Chapter 10: The Squirrel’s Gratitude

Chapter 10: The Squirrel's Gratitude

The first early bus from the suburbs to the city departed at 6:30 in the morning.

At this time, few farmers had any kind of motorized vehicle. It was possible that not even one household in an entire production team had a bicycle. If they wanted to go to the city, they had to take the bus.

So, even though it was only 6:30, there were already quite a few passengers boarding the bus from the town's starting station.

The bus was noisy inside, with everyone chatting about family matters or recent news and interesting events from the surrounding production teams.

Just as the atmosphere was heating up, the wobbly bus suddenly screeched to a halt midway.

The members of the production team, whether sitting or standing, were caught off guard by the driver's abrupt braking. Due to inertia, their bodies instinctively lurched forward. Some who hadn't steadied themselves stumbled and nearly fell.

"What's going on, driver?"

"Why brake so suddenly for no reason?"

After stabilizing themselves, the passengers began to express their dissatisfaction.

The driver was also annoyed. He pulled the handbrake and rushed out of the bus, cursing under his breath:

"Damn it, who's so immoral to put such long vines across the road? Luckily I was driving slowly; otherwise, if I had hit them, my bus might have overturned!"

Cursing, the driver rushed to inspect the vines blocking the road.

Good heavens, several vines as thick as an arm were stretched across the road, tied to the trees on either side, blatantly obstructing the bus's path.

At first glance, the driver thought it might be some prank by a jerk from the nearby village and was furious, his face turning ashen.

He quickly ran back to the bus, found an axe in the toolbox, and rushed up to hack at the vines.

After cutting the vine knots tied to the trees on one side, he was about to return to the bus.

But as he turned around, he saw three people lying in the grass next to the trees.

This scared him out of his wits, and he nearly shouted out loud.

"Who's there?!"

The driver immediately asked in a low voice.

There was no response from the people in the grass.

The driver's face instantly turned pale.

It was early in the morning, and they were at the foot of a desolate mountain. Could this be anything else but suspicious?

A series of thoughts raced through the driver's mind.

Could these three people be dead? Was this a murder and dumping of bodies? Could the murderer still be hiding in the nearby woods?

Thinking this, the driver couldn't help but shudder, and his instincts told him to flee back to the bus.

But considering that this might be a life-or-death situation, he mustered up his courage and cautiously moved forward.

When he finally got close, the first thing he noticed was the varying degrees of injuries on the three individuals.

Two of them had their hands and feet bound by vines, their faces swollen and bruised from what seemed like a beating, completely unrecognizable.

The third person wasn't bound, but his upper body was bare. His wounds appeared to have been treated and were wrapped with cloth strips.

As the driver bent down to check their breathing, he suddenly noticed a folded note on the chest of the half-naked man.

Instinctively, he picked up the note and unfolded it.

The handwriting was crooked, but the content was clear:

[Comrade who found this note, please do not be alarmed or make a scene, remember, remember!

The bare-chested comrade is a police officer who was shot and lost consciousness while capturing the other two spies. He urgently needs to be sent to the hospital.

I happened to witness the two spies committing a crime and helped the officer. Due to special circumstances, I cannot reveal myself and can only help this far.

So, it is up to you to assist further. All three are currently unconscious but may wake up midway. Please deliver them to the police as soon as possible!

Enclosed in the folded note was a ten-yuan bill with a small note attached:

—Here is a ten-yuan token of appreciation, paid out of my own pocket. No need to inform the police. Many thanks!]

After reading the note and confirming that this was not a murder scene, the driver's tension and fear immediately dissipated. Not only was he not afraid anymore, but he was also somewhat excited.

After all, in those days, people's political awareness and vigilance were very high. As soon as they heard about catching spies, there would be an overwhelming response, with men and women, young and old, actively participating.

So even if the person who left the note hadn't offered the ten-yuan reward, as soon as the driver knew there were spies involved, he would have immediately taken them to the police station.

However, because it involved spies and the note emphasized not to make a scene, the driver didn't dare to call for help openly. After thinking for a few seconds, he quickly grabbed the axe and ran back to the bus.

Worried that the passengers might notice something unusual, the driver pretended to start the bus but failed to ignite the engine after several attempts. Frustrated, he slammed his hand on the steering wheel, then waved to the ticket seller, his colleague.

After a brief whispered discussion, the ticket seller began to calmly usher the passengers off the bus.

"There's a problem with our bus, and we need to call for repairs. Everyone needs to get off and take the next bus from the town!"

As soon as the ticket seller said this, the passengers on the bus started complaining.

"What's going on? How could the bus break down all of a sudden?"

"Why wasn't the bus inspected before departure? This is really inconvenient!"

"We're in a hurry to go into town for some errands. How can we possibly go back to the town now?"

"Can't you take us to the city first before getting the car fixed?"

In the sixties and seventies, the eight key workers were considered iron rice bowls. Those who became drivers and ticket sellers were notoriously hot-tempered and not to be trifled with.

So, as soon as the ticket seller heard the complaints from the villagers, she immediately scowled, slammed the door, and started cursing:

"Can't you understand human speech? The car is broken and can't be driven. How can we take you to the city? If you're so capable, why don't you drive?"

Seeing the ticket seller cursing with a angry face, the passengers, despite their dissatisfaction, had no choice but to obediently get off the bus with their luggage.

Fortunately, the She Mountains foot was not far from the town bus stop. It was only a ten-minute walk. After getting off the bus, the passengers hurried to the town, afraid of missing the next bus if they delayed any further.

Once everyone had left, the driver and the ticket seller quickly and frantically carried the three unconscious people from the bushes into the bus, and sped all the way to the city.

Hiding in the woods, Ye Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the bus drive away, leaving only a trail of black smoke and its rear in sight. She then turned and headed back into the depths of the forest.

She had spent a whole day in the woods yesterday and only managed to cover three or four hectares of the forest.

So today, Ye Qing planned to continue her efforts to upgrade her abilities.

However, after being confronted by those two squirrels yesterday, she became extra cautious when selecting trees today, afraid that she might accidentally destroy another animal's nest.

In this vast forest, Ye Qing absorbed energy with great enthusiasm. When she was hungry, she casually picked some wild fruits to eat.

Midway, she got lucky and encountered several wild chickens scurrying in the woods. With a wave of her hand, several vines shot out and struck with precision, killing all three chickens instantly. They fell to the ground neatly.

It was the time of autumn fattening for animals, and these three chickens were quite plump, each weighing at least three to four jin.

Ye Qing didn't treat herself poorly. She found a mountain stream, used a pencil knife to slaughter the chickens, and made a fire by the stream to roast them.

Unfortunately, without a pot or a jar, she couldn't make a pot of wild mushroom chicken soup. Just imagining the fresh taste made her mouth water.

Nevertheless, even without the soup, having freshly ripe wild fruits and well-roasted chicken was enough for a satisfying meal.

The fragrant and tender chicken was something she hadn't tasted in many years. Even without any seasoning, Ye Qing enjoyed it immensely.

Out of the three chickens, Ye Qing only ate one. She planned to take the remaining two back to the city later and see if she could find a black market to sell them.

For now, her most important task was still absorbing energy, so after eating, she wasted no time and continued deeper into the mountains.

To Ye Qing's surprise, in the afternoon while she was busy absorbing wood energy in the forest, the two squirrels that had scolded her yesterday actually came back.

There were quite a lot of squirrels in the forest, and they mostly looked similar. In just two days since Ye Qing entered the forest, she had encountered more than a dozen of them.

However, the squirrel that had asked for her help yesterday had a small patch of black hair on its forehead, making it easily recognizable. Ye Qing identified it immediately.

Seeing the two, Ye Qing felt both amused and annoyed:

"I didn't destroy your nest this time. Why are you two looking for me again? Could it be that you want compensation?"

The squirrel couple obviously couldn't understand human speech, and they didn't understand a word of what Ye Qing was saying.

But the two little creatures didn't care. After chirping at Ye Qing for a while, they started pulling things out of their bulging cheeks.

One, two, three...

Soon, a pile of strange nuts was formed in front of Ye Qing, ranging from pine nuts to chestnuts, wild peanuts, and hickory nuts. They had almost collected all the varieties available in the forest.

Ye Qing was both amazed at how much the squirrels could hold in their mouths and puzzled about what they were trying to do.

After emptying their mouths, the two squirrels nudged the pile of nuts toward Ye Qing.

Ye Qing finally understood and said with a helpless laugh:

"Is this for me?"

She crouched down and picked up a wild peanut.

Seeing that Ye Qing had accepted their gift, the two squirrels were so happy that they jumped up and down, chirping for her to take the rest.