It was too late after they finished unloading. Once everyone had eaten the noodles Sister Yang made, the driver drove away, while Li Long tidied up the side room for Tao Daqiang and the others to stay in, planning to take them into the mountains first thing the next morning.
Tao Daqiang and the others got up at the first faint light of dawn.
When Li Long heard the noise and came out with his clothes draped over him, he saw that they had cleaned the side room and were sweeping the courtyard.
"Leave that. Come on, I'll take you to breakfast, then we'll head into the mountains."
Knowing they were in a hurry, Li Long decided not to wait for Sister Yang to finish making breakfast and to take them away first.
He went inside to tell Gu Xiaoxia, then came out and told Sister Yang before driving the group off in the Jeep for breakfast.
Sister Yang felt a little disappointed. She had actually got up earlier than usual, but with Tao Daqiang and the others staying in the side room, they really hadn't slept soundly.
With six people, it was a squeeze in the Jeep's rear compartment, but traffic rules weren't strictly enforced in those days, and no one thought much of it. Squeezing in was perfectly normal.
After breakfast, seeing how tightly packed they were, Li Long couldn't buy anything else. He took them straight into the mountains, then drove the Jeep to Jade Mountain River's Winter Camp.
It was easier to enter Inner Mountain from here. Mainly, this place was relatively close to Talihaal's Winter Camp; farther in, the Jeep would have trouble getting through.
Li Long didn't know much about the deeper reaches of Southern Mountain either, so he thought it best to start