After observing for a while and finding no danger, Li Xue ran into a nearby chain convenience store. The store was quite large, with an unlocked door and floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing her to see inside clearly with binoculars.
They climbed out of the sewer one by one, closed the manhole cover, and ran into the convenience store they had chosen. Once inside, they locked the door, checked that no one was there, the food had been taken away, and there was a toilet, a staff changing room, and a small warehouse at the back of the store, but it was also almost empty.
They went into the warehouse together, closed the door, and the four of them surrounded the chubby boy. Xu Anran held a knife to the chubby boy's neck and said, "Tell me everything you know."
The chubby boy swallowed hard and said timidly, "Sister, my name is Wang Tao. I'm also a passenger. This is the third world I've arrived in." "Then how did you know we were leaving?" "Actually, it's like this. Just the day before yesterday, I saw this little girl and found a train ticket next to the trash can in the cafeteria. So when the little girl wasn't paying attention, I stuck a listening device on her backpack."
Upon hearing this, Xu Anran and the other two looked at Xiaoyue in surprise. Xiaoyue avoided looking at the others, but glared at the chubby boy and kicked him. She then checked her backpack, and the chubby boy chuckled and said, "It's in that bag on top." Xiaoyue felt around and found it. The bugging device was a small black dot, the same color as the backpack, and it would be difficult to spot if one wasn't paying attention.
The chubby boy explained, "These are three listening devices I brought from the last world. The first one was stuck on the first passenger I found after arriving in this world, but that person is dead. This is the second one, and the third one hasn't been used yet."
Xu Anran and the other two exchanged glances and decided to put aside the matter of Xiaoyue getting the train tickets for now. Li Xue asked, "You mean you overheard our conversation and decided to run away with us?" The chubby boy nodded sheepishly.
Xu Anran then asked, "How many train tickets do you have on you? Where are they?" The chubby boy hesitated, and Xu Anran pushed the knife forward again, slashing his neck. The chubby boy quickly begged for mercy, admitting, "I'll talk, I'll talk. I have three train tickets, they're in my right sock." Everyone stared at him speechlessly. Although they didn't say anything, the chubby boy could sense from their eyes that they were all cursing him, and cursing him quite rudely.
Grandpa Li took off the little fat boy's shoes, then put on gloves and took the train ticket out of his sock. Xu Anran then asked, "These tickets have different times and destinations, how should we choose?"
"The earlier the departure time of the ticket, the earlier you arrive in the next world. For example, my first world was my original world. At that time, I knew nothing and found the ticket late. I only found a ticket with a one-year countdown. By the time I arrived in the second world, the disaster had already occurred. But in the second world, I found a ticket with a six-month countdown, so I could arrive in the third world six months earlier."
"That means the train ticket with a two-month countdown will arrive ten months before the disaster in the next world." "That should be the case, but this is only the third time, so this pattern may not be accurate."
"Where will you arrive?" "The arrival location is random. In each world, we only find out what kind of disaster it is when it occurs. The level of danger is also random. The ticket will teleport passengers into the waiting hall when there are 24 hours left in the countdown. In the waiting hall, you can exchange your own supplies with others."
"Won't they get robbed?"
"No, fighting and theft are prohibited in the waiting room. Exchanges can only be made with the consent of both parties, but be careful not to be scammed." After discussing this, Grandpa Li searched the little fat boy's entire body and bag to make sure he didn't have a ticket. Then Xu Anran indicated that the little fat boy should be tied up here first, and the four of them took the tickets to the staff lounge to discuss the matter.
In the lounge, the four of them sat down. Xu Anran spoke first: "This time, we'll all take out our train tickets. No one is allowed to hide anything." After saying that, Xu Anran took out two train tickets in her hand. One ticket had less than a month left on the countdown, and the other had less than two months left.
She continued, "I hid this ticket with the shortest countdown time because I was initially worried about it being stolen and didn't quite trust you all, so I hid it. But now everyone has a ticket, and we've been cooperating well, so I'm taking all the tickets out. I'll keep this ticket with the shortest countdown time, and we can redistribute the other one. What do you think?"
The three looked at each other, and Grandpa Li spoke first: "Xiao Xu, you've done very well. It's good to be vigilant. Always leave yourself an escape route before you do anything. Whether it's Xiao Xu, Xiao Xue, or Xiao Yue, you must always be vigilant. You shouldn't have the heart to harm others, but you can't be without the heart to guard against them. I'm getting old and may still be a burden, but I won't give up on you. I'm Xiao Xue's only family left." Grandpa Li patted Li Xue, whose eyes were already red, and continued, "I want to live well and stay with Xiao Xue. I can only do logistical work. I agree with what Xiao Xu said today. At this time, we must unite." He nodded to Li Xue after speaking.
Xu Anran continued, "Grandpa Li, you didn't hold us back at all. You're indispensable. With you as our doctor, we can fight with peace of mind." Li Xue wiped away her tears and said, "I'm so glad to have met you all. I also agree with taking out the tickets and redistributing them. Grandpa and I only have these two tickets, and the countdown is almost a year." After she finished speaking, everyone looked at Liu Yue.
Liu Yue lowered her head, remained silent for a while, and then whispered, "I have two train tickets on me. One of them I found a few days ago. I didn't mean to hide it, but I'm a little scared, scared of losing it. I wanted to have an extra one for safety." Li Xue smiled and comforted her, "We understand. You just feel insecure." Xiao Yue also took out her two train tickets.
Xu Anran put all the train tickets together, including the three she found on the chubby boy: one for less than two months and two for about six months. She then checked all the train tickets: two for train A273 for less than two months, three for train A64 for six months, and two for train A38 for one year.
Looking at the tickets, Xu Anran asked, "What do you think?"
Li Xue said, "Grandpa and I are going to be together, so it doesn't matter which one you choose. Xiaoyue is too young, so let her choose first."
Xiaoyue thought for a moment and said, "If I choose the two-month one, what should my sister and grandpa choose?" Grandpa Li smiled kindly and said, "Grandpa and sister should choose the two six-month ones, so they can leave six months earlier." Xiaoyue hesitated for a moment, "Can I choose two ones?" Everyone looked at her and gestured for her to continue, "I want to choose one two-month one and one six-month one. I haven't decided how to leave yet because I want to leave here as soon as possible, and I also want to leave with grandpa and sister."
After hearing Xiaoyue's idea, Xu Anran nodded in agreement, and Li Xue and Grandpa Li also agreed.
Grandpa Li and Li Xue took the two half-year tickets. Xu Anran then asked, "Now that we've divided them up, Xiaoxue and Grandpa Li can keep the two one-year tickets. This two-month ticket is from that chubby boy. We took two half-year tickets from him, so we'll keep this one for him. But we haven't confirmed whether he's trustworthy yet, so I'll keep it for now and give it to him when I'm about to leave. Let's divide it like this for now. If we come across more tickets, we'll discuss it again. What do you all think?" Everyone agreed without objection.
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