Quick Travel: Save the poor little villain

Chapter 2884 Town Infrastructure Construction in Full Swing 02

According to the information Zhao Bo gathered, the base in the south only released one professor specializing in crops.

The two young men behind him followed, one of them looking more clever, in his early twenties, and curiously sized up Jin Chen and Yan Gengu.

The other one was even younger, about sixteen or seventeen years old, carrying a large bag on his back and a sharpened iron spear in his hand.

Huo Zhaoye's tone was relatively calm, after all, he knew that he was about to take on a rare talent.

"Which of you two is Yan Genggu?"

The monkey next to him chimed in, "Yeah, our boss heard that only one professor came from the southern base, how come there are two?"

Yan Gengu brushed the sand off his body, stepped forward, carefully took out an oilcloth bag from his pocket, took out the paper and handed it over.

"I am Yan Genggu. This is my identification and letter of introduction from the Southern Base."

Huo Zhaoye took it, unfolded it, and saw a blurry red stamp on it. He squinted at it, muttered under his breath, "Who wrote this? What kind of rubbish is this? It looks like a ghost's scribble."

Jin Chen reminded her from the side, "You've got it upside down."

Huo Zhaoye: "..."

He looked down at it again, feeling a little embarrassed, but he didn't say anything. He silently turned the paper around, and it looked much better now.

"Yan, Gen, Gu." Huo Zhaoye pronounced each word clearly, nodded, closed the notebook, and tossed it back to Yan Gengu. "Alright, I know it's you."

Huo Zhaoye then looked at Jin Chen, "And who are you, kid?"

Jin Chen lowered her eyelashes slightly, avoiding Huo Zhaoye's overly direct gaze. "My name is Jin Chen. I was passing by and wanted to go to the Qinghe Base in the east, but I didn't expect to encounter the mutated wolf."

Before Huo Zhaoye could speak, Lin Xiaoshu, who was carrying a large bag, suddenly brightened up. "You can read! You noticed that our boss was holding it upside down."

These days, it's rare to find someone who can read and is well-educated.

Most survivors struggled to make ends meet, and books and documents from the old era were severely damaged, making literacy a luxury or even a "useless" thing. Only people in some large bases still retained the ability to read and write.

Jin Chen nodded slightly: "I recognize some of them."

The attitude wasn't particularly warm, even a bit cold, but in Lin Xiaoshu's view, this was more in line with his image of an intellectual. It's normal for capable people to have a bit of a temper!

The monkey leaned close to Huo Zhaoye's ear and said, "Brother Huo, this is a proper literate and educated man!"

“Those brats in our town, running around all day isn’t a good solution. Third Master always says that if you want to live a good life in the future, you can’t just fill your head with sand and fists, you also need to fill it with some words. How about… we send them back too?”

Upon hearing this, Huo Zhaoye stroked his chin and pondered for a while.

Third Master Qiao often said that he had suffered enough from being illiterate. Many good things left over from the old world, such as blueprints, instructions, and even prescriptions, could only be thrown away as waste paper or pondered aimlessly because he couldn't understand them.

If Beizhen wants to establish itself, it cannot rely solely on brute force.

Moreover, leaving such a seemingly helpless scholar in the middle of nowhere would be a death sentence if he encountered a mutated beast or a malicious wanderer.

"Jin Chen, right? You said you're going to Qinghe Base? That place isn't easy to travel; the roads aren't safe."

Huo Zhaoye continued, "If it's convenient, we can work somewhere else."

“Our Heping North Town may be small and a bit poor, but it has rules and people are united. We welcome cultured people like you.”

This may sound a bit impolite, but it was already Huo Zhaoye's "sincere invitation."

Jin Chen's eyes flickered slightly, and she took two steps closer to Huo Zhaoye, reducing the distance between them to less than a meter.

Although he was slightly taller than Huo Zhaoye, he looked rather frail, and with his eyes downcast, his vulnerability became even more apparent.

"Thank you... You're right, without you I would have been in a lot of trouble."

Huo Zhaoye couldn't help but glance at Jin Chen's face again, clicking his tongue inwardly. He was really good-looking... impossible not to notice.

"So, why don't you come back to Beizhen with us? If you come to our peaceful Beizhen, I can't guarantee anything else, but you don't need to worry about safety at all. With me, Huo Zhaoye, around, no one of those scoundrels will dare to come into town and cause trouble."

Jin Chen didn't agree or refuse on the spot, but simply said, "Can we go and take a look first?"

Upon hearing this, Huo Zhaoye thought, "There's a chance!"

"Of course!" Huo Zhaoye readily agreed. "If you like it, keep it; if you don't... well, we'll see."

He turned around and called to the monkey, "Monkey, fix the car, tidy up the little tree, and don't waste those wolves, take their hides and usable bones with you."

"Alright, Boss Huo!"

On the way back, Jin Chen and Yan Genggu were seated in the back seat.

Huo Zhaoye sat in the passenger seat, Xiaoshu drove, and Houzi squeezed between Jinchen and Yan Gengu.

The car is a modified car; the engine is very loud, the suspension is poor, and it's very bumpy.

The monkey was a chatterbox; it immediately started calling Jinchen "teacher" and tried to strike up a conversation with him, asking all sorts of questions.

For example, where they came from, which base they previously worked at, and what books they read.

Huo Zhaoye glanced at him several times in the rearview mirror.

The man sat very upright, and even with the bumpy ride, his back never relaxed against the chair back. The wind and sand outside the window brushed against his face, flashing brightly and dimly.

Suddenly, the monkey exclaimed "Eh!" and pointed to the inside of Jin Chen's right wrist.

"Teacher Jin, what's this on your wrist...?"

There were patterns there, like indescribable symbolic tattoos.

On Jin Chen's fair wrist, this dark red color looked particularly out of place, even somewhat eerie.

The monkey asked curiously, "Is that a mark of some territory? It looks quite unique."

Before he could finish speaking, Jin Chen's reaction startled everyone in the car.

Jin Chen recoiled as if electrocuted, quickly pulling down his sleeve to cover his wrist completely. His movements were so fast they seemed almost frantic, and his already pale face turned even paler.

He lowered his head, his bangs obscuring his eyes and eyebrows, and slowly raised his eyes to look directly at Huo Zhaoye, who was watching this scene in the rearview mirror.

Huo Zhaoye felt a sudden tightness in his chest.

It's like a past that is unspeakable and unwilling to be spoken of, suddenly revealed and exposed to the scrutiny of strangers.

He looked at him, his lips pressed together until they were white, forcibly maintaining that fragile calm.

It's unbelievable! Even Huo Zhaoye himself didn't know how he could read so many messy emotions from those eyes.

Huo Zhaoye turned around, rested his elbow on the back of the chair, and looked at Jin Chen's wrist, which was covered by his sleeve. His voice deepened, "What's that?"

He had to ask.

He couldn't bring a potential threat, someone of unknown origin and bearing strange markings, back to Beizhen.

Jin Chen didn't speak, she just looked at him, her eyes filled with even more vulnerability and embarrassment.

Huo Zhaoye sensed something was wrong and looked down.

This person almost squeezed their wrist until it bled.

Huo Zhaoye: "..."

It makes it seem like he's bullying someone.

"...Alright!" Huo Zhaoye's tone was harsh and impatient. "Let go of my hand! I'm not asking anymore!"

"You'd better not have any bad intentions."

Several seconds passed before Jin Chen seemed to slowly recover.

He slowly loosened his grip, his fingertips trembling slightly as he laid his hands flat on his knees, then looked up at Huo Zhaoye again.

Huo Zhaoye seemed to sense something, and turned his head to see Jin Chen facing him, her lips slightly twitching.

Huo Zhaoye paused for half a second, then clicked his tongue and looked out the window.

Tsk, good-looking... and her smile is really something else.

For the rest of the journey, no one spoke in the car. The monkey sensed that something was wrong and obediently shut its mouth.