The way that Qiao Mei looked now, people would get ideas about her even if she just stood there. If anything were to happen to her on her way, he did not think that he, an old man with half his body already in the grave, would be able to stand it.
As Qiao Qiang had kept staring at Qiao Mei for the past few days, he did not notice that Qiao Mei actually had only a very faint sense of presence now. His mind was filled with worry and melancholy.
“Mei Mei, why not let your Uncle Chen Hu accompany you. If I ask him personally, he will definitely agree. Don’t find it troublesome,” Qiao Qiang said to Qiao Mei with a frown.
“Grandfather, don’t worry. I’ll get a ticket for the direct train from the county city to the capital. Once I reach the capital, I’ll find a phone and call you. I hope that’s fine for you,” Qiao Mei said.
Qiao Qiang thought for a moment and knew that Qiao Mei did not want to take his advice at all. He would just have to let her be. Whatever she did, she must have her own reasons. Qiao Qiang sighed and nodded, indicating that he would compromise and go along with Qiao Mei’s plans.
Qiao Mei smiled happily and was about to enter the room when she was stopped by Qiao Qiang again.
“Mei Mei, you have to put a cloth around your head and don’t let anyone see your face. Wear something tattered, or else there will be thieves targeting you,” Qiao Qiang reminded her repeatedly.
Qiao Mei giggled and saluted. “Alright! I promise to complete the mission!”
Her action made Qiao Qiang laugh out loud and caused him to recall the person he was in the past. Qiao Mei was relieved to see Qiao Qiang looking much happier and went into the room to pack the things she wanted to bring.
The fabric that Qiao Mei bought some time ago had not only been made into clothes, but also into an exquisite backpack. Qiao Mei had embroidered her favorite flowers and plants on it, and had also sewed a compartment inside the backpack to specially store the small boxes containing the wild ginsengs. She was afraid that if she carelessly opened the bag during her travels and let someone see them, it would cause trouble for her.
“Hmm… Let me think. What else should I bring?” Qiao Mei said as she looked at the stack of things on the brick bed.
Everything was laid out on the brick bed. There were three sets of new clothes, a change of shoes, a few boxes of wild ginsengs, and all kinds of food and supplies given by the other villagers. It was chock full of stuff. In the end, Qiao Mei picked out the most important things to take with her, including the 1500-year-old wild ginseng roots from the mountain and a lot of vine seeds.
Qiao Mei chose not to do what Qiao Qiang had mentioned. She felt that by covering her face with a cloth, she would attract more attention. It would be better to just look ordinary. Qiao Mei went to the hospital to buy a surgical mask to put on, as she felt that the effect would be the same as covering her face with a cloth.
After Qiao Mei arrived at the county city, she took a bus to the provincial city as the direct train to the capital departed from the provincial city. Once she arrived at the capital, she would give her grandfather a call before transferring onto a train to Gushan. Basically, all train transfers to other places were done in the capital.
Qiao Mei made sure to dress in plain black clothes. In this era, people who traveled around for business were mostly men and very few women could make their own way to someplace far away.
She had already been delayed by Qiao Yu’s matter for too long over the past few days and had left the village a day later than she had planned. She was not afraid that there would be criminals on the way. If there were any people who harbored any ill intentions, she would just beat them up and cripple them. It did not matter if she had to compensate them. She had plenty of money and the one thing she did not lack was money. However, money could not buy time and she was very anxious about being delayed for even a second.
“Xia Zhe, you must wait for me. You must be safe,” Qiao Mei muttered to herself as she looked out of the train window.
Wearing a mask in the train saved her a lot of trouble, but Qiao Mei was not an immortal and had no choice but to eat and drink at intervals. Every mealtime, there would be people staring at her and talking about her. There were even people who tried to hit on her.
“Little girl, where are you going?” A stranger walked over and asked.
Qiao Mei pointed at her ears and then at her mouth, and then waved her hand at the stranger to indicate that she was deaf and mute and could not speak or hear what he was saying.
When the man understood what she was trying to say, he frowned and sighed as he said, “Oh, what a pity.”
With that, he turned around and left. After witnessing that, everyone on the train lamented that Qiao Mei was actually deaf and mute despite being so beautiful. They felt that the heavens were really fair, that the heavens had given someone beauty but took away everything else from her. After that, no one bothered Qiao Mei anymore.
Qiao Mei was also happy to be left alone and free from all the trouble. This way, no one would disturb her.