"Mr. Zhang," Ren Xiaosu said politely to Zhang Jinglin, "I hope you'll allow Liuyuan and Sister Xiaoyu to stay at the school while I'm away."
Zhang Jinglin looked at Ren Xiaosu and wondered, "Have you already confirmed that you have to go?"
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid there's no way to turn them down anymore. You've also seen what happened to Zhang Baogen. Right now, our lives are in the hands of those people in the stronghold. If I take the initiative to go there, I can still avoid danger in time. Or I can even sacrifice others to protect myself. But if I stay here and refuse them, I'm afraid they'll use despicable methods to deal with us."
"Are there no better options?" Zhang Jinglin asked.
"I'm afraid not." Ren Xiaosu shook his head. "But don't worry, Mr. Zhang. Even if they all die, I'll still be fine."
In fact, Ren Xiaosu had only wanted to avoid getting involved in this mess at the beginning. But with his current physical fitness and his experience of surviving in the wilderness, Ren Xiaosu was not worried that he wouldn't be able to make it back alive.
Moreover, the other party's offer in return did not satisfy him at all. If he, Yan Liuyuan, and Sister Xiaoyu had three places to enter the stronghold, it would be more like it. Otherwise, it would be meaningless.
Although he really wanted to enter the stronghold, he could not leave Yan Liuyuan and Sister Xiaoyu behind and go in alone.
What Ren Xiaosu did not tell Yan Liuyuan was that for some reason, he also longed for the bigger world outside when he was tossing and turning in bed one night after gaining his power.
This town was so small that he could see the end of it from a high vantage point. It was so small that he could hear a widow scolding the hooligans in the west even from the east side of town.
He also wanted to go out and have a look.
The only thing that Ren Xiaosu was worried about was the safety of his Sister Xiaoyu and Yan Liuyuan if he left.
If Zhang Jinglin didn't agree to let Sister Xiaoyu and Yan Liuyuan stay, then Ren Xiaosu couldn't go with the band no matter what.
"It looks like you know what you're doing. Get your Sister Xiaoyu and Liuyuan to stay over tonight. I'll clean up the house for them." Zhang Jinglin nodded. In the wilderness, Zhang Jinglin felt that no one in town was more experienced than Ren Xiaosu. So when he saw that Ren Xiaosu was confident, he did not say anything else.
When Ren Xiaosu saw that Zhang Jinglin had agreed, he heaved a sigh of relief. "Sir, I've saved up 5,000 yuan recently. Please accept it. Just treat it as the boarding fee for Sister Xiaoyu and Yan Liuyuan."
"Take it back." Zhang Jinglin shook his head and said, "I'm a teacher at the school, so I only charge tuition."
"Sir, don't decline it. You can use it to buy some cigarettes," Ren Xiaosu said.
Zhang Jinglin hesitated for a moment. "Ahem, I'll charge you 1,000 yuan then. Just treat it as rent."
Ren Xiaosu did not hesitate any further and immediately counted out 1,000 yuan for Zhang Jinglin. Although he was usually stingy, he never hesitated when it came to important matters. Ren Xiaosu would never hesitate to spend money on Yan Liuyuan.
As for the remaining 4,000 yuan, Ren Xiaosu planned to give it directly to Sister Xiaoyu.
He could not give the money to Yan Liuyuan. If Sister Xiaoyu had any ulterior motives towards the money, she could just take the money and leave. She would not have any ulterior motives towards Yan Liuyuan.
However, if the money was with Yan Liuyuan, then Yan Liuyuan's safety would be threatened.
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu still had his guard up against Sister Xiaoyu. This way of thinking might be wrong, and it would be a little unfair to Sister Xiaoyu. However, it would definitely be the least likely choice to leave behind any regrets or pain.
To be honest, Ren Xiaosu still felt that the time they spent with Sister Xiaoyu was too short. It was not that he suspected Sister Xiaoyu had any ulterior motives.
It was just that he had struggled to survive in these wastelands for so long. He fought for his life every day with his own hands, and every step he took left a trail of blood on the ground.
With such a life, how could he easily entrust his fate to someone he had only known for a few days?
Ren Xiaosu brought Yan Liuyuan back to the clinic to pack up. He did not expect that the "new home" he had just obtained would have to be left empty again. Next to him, Wang Fugui said, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of this yard for you. I'll definitely not let anyone else live there."
"Alright, thank you in advance," Ren Xiaosu said.
"Actually, you don't have to force them to live at the school. With me around, what's there to be afraid of?" Wang Fugui said with a smile.
"I'm even guarding against you." Ren Xiaosu heartlessly rejected Wang Fugui's suggestion. In this town, the school was the safest place to be.
Wang Fugui did not get angry. He knew what kind of person Ren Xiaosu was, so it was expected that Ren Xiaosu would guard against him as well.
Sister Xiaoyu and Yan Liuyuan did not say a word the entire time. They just kept packing up. When everything was packed up, Yan Liuyuan asked in a low voice, "Can't you not go?"
"I'll be back. As long as we take the right path, it won't be dangerous. If there's really any danger, I'll leave them behind and run back," Ren Xiaosu said. He did not answer Yan Liuyuan's question and just stuffed the money into his Sister Xiaoyu's hands. "I don't have anywhere to spend money in the wilderness anyway, so keep this money safe."
"Mhm." Sister Xiaoyu agreed. "Bring more dry rations with you. It's too tiring to rely on luck to find food in the wilderness."
"There's no need." Ren Xiaosu shook his head. "If we don't have to consider the taste and endurance, it'll still be very easy to find food once we get past the first few dozen kilometers."
However, Sister Xiaoyu's words reminded Ren Xiaosu that since he could store the medicine bottles back into his mind palace at any time, could he do the same with other things?
Since the medicine bottles were real objects with mass, it meant that the mind palace was also a strange space.
If that were really the case, Ren Xiaosu even wanted to secretly take away the well in town. After all, drinking from the water source outside was indeed a little unsettling.
This was probably what it meant to leave one's hometown, right?
Thinking of this, Ren Xiaosu secretly tried to store a piece of cornbread he had in his hand into the mind palace. But a moment later, something miraculous happened: The cornbread did not move.
A voice came from the mind palace. "Storage authority not obtained."
Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. So he could really store things in the mind palace. It was just that he was not qualified to do so yet!
He asked in his mind, "What do I have to do to obtain storage authority?"
"Unauthorized to answer." The mind palace fell silent and did not answer Ren Xiaosu's question.
Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that the mind palace did not seem to have its own consciousness. It was only issuing specific tasks to Ren Xiaosu based on some kind of logic. Its purpose … seemed to be to guide Ren Xiaosu's actions.
…
After Ren Xiaosu settled Sister Xiaoyu and Yan Liuyuan down at the school, he turned around and left without any hesitation. Sister Xiaoyu and Yan Liuyuan stood at the entrance of the school and watched Ren Xiaosu's retreating figure in the dark. Yan Liuyuan suddenly asked, "Sister Xiaoyu, you actually know why he gave all the money to you, right?"
"Mhm," Sister Xiaoyu answered calmly.
"Then do you blame him?" Yan Liuyuan looked at Sister Xiaoyu.
"No, I won't." Xiaoyu laughed.
Ren Xiaosu walked a long way away before he finally turned around and looked in the direction of the school. At this moment, the vast galaxy in the sky was like a sea of stars.
He turned around and walked resolutely towards the clinic to welcome the guests who were about to arrive.
Many a time, people would only understand when they looked back on their lives. Perhaps they had only made a small decision at some point in time, but that could be the fork in the road where their fate changed drastically.
It was up to them to decide whether to go left or right. Once they made their decision, they would rush towards that unknown future without any hesitation.
But at the time, he had thought that it was just an ordinary day in his life.
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