75 Chapter 75
As soon as it got light, a rustling sound came from not far around the corner.
Tong Shu was already waiting outside the car. At this moment, she was holding a gun tightly in her hand and hiding among the branches and leaves.
If it were the village chief's son who came, then things would be fine between them; but if it were other villagers, then Tong Shu wouldn't have much leeway to say.
The shadows of the trees swayed, and the withered branches and leaves on the ground crunched underfoot. But the person who came out from around the corner was not the village chief's son, nor any other villager, but Ah Shun, whose face was covered in dust.
"Ah Shun?" Tong Shu emerged from her hiding place. If she had to name the only person she could trust in Yangshan Village, Ah Shun would be the first person she thought of. "Why are you here at this hour?"
Ah Shun reached out and wiped his face. His clothes had somehow torn in several places again. Looking at Tong Shu, Ah Shun felt a little ashamed.
"Hua... Sister Hua..." Ah Shun greeted her, "I'm here to help Uncle Ah Min get some things. He said he traded some crossbows with you yesterday."
Tong Shu frowned: "What happened to him?"
Ah Shun was conflicted. He lowered his head and said after a long while, "Uncle Ah Min is blocking a few people in the village. He can't get through."
Tong Shu thought of the people who had been loitering near their car these past few days while they were setting up their stall, and a realization dawned on her: "What are they planning to do? Rob us? And take back everything they got in the exchange?"
Seeing Ah Shun remain silent, Tong Shu knew she was probably right.
“…Sister Hua, the people in our village are scoundrels, please don’t take it to heart…” Ah Shun stammered in a low voice, “I remember the kindness you showed us, Ah Hua remembers it, the village chief’s family remembers it, we will definitely make sure you leave this mountain safely.”
Tong Shu chuckled. Even if they were still in the village, let alone already being on their way out, those few villagers really couldn't stop them.
"Alright, I've left the stuff in the bushes ahead. You can take it and go find Amin later. You're from the same village, so they won't kill you once they know we're gone. That's enough for now, I'm leaving." Tong Shu waved to Ashun and got into the car without looking back.
“…Sister Hua!” Ah Shun looked up and only saw Tong Shu’s back. The truck slowly started, and the cargo bed swayed from side to side along the bumpy mountain road, gradually disappearing from his sight.
Ah Shun wiped his eyes and went to the bushes to find the crossbow that Tong Shu had left there. Besides that, there were several sharp axes and a machete, as well as a small package. Ah Shun opened it and found a rope and a slingshot inside.
"Sister Hua, I hope you have a safe journey..." Ah Shun stood there, gazing at the winding mountain road, and murmured to himself.
______
"Tsk tsk tsk, luckily we ran fast, otherwise we would probably have had another fight." Wang Jie had obviously heard Tong Shu and Ashun's conversation just now, and he was driving while complaining, "What a bunch of heartless people. If it weren't for us, they would still be eating grass and digging up tree roots right now."
"Alright, they're already gone. Why bother arguing with these mountain folk? They've never left the mountains in their lives. Trying to impose outside moral standards on them is simply a pipe dream." Wang Jianye sat in the passenger seat, holding a bottle of dark green liquid, frowning as he examined it: "This herb juice... can it really provide immunity to the poisonous mushroom's gas?"
“Really, I tried it yesterday.” Wang Jie raised an eyebrow, a hint of pride in his expression. “Last night I drank this and took a walk around the car, and nothing happened to me. The medicine that Buto gave us could only detoxify, but this Lala vine juice can actually resist poison gas. It’s really a good thing.”
"...Well, I'll have some too." Wang Jianye unscrewed the cap, the pungent smell hitting him immediately, and his eyes welled up with tears: "This...this stuff smells so strong..."
"Hurry up and drink it. My suggestion is that everyone drink a little, just in case." Wang Jie looked at his father's expression with a hint of schadenfreude.
Tong Shu sat on the sofa behind, holding her breath as she gulped down a mouthful. But the vine juice wasn't just offensive because of its smell; it tasted absolutely awful. Tong Shu immediately clutched her neck with one hand and flailed around with the other, searching for her backpack lying to the side: "Mom...Mom! Get me a piece of candy..."
Shu Hua quickly took a piece of candied winter melon from her bag and stuffed it into Tong Shu's mouth.
“...Okay, okay, that’s terrifying.” Tong Shu looked at the bottle of Lala Vine juice with awe in her eyes: “It’s bitter, spicy, and has an earthy taste. How did the people of Yangshan Village eat this stuff? No... how did they discover that this thing could actually be eaten?”
This reaction made several elders hesitant to take a bite. Wang Jie had tasted the juice of the vine last night, and now he was determined not to let anyone miss out. He stared intently at the road, but kept taunting the people in the car, especially his father and two uncles.
The men, who valued their pride above all else, immediately pinched their noses and chugged down a bottle of Lala Teng juice.
"...I...I'll go to the island to cut the newly grown vines and juice them..." Tong Songming was in a daze. He didn't linger for a second and turned to flee into the island.
Even Qin Jiaqiang, who is used to enduring hardship, found it difficult to bear at this moment. He picked up his water glass and drank three cups of water in a row before he felt a little better.
The most unbearable one was Wang Jianye, who was sitting in the passenger seat. He felt like his nose and tongue had stopped working, and his stomach was churning. To make matters worse, Wang Jie kept turning his head to look at him: "...You brat, you never hold in your farts!" Wang Jianye cursed under his nausea, then staggered out of the passenger seat and rushed into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Only Tong Shu, Shu Hua, and Wang Jie remained outside. Tong Shu and Wang Jie glanced at each other in the rearview mirror and immediately burst into laughter.
That night, when the group took turns keeping watch, the poison gas no longer affected them.
"This Lala Teng (a type of herbal remedy) may taste awful, but its effects are truly remarkable," Wang Jianye remarked to Qin Jiaqiang, sitting in a folding chair.
Qin Jiaqiang nodded and looked around at the dark forest: "I hope nothing strange comes along. I can't stand it if they make me drink any more juice or water."
Wang Jianye kicked a piece of wood into the fire ditch and said, "When we were eating today, I saw Xiaoxiao ask Ajie for some Lala vine juice. Is Xiaoxiao feeling better?"
After this period of recuperation, Qin Xiaoxiao is now basically normal, except that she is a little quieter. Qin Jiaqiang is not as sensitive about Qin Xiaoxiao's situation as he used to be. When Wang Jianye asked, he was able to answer calmly: "She's not as lively as before, but she's still a worry. She doesn't want to stay on the island. A few days ago in Yangshan Village, she insisted on coming out to see the sights, but Aya stopped her."
Wang Jie had already warned everyone that Qin Xiaoxiao was prone to post-traumatic stress disorder when she saw men of a certain age, and that age group made up the majority of men in Yangshan Village. Therefore, Shuya would never let Qin Xiaoxiao out.
"Sigh... hiding like this isn't a solution; we can't keep her trapped forever," Wang Jianye sighed.
"It depends on luck." Qin Jiaqiang rubbed his temples wearily. "If I'm lucky, I might run into a psychologist, or if the natural disaster passes and the hospital reopens, as long as I live well, there will always be a way."
Wang Jianye nodded: "That makes sense."
The RV took another turn on the second day of the road trip.
"You don't really notice it from the inside, but from the outside, our car is really cool!" Wang Jie praised the RV, which resembled an off-road vehicle.
“Although RVs can go anywhere without much trouble, other people still think off-road vehicles are more reasonable. The roads are full of potholes now, and ordinary cars really can’t drive on them.” Tong Shu also approves of the design.
"Give it a push, and we should reach our destination in another two or three days." Tong Songming checked the route on the map once again.
Their final destination was G Province, which is far from the coastline, has a large plain, and the G River flows through the entire province, which perfectly suited the Tong family's idea of resting and recuperating.
Hearing that they would finally not have to travel anymore, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Wang Jie was the most enthusiastic: "Then starting today, we won't stop on the road. We'll take turns driving all the way to G Province!" All five members of the family can drive, so taking turns isn't tiring.
Wang Jie was actually annoyed by the piglets and chicks on the second floor. He and Tong Shu had to climb up and down every day to feed them, and the little ones were so small that they couldn't help but poop everywhere, so they had to clean up after them. They were hurrying to reach their destination so they could set up their future shelter and give the pigs, chickens, and sheep their own sheds, so their nice RV wouldn't be ruined like this anymore.
The family drove on and off, occasionally getting out to clear away trees and rocks blocking the road, and finally entered G province on the evening of the third day.
"Dad! Look ahead, isn't that the G River?" Facing the fiery red sunset, Tong Shu held the steering wheel with one hand and pointed ahead with the other, asking Tong Songming beside her.
Tong Songming adjusted his glasses, looked closely, and nodded in confirmation: "That's right. If we had come a few months earlier, Gjiang would probably still be freezing."
Looking at the calm river surface not far away, Tong Shu sighed with emotion: "Yes, I didn't expect that after going all the way into the mountains, the river below would be completely thawed."
The banks of the G River were originally vast plains. Just as the Tong family had guessed, the vegetation on the plains was much less than that on the mountains. Giant trees grew sparsely, and there were mostly low shrubs. The forest only extended to the edge of the G River, about three kilometers away according to the map.
With water, flat ground, and no trees surrounding it, it was truly a wonderful place. Everyone was extremely satisfied.
However, for safety's sake, they did not immediately drive to the selected flat area. The Tong family decided to stay in the forest for a few more days, and if there was no one around on the flat area, they would drive there.
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