In the fields on both sides of the dirt road, light yellow wheat stalks and brown soil were mixed together, and it seemed that the crops of the previous season had just been harvested. Li Jia didn't know if this world also had spring, summer, autumn and winter, but the feeling around him reminded him of the autumn in his hometown. In places where the sun didn't shine, the wind made him shiver. Under the sun, it was so hot that he was sweating all over. He wondered if the sun in this other world was also bigger than the original one. Otherwise, why would he feel so uneasy because of the heat
"Hey! The wheel is stuck again." At this time, Chen Hansheng, who was pulling the flatbed cart in front, shouted loudly, "Everyone come to help, everyone, work harder. One! Two! Three! One! Two! Three!!" Li Jia and several others pushed hard from the back. Finally, the broken car piled with washbasins, towels, and thermos bottles was pushed out of a bump on the dirt road.
It would be great if a van could be driven out, Li Jia thought, not only would it save everyone the hard work, but it would also ensure safety. Staying in the steel compartment of the van would definitely be much better than being exposed now.
But now the school is higher than the ground, and there is no ramp, so the van can't drive down at all. So this flatbed truck that originally collected waste paper and garbage in the school became the only feasible means of transportation.
It took many of them a long time to hang it down from above.
The town is actually very close to the school, at most a kilometer away. Li Jia could see the shadows of people swaying at the entrance of the town from afar. This reminded him of what happened at the school gate. I am such a soft-hearted fool. Why did I agree to come? The more he thought about it, the more he felt uneasy. Finally, he couldn't help but ask the officer in charge: "Captain Wang, we only have nine people and five guns. What if we don't agree and the other party rushes over?"
Zhang Hong, the translator at the side, interrupted and said, "Yes! We have become mortal enemies, and they will definitely fight us to the death. The school doesn't take our lives seriously!"
It's really unlucky. This guy can speak five different languages, but he just can't speak human language, Li Jia thought. This annoying guy came all the way and didn't help push the cart. He just held the mop stick tightly, as if he would lose his spine if he let go of it.
“Fight to the death?” Wang Jiyuan smiled, “I don’t think they have any reason to fight to the death.”
He was holding a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and walking in front of the flatbed truck without showing any nervousness. Two of the other four military training sergeants walked in front to explore the way, and the other two walked beside the truck. For the first time, Li Jia realized that his life and property were actually protected by the barrel of a gun.
A soldier nearby glanced at the pale-faced Li Jia and Zhang Hong, and said with a bit of disdain: "Aren't they just natives holding hoes? Why are you afraid? You lose your courage when you read too many books."
Li Jia was a little unhappy. Being timid and recognizing the situation are two completely different things. He retorted: "You can't say that. The people I ran into before were all very strong and skilled. As long as they are brave enough and use the cover in the town to get closer, they can still give you a hard time."
The soldier wanted to argue, but Wang Jiyuan shouted, "Shut up and be alert."
Chen Hansheng turned around and said to Li Jia, "Little Li, don't worry too much. Those cowards will run away if they are scared by a mobile phone, let alone a gun. When the gunshots are heard, hehe, they will be in trouble. Those who have not experienced a hail of bullets cannot imagine the feeling of charging under bullets. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you risk your life to avenge someone in your village without saying a word?"
"That's right." Wang Jiyuan agreed. He looked at Chen Hansheng again and asked, "Brother, have you ever been a soldier?"
"It's a long time ago." Old Chen grinned. Li Jia suddenly felt that this uncle didn't have the street taste of a small stall at all, and he was full of heroism.
Bai Yicheng, the logistics director who had been silent the whole time, wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve. His slightly chubby face was pale from nervousness and red from excitement. "We are here to do business. Everyone, calm down and don't come here with an attitude of wanting to kill."
"Teacher Bai, we can't appear to be easy to bully. That group of people are definitely not good people. They were holding weapons when they surrounded us. The leader has a big scar on his face and looks very ferocious. He must have seen blood. He is either a veteran or a gangster." Chen Hansheng said as he walked, "When dealing with people like this, we have to put down their arrogance."
Lao Bai's face became even paler and rosier. He sighed and said, "Oh, I was thinking that we left too hastily. We just experienced a disaster, so we should have rested for a day before going to investigate. It's too dangerous to rush like this without any complete preparation. I still feel like I'm dreaming. I don't even know where my soul is."
"We...we are all abandoned pawns." Zhang Hong suddenly blurted out another dejected remark.
Li Jia felt a pain in his heart when he heard this. He also felt that he was abandoned by God. He was in a daze all the way and didn't know what to do. The others seemed to be touched by this and fell silent. Zhang Hong even started to cry.
"No, we are not abandoning them. Principal Guo's decision is correct." Wang Jiyuan's words woke Li Jia from her wild thoughts. "If we don't find out the situation and resolve possible threats during the day, then the school will be almost defenseless at night. If the natives attack us at night, the consequences will be disastrous."
He turned around, walked to the side of the flatbed truck, and slapped the floorboard hard, making pots and pans clang. "There are two kinds of truth in this world, truth that is spoken and truth that is fought for. In this situation, no matter which kind of truth it is, it is on our side. I can guarantee that if we need to move forward, our soldiers will be in the front, and if we need to retreat, our soldiers will be at the back. If we really need to sacrifice, it won't be your turn! So, cheer up!"
Wang Jiyuan glanced at Zhang Hong, who had tears on his face. The latter was stunned and stopped crying. Then he nodded slightly to Li Jia and others, then returned to the front of the team and walked towards the opposite side firmly.
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An arrow fell from the sky and stabbed obliquely into the mud in front of Wang Jiyuan. He shouted "Stop" softly, and everyone stopped around the flatbed truck about a hundred meters away from the town entrance.
Li Jia carefully hid behind the car and looked out, only to see that the road ahead had been blocked by a hastily built low wall of stones and wood strips. At least dozens of natives were hiding behind this fortification, holding sticks, forks and hatchets, staring at this side with a fierce look. Among them, there was a man holding a longbow, who was obviously the leader of the group. He waved his arms and yelled at this side for a while, and then the people around him raised their weapons to protest against this side.
"Listen, what are they screaming about?" Wang Jiyuan frowned and asked Zhang Hong.
"Strange! This sounds a bit like Spanish. I can actually understand some of it." Zhang Hong answered with a little stammer. Although he was a little timid and was shaking, the title of language expert was not given for nothing. "Let us go away... Say we are demons that fell from the sky... Don't go any further, otherwise they will kill us."
"Hmph, those are not good words. Shout according to the previous plan, and everyone else should be ready." The soldiers brought by Wang Jiyuan found cover and raised their guns. The others hid behind the car.
Under the protection of Wang Jiyuan, Zhang Hong responded with a loud voice, saying that we are good people who came from afar and are willing to do business with the people here.
This statement obviously surprised the other party. The leader was undecided and discussed with the people around him. However, Li Jia could see that their opinions were also very different. Several people pushed each other while talking, and it seemed that there was a huge disagreement. The argument lasted for a long time. Finally, it seemed that a few particularly excited people persuaded the leader to give an answer.
"We... don't... want a deal. You killed... our people. Go away... or else, kill."
"Tell them that they were the ones who offended us first and we killed in self-defense. As long as they agree to the deal, we can give them some gifts and let bygones be bygones." Wang Jiyuan ordered.
"Isn't this... too tough?" Zhang Hong hesitated.
"Translate as I say." Zhang Hong had no choice but to try to explain to them. But the other party just kept repeating the same few words, and from the voice, it could be heard that the leader was getting more and more angry.
"Captain, do you want to fire a few shots to scare them?" A soldier was a little impatient.
Wang Jiyuan glared at him and said to Bai Yicheng, "Teacher Bai, I want to take two plastic basins as gifts and send them over to show them. This kind of modern industrial product must be very valuable in their eyes, and maybe it can arouse their interest in talking about it."
"This is too risky." Bai Yicheng's face was almost wrinkled. Although he was the person in charge of the school's operations, he had no idea what to do when faced with such a dilemma.
"Waiting is not a solution. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If we want to break the deadlock, we have to take some risks. I won't get too close, so I can put the plastic basin down at a distance." Wang Jiyuan put his gun behind his back and took three plastic basins off the flatbed truck. He was ready to walk to the other side.
Li Jia was very anxious. Wang Jiyuan had been the backbone of the team all along. It was not worth it to take the risk himself. He looked at those soldiers and felt that charging into battle was the job of the soldiers.
"Captain, let me go." Finally, a soldier stood up, grabbed the basin and said to Wang Jiyuan.
"Rough. This is a foreign affairs mission, is it your turn?" Wang Jiyuan snatched the basin and slapped the soldier on the forehead, making the other party grin and take a step back. However, he did not expect that someone on the other side would take his basin away.
"Captain Wang, please let me, Old Chen, do this job. We handled many such 'foreign affairs' missions at the border back then." Chen Hansheng slung the washbasin under his arm and stopped Wang Jiyuan's hand.
"If you've been a soldier, you should know how to obey orders."
"We sell steamed buns, and the army has no control over us." Old Chen smiled complacently, "I took the initiative to support the army, you can't be so rude to me."
Wang Jiyuan struggled twice, but couldn't move Lao Chen's arm, so he could only say, "Be careful, and be ready to retreat at any time."
The people on the other side saw Chen Hansheng holding his hands and walking slowly towards them, holding a few basins, and they couldn't help but get excited. Several archers around the leader pulled their bowstrings and aimed at him. Seeing this, Chen Hansheng slightly bent his legs and bent his body slightly, like a leopard ready to pounce, and slowly walked towards the other side.
"We have no ill intentions, this is a gift from us." Zhang Hong shouted this sentence over and over again at the top of his lungs. This made the leader, who was watching Chen Hansheng approaching slowly, hesitate. However, he still did not put down his bow and arrow, and still stared closely at Chen Hansheng who was approaching step by step.
Eighty meters, fifty meters, twenty meters, Chen Hansheng was getting closer and closer to the opponent, but his steps were getting more and more steady. He looked calmly at the leader of the opponent, trying to convey goodwill. When he was more than ten meters away, he stopped, squatted slowly, and prepared to put the basin on the ground. But he didn't expect that his action caused a burst of tension in the opponent. An archer who was ready to shoot, slipped his finger, and an arrow shot towards Chen Hansheng's chest.