Chapter 55 Preparations Before Leaving

Molly successfully obtained the phone number, and the next morning, Mo An followed her around like a shadow. Molly ignored him and let him follow.

She swept the floor, fed the chickens, pigs, and rabbits, and cooked pig feed. Seeing that it was almost time, Molly prepared to go to town. She turned to Mo An and asked, "Want to come with me?"

Mo An nodded, "Yes."

The two tidied up and were about to leave when Zhao Jian'an arrived.

More than a year had passed since they last met, and Zhao Jian'an hadn't changed much, but he couldn't recognize Molly. In that time, Molly had grown more than ten centimeters taller, her dark skin had become fair and translucent, and her features had become more delicate. Her shorter left arm had grown to be the same length as her right arm, and if one wasn't paying attention, no one would notice the abnormality in her left hand.

"Brother Zhao?" A hint of surprise flashed in Molly's eyes. Why did Zhao Jian'an come back at this time?

"You are—Molly?" Zhao Jianhua looked at Molly's left palm. Molly knew what he wanted to confirm and showed him her left palm.

"Why are you back? Where is Ji Hefeng?" Molly had a feeling that Zhao Jian'an's trip was related to her.

"It's a long story, let's go inside and talk."

Zhao Jian'an told Molly the parts he could tell her. In short, Ji Hefeng was carrying out a very important mission. He single-handedly turned the tide and saved the entire village, but he was paralyzed by the explosion.

"At the time, everyone thought the spies had been eliminated. It was He Feng who noticed something was wrong and discovered the explosives buried under the altar." Zhao Jian'an paused, still feeling lingering fear as he recalled the scene.

"I thought he was going to die for sure, but he was spared. However, he was in a state of worse than death. He could do nothing except blink and speak."

Zhao Jian'an's voice choked with emotion, and he covered his eyes with his hands.

Molly lowered her eyes. Ji Hefeng was paralyzed; what could she possibly do to help him? Had he already noticed her unusual behavior and wanted her to save him?

"That's not even the worst part," Zhao Jian'an said with a wry smile.

Molly and Moan couldn't help but glance sideways; things were even worse.

"He Feng's superior, the regimental commander and his family were betrayed by spies. The three of them were arrested on the street. The commander and his wife were tortured to death, and their eight-year-old son suffered a mental breakdown. The child was originally taken back to his hometown by his grandparents, but his mental problems became so severe that they made life unbearable for the family. So, the grandparents abandoned him in the military camp. They learned that the regimental commander had always taken good care of He Feng, and that He Feng had received several second-class merits and one first-class merit for capturing spies. They felt that He Feng had ruined their son, so they said that He Feng should take on the responsibility of raising the child and abandoned him with He Feng."

“He himself was already unable to move, and now he has a child with mental problems. He Feng really has no choice.”

Molly remained silent. It seemed that Ji Hefeng had called her over not necessarily for her sake, but for the sake of the child.

Mo An tugged at Molly's sleeve and shook his head at her, clearly not wanting Molly to go with the army.

Molly patted Mo An's hand and said to Zhao Jian'an, "Help me take care of my poultry and livestock. My brother and I are going to join the army."

Zhao Jian'an breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving confirmation, "Okay."

Molly stood up. "I'll take you to see our pigs first, and then the rabbits and chickens."

Ten minutes later, Zhao Jian'an stared directly at Molly and asked, "Where did those fourteen pigs come from?"

“We caught two sows from the mountains and bred them with a boar that the commune bought. They were born from unclean sources and can’t be sold to the commune,” Molly answered matter-of-factly. If it were easy to solve, she wouldn’t have bothered Zhao Jian’an.

"What about the rabbits? Who raises twenty-six fat rabbits and thirty-six chickens? The smallest chicken weighs at least three pounds. How did you raise them? Did no one find out?" Zhao Jian'an had never seen such a bold woman before!

Where did that well-behaved and sensible little Jasmine go?

"It's just like this after being left to grow. Just tell me if you can fix it." Molly calmly tossed the troubling question to Zhao Jian'an.

Zhao Jian'an wiped his face, feeling utterly overwhelmed. "I can't bring these living creatures to the military camp, so I have no choice but to sell them."

Molly nodded. "Yes, sell it."

Zhao Jian'an stood up. "I'll go contact someone and get back to you later."

As soon as Zhao Jian'an left, Mo An looked at Mo Li with disapproval and asked, "Second Sister, can we not go with the army?"

“I’m afraid not.” Molly’s expression was serious. “If it were anything else, I might be able to refuse, but given Ji Hefeng’s current situation, what will he do if I don’t take care of him?”

"Then what will you do?" Mo An was about to cry.

“If he really can’t get better, we’ll bring him back and let him live with us in Xiaonan Village. It’ll just be tough on you; you’ll have to take care of him with me from now on.” Molly smiled. “Xiao An, you don’t want to?”

"It's not that I'm unwilling." He just felt sorry for her; she was so young, and she had to spend her life taking care of a paralyzed man. But since his second sister had made up her mind, "I will take care of my brother-in-law with me."

Molly started packing her things. She couldn't take the vegetables from the garden with her, so she planned to leave them for Mohe. She sent the two large baskets of eggs to the farm, and along with the eggs, she also dug two sacks of yams to send over.

She had over 100 jin (50 kg) of smoked bacon left, which she packed into bags to take with her to the army. She also brought dried chili peppers, dried wood ear mushrooms, and dried mushrooms. Various vegetable and melon seeds were also included, to see if there was any land to plant at the military camp. She planned to pack up all the remaining grain and mail it to them before they arrived.

She'll keep one roll of cloth from Sister Qian, two for the farm, and take the remaining three with her. She'll also send her and Mo An's blankets and clothes, as well as any iron tools and farm implements, to the military camp. Otherwise, without tickets, they won't be able to buy anything and will face immense difficulties.

Zhao Jian'an returned after dark and told Molly that a buyer had been found and would come to pick up the goods at 11 p.m.

“Your pig must weigh at least 100 jin (50 kg), and he offered 100 yuan per pig,” Zhao Jian’an said.

"This price isn't low," Molly nodded and agreed.

“I told them that each rabbit weighed about ten pounds, and they offered five yuan each.”

"Can."

"As for the chickens, most of them are hens. Those weighing over five pounds are five yuan each, and those under five pounds are three yuan each."

"That's fine too."

Seeing that Molly agreed, Zhao Jian'an breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "Is there anything to eat? I'm very hungry right now."

There's only one hour left until 11 o'clock, and he's not planning to go home.

Molly stood up. "I'll make you a few chive and egg pancakes."

Zhao Jian'an slumped back in his chair. "Okay, sure, thanks, little sister."

Molly worked quickly, and the first pancake was done in no time. She placed it in front of Zhao Jian'an and then went to make the second one.

"This is my sister's cooking skill." Zhao Jian'an gave Molly a thumbs up.

“My sister is amazing,” Mo An said.

Zhao Jian'an wholeheartedly agreed, "She's amazing. I was fooled by her delicate appearance back then. Who would have thought she was so capable, even more so than a man?"

Mo An puffed out his cheeks and snorted. These sarcastic words were not nice, and he knew it.

At exactly 11 o'clock, a sound came from outside the vegetable garden. Molly went out and saw a bright light.

"Turn off the lights and turn off the engine," Zhao Jian'an said.

Two men stepped out of the car; they were burly, with angry eyes and furrowed brows, and looked quite fierce.

"Brother Zhao, where are the goods? We need to inspect them first." The man who spoke was holding a flashlight.

"They're inside, come with me." Zhao Jian'an first led them to see the pigs. "Fourteen of them are inside. Each one should weigh between 110 and 120. They could have been raised to be even bigger, but they're leaving now, so we had no choice but to come to you."

“It’s a good pig,” the man affirmed.

"The rabbits are over there, I'll take you to see them." Zhao Jian'an then led them to see the rabbits, letting them hold them one by one to feel their weight.

"It is indeed over ten pounds." The man's expression seemed satisfied.

Finally, there were Molly's chickens—more than thirty chickens with bright, beautiful feathers, each one plump and looking very tempting.

"You sold all the chickens too?" The man smiled. He had initially offered the price out of respect for Zhao Jian'an, but after inspecting the goods, he felt reassured. They wouldn't lose money selling this batch of goods.

Zhao Jian'an smiled too, "They've all been sold."

Three men loaded the truck, while Molly and Moan watched from the side.

After loading the car, the man counted out a wad of cash from a briefcase and handed it to Zhao Jian'an. Zhao Jian'an counted it once and then handed it to Molly, saying, "You count it."

Molly counted it again in front of them, "It's one thousand six hundred and forty-one dollars in total, the number is correct."

"Alright then." The man still smiled. "We're leaving now. Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again." Zhao Jian'an stepped back, watching the car drive away. Once the car was out of sight, he yawned. "It's getting late, I have to go back."

Molly took the money home, and the first thing she did when she got home was to give Mo An the change of forty-one yuan, saying, "You also put in the effort in raising pigs, chickens, and rabbits, so this is for your hard work."

Mo An refused, saying, "I don't want it. I eat and use what my family provides, so the cost is offset."

Molly insisted on giving it to him, saying, "Take it. A man can't live without some money. Just keep it. You can decide what you want to buy."

Mo An then took it, but muttered, "I still have some."

“Who would complain about having too much money?” Mo An went back inside. “Time to sleep. I can sleep in tomorrow.”

The sleeping in was Mo An's responsibility, and had nothing to do with Molly.

Early in the morning, Molly took two baskets of eggs and two sacks of yams to town and had a car deliver them to the farm.

When Molly returned home in the morning and had lunch, Zhao Jian'an came over, and Molly asked him for help to deliver the grain, cooking utensils, and farm tools to the town post office.

"Let's borrow an oxcart, we have a lot of stuff," Zhao Jian'an suggested.

Molly had no objections, and the two went to the post office together. After mailing the items, Zhao Jian'an took Molly to the commune. It was then that Molly realized that Zhao Jian'an had already prepared the certificates for her and Mo An, and now they needed to get the ones from the commune.

Molly wasn't the type to be dramatic, so she wasn't angry. She simply asked, "When was the certificate issued?"

“It was opened this morning after you gave your approval,” Zhao Jian’an said.

Molly nodded. "You've thought of everything."

"I'll go to the county to buy train tickets in a bit. You go home first, pack your things, and we'll leave early tomorrow morning."