Deceiving Consumers

Hearing Ji Bo's shout, Su Yang immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

Over the walkie-talkie, Liu Bo's voice crackled, "The dashboard shows my front left tire pressure is too low, it's only at 1.6."

"It's not punctured, is it?" Meng Wenzhou's voice followed.

"I don't know, I'll get out and take a look first."

"Alright, pull over first."

The group quickly stopped their cars. Su Yang opened his door, stepped out, and walked toward the Navigator a short distance ahead.

At this time, Liu Bo was squatting beside the front left wheel, inspecting it.

"How is it?"

"I looked all around and didn't see any punctures, but it's definitely leaking air."

"Let me take a look," Su Yang said, crouching down to check.

The part of the front left tire touching the ground was almost completely flat, and a hissing sound of leaking air was coming from where the tire met the wheel hub.

After checking around, Su Yang realized that a small stone was wedged into the gap between the tire and the rim, causing the leak.

"It's not a big problem, just a stone stuck in there."

"Where is it? How come I didn't see it?"

"Inside this gap. Wait a second, I'll go get a tool to hook it out." Su Yang stood up and walked back to his own car.

Meng Wenzhou and the others came over and asked, "What's the situation? A blowout?"

"No, no, just a stone stuck in it. It'll be fine once I hook it out."

"Oh, good, as long as it's not a blowout. Otherwise, changing a tire at an altitude of over 5,300 meters would be a bit of a hassle."

They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, Su Yang returned to Liu Bo's car with a hook tool. He crouched down and, in a few swift moves, hooked the stone out of the gap.

"Done. Just needs some air now."

As he spoke, he picked up a portable car air pump from the ground and began inflating the front left tire.

A few minutes later, the tire pressure returned to normal.

"All good."

"Nice, nice. I thought the tire was punctured or blown," Liu Bo laughed.

"If it were a blowout, your car wouldn't have stopped so smoothly. But even then, it wouldn't be a big deal, worst case, we just change the tire. Minor issue. Let's go."

"Let's go."

Everyone returned to their cars and continued driving toward a dirt mound a few hundred meters away.

Soon, the three cars arrived at the bottom of the mound and parked. Su Yang poked his head out and shouted to the Range Rover on the left, "Right here is good."

"OK, let's get out and set up camp."

"Wait a moment." Su Yang looked up to check their orientation, then shouted, "Let's park the cars in a semi-circle and leave an empty space in the middle. This way, besides the mound blocking the wind, the cars can also provide some cover."

"Will do."

The three cars quickly formed a wide, semi-circular clearing, and everyone got out.

Chu Qiunan stretched her arms. "It's so cold here."

"Yeah, it'll probably drop below freezing tonight, and the wind is strong."

The girls had already added several layers of clothing and changed into thick windbreakers and boots.

"Achoo!" Meng Qianyu sneezed as soon as she got out of the car.

"Catching a cold?" Meng Wenzhou asked.

"No, no."

"That's good. Dress warmly."

"I'm already wearing enough."

Meng Wenzhou walked over to Meng Qianyu and pulled out the hood of her jacket that had been tucked inside.

"Put your hood on if you're cold."

"I don't need it right now."

"Alright then."

On the other side, Su Yang took out several pairs of leather gloves and handed them to the girls. "Here, put these gloves on later. This is a true no man's land now. Let's try our best not to catch a cold, otherwise it'll be miserable."

"Okay," the girls agreed, taking the gloves.

Liu Bo, Zhang Ziming, and the others ran up the dirt mound to take a look. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but vast sandy terrain and endless snow-capped mountains on the horizon. It felt like they had stepped onto an alien planet.

The barrenness and desolation were on full display here.

"This is the no man's land! The no man's land we've been dreaming of!" Liu Bo spread his arms wide and shouted, fully embracing the biting cold wind of the wilderness.

Su Yang and Meng Wenzhou also walked up the mound, and the group turned around to take in a 360-degree view.

"Phew. I really never thought there would come a day when I'd find myself in such a desolate place," Zhang Ziming smiled.

"Yeah, from where we are right now, there isn't a single village within a two-hundred-kilometer radius," Meng Wenzhou added.

"Even so, I don't know why, but I'm just incredibly thrilled inside!" Liu Bo was visibly overjoyed.

As he spoke, he took out some cigarettes and handed them out. No matter the altitude, they had to have a smoke.

"Can a lighter even ignite here?" Ji Bo asked as he took a cigarette.

"A normal lighter definitely won't work, but I have other tools. You think we'd be stumped by a little fire?" Liu Bo smiled and took out a plateau lighter he had bought earlier in Gaize County.

Click, click.

He struck it several times in a row, but it didn't light.

The others stared at Liu Bo with wide eyes. Meng Wenzhou laughed, "Where's the fire?"

"Uh... this shouldn't be happening. Didn't they say this is a plateau lighter?"

Click, click.

Liu Bo tried a few more times, but still no flame.

"Son of a bitch, he scammed me. He told me this lighter would work even at an altitude of five thousand meters."

"It's over five thousand three hundred here," Meng Wenzhou laughed again.

"It's only three hundred meters more! And it won't light? I spent 75 bucks on this!"

"How much?" Zhang Ziming asked in surprise.

"75."

Zhang Ziming immediately rolled his eyes. "You're so gullible. Just look at the design of this lighter, does it look like it's worth 75?"

Indeed, Liu Bo's lighter was only slightly larger and heavier than a standard windproof lighter, but it definitely wasn't worth that price.

"Damn it, tricking consumers!" Liu Bo suddenly smashed the lighter onto the ground.

"Hey, don't throw it away. That's 75 bucks. Won't it work once we go back down?" Ji Bo crouched down, picked up the lighter, and put it in his pocket.

Liu Bo rolled his eyes at Ji Bo. "Look at you, so cheap. So what do we do now?"

Meng Wenzhou blinked and smiled. "Oh, come on, let me show you what a real plateau lighter looks like."

Under their watchful eyes, he pulled out a uniquely designed black and gold lighter from his bag.

"Damn? What kind of lighter is that?"

"A proper plateau lighter. It works perfectly fine at altitudes above four thousand five hundred meters."

Meng Wenzhou flipped open the cap and gently pressed down. A flame popped up.

"Holy crap! That's awesome!"

Liu Bo took the lighter, lit his cigarette, and then passed it to the others. "Brother Meng, where did you buy this lighter?"

"Online."

"How much? Two hundred?"

Meng Wenzhou gave Liu Bo a side-eye. "Two thousand seven hundred."

"Two... how much? Two thousand seven hundred? For a lighter? Two thousand seven hundred?" Before Liu Bo could speak, Ji Bo shouted.

"You guys really have no class. You get what you pay for, there's truth to that," Chu Qiunan smiled, taking the lighter to light his cigarette.

"Mmm, that hits the spot."