A few days later, Xia Rong was assigned to a business trip, heading to the same city she had mentioned to Xia Liang. Before leaving, Xia Rong packed her shoes, and after loading the goods, they prepared to depart. The driver was a middle-aged man in his forties named Zheng Zhihe, who had some kinship with the factory leaders. He had been assigned to learn to drive and help drive at the factory. In those days, anyone who could become a driver was no ordinary person; they either had connections at the factory or in the county government. After getting into the car, Xia Rong handed the driver, Zheng Zhihe, the several packs of Daqianmen cigarettes she had prepared earlier. Xia Rong said, "Mr. Zheng, today I'm going to..." "At the department store, the salesperson told me this cigarette was good, so I bought two packs. I don't know if it's good or not. I heard you're an expert in this area, why don't you try it?" Zheng Zhihe smiled at him. This young man, who had only been there for a few days, was quite adept at handling things despite his young age. He nodded and accepted, "Sure. Is the one you brought for a relative? You can just put it in the back seat of the driver's seat from now on, it'll be more convenient to take it out that way." Xia Rong thanked him with a smile, thinking that there was no problem. He would give him a little something every now and then, which would make things easier for him.
And so, Xia Rong set off. The roads of today were vastly different from those of later generations. The journey was incredibly bumpy; you couldn't play music in the car, and even reading a newspaper was impossible without getting carsick after just ten seconds of bumpy driving. Only strong, able-bodied people like them could endure it. Any young person would surely find this monotonous and tedious life unbearable, and the older ones couldn't stand it either. The car swayed and rocked the entire way. As it was getting dark, they saw a small village ahead. Zheng Zhihe yawned and said, "Let's rest here tonight. I'm exhausted. We need to get up early tomorrow." With the steering wheel in his hands, Xia Rong had no choice but to agree, saying, "Okay." Just as Zheng Zhihe was about to find a spacious place to stop, he saw a large, fallen tree in the middle of the road, its length exactly as wide as the road itself. Unable to move it, Zheng Zhihe said, "Xia, go and move the tree." Xia Rong was puzzled: the tree didn't look like it had just fallen, and there was no thunder or rain, so it couldn't have been knocked down. It had to be someone's doing, but why? Suddenly, she was startled and about to speak. Zheng Zhihe, standing nearby, cursed, "Didn't you hear me? I told you to get out and move the tree!" Xia Rong, unperturbed, retorted, "Quickly reverse! Something's wrong here!" Before Zheng Zhihe could react, several burly men suddenly rushed out from the roadside, each wielding an iron bar. Zheng Zhihe was so frightened his legs went weak, and his mind went blank. Xia Rong quickly shouted, "Reverse immediately!" This snapped Zheng Zhihe out of his daze, and he hurriedly reversed the car. The men, carrying iron bars, chased after him. As Zheng Zhihe reversed, he kept looking ahead to see where the men had gone, but the road was narrow, and the darkness made visibility poor. He was eventually caught up by the men. One of them grabbed the driver's side door handle, opened the door, and raised an iron bar... The man was about to strike Zheng Zhihe on the head with the iron bar. Terrified, Zheng Zhihe thought he was doomed. In a flash, Xia Rong grabbed the large machete his sister had prepared for him and swung it at the man's hand. Zheng Zhihe heard a scream, but the expected pain didn't come. Xia Rong shouted, "Close the door!" Zheng Zhihe saw the man who had been about to hit him on the head with the iron bar lying on the ground, writhing, clutching his right hand. Bright red blood flowed from between his fingers, staining the ground beneath him. His companions stopped in their tracks, too afraid to approach. After all, an iron bar couldn't guarantee a fatal blow; if the guy in the passenger seat slit his throat, he'd be dead. After all, lost goods could be stolen again, but lost lives meant nothing.
The two drove for a long time before daring to stop. After estimating that the bandits wouldn't catch up, Zheng Zhihe turned off the engine and slumped weakly in the driver's seat. He felt incredibly fortunate. They had only just started using this road. The last time they didn't encounter these robbers was because no cars had passed through here before, so no one had intercepted them. That's why their trip went relatively smoothly. Later, they heard from the village elders that cars were passing through the village, so some fearless people got the idea. Recently, they've been blocking the road here, placing trees in the middle of the road to prevent cars from passing. As soon as the people in the cars get out, they dare to kill them, steal the goods, and sell them on the black market, which will be enough to make them rich for a while.
After resting for a while, Zheng Zhihe was no longer sleepy, so he said to Xia Rong, "Let's change our route and continue on our way, lest something unexpected happens." Xia Rong nodded, and Zheng Zhihe said, "Before, I thought you were making a fuss over carrying a knife, that you were cowardly. I thought it was state property, and no one would dare to be so arrogant. I didn't expect to almost lose my life today." Xia Rong said, "This was prepared for me by my sister. Actually, I didn't really want to bring it, but she would be angry if I didn't, so I had no choice but to bring it." Xia Liang had heard from an old man in the factory in the last world that when he was young, he was a freight driver and often encountered robberies on the road. It was okay if he was delivering goods for state units; if the goods were lost, he didn't have to pay compensation. But if he was contracting private freight and got robbed, he had to pay compensation himself, and if he was unlucky, he would lose his life. So when Xia Liang heard that his brother was delivering goods, he searched for a long time on the black market before finally finding a large machete. Actually, they also carried iron bars in their trucks, but in critical moments, a large machete was more useful, as it was more lethal and had a greater sense of pressure.
They arrived in the neighboring city without incident. After delivering the goods, Zheng Zhihe said to Xia Rong, "Aren't you going to your relatives' house? Hurry up and go. Be back in an hour. Don't delay." Xia Rong nodded, turned around, got into the car, took off the shoes, carried them on her shoulder, and drove off. Arriving at an alley in City C, Xia Rong looked around and, seeing no one, knocked on a large door. The person inside asked, "Who are you looking for?" Xia Rong replied, "Old Zhang, the shoemaker." The door creaked open, and the person pulled Xia Rong inside, immediately closing the door behind them. "Is anyone outside?" Xia Rong shook her head. "No, I checked." The man breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Xia Rong put down the shoes, he opened his bag to inspect them. Seeing the goods were good, he readily asked, "How many pairs do you have? How much per pair?" Xia Rong gestured with her hand and said, "Two yuan per pair, one hundred pairs in total." The man nodded. "Then how many scarves do you want?" Xia Rong said, "One thousand, please." The man was slightly surprised but didn't ask further. He said, "Wait a moment, I'll go prepare the goods for you." He turned and went to the warehouse, taking out one thousand scarves, in various colors and patterns. The two parties settled the bill: 200 yuan for 100 pairs of shoes and 500 yuan for 1,000 silk scarves. Xia Rong then gave him an extra 300 yuan. After the man counted the money and confirmed it was correct, Xia Rong carried the silk scarves and walked back.
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