After several days of trekking through the mountains, sleeping in the open air, and having killed all the chickens, ducks, and geese, this group of people finally arrived at the Y County long-distance bus station, with very little food left.
When we arrived at the bus station and asked, we found out that there was only one bus to the provincial capital every day, and the ticket price was five yuan per person. People under 1.2 meters tall were free. With so many people in the group, the total ticket price was quite a large expense.
Qiao Sanye licked her lips and touched her pocket. She only had a little over three dollars, which was all the savings she had accumulated since she was a child. The other women had even less money in their pockets than their faces, not even a dime.
Everyone looked at Lin Yi, but no one was too embarrassed to speak. Five dollars per person was a considerable amount of money. What's more, they all knew that they were strangers and had no relatives or friends there, and that the other person had rescued them from the remote mountains.
We are so far away from each other that we are not sure whether we will ever meet again in the future. I am worried about not being able to find anyone to pay back or collect debts. I am too embarrassed to even ask for a loan.
Zhao Xiaohua began to feel sorry for the chickens, ducks, and geese that had been eaten along the way. These prodigals, they just kept eating meat, meat, meat, meat. Are they the reincarnation of gluttons? If they had kept the poultry and carried them back to the county town, they could at least sell them for enough money for the bus fare.
Without asking these people to speak, Lin Yi took out a stack of big unity bills from his pocket, walked to the ticket window and handed the money in. After a while, he came back with more than ten tickets in his hand.
"The bus to the provincial capital leaves at 10 o'clock. It's just past 7 o'clock now. We can go have breakfast first. I just asked around and there's a street selling food behind the station. Let's go. We've eaten your food and meat for several days. Today I'll treat you."
Everyone hurried to catch up, and Su Xiaoou said behind him: "Thank you, Comrade Cheng, don't worry, I will definitely return the money to you."
Zhao Xiaohua curled her lips and said, "What are you going to pay him back for? Where are you going to go to pay him back? I don't have the money anyway. Besides, he ate so many of my chickens. What's wrong with buying a ticket? Humph."
Su Xiaoou frowned slightly, but her eldest daughter Chunya tugged at her sleeve. Chunya leaned close to her mother's ear and whispered, "Mom, let's just take care of our own business. You can ask Brother Cheng for his address later. Even if it's difficult to meet in person, we can send money to him when we have money in the future."
They couldn't meddle in other people's affairs. Talking too much would make them angry. They should just mind their own business. Although Chunya had never been educated and didn't like to talk much, she had her own plans.
Aunt Zhao Xiaohua, for example, was stingy and liked to take advantage of others when she lived in the valley. She always felt that other families had multiple mouths to feed, and she felt that she was at a great disadvantage living with them.
If it weren't for the generosity of her mother and other aunts, Zhao Xiaohua's personality would have kept her out of the public eye. So what if they had so many sisters? They weren't freeloaders. Even her five-year-old sister knew to collect firewood and dig vegetables every day. They had no regrets!
Su Xiaoou patted the back of her daughter's hand, then reached out to help her hold the backpack on her back. After the food was almost finished, the backpack became the cradle of her third daughter. No matter whether she was awake or asleep, as long as the youngest daughter didn't want to walk, she would ask to be carried on her back.
The other families also had the older ones pulling the younger ones, following closely behind their mothers. On the way down the mountain, they were repeatedly "threatened" by their mothers, who said that there were many people and beggars at the foot of the mountain, so they must not get separated from their families, must hold hands, and must not eat anything given by others. Even if there was a pig's head dropped on the ground, they must not pick it up.
Otherwise, if I was photographed, I would never see my mother again.
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