Chapter 327: Chapter 320: New Year’s Money From the Cat Chapter 327: Chapter 320: New Year’s Money From the Cat The surroundings were very quiet. Two people were bound to two trees in standing positions over there, their mouths sealed with tape, able only to make sounds through their nostrils. The sound Zheng Tan heard came from one of them. As for the other person, he made no sound, but his head was moving slightly, looking like he was in an even worse condition.

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

Zheng Tan approached the two from behind and examined the ropes that bound them. Tied too tight, too firm, and with a dead knot, Zheng Tan hadn’t brought his card knife today, so it was going to be difficult to directly help the men untie the ropes.

Good guys? Bad guys?

They must have been tied up here for a quite a while, otherwise, they wouldn’t have become so frozen. The traces around did not look like they had just been made.

Zheng Tan slowly stepped out from the side and looked at the person making noises. This person was about the same age as Mr. Jiao, and when he noticed Zheng Tan, the emotions of sadness, anger, and urgency that had filled him suddenly turned into hope.

This didn’t seem like a bad guy. Moreover, when this man showed signs of anxiety, he also looked over at the other person bound just a few steps away, clearly worried about the health condition of the person next to him.

As for the second bound person, he was younger, also male. Zheng Tan thought he was quite tragic; he was clearly badly beaten. The first man had only minor bruising around his eyes, but this one had been beaten up like a pig’s head, with blood still on his forehead and currently not very conscious.

About fifty meters away, there was a dirt road. There was no traffic seen right now, and even if a car were to pass by, all kept their windows shut. The sounds outside were hard to hear. If it weren’t for Zheng Tan, who knows when these two would have been found, or perhaps, by the time they were discovered, they might be dead.

After looking at the two men, Zheng Tan ran toward the orchard, quickly climbing over the barbed wire to find Jiao Yuan.

Jiao Yuan was helping someone carry a toolbox, flexed his wrists a bit, and prepared to continue moving another when he noticed his pant leg being tugged.

Zheng Tan held onto Jiao Yuan’s pant leg, then glanced in the direction of the two men, then at Jiao Yuan, and tugged again.

Jiao Yuan frowned and said to Old Sir Jiao not far away, still chatting with someone, “Grandpa, I’ll take a quick walk.”

“Okay, be careful.” Old Sir Jiao didn’t pay much attention, as the orchard had no particular dangers, and he was used to letting the kids wander around if they felt restless.

Zheng Tan originally didn’t intend to let Little Youzi follow, as she was still young. What if they encountered someone with bad intentions? However, Little Youzi noticed what was happening and insisted on catching up.

Zheng Tan brought the two men to the barbed wire, directly climbed over it, and Jiao Yuan told Little Youzi to stay there while he went to check things out, which was what Zheng Tan had intended.

Jiao Yuan, in front of outsiders, always showed his obedient side, seen as a model student and top scholar by teachers, but in reality, this guy had not done fewer mischievous deeds with Xiong Xiong and the others. Now in high school, it was still the same, if not more so. Looking at Jiao Yuan’s movements over the wall and wire, Zheng Tan knew he was experienced.

Upon bringing Jiao Yuan to the woods, the man who was about the same age as Mr. Jiao saw Zheng Tan and Jiao Yuan, his eyes exhibiting strong surprise and even shimmering with tears.

Jiao Yuan tore the tape off the man’s mouth and asked, “Who are you?”

The man’s voice trembled, though clear, “My name is Song Ting, with the Agricultural Research Institute. I came here late last night… My phone was dead, so I didn’t call my friends here. I hitched a ride intending to go to the experimental base, but I didn’t expect to encounter robbers… When we got here, the other two passengers and the driver tied us up here… They had knives and clubs, and they took our cell phones and wallets, the documents were all in the bags, all taken by them… The young man next to me must be from around here, coming back from work… He resisted and even took a few hits for me… He’s in bad shape now, he needs a doctor…”

Jiao Yuan didn’t immediately believe what the man said. While he felt the man in front of him was good, he had also seen cases where helping someone led to being bitten later. Now, being just a high school student without anyone to back him up, there had been recent news stories about people being hit into the snow after attempting to help someone, making him stay cautious, so he needed further proof of this man’s identity.

Therefore, Jiao Yuan did not continue to inquire about the man’s specific identity but instead swiftly asked him several questions about frost protection for fruit trees that he had learned in the past few days following Old Sir Jiao.

Song Ting’s eyes lit up, and without much thought, he casually responded.

Whether they were insiders could be told from their speech, which was laced with industry terms that many in the orchard working village would not use.

Once confirmed, Jiao Yuan didn’t waste any more time. He pulled out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket, untied one person, and then freed another, telling Song Ting to wait there while he quickly ran back to the wire fence. He briefly explained the situation to Little Youzi, who then ran off to call for help. Looking at the two men, battered by fatigue, hunger, and the damp cold, who had been outside for too long and could hardly walk, Jiao Yuan couldn’t carry them by himself.

Little Youzi, having run around the orchard a few times, was familiar with the area and wasn’t afraid of getting lost. He quickly ran to call for help.

Zheng Tan helped Jiao Yuan keep watch, guarding against any suspicious characters in the area, wondering what they would do if last night’s black car bandits appeared again. A high school student like Jiao Yuan definitely couldn’t handle these professional robbers alone.

It wasn’t long before people from the orchard arrived, driving a vehicle specialized for orchard use. They opened the gate at the wire fence, loaded the two injured men into the vehicle, and drove to the town hospital.

Because of this incident, although they had planned to stay in the orchard until dinner, it seemed plans had to change. Around lunchtime, Old Sir Jiao directly took the children back home in a donkey cart.

Before boarding the cart, Zheng Tan saw the donkey wagging its tail and neighing at Fifth Grandpa, different from the sound it made when teasing Hua the cat in the morning. In front of Fifth Grandpa, its voice… Zheng Tan always felt, seemed a bit coquettish. Even a donkey could act coy.

He heard that the two rescued men were quickly transferred from the town hospital to the best hospital in the county. The incident had caused quite a stir, and he heard that several leaders from above had ordered a thorough investigation.

It was rare for an expert from the Agricultural Research Institute to come to guide the local orchard in frost protection and post-disaster recovery. Nobody expected such an incident to happen, and if it wasn’t handled well, which expert would want to come to guide them in the future? There are many experts nowadays, but genuine, top-notch experts are hard to find.

Why say “genuine” “top-notch” expert? Because currently, many experts who are highly paid or directly appointed from above not only offer little true expertise but also demand grand feasts and red packets before leaving promptly. However, this expert, well-known in the industry and famously decent, had unexpectedly encountered a black car robbery upon arriving here. What a mess!

Although it wasn’t explicitly stated, the clever could glean some underlying information. Song Ting, so young with such achievements and a famous name within the circle, indicating strong backing, otherwise the authorities wouldn’t have acted so swiftly.

Song Ting’s parents were experts from the older generation with significant contributions to the country, still active despite their age, commanding high respect in their circle. As an agricultural region with a research base, dealing with experts was common and would continue to be necessary. Therefore, anyone sensible knew the importance of handling the situation carefully and meticulously. Although Song Ting mentioned there were no confidential documents lost, it was still best to recover the stolen items quickly.

Perhaps the robbers hadn’t expected that during the busy rescue operations, there would still be attention to spare for them, nor had they imagined that Song Ting and his group would be found so quickly. The robbers had planned to move to another town and continue their spree, but were unexpectedly pulled out from their beds and shackled on New Year’s Eve morning.

These men were not first-timers; they operated nomadically, committing a crime in one place before moving on to another. If not for the swift and decisive actions, the aversion to neglect and cover-ups, coupled with someone’s timely report, catching them so quickly might not have been possible.

As for the other captive, he was indeed from Mr. Jiao’s village and had just turned twenty. He had a somewhat bad reputation in the village, not because he had done much to harm the villagers but because he dropped out of junior high and wasn’t interested in continuing his education or farming. He spent his days mingling outside, occasionally getting into fights. However, fundamentally, he wasn’t a crooked person and had even been heroic a few times. Following advice from his family, he went to work in a clothing factory on the coast with some villagers and hadn’t been home for two years. This year, returning amid the snow disaster, he ran into trouble. He was nearly home when he was caught in the robbery and beaten. If his discovery hadn’t been timely, waiting even a half-day more could have endangered his life. But now, he was much better, joking and laughing with his family at the hospital.

But Zheng Tan paid no attention to that.

On New Year’s Eve, Zheng Tan didn’t sleep. He had seen Old Sir Jiao buying some red packets, the simple kind printed with the words “New Year’s gift.” He had prepared them that evening to give to the children the next day. Usually, the villagers were casual and didn’t necessarily use red packets, handing out money directly, but Old Sir Jiao, keeping up with fashion, had specifically bought some. Zheng Tan sneaked two, and after Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan fell asleep, he put the money he had brought into them.

Zheng Tan knew that the elder Jiaos always gave 100 yuan as New Year’s money, the most by village standards, with others giving 50, 20, or 10 yuan. According to village tradition, Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma wouldn’t give their own children New Year’s money, so Zheng Tan decided to give Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi more New Year’s money, making him the one who gave the most this year, a thought that made him slightly proud.

Zheng Tan stuffed 500 yuan into each red packet, money he had earned from overtime through Xiao Guo. Since it was inconvenient to withdraw money from his card, he had to use this.

After folding the red packets neatly, Zheng Tan, after some thought, smeared some oil from the leftover braised pork on his hands and then pressed it on the back of the red packets, leaving a blurred cat-paw print. This way, they wouldn’t get mixed up with others.

Once everything was in order, after Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan had fallen asleep, Zheng Tan placed the red packets on their bedside, then hurried to the backyard to hastily wash his hands with cold water and soap. After drying them, he went back to sleep. (. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep