The journey to deliver potatoes to Baijiazhuang in Nanning Prefecture ended earlier than expected.
"Brother Bai already considered the impact of the flood and reduced the original itinerary by half. Why has it been reduced even further?" Shui Qing looked at Fan Jin, her brows furrowed with confusion.
You have to understand that one more delivery means dozens more acres of potatoes can be grown. Bai Manshan was already bleeding money from the already reduced crop, let alone the fact that it was reduced again on top of the original reduction.
Most importantly, Bai Manshan didn't come back at all!
Fan Jin gently squeezed Shui Qing's hand to comfort her, then turned to Hu Wenhua and the others who had returned and asked, "Did something happen to you?"
Bai Ziqian immediately tensed up.
He wasn't worried about his uncle Wenhua and the others abandoning his father, but rather about whether his father would get hurt.
I was afraid they would worry, and I also needed to recover from my injury so I couldn't move, which is why I couldn't come back!
He looked only at Hu Wenhua, staring intently at him as he asked, "Uncle Wenhua, tell me, is my father injured?"
Father said, when you ask someone important questions, don't ask a bunch of people in general; ask only one person.
Asking a large group of people often results in them stammering and passing the buck, with no one willing to answer. However, if you designate one person to ask, that person is obligated to answer, and with other people who know the situation present, the likelihood of lying or deception is much lower.
When asked by Bai Ziqian, Hu Wenhua shook his head vigorously: "No, no! We were not attacked, everyone is fine."
Bai Ziqian felt half relieved, then asked, "Alright, then tell me, what happened? Why didn't my father come back when he promised to?"
Before Father left, he said that he would come back to see him first before returning to Nandu.
Besides, Father always settles the travel expenses with these men after he returns, not in advance. These men didn't even come back with him, so how can the money be paid?
Hu Wenhua looked uncomfortable, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, but he still couldn't speak.
The men from Shanshui Village behind him had various expressions on their faces, turning pale and then red. Each of them seemed to want to say something, but when they looked at the children in front of them, they all swallowed their words.
They were terrified whenever they thought about what they had seen on the road; a chill ran through them and cold sweat broke out on their backs. How could they let these children know?
Those things they saw, they could only keep to themselves, and told no one.
Li Wu explained hesitantly, "Master Bai said that things outside are more dangerous than he thought. He was worried about your mother in Nandu. It would be closer to go back directly from Nanning Prefecture. We still have to go through Nanning Prefecture from here, so he didn't come back with us."
Bai Ziqian knew the route; Nandu was south of Guangning Prefecture, and to get to Nandu, one had to pass through Nanning Prefecture.
His father always knew that things weren't peaceful outside. He was speeding up the delivery of potatoes because he wanted to get them done as soon as possible before going back. But something must have happened or he must have seen something on the way, otherwise his father wouldn't have suddenly changed his plans and itinerary!
Bai Ziqian looked at the seventy or eighty men in front of him. They all had slumped shoulders and looked worried. They had completely lost the high spirits they had when they returned from the previous four trips, and they were no longer as happy as they had been after making money.
But as if they had agreed beforehand, they kept quiet and wouldn't tell them.
"Oh right, Brother Bai wrote you a letter!" Hu Wenhua rummaged through the tarpaulin in the car and pulled out two pieces of paper, handing them both to his brother-in-law: "I don't know which one is which, brother-in-law, take a look."
The letter was written in Baijiazhuang, so naturally there couldn't have been an envelope.
And these men, even if there were seventy or eighty of them, apart from him recognizing a few common characters, were all illiterate, so there was no need to guard against them.
Fan Jin took the letter, unfolded it with his slender fingers, glanced at the heading, folded it back up, and handed it to Bai Ziqian beside him, saying gently, "This is for you."
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