Chapter 338

The surroundings were quiet; over there, two people were each tied to a tree in a standing posture, their mouths sealed with tape, only able to make sounds from their nasal passages. The sound Zheng Tan heard came from one of them; as for the other, he made no sound, though his head twitched slightly, indicating his condition was worse.

Fortunately, both were wearing down jackets; otherwise, if left here unattended, they would likely freeze to death.

Zheng Tan approached from behind the two, looked at the ropes binding them. The ropes were tied too tight, too secure, and knotted with a dead knot; Zheng Tan hadn't brought a box cutter today, so directly helping them untie the ropes would be difficult.

Good person? Bad person?

They must have been tied up here for not too short a time; otherwise they wouldn't be frozen like this, and the traces around don't look like they were just recently put up.

Zheng Tan slowly walked out from the side, looked at the person making the sound; this person's age was probably about the same as Jiao Ba's, and when he noticed Zheng Tan, the sorrow, anger, and anxiety that had filled him suddenly turned into hope.

This doesn't look like a bad person. Moreover, when he showed anxiety, he also glanced at the other person tied a few steps away; obviously, he was worried about that person's health.

As for the second person tied up, he was younger and also male. Zheng Tan thought he was quite tragic; obviously he had been badly beaten, while the first person at most had a slight bruise at the corner of his eye, but this one was beaten to a pig's head, with bloodstains on his forehead, and now his consciousness is not very clear.

More than fifty meters away from here there is a dirt road; currently no vehicles have passed by, and even if any did, they would keep their doors closed. This little sound from outside is hard to hear; if it weren't for Zheng Tan, these two might not be discovered for who knows how long, and perhaps by the time they were found they'd already be dead.

After looking at the two, Zheng Tan ran toward the orchard, quickly climbed over the wire fence, and went to find Jiao Yuan.

Jiao Yuan was helping someone take out a toolbox, moved his wrist a bit, preparing to move another one, when he noticed his pant leg being tugged.

Zheng Tan grabbed Jiao Yuan's pant leg, then looked toward those two, then looked at Jiao Yuan again, and tugged.

Jiao Yuan frowned and said to Jiao Lao Yezi, who was chatting with someone not far away: "Grandpa, I'm just going for a walk."

"Fine. Be careful." Jiao Lao Yezi didn't pay much mind either; there wasn't much danger in the orchard, the kids couldn't sit still, so if they wanted to look around, they were allowed to.

Zheng Tan hadn't originally planned to let Xiao Youzi come along; she's still young, what if she ran into ill‑intentioned outsiders? But Xiao Youzi noticed this and insisted on following.

After bringing the two to the wire fence, Zheng Tan went straight over; Jiao Yuan let Xiao Youzi stay here while he went ahead to take a look, which also suited Zheng Tan's intention.

Jiao Yuan usually puts on an obedient front in front of outsiders, seen by teachers as a good student and top achiever, but in fact he and Xiong Xiong have often done a fair share of nasty deeds; even now in high school it's the same, if not more. Scaling walls and fences, Zheng Tan could tell from Jiao Yuan's movements that he was a practiced hand.

After bringing Jiao Yuan to the woods, the man whose age was about the same as Jiao Ba's saw Zheng Tan and Jiao Yuan, and strong delight welled up in his eyes, even glistening with tears.

Jiao Yuan tore the tape off that person's mouth and asked, "Who are you?"

His voice trembled a little, but he spoke clearly: "My name is Song Ting, from the Agricultural Science Institute. I came here yesterday evening…… My phone had died, so I didn't call my friends here, I hitched a ride intending to go to the test base…… I didn't expect to run into robbers…… When they brought us here, the other two people in the vehicle and the driver tied us up…… They had knives and clubs, and they searched and took our phones, wallets, etc., and also took the documents we had placed in our bags…… The young man beside me should be a local who came back from work…… He resisted and even helped me carry a few things…… His condition is not good now; he needs a doctor……"

Jiao Yuan didn't immediately believe what he said; although he thought the person before him was good, he had also seen many cases where rescuers were later bitten back. Now he's just a first‑year high school student with no one else to help him, and a few days ago the news reported a rescuer being struck with a stick in the snow by the very person he'd saved. He had to stay alert, so he needed to verify the person's identity again.

So Jiao Yuan didn't continue asking about the person's specific identity; instead he quickly asked a few questions about frost protection and care for fruit trees, things he had learned these days while following Jiao Lao Yezi.

Song Ting's eyes lit up; without much thought, he answered offhand.

Whether he's an insider can be told just by listening to how they speak; their wording and terminology have their own set, and many professional terms are not used by villagers working in orchards.

After confirming it, Jiao Yuan didn't waste time; he pulled out a utility knife from his pocket, cut the bonds, also freed the other person, let Song Ting wait here, then hurried back to the wire fence, briefly told Xiao Youzi, and Xiao Youzi ran back to call for help. Looking at the two, fatigued, hungry, and chilled by the damp cold, they had been outside too long; walking might already be difficult, and Jiao Yuan alone couldn't carry them.

Xiao Youzi had run around the orchard several times, was somewhat familiar with it, wasn't afraid of getting lost, and quickly ran to call for help.

Zheng Tan stayed here helping Jiao Yuan, guarding against any suspicious figures around; what if the black‑car robbers from last night showed up again? Jiao Yuan, a high schooler, couldn't withstand those professional thieves.

Not long after, people came from the orchard side, driving the orchard's dedicated small cart, opened the gate at the wire fence, lifted the two injured into the cart, and headed to the town hospital.

Because of this incident, the original plan to stay in the orchard until dinner and then head back had to change; when it was nearly noon and time to eat, Jiao Lao Yezi directly took the children home in the donkey cart.

Before boarding the cart, Zheng Tan saw the donkey wagging its tail and calling as it followed Grandpa Five; the sound was different from its bray after teasing the flower cat earlier in the morning, and when facing Grandpa Five the donkey's voice sounded… Zheng Tan always thought it a bit coquettish. Donkeys can be coquettish too.

I heard the two rescued were soon transferred from the town hospital to the county's best hospital. This incident caused quite a stir. I heard that several higher‑up leaders have spoken out, demanding a thorough investigation.

It's rare for the Agricultural Science Institute to send an expert on its own initiative to guide frost protection and post‑disaster recovery work here; I didn't expect to run into something like this. If this isn't resolved well, which expert would still come to give guidance in the future? There are many experts nowadays, but a genuine, good expert is not easy to find.

Why say a 'genuine' 'good' expert? Because nowadays many experts hired with high salaries or dispatched directly from above—never mind how much real ability they have—are not only pompous, but when they come they just give casual guidance, yet they demand a lavish banquet and a few red envelopes, then leave immediately. This expert who came this time, however, is fairly well known in the field and has a reputation for being a good person; I never expected that upon arriving here he'd run into the black‑car robbers. It's utterly infuriating!

Although the higher ups haven't explicitly said so, some sharper people can also infer some potential information from this. Song Ting is so young yet has achieved so much and is also well known in the circle; aside from his own strong ability, one can also see that there is backing behind him, otherwise the higher ups wouldn't have acted so quickly.

Song Ting's parents are both veteran experts in this field, have made great contributions to the country; even now, despite their age, they remain active, their influence spreads far and wide, and they enjoy high prestige in their circle. Since this region is mainly agricultural with an experimental base, dealing with experts is unavoidable now and in the future; therefore, anyone who isn't foolish knows this matter must be handled seriously, with no tolerance for negligence. Although Song Ting said the lost items contain no confidential documents, it is still best to recover them quickly.

Perhaps those bandits never imagined that, while the authorities were busy with disaster relief, they would still be noticed, nor did they expect Song Ting and his companions to be discovered so quickly; the bandits had planned to move to another town and pull off a few more heists, but they never thought that on New Year's Eve early in the morning they would be dragged out of their beds and handcuffed.

This gang has done this sort of thing more than once or twice; they operate mobile crimes, hitting one target then moving to another. If it weren't for this operation being swift, decisive, not to be ignored or tolerated, and with someone coming forward to report it voluntarily, they might not have been caught so quickly.

As for the other hostage, he is indeed a fellow villager of Jiao Ba, just turned twenty. His reputation in the village wasn't great, though not because he had done much to harm the villagers. After graduating from junior high he never went back to school, had no interest in studying, and didn't want to farm; he spent his days hanging out with outsiders and even got into fights. But fundamentally his nature isn't twisted—he has performed a few acts of righteous courage. Later, following his family's suggestion, he went with a few fellow villagers to work at a garment factory on the coast, and hadn't returned home for two years. This year, upon coming back, he encountered the snowstorm, which caused many troubles; he was almost back in the village when he ran into the robbers, got beaten up, and if he hadn't been discovered in time, waiting another half day could have put his life in danger. However, he is much better now, and even in the hospital he jokes and plays around with his family.

But Zheng Tan didn't care about any of that.

On New Year's Eve, Zheng Tan didn't sleep. He had seen Jiao Lao Yezi buy some red envelopes the previous day—simple ones printed with the three characters 'yàsui bāo' (pressure‑year packet). Tonight they were ready, waiting to be given to the children tomorrow. Actually, villagers often are casual and just hand out money straight from their pockets without using envelopes, but Jiao Lao Yezi wanted to be fashionable, so he specially bought some. Zheng Tan picked up two of them, and after Xiao Youzi and Jiao Yuan fell asleep, he put the money he had brought into them.

Zheng Tan knew that the two elders of the Jiao family always gave a hundred yuan as New Year's money—the highest amount given in the village; next came fifty, twenty, ten yuan, etc. According to village custom, Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma do not give New Year's money to the two children, so Zheng Tan planned to give Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi a bit more this time, making him the one who gave the most red‑envelope money this year; just thinking about it made him feel a little pleased.

Zheng Tan stuffed five hundred yuan into each of the two red envelopes—this was the overtime pay he had earned from Xiao Guo; the money in his card was hard to withdraw, so he could only use this.

After folding the envelopes, Zheng Tan thought for a moment, then took some of the leftover braised‑pork oil from tonight's bowl, smeared it on his hand, and pressed it onto the back of the envelopes, leaving a blurred cat‑paw‑shaped oil stain. That way they wouldn't get mixed up with anyone else's.

After taking care of that, when Xiao Youzi and Jiao Yuan were asleep, Zheng Tan placed the red envelopes at their bedside, then went to the backyard and hastily washed his hands with cold water and soap, dried them, and went back to sleep. (To be continued…)

PS: It's the last day of July; friends who haven't cast their monthly vote, don't forget to throw it out.