One by one, the military transport trucks entered the temporary camp. This time, the reorganization took longer than before and lasted for a full four hours. It seemed that the Pyro Company troops were planning to completely assemble before setting off again.
Tens of thousands of Pyro Company troops had already gathered on this route leading north. If one were to stand on a hill and gaze all the way to the end, the temporary camp would look like a vast sea, with the convoys of vehicles stretching as far as the eye could see.
Only those who had seen it with their own eyes would understand how spectacular a formation of tens of thousands of soldiers was.
Although these people had launched a long-range raid on the South and destroyed the Kong Consortium’s most impregnable Stronghold 32 and Stronghold 31, they did not care about the interests right before them and decisively returned to the North.
Over a dozen military trucks escorting more than 600 escapees had stopped next to the vehicle that Ren Xiaosu’s group was in. If there were no surprises, the escapees would be grouped together and transported away.
Ren Xiaosu carefully sized up the escapees who came from all walks of life. The only thing they had in common was that they all looked exhausted.
In comparison, those people were much worse off than Ren Xiaosu’s group. Not only did they not have blankets to keep warm with, even their seats were a little cramped.
The truck carrying Ren Xiaosu’s group was very spacious as there were only about a dozen people in it. However, more than 50 people were packed together in the backs of the vehicles that had just arrived. The people inside were all huddled together.
Thinking of this, Ren Xiaosu went to look for the drivers of their truck. He secretly gave a watch to each of them. “It’s been hard on y’all for the past few days, driving us around like this. We don’t have anything valuable on us, so please let us express our gratitude with these watches.”
The three Pyro Company soldiers did not reject him like the officer. Since they were not highly paid, they would be more than pleased to be given a watch.
Ren Xiaosu’s choice of giving away watches was also a particular one as it was unsuitable to gift gold bars. Although he was carrying a lot of gold bars, people would easily get tempted if they saw it. They might wonder if he still had some more gold bars, and that could easily invite disaster for him.
As for gifting medicine? That would be unsuitable as well. Although Ren Xiaosu had also brought some antibiotics with him to use as a hard currency, he wanted to save them since war was about to break out soon.
Hence, gifting a watch became the best choice. First, it would be easy to explain where he got it from. Second, it would be easy for the other party to trade it for cash after receiving it.
This was something Wang Fugui had told him, and Ren Xiaosu took note of it and kept it in mind. Back at the black market, he had bought dozens of watches all at once so he could use them for a time like this.
The three Pyro Company soldiers were quite surprised. They even started chatting with Ren Xiaosu with great interest.
After the Pyro Company troops finished reorganizing and before they got ready to set off again, some of the escapees from the other vehicles immediately rushed over to Ren Xiaosu’s truck and tried to take seats in it when they noticed it was quite empty. They thought they could finally sit a little more comfortably.
But before they could even climb onto the back of the truck, they were kicked right off by Ren Xiaosu.
A middle-aged man who was kicked fell down hard on his butt. He flew into a rage. “What are you doing!”
Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “This is our vehicle. Get back to wherever you came from.”
“What do you mean your vehicle?” A dozen people were standing behind the middle-aged man, so he said confidently. “What gives you the right to occupy an entire truck when there’s only a dozen of you?”
The middle-aged man shouted at him, but Ren Xiaosu remained unmoved. As such, the middle-aged man went to look for the three Pyro Company soldiers in charge of transporting Ren Xiaosu’s group. He put on an aggrieved look and started complaining to them, “Sirs, those captives in your vehicle are way too arrogant. We just wanted to—”
“Get lost, or I’ll beat you until you throw up your lunch,” interrupted the soldier sitting in the driver’s seat coldly.
The other escapees were taken aback by the words. This Pyro Company soldier was obviously siding with Ren Xiaosu.
Sima Gang and the others looked at Ren Xiaosu in surprise. They wondered when Ren Xiaosu had bribed the Pyro Company members. Ren Xiaosu had given away the watches so secretively that even the doctors were unaware.
As Wang Jing was still sick, he said with a feeble smile, “How’d you get so crafty despite your age?”
Ren Xiaosu chuckled, “When you’re out in the world, you can’t survive long without being crafty. I only did this so that we can be more comfortable.”
Actually, this was the significance of Ren Xiaosu giving away the watches beforehand. He could not behave too arrogantly in the presence of the Pyro Company’s troops unless he had some backing. Just like in prison, the notorious inmates could only push other inmates around because the prison guards were willing to turn a blind eye to them.
Ren Xiaosu did not regard himself as a captive. But since he could not directly take Wang Jing out of this place, he had to seek the best outcome without breaking the rules.
He still had plenty of gold bars left, so he could always buy more watches after giving them away. Although Ren Xiaosu loved money, he knew what ought to be spent would have to be spent.
Even if he had been temporarily conscripted, he did not intend to put himself through too much hardship.
When the military truck started moving off, the escapees standing outside could only dejectedly watch Ren Xiaosu and the others chatting and laughing. Meanwhile, one of the soldiers who was responsible for escorting them had gotten down from the truck and was admonishing, “Hurry back in the truck! Stop wasting time here!”
Someone next to the middle-aged man whispered, “That kid must have bribed the Pyro Company members. Why don’t we offer them a gift as well?”
The middle-aged man was stunned. “What are we going to gift them? Do we still have anything valuable on us?”
“What about your watch?”
“Do you know how expensive my watch is? How can I give it to the Pyro Company members!” The middle-aged man angrily climbed back onto the truck and continued squeezing in with everyone else.
Wang Jing looked at Ren Xiaosu at this moment and noticed he had actually brought back a newspaper. “Where’d you get the newspaper from? Whose publication is it?”
“It’s Hope Media’s newspaper.” Ren Xiaosu replied, “I got it from the Pyro Company officer.”
Everyone was even more surprised. It had only been a few days, but Ren Xiaosu was already so chummy with the Pyro Company officer? He even managed to obtain a newspaper from the other party?
Asking for a blanket and whatnot could still be understood as a necessity. But asking for a copy of the paper made it seem like their relationship had taken another step closer.
Ren Xiaosu explained, “I can also line up with the Pyro Company soldiers to collect our meals from now on. When the time comes, y’all don’t have to do anything. I’ll bring the mess tins and collect the meals for everyone.”
The containers used by the military for serving food were rectangular mess tins made of aluminum, the type that could be covered with a lid. Even if there were a dozen of them stacked up, Ren Xiaosu could still carry them easily. Although the officer said only he was allowed to collect the food, he did not specify how many portions he could collect, right?
When Ren Xiaosu said that, everyone was overjoyed and a thought suddenly came to their minds. It seemed that there was nothing in this world that this young man could not handle.
Yang Xiaojin sat in the truck with her arms around her knees and watched Ren Xiaosu chat with the doctors with a smile on her face. Actually, she was also a prideful young lady, but it was not jewelry or riches that she liked. Yang Xiaojin only hoped that everyone would learn of how great the person she liked was. That young man was really one of a kind in this world.
