Cuihua was anxious to get home, but despite her best efforts, she still couldn't get home before dark.
Even if it's dark and there are no streetlights or flashlights, she can still find her way home, but she never expected to be robbed on the way.
She had two months' salary from before the new year on her. The other party consisted of two men and one woman, all of whom were young but very bold.
This was the only lone woman they had waited so long to find, especially since Cuihua was carrying a basket. It was New Year's Eve, and they instinctively felt they could make something this time, so the three of them formed a triangle and surrounded Cuihua.
"Hey little sister, let me wish you a Happy New Year in advance! We're really in a bad situation, we're out of rice at home. Everyone else is celebrating the New Year, we want to celebrate too. Could you please be kind and give us what you have in your hands? We'll kindly let you pass and let you get home safely."
The man in the lead was probably in his twenties or thirties, and his voice sounded quite mature. He was wearing a black knitted hat, only revealing his mouth and eyes. The other two were wearing the same hat, clearly trying not to be recognized.
After all, there are only so many people in the surrounding villages. You see each other all the time, and who knows if you'll run into each other one day?
That's why they came up with this idea.
In Cuihua's basket were two jin of sausage, two jin of cured meat, and one jin of flour, which were the New Year's gifts from the host family.
She never intended to serve it to guests; she only thought of bringing it back to let her sisters experience a taste of meat. She never expected these three things to appear out of nowhere.
She cursed her bad luck in her heart, knowing she couldn't win, but she didn't want to just give it away for nothing.
Her resistance was written all over her face; even though it was dark, these people could sense it, which only confirmed that she had the goods in her possession.
"Since you're unwilling, then don't blame us for being impolite."
Before he could finish his sentence, Cuihua seized the opportunity to break the silence between the three of them, grabbed her basket, and took off running, shouting as she went.
"Help! Robbery! Someone's robbing me! Help! Someone save me!"
With her way home blocked, Cuihua panicked and ran down any road she could find.
No wonder she's an older sister who grew up running around cutting pig feed in the mountains and has never stopped working. She runs as fast as lightning.
"Damn, this woman's pretty fast. You guys hurry up and catch up. The three of us will surround her. I don't believe she can outrun us with two legs!"
"Big brother, we're not centipedes, we have six legs. If you can't outrun us with two legs, I can't catch up either. Look at the third brother, he's still panting heavily behind us."
"Want some meat? If you want some meat, run faster. I bet there's meat in her basket. Haha, haha, my god, I'm exhausted. How can I be so tired? This woman looks tough, but she can run so fast. I want to see how long you can keep going. Chase her! Don't stop. Even if you can't catch up, you have to keep chasing. Let's see who has the better endurance."
Fortunately, it wasn't 10 or 11 p.m., but rather 7 or 8 p.m. The fact that there were few people on the road didn't mean there was no one. Cuihua finally managed to flag down an oxcart.
"Uncle, uncle, help! There are two men and a woman behind me trying to rob me. Hey, I'm exhausted. Luckily I ran fast and they didn't catch up, but I can't shake them off. Uncle, could you give me a ride? I'm from Taoyuan Village. I'll pay you for the ride."
The driver instinctively looked back. The oxcart wasn't full; there was a middle-aged couple, two boys, and a silent daughter in the back. They looked like a family, and the driver was looking back to ask for their permission.
However, the woman looked at Tang Cuihua and asked, "From Taoyuan Village? What's your surname?"
Tang Cuihua recognized the woman's voice and said she knew someone. She then mentioned the surname of the original owner of the house.
"My family name is Wei. What's wrong, Auntie?"
"Oh, it's alright. We've already chartered this car. We went into town today to deliver grain to relatives, and we're coming back late. We paid a high price to rent it, and our families are waiting for us to come home for New Year's Eve dinner. You..."
"Auntie, it's alright, you can drop me off first and then me off later."
After you've delivered them, how much money she'll give you is something she'll discuss with the oxcart owner; it's none of your business.
But this woman clearly wasn't going to let this easy opportunity slip by.
"That won't do. I already said we've chartered the car. How about this, we won't charge you extra, just two cents?"
In just a few words, the two men and one woman behind them had caught up. However, they had clearly seen what was happening, so they stopped under a tree some distance away and dared not go any further.
The woman seemed to have Cuihua under her thumb, determined to take advantage of her. The driver, on the other hand, merely glanced at the woman and then gave a deep look at the man huddled behind her. He chuckled and then looked away, clearly not in charge.
If she wanted to get on the cart, she had to give this woman two cents. Normally, a ride on an oxcart would cost only two or three cents for a short distance and five cents for a longer distance. This woman was asking for two cents right off the bat. What was this if not taking advantage of her misfortune?
Cuihua wasn't concerned about the two cents; what she really saw was that this woman disregarded the villagers and still tried to take advantage of the situation, which truly opened her eyes.
"Are you going to sit or not? If not, we're leaving, Uncle Zheng. Come on, come on, it's so late, let's go home, I'm starving."
Cuihua finally gave up trying to argue. She took out two mao (0.2 yuan) from her pocket and slapped it on the woman's luggage: "Two mao, is that enough?"
"Okay, come on up here, Malt, move over there a bit."
"Mother, how could you forget again? She can't hear,"
"Ah, yes, yes," the middle-aged woman said, snapping out of her daze. She then kicked the little girl closest to Cuihua.
The girl who had been kicked turned around angrily, only to meet the impatient gaze of the middle-aged woman. The woman was instantly enraged by the woman's stare.
"Hey~ you little brat, what are you looking at? Can't you hear what I'm saying? At least have some sense and move aside, are you blind?"
"Mom, she's not blind, she's deaf. You've been talking for ages, why don't you just go down and pull her over there?"
Seeing that the woman was about to touch her again, Cuihua frowned and grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing? You're always yelling and hitting people. Don't you see she's just a child? It's just a little movement. Can't you talk to her nicely? Move aside, I'll talk to her. You don't need to meddle here. Are you even her mother? How can you treat your daughter like this? Don't you feel guilty?"
"Where did this bitch come from, interfering in my family's business? I'm disciplining my daughter, what's it to you? Does it matter if we're related or not? What matters is that I raised her. Whether I hit or scold her, it's all reasonable. What business is it of yours, an outsider? Get on the bus or not. If you don't, I'll return your money. Stop your endless whining, you're such a nuisance!"
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