In the end, naturally, no one got anything good from Jiang Chan.
They left, each grumbling and cursing.
The procession continued forward...
Less than half an hour after leaving the ruins of the deserted village, a commotion suddenly broke out behind them, accompanied by cries that sounded like sobs.
"Old man... wait... wait for me... I really can't walk anymore..." The voice was weak and aged, filled with despair.
At the end of the line, Old Mrs. Zhou slumped to the ground, her gray hair disheveled and plastered to her sweaty forehead. She clutched her leg, which was swollen like a club, tightly with both hands. Every wrinkle on her old face was twisted with pain. Her husband, Old Mr. Zhou, an equally thin and hunched old man, anxiously circled around her, trying to pull her away but unable to.
"Old woman! Get up! Get up! If you stop, you won't be able to catch up!" Old Master Zhou stamped his feet anxiously.
"I...I feel pain all over my body...my feet...my feet feel like they're being pricked with needles...I really...I really can't move..." Old Mrs. Zhou gasped for breath, tears mixed with sweat streaming down her face. "Old man...you...you carry me for a bit...just a bit..." She stretched out her withered, twig-like hand and grabbed Old Mr. Zhou's trouser leg tightly, as if grasping at the last straw.
“Carry me? What am I supposed to carry?!” Old Master Zhou looked at his own withered arms, now just bones, and then at the line of people gradually falling behind. Despair almost overwhelmed him. “I’m practically falling apart! Old woman, you…you just have to grit your teeth and hold on…until we reach the rest stop ahead…”
"I really can't hold on anymore... If you don't care about me... I'll die here..." Old Mrs. Zhou's voice was filled with resentment and fear.
"I...I..." Old Master Zhou was both anxious and angry.
The two of them, one slumped on the ground crying and pleading, the other stamping his feet and growling, were struggling in the scorching dust.
The line did not stop; most of the people at the front only turned around and glanced at the sound.
Jiang Chan pushed the cart, walking in the middle to back of the group, not far from the Zhou family couple. She naturally heard the desperate cries and tugging. Her steps did not falter at all, and she did not even change the frequency of her breathing. In the five years since the apocalypse, she had seen too many of her kind abandoned. Stopping meant putting herself in greater danger and exhaustion.
Xiao Tao, who was beside her, couldn't help but turn around.
The girl's gaze passed through the sparse crowd and landed on the two figures pulling at each other.
Just then, Grandpa Zhou, who was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, glanced around and caught Xiao Tao looking back! His cloudy old eyes instantly shone with a light like a drowning person grabbing a piece of driftwood!
"Girl! Little Peach!" As if he had seen the only hope, Grandpa Zhou's voice suddenly rose, filled with sobs and desperate pleas, as he urgently called out in Little Peach's direction.
"Please, girl! Please, have your sister Jiang do me a favor! Lend me this old woman a cart to sit on for a while! Just a little while! She really can't walk anymore! Please! Save her! We... we, the Zhou family, will remember your kindness for the rest of our lives!" He spoke incoherently, his withered hand trembling as he pointed to his wife, who was slumped on the ground.
Xiao Tao's body trembled violently!
She looked at the old man's anxious face, at the old woman groaning in pain on the ground, and then subconsciously glanced at Jiang Chan pushing the cart beside her. Her eyebrows drooped sadly, her small lips were pursed tightly, and her eyes were filled with struggle and helplessness.
She really wanted to help... but... the cart belonged to Sister Jiang...
She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.
Jiang Chan heard it, but she didn't turn around or even glance at it.
Her hands remained steady as she pushed the cart, and her steps maintained the same rhythm.
Grandpa Zhou continued, "Little girl... Little Tao! When you were little... Grandpa Zhou used to hold you! Don't you remember? That year during the spring famine, your grandma was taking care of you... My wife even saved half a wild vegetable bun to give to you! Little girl... for this small token of our affection, please help us! Save your grandma Zhou's life..."
Xiao Tao's body trembled violently. She looked at Jiang Chan's profile again, her small face almost overflowing with struggle and sadness.
“Sister Jiang…” Xiao Tao’s voice was filled with great anxiety. Her little hand timidly tugged at Jiang Chan’s clothes. “How about… how about we help Grandpa Zhou and the others? Just for a little while… Grandma Zhou… she really can’t walk anymore…” She looked up at Jiang Chan with pleading eyes.
Xiao Tao's tearful pleading and the almost humble expectation in her eyes were like a pebble thrown into an icy lake, causing the icy wall in her heart called "self-preservation" to tremble slightly. The words of refusal almost slipped out, but the moment she met Xiao Tao's eyes, they were suppressed by an inexplicable irritation.
"Half a day." Jiang Chan's voice was cold and crisp, without any emotional fluctuation. "Only half a day! The car must be available before noon." This was her biggest concession.
Xiao Tao's ashen face instantly brightened. "Thank you, Sister Jiang!" She nodded vigorously and immediately turned and ran towards the Zhou family's elderly couple who were slumped on the ground.
"Grandpa Zhou! Quick! Help Grandma Zhou into the car! Sister Jiang agreed! She'll lend it to me for half a day!" Xiao Tao's voice was filled with excitement and urgency.
Grandpa Zhou was stunned for a moment, then a surge of overwhelming joy welled up inside him, and he struggled to his feet, tumbling and scrambling. "Hey! Hey! Thank you! Thank you, little Tao! Thank you, niece of the Jiang family! You are such kind people! Old woman! Quick! Get in the car!"
Under Jiang Chan's cold gaze, Old Master Zhou used both hands and feet to help his wife onto the cart. Old Mrs. Zhou's withered face was full of relief and gratitude for surviving the ordeal. She kept bowing to Xiao Tao and Jiang Chan, "Thank you...a living Bodhisattva..." Old Master Zhou also bowed repeatedly to her.
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