Chapter 2 May's Fresh Flowers (Part 2)

  The further north, the more crowded the highway becomes.

  Wealth and poverty, faith and dialect, at this moment, almost all the chasms that can divide people automatically disappeared. Everyone's mind only had one thought: escape, escape, escape as far as possible, even if it meant going south to the edge of a cliff!

  In order to take away as many valuable things from home as possible, the refugees requisitioned all vehicles and livestock that could be used for transportation. Horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts, ox carts, flatbed trucks, unicycles... Each vehicle was packed with large and small packages, and around each vehicle, countless faces were surging with sadness and confusion.

  In the midst of a surging crowd, three horse-drawn carriages were like two small boats on a vast river, sometimes hidden and sometimes visible, swaying precariously with every moment threatening to capsize. The seasoned carriage driver was frantic, his iron-like face set in a scowl as he cracked his whip loudly. Tian Ruyu, who had always prided himself on being bold and composed, was also drenched in sweat, one hand tightly grasping Han Qiu's waist while the other pressed against the hilt of a short dagger over three feet long at his own waist.

  He was on guard against someone hijacking the carriage, and indeed, there were many people trying to intercept these three precious vehicles in various ways. A man in his 40s, with a Tianjin accent, clung to the side of the carriage, crying out loud. Seeing that the carriage owner didn't stop, he suddenly sprang up and, along with four or five other men with the same accent, went to grab the reins of the horses. The carriage owner swung his whip and brushed them off, then swiftly opened his black coat, pulled out a dark red triangular flag from his waist, and "thwacked" it onto the carriage shaft. "You blind fools, daring to hijack Red Flag Society's car? Are you tired of living?"

  In the midst of a scorching hot wind, the iron flagpole forged from steel gleamed with an icy cold light. It was unclear whether they were intimidated by the scar above the cart owner's face or coerced by the Red Flag Society's reputation, but several ruffians who had attempted to hijack the carts retreated to one side, wiping away sweat as they apologized to the caravan with a bow.

  The cart owner was unwilling to get entangled with them, waving his long whip and urging the team to continue moving forward. Just as they had not gone far, two young women holding children came running up, crying and begging the horse carriage to take them to Baoding. "Sister, Baoding is in the southwest, we are heading north! You've asked the wrong person!" Lu Ming couldn't bear to see the two women and two children wailing in front of him, so he bent down, patiently explaining.

  "It's only twenty li, just twenty li away. You turn your heads back, it's only half a kilometer of road!" The two young women immediately picked up the children and sent them to the car without caring. At the same time, there were also four or five men carrying boxes, packages, pots, and pans, and two old ladies over fifty years old, who rushed towards the horse cart together.

  "We're going to Beiping, we're going to Beiping. You understand? We demand to fight the Japanese devils to the death for you people, to fight the Japanese devils!" Fang Guoqiang suddenly stood up, pointing at a family of men and women who were trying to cheat their way onto the train, "As a man, can't even protect his own home and wife and children. Haven't even heard the sound of gunfire yet, already ran away with your tails between your legs! Are you ashamed? Are you ashamed?! Let him throw the child up here, Little Zhang, don't stop him, everyone don't stop him! We'll take the child to Beiping, better for them to die under the Japanese devils' cannon fire than follow their cowardly parents!"

  The whole family was scolded into a daze, and for a moment, they even forgot to continue entangling. The horse carriage took advantage of this opportunity to rush out four or five steps, re-establishing the distance between them. "Dad——" "Dad——" The young woman and her children in her arms cried out in unison, sounding so pitiful and helpless. Several big men's faces turned bright red with rage as they watched the horse carriage move further away, yet none of them dared to continue entangling. After being stunned for a long time, he finally spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the ground, snatched the child from his wife's arms and carried it on his shoulders, striding southward with big steps.

  "It's a man's, follow us to the north. Go to Beiping, go to Wanping, go and fight the Japanese to the death!" Fang Guoqiang, who had just scolded others, stood on the bumpy carriage, his face covered in tears. "Fellow countrymen, we can't escape anymore. We escaped from Northeast China to inland provinces, and then from inland provinces to Shandong. When the Japanese catch up with us again, where will you go? Although China is vast, there will always be times when there's nowhere to go! What will you do then?! Fellow countrymen, stand up, stand up, cheer up! We have 450 million people, and the Japanese don't even make up one tenth of that..."

  No matter if anyone was listening, he shouted himself hoarse, waving his arms like a madman. Several groups of people who were trying to rob the carriage hesitated and retreated. It wasn't because they understood what Fang Guoqiang was saying, but rather they were scared off by his crazy appearance. Their usual tricks, whether it was pretending to be pitiful or lying on the ground being unreasonable, including using violence, were all tactics used against normal people. But when dealing with a "madman", they would often end up losing out.

  With the three bosses, Tian Ruyu and Fang Guoqiang, in charge, the horse cart finally entered a larger town safely at dusk. The name of this town is Hulu Yu, with hills to the south and north, and a clear small lake on the east side. There is only one exit on the west side, adjacent to the highway and railway leading to the north.

  The whole town was packed to the brim with refugees fleeing from the north. Vehicles of all sizes jammed the narrow streets like a maze. Chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep in cages let out frightened cries. Abandoned dogs roamed around every new arrival's horse carriage, trying to attract attention with their barks and wagging tails in exchange for a full belly for the night.

  Tian Qingyu asked several inns in a row, and without exception, they were all fully booked. He was unwilling to continue walking deeper into the town, so he asked another four or five houses, but the owners still showed him a helpless expression. It wasn't until he had almost reached the riverbank that he finally got some good news from the owner of a horse carriage shop - there might be an empty room at the He Ping Hotel in the northern part of the town center. However, when it came to the price, "Look at you students, you don't look like you're short on money either! Being able to find a place to stay is better than getting sick and worrying your family, no matter what!"

  "Thank you, big sister!" Tian Ruyu clasped his hands together in a gesture of gratitude, striking the pose of a Jianghu hero, thanking the boss's wife.

  "Play enough, go home early! Ah! This is chaotic, don't let your family worry!" The boss of the carriage shop was amused by his pretending to be a heroic figure and laughed loudly, waving her fire tongs, shouting advice.

  "Uh-huh, got it, thanks sis!" Tian Ruyu responded impatiently, leading the convoy straight north into town. Sure enough, not far from the town hall, they found a four-story all-white European-style building. At the entrance of the building, there was another gate similar to those often seen in front of Eastern temples, with a blue signboard on the horizontal beam bearing four large characters: "He Ping Restaurant"!

  In such a remote town, it's already exciting to find a restaurant with such a magnificent appearance. Who still has the leisure to care about whether the restaurant's style is Chinese or Western? They cheered and jumped off the carriage, dragging their sore legs to rush to the restaurant lobby, asked the manager about the price, and immediately hung their heads again.

  "Only single rooms and double rooms are left, single rooms cost 4 yuan per day, double rooms cost 1.5 yuan per bed per day, stable rental fee is 0.5 yuan per horse per day. Breakfast costs an additional 0.1 yuan, lunch and dinner can be ordered at the second-floor restaurant at market price!" The manager with a small mustache reports a string of stunning numbers without even raising his eyelids.

  "This is also too expensive!"

  "Boss, you're not ripping me off, are you?!"

  Although they had all lived in the provincial capital before, the students were shocked by the prices of the Peace Hotel. At that time, one silver dollar could buy five kilograms of pork, twenty kilograms of rice, or eight meters of cotton cloth even in the provincial capital of Shandong Province. To stay at the Peace Hotel for one night would cost 1.5 yuan, not including three meals!

  "You're complaining about the price, go find a big car shop outside to sleep in a dorm! As long as you can still find one!" Xiao Hu Zi's boss responded with a "good goods don't need to worry" expression, curling his lips, "You really said it right, it's just a price hike. 1.5 yuan is the price for checking in today, and if you come back after noon tomorrow, the price will go up again!"

  "You, you're taking advantage of the country's misfortune!" Tian Ruyu's anger surged up, and he slapped the counter, wanting to reason with Little Hu Zi. Team leader Zhou Ju saw the situation and quickly stretched out his hand to stop him, then accompanied by a smiling face, negotiated with Little Hu Zi, "Boss, look at how many people we have, can you give us a discount? We're from the south, on our way to Beijing to join Song Chairman's learning army, defending our homes and country!"

  "Discount?" Little Hu Zi smiled and shook his head, directly ignoring Zhou Ju's last sentence. "You look like a decent person too, how could you say something like that?! Go ask around, our restaurant used to have even Cao the President and Duan the Premier staying here. I'd rather be empty than lower our standards. Are you staying or not? If not, then leave, I still need to attend to other customers. Next one..."

  "Five double rooms and one single room! Book for two days first!" A young man in a Sun Yat-sen suit quickly rushed forward from the entrance, responding loudly.

  "Is that you. How come, turned around and came back?!" Little Hu Zi's shopkeeper raised an eyebrow and asked with a hint of sarcasm.

  "Heh heh!" Zhongshan forced a smile, suppressing his anger, and pulled out his wallet, taking out a stack of Central Bank notes.

  "We don't want Sun Yat-sen, we want Yuan the Great!" Little Huzi pushed away Sun's hand and emphasized impatiently.

  "This, this......" Zhongshan's face turned bright red as he negotiated with the other party in a low and humble tone, "We, we left in a hurry, didn't bring that much money. You, you see if it's okay to add a bit more?!"

  "No, no, no. We're going to war soon, who knows what kind of situation Sun Yat-sen will be in next year?! If you don't have any Yuan Datou, then get out of here, I'm busy! Little Huzi didn't even bother to chat with Zhongshan, gave him a sideways glance and spoke viciously."

  A young man wearing a Sun Yat-sen suit, holding a bulging wallet, looked around. Suddenly, his eyes met Zhou Ju's, and his pale face was immediately filled with surprise, "Zhou Shitou, is that you? What are you doing here?"

  Note 1: Sun Yat-sen, the legal tender issued by the Republic of China Bank, with a portrait of Sun Yat-sen on it. The silver dollar, however, had a portrait of Yuan Shikai cast on it.