Yan Huan smiled; she did not say much. Yes, it was certainly a good idea to hide things there. Had she not mentioned it, no one would ever think of searching for things inside the tree hole; the villagers were too busy for that. Besides, they were afraid that the wind and sun would spoil their things.
Yan Huan pulled her clothes tightly around her and walked away step by step. Once Liu Fang’s silhouette disappeared from her sight, she proceeded to the mountain behind the village. She looked for the tree with the tree hole and took out the black plastic bag from the hole. She took 4500 dollars from it, placing the bag back into the hole, which contained the remaining 3000 dollars along with the 500 dollars given by the Liu family. She left the mountain while it was early. She had gone downhill more than once, even though she was not as experienced as the villagers, she could still find the way down.
After all, there was only one way down the hill. She just needed to follow the trail.
When she was hungry, she would eat the biscuits given by the Liu family. When she felt thirsty, she drank the water she brought. She finally reached the foot of the mountain after walking for two hours. She asked for directions while walking down the road and finally found the vehicle. It was a three-wheeled car normally used for farming—it was the only vehicle that could pass through the roads where the big vehicles could not.
Still, they needed to wait for enough people to fill up the car before they could depart.
At this moment, Yan Huan sat by the roadside. She was holding a biscuit, eating it bit by bit. The cold wind kept blowing through her collar, but it was not as chilly as before. Incidentally, she saw that some green grass had grown beneath the tree not far away. Although they were still young and weak, yet they still grew stubbornly, forming a lush green oasis.
On the mountain, Liu Fang was holding a bunch of things and running back home breathlessly without talking to anyone.
“Mum, mum, hurry! Come and have a look.”
“What’s the matter?” Madam Liu came out of the kitchen hastily, wondering what had happened to Liu Fang.
“Mum, look,” Liu Fang placed the package onto the table and opened up. It contained piles of red banknotes, which she estimated to be roughly around three to four thousand dollars worth.
Madam Liu was so shocked that she could not say a word.
“Fang, where did all this money come from? Why is there so much money?”
“Mum, the money belongs to sister Xiao Yan. She asked me to take something from the tree hole in the mountain after she left, saying it is for me. I do as she said and this is what I found,” she patted her chest. She too was shocked beyond words. She had never seen this much money in her entire life, all in 100-dollar banknotes. She could buy a lot of things with the money.
“Hurry, put the money away before anyone sees it.”
Madam Liu quickly picked up the money, placing it at the bottom of her trunk and locked it away. She could finally heave a sigh of relief after doing so.
It seemed like Miss Xiao Yan had kept a lot of secrets. How did she manage to get ahold of so much money out of the blue? She must have pulled a clever trick. No wonder Changsheng’s mother and Jin Gen’s mother couldn’t find the money, she’d kept it for herself. Otherwise, she would not even get a cent for herself. If that were the case, how could she go home?
At present, she did not feel lucky for gaining an extra few thousand dollars. Instead, she worried about Yan Huan. Why did she leave so much money for us? She is alone out there, it will be tough for her to sustain herself without money. They only took her in for one night, yet she repaid them with such great graces.
If Changsheng’s mother had not been so troublesome, Yan Huan probably would not have left her out when she left.
Hence, as decent people, one should treat others with kindness.
As for now, Yan Huan was sitting in the three-wheeled car, which was crowded with people carrying bags and baggage. Based on the conversations she overheard, Yan Huan found that all these people were planning to work in town. Yan Huan did not know the way to the train station, but she should be fine following them because they too were planning to take the train later on. From there, she knew the way home.
She lowered her head and covered herself with the cotton-padded jacket. The three-wheeled car was moving fast against the wind. When the wind blew on her, she could still feel the biting wind, even with the jacket on, which left her numb with cold. She touched her face with her numb hand and could not feel any warmth on it.
In the afternoon, the car stopped and let them down. They had reached the county, which was obviously more advanced and rich compared to the small village and the area around the foot of the mountain. At the very least, the county was modern and completed with necessities. Unlike the village, which was terribly undeveloped, inside and out. Over there, it was as if people were living in the sixties, when they were still using candles for light.
Yan Huan carried her bag and followed the others without anyone noticing her. It seemed like there were several teams headed out to work in town. Each of them assumed that she belonged to the other teams, and none of them thought anything was amiss. Perhaps it was because she was dressed like them—old-fashioned, like someone who came out of the village, searching for a job in town.
A few people boarded the bus. It was not clear where the bus was heading to, but it left after stopping for a few minutes. The place seemed to be a transit point for them, they would depart for their destination in just a blink of an eye.
Along the way, more and more buses appeared. Fortunately, Yan Huan was still able to follow the others, since they bought their tickets individually. If not, she didn’t know how long she needed to travel on the winding road. They traveled continuously and did not stop even at night. When Yan Huan felt hungry, she ate the biscuits she brought; when she felt thirsty, she drank the water in her bottle. She found the others were doing the same too. In fact, there was not much time for them to stop and have a meal. Maybe they were rushing for the time that they never stopped taking buses. Besides, they drank as little water as possible along the journey to minimise the number of bathroom trips.
They arrived at the train station early the next morning.
When Yan Huan saw the train station, she couldn’t help but frown.
