CH 4.1

Bai Xia Xia could not clearly pinpoint the exact position of Old Liao’s three-member group, she could only faintly hear speaking sounds, which were transmitted approximately from the northeast direction.

These three people were worthy of being individuals who had managed to escape the search from the army, their capability was great and out of the norms. They had clearly found the blood trail that Qin Xiao had left, but they were still worried that it was a trap that he had intentionally designed.

On their way, they were extremely cautious, deliberately making detours and taking long routes, afraid that they were being schemed on.

Extraordinary vigilance and professional skills were something that ordinary people could never compare to. Bai Xia Xia was very worried of their sneak attack not working out, and instead, being caught doing it.

That was why she instructed the restless Da Hua to retreat three to four meters, Da Hua was not very willing.

Professional hunters all developed their own hunting habits.

The most suitable launching distance and orientation, as well as the posture.

They were hiding in the woods, their views obstructed, so it was already not convenient. Since Da Hua had to move even further to the back, he was not able to stop himself from complaining with some whining.

But Xia Xia is more intelligent than me by a lot, she’s the smartest animal in the mountain.

No matter how unwilling Da Hua was, he still listened to Bai Xia Xia, obediently moving his body, his big claws restlessly scratching his ears.

He shrunk his big and strong body among the trees and bushes, which practically blocked his whole figure, leaving only        a pair of piercing tiger eyes exposed.

Bai Xia Xia wholeheartedly eavesdropped on Old Liao and the other’s conversation, getting a general idea of the other party’s origins.

These people were the small leader of a large smuggling gang, the gang’s range of business was wide, with more than hundreds of members, spanning nearly the whole of Tanglin Province.

Color TVs, cigarettes, smuggling transportation, all types of electric appliances and objects that were expensive, as long as they could be sold for money, they had them all.

In domestic and foreign peddling, the most valuable cultural relics were also collected.

Old Liao’s group oversaw that exact area, dabbling in others from time to time too.

These cultural relics were either stolen or collected by them, batch by batch being sent abroad, tossing money back and forth.

The amount that was mentioned on passing in the conversation, listening to it made Bai Xia Xia tremble from shock, unconsciously becoming speechless.

She belatedly realized one thing, something that she had not paid attention to after coming to the mountains.

She had, in fact, transmigrated to the 90s, where domestic security was extremely chaotic.

From the late 80s to the 90s, there was a very tumultuous period.

All types of new policies introduced domestically, new things emerging in an endless stream, new models taking over the old, it was a reforming era that drew a whole new world.

In a period where the economy was just taking off, uncountable amounts of people left their jobs to do business, others went into the cities to seek opportunities for work.

They brought life, yet also caused immeasurable chaos.

People in the 90s that took advantage of the legal bottom lines to become rich overnight, the amount of them was practically the same as those that left their jobs to start a business.

The big cities bustled, but the train stations concealed even more corruption.

All types of smuggling, robbery by blocking the roads, pickpocketing, kidnapping happened everywhere.

Not only that, in many places, the hooligans that were idle would form into gangster groups, as if they mushrooms after a rain[1], sprouting up one after another.

Household registration system was not complete, plus police forces were not enough and communication was not convenient. Calls to the police would be made, but it was only when the criminal had already run away that the police would arrive fashionably late, reporting their presence.

In this period, rules and regulations lacked by miles, and holes that could be filled up were innumerable. For people that smuggled like Old Liao’s group, so long as they were willing to put at stake their lives and did not provoke people that they should not, becoming rich overnight or the like was not a dream.

Many people were willing to bear it and take the risks, like Old Liao and the others, to fight for riches and honor.

Bai Xia Xia had heard her parents talk about this chaotic era when she was small.

She had a third uncle that had a bad temper, who did not care about anything. On normal days, he was always able to make trouble with other people, getting into fights and brawls the most. It was unknown when he happened to offend someone, but one evening, when he was walking, someone directly stabbed him multiple times and threw him into the river. Later, they never got a notice about the murderer.

He died in such an inexplicable way.

The conviction of the trembling Bai Xia Xia became increasingly firm, I must find a strong soldier gege that works for the government to be my pet shovel officer, nestling in the base and living a peaceful life.

She listened to the stepping sounds brought by the wind as they became heavier, the cracking of the fallen leaves being tread on, it was as if they were stamping on her heart step by step.

It made Bai Xia Xia’s heart slowly clench up.

She swallowed saliva with difficulty, her mouth extremely dry.

Snow-white fur bristled up as if it had been electrocuted. She hid in the bushes and stared straight out through the gaps.

Old Liao and the others were planning on using Qin Xiao as a hostage, and unless they were forced, they would not make a move on Qin Xiao, however…

Qin Xiao’s injuries are too grave, never in a million years should anybody move him again, if it causes secondary, tertiary, quaternary damage, then what will there be to save!

Sending him to the heavens directly would do instead.

Bai Xia Xia was not Saint Lei Feng[2], but if she was told to abandon Qin Xiao and escape.

Bai Xia Xia was not able to do so.

“Second Uncle Bai, the guy that’s lying on the floor, is he that bastard?” Old Liao was the first one to come out. Standing in a place that was about seven to eight meters away from Qin Xiao, he did not walk over immediately, frowned, and instead first vigilantly observed meticulously.

Second Uncle Bai and Wang Peng came out of the trees soon after, looked at each other, and then broke eye contact annoyed.

Both were able to see the vibrancy and happiness that appeared in each other’s eyes: “It’s him! It’s definitely him.”

Wang Peng was the youngest one among the three, a young man of about twenty, with a shaved head, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a high nose bridge. His brow bone structure was fierce, looked menacing, and just one look was enough to let others know that he was not easy to push around.

After confirming, he immediately started to laugh coldly, taking the lead to walk in big strides to the unconscious Qin Xiao, rubbing his hands: “This bastard, an eye for and eye[3], looking down on us, but still landing into our hands unluckily.”

“Wait first.”

Second Uncle Bai walked faster two steps, grabbing Wang Peng’s arm. He examined their surroundings in alert, the two were standing in a place that was just about a meter from Qin Xiao.

Wang Peng shook his arm twice, was not able to shake off Second Uncle Bai’s hand, and became impatient at once, frowning, he said with an irritated face: “We followed all the way here, nothing appeared on the way! Don’t worry, there won’t be any traps here.”

Wang Peng was very annoyed, he felt that Second Bai and Old Liao were scared out of their wits by the soldiers.

The Old Second Bai that was once extremely daring and dared to drag him to go smuggling was suddenly as if he had changed into another person. As expected, they’re a bunch of weaklings, cornered into revealing their true nature, every single one is a coward.

Second Uncle Bai had a square face, dark skin, and average appearance. He looked like someone who was no different from the farmer uncles in the fields.

His pair of eyes were alert and ambiguous, holding tightly onto Wang Peng, looking at their surroundings many times: “How much did we walk just now? Look at that soldier, his face is so pale that he’s about to become a corpse. With so much blood loss, would he have been able to run until here? It isn’t as if he’s made of iron[4] either.”

“That…” Wang Peng was interrogated until he was not able to refute.

Old Liao followed slowly, also looking carefully at Qin Xiao’s face color.

It was ghastly pale; the hem of the uniform was soaked in blood. From what could be seen, a whole patch was deep red, extremely terrifying.

Old Liao wore a black jacket, with a figure that was like a monkey. He struck a match and lit up a cigarette, saying enigmatically: “It’s indeed weird, but not so much. To chase after scum and smugglers like us, they may be willing to give up their lives.”

“Every single one acts like they’re fools; no one knows what they’re thinking. Just for a couple hundred bucks? Not even enough for me to eat a meal.” Old Liao rolled his eyes, speaking with irritation: “It’s alright, Old Second Bai. It doesn’t matter how he ran until here. This guy has already been wounded into such a state, looking like he’s going to die soon. We should move quickly, taking advantage of him not dying yet to make use of him, we should think of a plan fast. If he had been really found by the troops, would they have left him here?”

“They would’ve long sent him to the hospital already.” Leaving him alone to survive by himself? Isn’t that bullsh*it?

Once Old Second Bai thought about it, he also felt that it was right, “Right! The heavens have opened their eyes! We reached a dead-end, but they sent us a hostage.”

The three looked at each other, everybody was so delighted that they started laughing loud.

Bai Xia Xia’s back was bent; each strand of snow-white fur stood up.

Listening to the three people’s mocking at Qin Xiao, discussing their following plans, she could not help but become angry.

A group of inhuman things, you’ll get your retribution sooner or later.

Da Hua was still acting according to Bai Xia Xia’s command, in a combat state. The tiger’s half upper body was slightly pushed down, claws deeply pressing on the muddy ground, maintaining the combat stance of pouncing and biting someone’s neck to death at any moment and place.

“Who?!”

Old Liao stood farthest to the right out of the three, maybe it was because he was at a distance that was somewhat close to the woods. When Da Hua’s fierce nature leaked a tiny bit, he seemed to have tilted his head out of instinct.

Tightly holding a dagger, calling out coldly.

Wang Peng and Old Second Bai’s movements were not slow either, one taking out a dagger, and another preparing the gun almost immediately out of instinct.

A breeze blew through the trees, leaves rustled.

Translator’s comments:

None for this chapter.

Translator’s notes:

[1] Idiomatic expression ‘雨后春笋 (yǔ hòu chūn sǔn)’: literal definition is spring bamboo after rain; it expresses something that is growing rapidly. ‘Mushroom’ was used instead of ‘bamboo shoots’ during translation because the former seemed more common in the West (cuisine).

[2] Lei Feng, according to Wikipedia, was allegedly a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army who was the object of several major propaganda campaigns in China. He was portrayed as a model citizen for his selflessness, modesty, and praised as the personification of altruism.

[3] Idiomatic expression ‘你做初一，我做十五 (nǐ zuò chū yī, wǒ zuò shí wǔ)’: lit. translation is ‘you do the first of the month, I’ll do the fifteen’; it’s equivalent in English is ‘an eye for an eye’.

[4] The literal translation here was ‘It isn’t bronze skin and iron bones either.’