Xiaofeng watched the car drive away, no longer thinking of anything else, only listening to the cart-pushing lady who said, "Our vegetables here are cheap, and many big bosses come here to buy in bulk and sell them in the surrounding provinces."
"How much is eggplant per pound now?"
"It depends on the quality. The good-looking ones are sixty cents, and the less appealing ones, forty to fifty cents are possible."
In this era, such prices weren’t exactly low; they were at least related to the current national situation. In that era, everyone’s salary was only a few hundred yuan.
Uncle Yuan’s group happened to be heading back to the county town and helped the couple push the cart all the way back. Upon arrival, the couple thanked the three of them and gave them almost five or six pounds of eggplants they had grown, for them to take back and try.
Since it was gifted, Uncle Yuan naturally accepted it. The three of them then headed towards the place where they were staying for the night, where their car was still parked.
"Dad, look, isn’t there someone acting suspiciously near our car?" Before they got close to the car, they noticed several locals gathered around it.
The three looked over and indeed saw a few people surrounding their car, seeming as if they were trying to pry something open.
Uncle Yuan touched his waist and said with a wry smile, "I left my phone in the car; these damn kids aren’t planning to break the window to steal it, are they?"
"This bunch, they have sharp ears; someone must have called you, saw no one in the car, and then got malicious ideas. As for the phone, whether it will be valuable in the future I don’t know, but right now it’s quite valuable; it symbolizes wealth."
An ordinary family can’t afford such a device.
"With my fiery temper, Dad, Xiaofeng, you guys watch, let me go and confront them," Junkai said, rolling up his sleeves, ready to jump into the fray.
Xiaofeng tugged at his clothes, urging him to look around: "Do you see? They are not acting alone; this is a group. If we confront them now, they might even steal our car keys."
Some people are diligent and get rich through hard work, but there are also those who are inherently lazy, not wanting to lift a finger yet dreaming of becoming rich.
Without working, where would the money come from?
Robbery, stealing, whatever brings in money, they would resort to any atrocity.
The Yuan family father and son glanced around and indeed saw two groups of people standing in pairs not far away. One of the groups, noticing them, turned their bodies towards them as if they were about to cause trouble.
"Damn, in such a small place, there’s quite a number of these pests." Although Junkai wasn’t a delinquent before, he had been brothers with some, and seeing these street thugs now, he certainly wasn’t afraid.
"Don’t act rashly," Uncle Yuan, with years of experience traveling around, certainly had the patience to keep calm: "This is an organization, not a loose group. We won’t get off easy if we cross them. If they dare to target us so brazenly, it’s probably because they’ve pegged us as people from the Imperial Capital with money, and that’s why they dare to make a move."
"I remember someone mentioning that this area of Chengbei is Wolfman’s territory, and now it seems quite fitting. If they are Wolfman’s people, they would face us unafraid. Ordinary thugs wouldn’t dare to mess with people from the Imperial Capital."
After all, no one can be sure whether the person you’re targeting in the Imperial Capital has connections or not.
But if they are Wolfman’s people, sheltered by Wolfman, there’s nothing they wouldn’t dare to do.
"You seem to know a lot about this," Uncle Yuan snorted coldly.
Junkai chuckled: "Dad, I know I used to mess around, but my past experience is somewhat useful now, don’t you think? If I hadn’t met so many people before, I wouldn’t be able to do business as I am now, right?"
Uncle Yuan snorted again: "You really think you’re brilliant in business. Let me tell you, they all give you business out of respect for me. If it weren’t for my sake, do you think your business would be going as smoothly as it is now?"
"You two should stop arguing, they are coming," Xiaofeng said, somewhat speechless, as the two were always at odds with each other.
A few people blocked their way, silent like stone guardians, standing in front of them, blocking their path, leaving them with no way to advance.
Uncle Yuan frowned; he had been roughing it out for over a decade and had not expected to encounter such brazen people. The folks in front were blocking their way, and not far off, others were audaciously prying into their car.