Ma Xiaoyan brought her camera, along with a pen and notebook. Her plan was to take some photographs of the work when she reached the vehicle repair site, then interview some of the road workers about their thoughts.
She was well practiced at this sort of thing, so she had come in a very relaxed frame of mind today. This was an easy assignment to complete. Li Long took Ma Xiaoyan to the nang shop, bought all twenty-odd nang freshly baked that day, put them on the seat, and drove on.
Seeing that Li Long had chatted with the young man selling nang, Ma Xiaoyan asked him from inside the vehicle:
"Comrade Li Long, do you know each other?"
"Yes. I often buy nang from him. He was just saying that whenever I come, the customers who usually get up late are disappointed, because I buy out the first ovenful of the morning. They have to wait longer for breakfast."
"How many people are working on the road? Will this nang be enough?" Ma Xiaoyan asked.
"Twenty-something, I think. They bring their own food. The nang I buy is a supplement. Road work is strenuous, and some people don't bring enough food, so my nang can tide them over," Li Long said as he drove. "We shot a wild boar yesterday and had some extra food at lunch. Who knows whether we'll be lucky today."
"You shot a wild boar yesterday?" Ma Xiaoyan asked in surprise. "Was it big? You seem really good at hunting."
"I do all right. I just happened to come across it." Li Long smiled. "Heavenly Mountain is huge. There are plenty of wild animals, but they're spread over a wide area. If you run into them, they're easy enough to shoot. If you don't, there's