Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 136 Continue
After leaving the forest farm, Yan Hui rested for a full half hour, until he was completely chilled, before finally getting up and leaving. Fortunately, no one saw him.

I had heard Lao Guo say that there were guns in the forest farm, but Yan Hui didn't feel anything. He always felt that the knife he carried was for self-defense against wolves.

Yan Hui suddenly understood a principle: resources that a person fully controls can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Conversely, if they cannot be accessed anytime, anywhere, then they are not his resources.

Having figured this out, Yan Hui didn't think of blaming the farm manager or deputy farm manager. He had made the choice himself, so he couldn't blame anyone else.

Then, Yan Hui walked, ate something, rested for a while, drank some cold water, and mustered up his courage again to go to the next forest farm.

The outcomes were similar for both days: either a cold shoulder or being kicked out. People in Northeast China tend to be stubborn; they'll do what they're paid for, and nobody's willing to pay for the expectations and promises of a complete stranger from out of town.

Originally planned to be out for three days, Yan Hui felt something was wrong with his condition, so he took the last train and rushed back to Tangwanghe that night.

When Yan Hui returned, it was a little after 8 p.m. He knocked on Lao Guo's door to get some clean clothes.

"Judging from your expression, it didn't work out?" Old Guo handed Yan Hui his bag. "What's the plan next?"

"I don't know. I'll take a shower and go to bed first, and we'll talk about it tomorrow." Yan Hui shook his head.

"Why take a bath? Come on, I'll take you to get a scrub." Old Guo patted Yan Hui's shoulder, looking at his dejected appearance. "Come on, come on, look at you, you stink."

"Let's go another time, it's getting too late." Yan Hui was somewhat reluctant.

In the afternoon, Yan Hui visited several more forest farms. One of them said some rather unpleasant things, and even though Yan Hui had a good attitude, he was still somewhat disheartened.

"Come on, come on, tell me. I was really worried these past two days while you were gone. To be honest, I think you're really amazing. If it were me, I really wouldn't dare," Old Guo said with emotion.

These past two days, Lao Guo has been genuinely worried about Yan Hui. Yan Hui's pager isn't working properly here; he completely loses contact as soon as he leaves the house. These days, even if Yan Hui dies out there, Lao Guo won't be able to find him, and calling the police won't do much good.

"Alright, let's go." Yan Hui nodded, put his things down, and followed Lao Guo out the door.

After entering the bathhouse, the two took a shower, picked up towels and helped each other scrub, and each spent a little over a dollar to come out. They originally wanted to soak in the bath and scrub their backs, but there were too many people and the water was a bit dirty, so they really weren't in the mood.

After taking a shower, Yan Hui put on his hat and walked back with Lao Guo. The cold wind made him feel refreshed. Yan Hui looked around and saw that the lights were somewhat cold in color, but each bright spot was so clear.

"Old Guo, do you think there are many stories behind each of these lights?" Yan Hui suddenly asked.

“Well… of course, doesn’t every light represent a home?” Old Guo glanced at Yan Hui, finding Yan Hui’s behavior somewhat puzzling.

At first glance, Yan Hui's expression was very calm, completely different from an hour ago, as if he had smoothed out the wrinkles in his heart.

"Mhm." Yan Hui nodded.

"What's wrong with you? Have you figured something out this time?" Old Guo asked curiously.

"No, it's just that today's experience felt a bit unreal. After taking a shower, feeling the breeze, and looking at the lights, I realized it wasn't such a big deal after all," Yan Hui said lightly.

"What exactly happened to you today?" Old Guo was still a little worried. It was too noisy while he was showering, so he hadn't explained clearly. "Nothing much, just got yelled at a lot," Yan Hui said, laughing at himself. "I'll continue tomorrow."

"Huh? I thought you were going to give up. I was thinking that if you went to your uncle's place, I could help you out and try my best to get you some cheap timber. Actually, there are only a few sources of timber in Fengtian." Old Guo said, then fell silent. The two quietly returned to the hotel, where Yan Hui booked a room and lay down on the bed to sleep comfortably.

The next morning, Yan Hui didn't eat there. Around 6 a.m., he went out to buy some dry food, took the earliest train, and went to a more distant place.

Three days later.
Three days later.
Three days later.
Three days passed, and Yan Hui had been in Tangwanghe for more than ten days.

That afternoon, Yan Hui returned to Tangwanghe. His clothes were torn from the mountain, and he was having some difficulty walking, so he slowly made his way back to the inn. Old Guo hadn't returned yet, so Yan Hui said to the landlady, "When my friend comes back tonight, could you please tell him my room number for me?"

"Young man, what are you busy with all day long? I see you only come back once every few days, and you always work so hard," the landlady asked with some doubt. After all, this was a small place, and the landlady knew all the regulars.

"Going out to discuss business didn't go very smoothly," Yan Hui said calmly.

It was late April, and Tangwanghe was still cold. Yan Hui had to come back to change his clothes; his old clothes needed to be mended.

"That must have been tough. Oh, by the way, here are a few letters for you. They were delivered yesterday." The landlady took out the letters.

"Thank you very much." Yan Hui accepted the letter.

"I see you're working quite hard. If you're not in a hurry, you can leave your mail with me from now on. The postman comes by every few days to deliver mail, and I just give it to him." The landlady was telling the truth. There was a freight station right next to this place, and besides Yan Hui's mail, they also regularly sent out national express mail, so the postman came by practically every day.

"That's great, thank you. I'm not in a hurry." Yan Hui perked up a bit, paid the money, took the key, and went back inside to check the letter.

Yan Hui read through the letters from home and friends one by one. Everyone hoped that he wouldn't be too tired, and his sister even drew him a picture.

The second and eldest sons remained the same in the capital, while Su Jin asked Yan Hui if he needed some warm clothes sent to him.

After replying to each letter and affixing the stamps, Yan Hui gave all the letters to the landlady.

After finishing these tasks, Yan Hui went back to his room and slowly began sewing clothes.

He was bitten by a dog at the forest farm yesterday. Luckily, he was wearing cotton pants, so the dog only tore at the pants and didn't bite his flesh.

In order to fight the dog, Yan Hui held onto the dog's head tightly and rolled around several times, stunning the dog and injuring himself slightly, though not seriously.

These past few days haven't been entirely fruitless, but it's been difficult to close deals anyway. Instead of revealing his financial situation first, he inquired about prices and observed quality.

Over the course of more than ten days, he learned about the prices and quality of timber from more than thirty forest farms, and this information alone was worth a lot of money.

But this has its advantages and disadvantages. He asked questions for a while and even looked at the timber, but then said he didn't have enough money, which could easily lead to trouble. These past ten days...
Go ahead.

(End of this chapter)