Night fell quickly, and rain began to fall. Not even a single star could be seen.
Nearly all the vehicles had turned off their headlights, plunging the entire traffic jam into darkness.
People of this era did not have the habit of later generations of freely squandering electricity. Unless necessary, they would not even switch on a flashlight, afraid of wasting the batteries and finding it would not light up at a critical moment.
The same went for cars. Their batteries held limited power, and no one knew how long they would be stuck here. If the battery ran low and they could not start the engine, there were no portable emergency power supplies to fall back on.
Even the passengers and the relatives visiting graves began conserving every resource with restraint. They were reluctant to eat the biscuits and pastries Li Ye had handed out.
"I'll just eat half. As long as I'm not hungry, that's enough. We still have another one or two thousand li to go! We need to save the food."
In Li Ye's eyes, the harsh economic conditions of this era had bred an almost bottomless habit of thrift in people. Their endurance was astonishingly strong.
But not long after night fell, urgent horns sounded from the rear of the traffic jam. Then several beams of light squeezed their way forward.
Li Ye hurriedly called out, "Old Yang, they should be here. Hurry and get ready to receive them."
"You, the cameraman, start rolling. Don't miss the shot!"
Yang Yumin and several colleagues quickly got out and headed toward the rear, with the cameraman carrying his camera behind them.
As he walked, Yang Yumin said, "If they came back this quickly, their station must not be far from here."
Li Ye said, "When the traffic