I was startled. If they recognized Wen Siqiang and Qian Fugui, then the two of them were in great danger.
But I had no communication tools here. How could I pass this message out?
Although we had finished training, no one was watching us intently, it was still difficult to leave the barracks. Furthermore, my suspicion had not been lifted, and I was likely still a primary surveillance target.
I dared not linger at the doorway any longer and quickly left.
Upon returning to the room, I confirmed no one was at the door and quietly shared my concerns with the Taoist brothers.
They were also at a loss and could not think of a better way to convey the message to our seniors.
A Bei was not in the same room as us; he still lived with his former companions.
Perhaps discussing it with A Bei could help us come up with some ideas.
I opened the door a crack and observed outside. It was very quiet, dark, and I couldn't see anything unusual.
We had been well-behaved these past few days, never leaving our rooms without permission.
However, the situation was now critical, and I felt it was worth taking a risk to go to A Bei's room to find him.
A Bei's room was three doors away from ours, about twenty meters.
I didn't act immediately. I opened the door and stood in the doorway for a while.
There was light in the room, and I could see it from this distance.
If there were sentries nearby, they would come to me.
After a few minutes, there was no movement; it was dead silent.
Only then did I calmly walk towards A Bei's room.
Upon reaching the door, I glanced at my surroundings with my peripheral vision. There was still no movement, so I quietly said inside, "Brother Bei, I'm out of cigarettes. Can you spare me a few?"
Footsteps were heard inside. A Bei poked his head out, looked at me, then peeked outside before saying, "I don't have many either. Here are a few. Remember to return them tomorrow."
I lowered my voice and said, "Come to my room. It's urgent."
A Bei glanced back at the room where the lights were now off and said, "You go first, I'll follow."
I took the few cigarettes A Bei handed me and turned to leave.
Not long after I returned to the room, A Bei quietly opened the door and came in.
Seeing him, I got straight to the point, "We need to find a way to get out tomorrow. Do you have any ideas?"
A Bei also found it difficult. He said, "You know Brother Hui. He's suspicious of everyone. And you were called away by him today, so he's definitely not at ease with us. We won't be able to do anything without a legitimate reason."
"I thought the same. We are not his confidants. He just uses us as pawns in training. He absolutely doesn't trust us at all."
"Exactly. I heard he doesn't trust anyone, not even his personal bodyguards."
This matter was a bit out of hand, but if the information was not passed on, it would affect our entire plan, and we might even be countered.
"I know the kitchen staff go to town to buy groceries every morning. Can we bribe someone from the kitchen to take us out?" A Bei suggested.
"That method is feasible, but how do we bribe someone from the kitchen?"
"That's easy. The person responsible for buying groceries knows me quite well. But that kid is a bit greedy. I wonder if he'll help if we give him some money."
"Greed is good. I'm afraid he wouldn't be greedy. Find a reason to see him and ask him how much money he needs for this matter."
A Bei nodded, got up, and left the room.
A moment later, A Bei returned and told me, "I told him I needed to go to town to buy medicine. This kid is really stingy. He said he wants five thousand. Do you think we can agree to that?"
"Alright, but the money is with our senior. Go ask him for it when you see him. Remember, after you've done this, try to stay with the kitchen staff as much as possible. That way, if something leaks, we'll have an excuse."
After instructing A Bei, I told him to hurry back to his room to avoid being discovered.
I listened at the door for a while, heard no movement, and then signaled the two Taoist brothers to get some rest quickly.
The grocery truck left for town at five in the morning and would return around six-thirty. We ate at eight, and everyone was still asleep when they returned.
If everything went according to plan, A Bei would go out, and no one would know.
No matter how well a plan is made, unexpected situations can occur. It's a shame the car they used was so old.
As they were returning, they had already passed the guard post when the car suddenly broke down.
The engine vibrated a few times, and the clattering sound abruptly stopped.
No matter how much they tried, it wouldn't start again.
There was nothing they could do, so the person in charge of buying groceries had to get out with A Bei. The driver stayed at the wheel, and the two of them pushed the car.
This was not mountainous terrain, it was only relatively so. In reality, it was undulating mountain roads. Although it was only a little over a thousand meters from the camp, it was very strenuous for two people to push a car up and down hills, moving very slowly.
What was even more worrying was that it was already time to prepare breakfast.
The groceries wouldn't arrive, and the kitchen couldn't start working.
But they couldn't rush. Although the slopes were not steep, with their limited strength, it was quite exhausting to push a thousand or two thousand pounds of iron uphill.
When they couldn't push it anymore, the driver jumped out to help them.
It took all their might for several people to finally push it to the top of the slope.
The driver quickly motioned for the two of them to get in the car and let it roll down by itself.
A Bei was fine; after training for so long, pushing a car didn't bother him. He quickly got into the car, but the grocery buyer was already exhausted. By the time he reacted, the car had already rolled quite far away.
The driver had no choice but to step on the brakes and wait for him to approach with his heavy steps.
This slope was quite long and could roll all the way to those buildings.
When the buyer who had come along got in, the driver released the brakes, and they rolled all the way down the slope to the front of the mess hall.
At this point, if A Bei had gotten off and slipped back to his dormitory, everything would have been fine. However, their car had been delayed for too long, and it was already time to eat. Many people were standing at the entrance of the mess hall, including our drill instructor, A Zhan.
A Zhan saw A Bei get off the car, his eyes widened, and he shouted, "A Bei, why are you on the car?"
A Bei remained calm. He quickly ran to A Zhan and said, "Reporting, Master. My headache condition acted up. I was in excruciating pain in the middle of the night. I didn't dare to disturb you early this morning and followed the car to buy medicine."
A Zhan looked at him suspiciously. He didn't look like someone who had been in pain all night and hadn't slept. He asked the person buying groceries, "Brother Hui stipulated that no one can go out without permission. Who gave you the authority to take someone out privately?"
The grocery buyer had received a benefit from A Bei and naturally wanted to protect him. Moreover, if he admitted to letting someone out, the sin would be great, and he might even become food for crocodiles.
He quickly said, "Brother Zhan, he was really in too much pain to bear it. I saw you were all still resting, so I didn't dare to disturb you. I just went to the small pharmacy next to the vegetable store to buy some painkillers and returned without any delay."
The pharmacy was not next to the vegetable store at all, and A Bei had been away from them for a while, not returning immediately.
He couldn't say these things and could only go along with A Bei.