When I talked to Neanderthal and Null, Ali drove into the gas station in the service area next to the road. The gas station was somewhat dilapidated, with only a middle-aged man on duty in the dim light. Ali spoke Persian to him, and I didn't understand it. Fortunately, the oil products and prices on the tanker are still marked in English and common numbers, showing that the unit price of gasoline is 10,000 rials per liter, which is equivalent to less than fifty cents at the exchange rate at that time, which is simply too cheap to be repeated. Thinking about the price of seven or eight pieces of oil in China, I can't help but be sad.
Oil prices are expressed in Toman, 1 Toman = 10 rials
After getting on the road again, the girls began to sleep, and I planned to talk to Ali. However, having just arrived in a strange country, with a stranger, I don't know where to start the topic. Politics is certainly not appropriate, work is not suitable, and as for the weather, there is nothing to say in the dark. Is he a good guy? Or are you preparing a series of routines? Is he a professional driver, or is he just out to earn extra money? What other work did he do before the sanctions? Does he have a family, and is his family life like in "A Parting"? I'm actually quite interested in the lives of ordinary people.
Just then, the radio stopped speaking Persian and began to play English songs. So I asked Ali, do you like Pop Music? Ali smiled and did not answer my question head-on, but invited us to listen to Persian music. He switched to another radio station. The English singing in the trumpet faded and was replaced by another rhythmic tone, with a hint of Arabic music, but not exactly like it. To the music, Ali twisted his body and limbs drastically, and danced very well. I don't know much about Iranian music. Before leaving, I watched a movie called "The Unknown Persian Cat" about Tehran's underground rap music, and it was clear that the content of this film could not be used as a representative of mainstream Iranian music.
Stills from the movie "The Unknown Persian Cat"
The sun gradually rose from the left side of the window, and the air transparency in the distance was not very good. The eastern sky was submerged in pink dust, and the mountains to the south loomed. Ali pointed to the left front: "Let's rest for a while, there is a salt lake on the other side of the road, you can see." So we stopped on the shoulder of the road.
Salt lake in the distance
The Iranian highway is very similar to some highways in Qinghai and Xinjiang in China, because it is built in a desert area, the upper and lower lanes are far apart, there is no formal barrier in the middle, and there is no guardrail on the shoulder. Standing on the side of the road, crossing the opposite lane, I saw that in the yellow desert in the distance, there was a large flat land shining with white light, presumably it was a salt lake. Ali motioned to me that I could climb to the roof of the car, where the line of sight was better. In fact, such a long distance, standing so high, has not significantly improved the View. And the salt lake is nothing new to me. Jumping out of the car, Ali had already lit a cigarette, and it turned out that the salt lake was just a cover, and the real reason for his smoking addiction was the real reason for his parking. So I, who didn't smoke much, also accompanied him to smoke.
The number of vehicles in the direction of the process is gradually increasing
Two people spat smoke rings on the side of the road, watching the road into the city gradually congested. I asked Ali, How's your family? He hesitated, pulled out a worn-out cell phone, and pulled out the photo to show me. On the screen is a somewhat stubborn little boy, standing at the table with his fists clenched. "This is my son, nine years old, still in school." He took a deep breath of his cigarette and spoke to me.