80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

The lanky man frowned and sighed. "Sigh... This is my first time on this road. I’ve been here for over half an hour. I was going to head up the mountain, but I ran into a guy coming down who warned me. He said there were about a dozen burly men halfway up who had blocked the road with logs. He was driving an empty truck and had to pay two hundred just to get through."

As he spoke, he pointed to a driver leaning against a car window. "It’s just the two of us in my truck. We brought two wooden clubs, so we decided to stop at the foot of the mountain and wait for more people to show up. We can cross the mountain together as a group."

The drivers of the other two trucks were from the same town. They had only arrived at the foot of the mountain about ten minutes ago. Knowing this stretch of road was dangerous, they had two knives and a shotgun in their truck.

Duan Hongjun thought, ’With their eight men and my four, we should be able to force our way through.’ He nodded and said, "Alright. We’ll cross the mountain together."

The men from all three trucks got out and gathered together to come up with a plan.

Duan Hongjun started his vehicle and drove up the mountain.

An hour later, they were approaching a bend in the mountain road. Duan Hongjun had the truck stop. The men from the other three trucks all disembarked, grabbed their shotgun and clubs, and climbed onto the lead truck, holding onto the doors. Li Bing then slowly drove the truck toward the bend.

Duan Hongjun saw two logs lying across the asphalt road, each so thick it would take two people to wrap their arms around it. By the roadside stood seven or eight tall, burly men, each holding a club as thick as a man’s arm.

Li Bing honked the horn a few times. "Hey, brothers! Mind letting us through?"

The seven or eight men walked over to the logs, holding their clubs, and stood their ground. One of them looked at Li Bing arrogantly. "We can move the logs. The toll is two hundred per head, five hundred for the truck."

Duan Hongjun thought, ’Four people in our truck, plus the truck itself... that’s over a thousand! We wouldn’t even make that much on one trip.’ "And what if we don’t pay?" he asked.

"Don’t pay?" The man glanced at his companion, then pointed his club at Duan Hongjun and raised an eyebrow. "Then just leave your cargo."

Li Xiangyang said to Duan Hongjun, "Looks like our only option is to force our way through."

"Right." Duan Hongjun said to Li Xiangyang, "Get out and move the logs."

Everyone except the driver got out of the truck. Duan Hongjun and the two men with shotguns raised their weapons, aimed at the leader of the bandits, and shouted, "Are you going to let us pass or not?"

The robber didn’t believe for a second that they would actually dare to fire their guns. He beat his chest and yelled, "You bastard! If you’ve got the guts, aim for me!"

As he spoke, he raised his club to strike the men moving the logs. Li Xiangyang dropped and rolled, dodging the blow. He then pulled out a pistol and shot the man in the foot. Pointing the gun at him, Li Xiangyang snarled, "Anyone else want to die? Step up, and I’ll be happy to oblige."

The other bandits had never expected them to be carrying real firearms. They were so terrified they froze on the spot, not daring to move a muscle.

The rest of their men quickly moved the logs aside and yelled for Li Bing to drive. When the truck reached Li Xiangyang’s group, they all jumped on, and the vehicle sped away.

****

Lin Lan and Liu Da arrived in the provincial capital.

Liu Da stayed in the provincial capital to wait for the truck’s return, while Lin Lan boarded a train back to East Market.

At noon, Lin Lan set foot in East Market. She took a deep breath and strode toward Limin Street.

’These past few days on the road, it’s just been eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating. I actually feel exhausted,’ Lin Lan thought. ’It’s not as comfortable as when I’m busy at home.’ She felt she was just destined for a life of hard work and wasn’t suited for a slow, leisurely lifestyle.

As Lin Lan turned onto Limin Street from the direction of the department store, she saw that the sign for the clothing store across the street was already up. The black sign with its bronze lettering gave it a rather luxurious feel.

She walked past Limin Restaurant and saw Woodworker Li and his crew standing on a wooden scaffold, installing the sign.

Woodworker Li looked down, saw Lin Lan, and called out in surprise, "Little Lin! Why was your trip to the provincial capital delayed for so long this time?"

"We took a trip to Yangcheng City," Lin Lan said. As she spoke, she glanced toward Zhou Xiaohong’s shop and saw that it was also being renovated. ’It looks like Zhou Xiaohong and her husband are back,’ she thought.

Woodworker Li had no idea where Yangcheng City was. "Oh! I thought you just went to the provincial capital!"

Zhou Xiaohong came out of the neighboring shop. Seeing Lin Lan, she waved happily. "Little Lin, you’re back!"

"I am!" Lin Lan walked over to her shop and saw Chen Dongming with a newspaper hat on his head, using a roller to paint the walls.

Zhou Xiaohong dusted herself off and walked over to Lin Lan. "Has your shipment arrived yet?"

"Not yet. Xiangyang is coming back with the truck," Lin Lan replied, looking at her. "What about you?"

Zhou Xiaohong nodded. "We carried two big bags back ourselves, and we have a few more bags coming by freight. The shipping fee was so expensive!"

Lin Lan smiled. "A little expensive is fine, as long as it arrives safely."

"I was originally thinking of using LTL shipping since it’s cheaper, but Xu Mingxuan said it’s not safe. He said losing just one bag of goods would cost more than my shipping fees for an entire year." Then she asked, "What kind of inventory did you get?"

"Sweaters, coats... a little bit of everything."

"Things in Yangcheng City are so cheap!" Zhou Xiaohong said in a low voice. "I even bought a sewing machine. They said it was a decommissioned one from a clothing factory, only a hundred yuan."

Lin Lan laughed and nodded. "We bought one too."

Zhou Xiaohong said with some regret, "I should have spent all the money I brought on inventory. I was worried I’d be stuck with it, so I ended up bringing a few hundred back with me."

Lin Lan didn’t hide anything from her, saying with a smile, "I was a little reckless. I spent all the money I brought on inventory. I only have a few dozen yuan left on me now."

Zhou Xiaohong glanced at Chen Dongming. "Dongming’s health isn’t great, so we have to keep some money in reserve."

Lin Lan smiled comfortingly. "Don’t you worry. Your grand opening is guaranteed to be a huge success."

"Yeah!" Zhou Xiaohong looked at her. "Go home and get some rest. Once the shipment arrives, the real work begins."

Lin Lan nodded, said goodbye to Chen Dongming, and headed toward Lexing.

Little Douzi, schoolbag on his back, was just coming out of the courtyard. When he saw Lin Lan smiling at him, he joyfully threw himself into her arms. "Mama, you’re back!"

Lin Lan bent down and hugged him. "Did you miss Mama?"

"I did!" Little Douzi nodded emphatically and took Lin Lan’s hand, leading her into the courtyard.

Lin Yuezhen, Qiaohui, and Wu Shufen were standing under the eaves. Wu Shufen smiled and took Lin Lan’s hand. "You’re back!"

"Yes, I’m back." Lin Lan looked at them. "You must have been exhausted these past few days."

Wu Shufen shook her head cheerfully. "Not at all. Zhigang and Zhixue both came to help."

Lin Lan put her backpack and the electric iron she was carrying onto the small dining table and scratched her head. "I need to take a bath. I’m itching all over. I think I might have picked up lice on the road."

Little Douzi put down his schoolbag. "Mama, I’ll get you some hot water."

"Let your auntie get it," Qiaohui said. She and Lin Yuezhen brought a wash basin into the room and filled it most of the way with hot water. "Cousin, come on and get washed up."

Lin Lan nodded, patted Little Douzi’s head, and took her backpack into the room to start her bath.

"Yang Xiaoguo, let’s go!" Little Kai shouted from the doorway, calling for Little Douzi to go to school.

Little Douzi glanced at the closed door, reluctantly put on his schoolbag, and knocked. "Mama, I’m leaving now."

"Okay!" Lin Lan’s voice came from inside the room. "Mama will come pick you up after school!"

"Okay, I’ll be waiting for you!" Little Douzi slung on his schoolbag and skipped happily out the door.