woman might soil the car seat, and wanted to remind the Shanxi men, but felt too embarrassed. Then he thought, since she was wearing a diaper and thick winter clothes, it was unlikely anything would leak out, so he decided to keep quiet. Everyone rolled down the windows and smoked in the car.

The jam lasted for several hours. By the time the road finally cleared and the taxi exited the Linfen ramp of the Dayun Expressway, it was almost dark, and heavy snow had started to fall. The taxi’s odometer showed they had traveled about 800 kilometers.

The Shanxi men said their destination was deep in the mountains, heading toward the Yellow River—a small mountain village where they still used sheepskin rafts, with more than 200 kilometers of winding mountain roads ahead, circling around Lüliang Mountain, and it wouldn’t be easy to drive.

After driving for so long, Two-faced was already exhausted and worried he might get drowsy, so he turned on the radio to listen to some music. At this point, the radio was picking up local Shanxi music programs, and a Shanxi folk song called “Six Visits to Your Home” came on: The first time I came to your home, you weren’t there, your father hit me twice with his pipe; the second time I came, you weren’t there, your mother hit me twice with her pot lid; the third time I came, you weren’t there, your big yellow dog bit my waistband; Two-faced found it very amusing and held back from commenting—if it weren’t for the woman in the car, he would have remarked on how suggestive the lyrics were. After the song ended, Two-faced felt much more alert and continued driving with full concentration.