Starting from 40, holding the Star Mall to lead the motherland

Chapter 25 The Road

As soon as Xiaocao recovered from her illness, the three of them left Pengjia Village and set off again on their journey.

After sending the people away, Aunt Li cleaned up the room and found twenty silver dollars under the pillow when she lifted the quilt.

Looking at these silver coins, she sighed: "How can this child be so honest!"

In the morning, Huang Shufen gave Aunt Li the money for accommodation and food, but she refused to take it. Finally, she got angry and asked Huang Shufen to take the money back. Because Han Hui fought against the Japanese, she could not accept the money.

'Chi, chi, chi, chi'

Birds landed on the trees and sang happily; the fragrance of flowers filled the air, refreshing the heart and mind. Everything was so beautiful.

Seeing her smiling face, Huang Shufen was also in a good mood: "Xiaoman, it's too hard for you to push me like this. Let's go to the county town ahead to change for a carriage!"

Han Hui shook her head and said, "Mother, it's easy to buy a carriage, but none of us can drive one, so we'll have to hire a driver. In this world, even driver's aren't always good. Mother, I heard there's a well-known escort agency in the district. We can hire a few escorts to take us to the provincial capital."

She could ride a horse, but she couldn't drive a carriage. What if the driver she hired had bad intentions? She couldn't keep an eye on him all the time, so what if he took advantage of her? It was tiring now, but she felt at ease.

Huang Shufen hesitated and said, "Isn't that very expensive?"

Han Hui smiled and said, "Mom, you don't have to worry about money. When we get to Shanghai, you and Xiaocao can set up a stall, and I'll find a job. With my skills, I won't have any trouble finding a job."

Huang Shufen's eyes suddenly turned red: "Xiaoman, it's mother who has dragged you down."

Han Hui shook her head and said, "Mom, don't say that. As long as you're here, home is here. If anything happens to you, I'll be homeless and become a rootless duckweed."

Huang Shufen didn't say anything else.

As they were walking, two men suddenly jumped out. One of them was skinny and had an axe in his hand, while the other had a fleshy face and a butcher knife in his hand.

Huang Shufen was so scared that her face turned pale and she couldn't help but grab the wheelbarrow; Xiaocao hid directly behind Han Hui.

The man with a face full of flesh looked at Han Hui, raised his butcher knife and said fiercely: "You can go, but leave all your things behind."

Han Hui looked at him with a cold gaze. A man like him must have stained his hands with blood. "You've done a lot of this, haven't you? Tell me, how many people have you killed?"

Seeing that she was not afraid, the man with a fat face stopped talking and started to chop at her with the butcher knife.

"boom……"

After being shot and falling to the ground, the man said in horror: "How did you get a gun?"

Huang Shufen looked at Han Hui in astonishment, but she said nothing. Xiaocao took two steps back in fear, her face pale.

When the thin man saw this, he was so scared that he dropped his axe and knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

Han Hui sneered, "How dare I bring my mother out without any self-defense skills? You don't even understand such a simple principle and yet you dare to rob people on the road. You're really brave."

She appeared calm, but inside she was riled with regret. She'd aimed for the chest, but ended up hitting the stomach. It was a good thing the two robbers were armed with knives and axes; if they had used guns, it would have been dangerous.

The thin man saw the gun pointed at him and trembled as he kowtowed and begged, "Miss, please spare me, please spare me..."

Han Hui said expressionlessly, "You're going to rob us, why should I let you go?"

The thin man stammered, "My mother is dying, my wife is over a month pregnant, and we have two children, one five and one three years old. If I die, they won't survive either."

Seeing that Han Hui was unmoved, he added, "Miss, Miss, Aunt Li is my aunt. Please forgive me this time for Aunt Li's sake." Huang Shufen and Xiaocao were stunned. They didn't expect that these two people were actually from Pengjia Village.

Han Hui wasn't surprised. She pointed at the muscular man lying on the ground and said, "Drag him into the woods. Don't leave him here to scare people."

Although the skinny man was very scared, he still half-dragged and half-pulled the unconscious man into the forest. He had thought that Han Hui would let him go and then return to save the man, but he didn't expect Han Hui to ask him to push the wheelbarrow.

Huang Shufen sat on the unicycle, feeling apprehensive the entire way. After walking for a while, she used the excuse of being thirsty to get some water to get the skinny man away: "Xiaoman, this man is very dangerous. Let him go! Otherwise, I won't feel at ease."

Han Hui smiled and said, "Don't worry, I know what's going on. Mom, don't you feel sorry for me because I'm working so hard pushing the wheelbarrow? With his help, I won't be tired."

Just now, when the thin man pointed the axe at them, his hands were shaking. When he looked at them, there was guilt in his eyes, and it was obvious that he still had a conscience. So, she was willing to give the thin man a chance.

After some hesitation, Huang Shufen finally chose to believe Han Hui.

The load on the wheelbarrow plus Huang Shufen herself weighed over 200 kilograms. She was strong now, but pushing it for ten hours a day on the bumpy stone road was also very demanding. Now there was free labor, so why not use it?

We didn't see any villages in the afternoon, so we stopped at a water source in the wilderness before dark.

Han Hui asked the thin man to help set up the tent, and then collected firewood nearby; Huang Shufen and Xiaocao washed rice and cooked.

Considering the issue of food, I brought pots and bowls, but only 20 kilograms of rice and flour, and some bacon, sausages, etc.

After collecting firewood, Han Hui tied the skinny man to a tree and went into the tent to make a bed. The so-called bed was just a tarpaulin covered with straw.

After the rice was cooked, Huang Shufen spread slices of bacon on top of the rice and cooked a pot of vegetable soup. This was dinner. The so-called vegetable soup was just dried vegetables boiled in water with a little salt.

The emperor sent soldiers because he was not hungry. Han Hui gave the thin man dinner, but tied him up again after he finished eating.

Han Hui yawned and said to Huang Shufen, "Mom, you and Xiaocao will watch the first half of the night, and I'll watch the second half. Call me if you need anything."

The second half of the night is more tiring, so she chose the difficult second half of the night.

Huang Shufen said, "Xiaocao should go to sleep too. I'll be the only one watching over her."

She could catch up on her sleep in the bamboo basket during the day, but Han Hui and Xiao Cao couldn't. Besides, the skinny man was also outside, and even though his hands and feet were tied, he wasn't afraid because he had someone to keep him company.

Han Hui let her do as she pleased.

The next day, Han Hui heard the sound of a car from afar. She quickly asked her men to hide in the hills while she pushed the wheelbarrow into the grass. It was inconvenient to take Huang Shufen and Xiaocao with her, otherwise she would have definitely blown up the car like she did that night.

When the thin man saw the Japanese car, he became even more in awe of Han Hui.

After two more days of walking, they were almost at their destination. Han Hui gave the skinny man three dollars and said, "This is your reward for pulling the wheelbarrow for three days. Don't do this kind of thing again. You were lucky this time, so I'll let you go. But you might not be so lucky next time."

The thin man was called Peng Youtian. He didn't expect Han Hui to give him money. He felt guilty: "Don't worry, miss, I will never do such a heinous thing again."

"Miss, my mother said she wanted to eat dumplings before she died, but I couldn't afford white flour. I was bewitched and followed Uncle Dao here."

"Miss, I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to get some money to buy flour to satisfy my mother's last wish."

Han Hui was stunned.

(End of this chapter)