As for the days drifting at sea, better left unsaid, it wasn’t a great experience anyway.
From boarding the ship until finally getting off, Su Li kept her senses shut.
She neither saw, heard, nor slled; otherwise, she might not have been able to stay there.
When the ship docked with a clang, and the container door was opened from the outside, the scene inside was revealed to the human eye.
The inside was filthy, with various yellow dried fluids forming a thin film on the ground, a stench assailing the nostrils.
On the long journey, even though everyone tried to minimize eating and drinking, so couldn’t help but relieve themselves, leaving a stinking ss in their pants.
Most people’s faces were pale, waxy yellow; the lack of fresh water caused their lips to crack with thick layers of dead skin.
When the light from outside shone in, they scrambled out like skeletons just erging from hell.
After everyone rushed out, a few figures curled up in the corners were exposed.
With the rocking of the ship, those figures fell limply to the floor with a "clang".
The snakehead at the door frowned and glanced inside, shaking his head ominously, saying to his companion, "Four died, the loss rate is higher this ti. Tell them next ti, don’t send over those in poor health, they’re bound to die en route anyway."
With their indifferent expressions, such occurrences seed mundane to them.
The death of four living people only caused them to lift an eyelid briefly.
Once the energy returned to the survivors, they realized they had been sharing the container with corpses for who knows how long.
The thought of it made their faces turn pale, hidden under their already bad complexion without standing out.
A few people seed to be fellow villagers of the deceased ones, showing looks of grief and anger.
One impulsive person staggered forward, trying to grab the snakehead by the collar, "You said you would get us there safely, why...."
A man so weak could hardly stand against a robust snakehead.
With just a flick of the wrist, the snakehead flung the man to the ground, and in the next mont, he pressed his foot ruthlessly on the man’s back, grinding it hard.
"We never promised there’d be no mishaps, unexpected things occur, don’t they...."
Seeing this scene, Su Li took a step back, completely uninterested in getting involved.
Opportunities always co with risks.
Hopefully, this brutal reality will sober up their impulsive minds a bit.
The outside world is much more ruthless than they imagined.
"Alright, throw these bodies into the sea later," the snakehead said lightly.
"No, Gouzi’s parents are still waiting for him to return, and Xiao Qi’s wife is waiting at ho. We can’t let them go without a trace,"
The man underfoot raised his head with difficulty, gritting his teeth and bowing his head painfully, "I beg you, let us keep their bodies, I’ll take care of them."
The snakehead didn’t care, "No, if we’re discovered, it’s a big problem for us."
"You can’t even handle yourself, yet you’re taking on more problems," the snakehead pressed the man further into the ground.
The people around, who initially shared sympathetic, angry glances, imdiately turned away evasively.
"Wait...." Su Li suddenly changed her mind and spoke up to stop it.
She shoved the last of her protection money from her forr life into the snakehead’s hand, "He was foolish, forgive him this once."
The snakehead rubbed the money in his hands with a wicked smile, not completely satisfied, but sothing’s better than nothing.
He couldn’t really kill the man, that would just be more trouble to deal with.
After all, they were a legitimate snakehead syndicate, not like those ruthless smuggling gangs, they had so intangible bottom line.
"Alright, hurry up and get lost,"
When the people were placed ashore, what happened next was their own problem. Their survival depended entirely on themselves.
One wonders how many in this group can eventually return ho in glory.
The night’s cold wind cut like knives into their bodies, lingering stupidly there would only see them freeze, starve, or die of thirst on their first night ashore instead of en route.
Su Li was indifferent to their fates, only walking over to the man collapsed on the ground.
Calling him a man was a bit much, a boy was more fitting. He looked only seventeen or eighteen.
His face still held innocent longing and despair.
The two opposing emotions clashed repeatedly in his eyes, finally becoming a complex and regretful hint of emotion.
Yes, he regretted it, thinking making money abroad was so easy, only to find out out of his three companions, he was the only one left.
"Hey, not dead yet? If not, get up quickly."
Thankfully, the boy on the ground didn’t linger in grief for too long.
Otherwise, Su Li might feel she’d made a foolish decision monts ago.
Su Li’s calmness drew everyone else’s gaze to her.
They seed unsure of what to do next.
Su Li retorted angrily, "Why are you all looking at , go do what you should...."
"You, co with ," Su Li said to the boy from before.
-------------------
"Bro, what’s your na? I’m Liu Zhang, from Qiaotouhe Village, eighteen years old.... They nad Liu Zhang because my dad’s surna is Liu and mom’s surna is Zhang, so when they had , they didn’t bother thinking up a na, just called Liu Zhang. Easy to rember, isn’t it?"
"Ahem.... I heard people say the moon abroad is rounder than at ho, that money’s easier to make, just working an hour overseas earns as much as working half a month or a month at ho, but who would’ve thought...."
As he spoke, Liu Zhang showed a pained expression.
He limped behind Su Li, his incessant chatter making people agitated.
Su Li held her forehead, a bit troubled. How had she not noticed earlier that this one liked to talk so much.
Even though his body was weak, he still had the energy to keep talking nonstop.
She hadn’t even asked, yet Liu Zhang had already shared the ins and outs of his life and family’s gossip with her.
All because this absentminded fool volunteered the information.
"Stop, shut your mouth, or you can go away,"
Liu Zhang imdiately covered his mouth, trailing behind Su Li. He held out for a bit before he couldn’t resist quietly asking, "Bro, where are we going now?"
"To find money."
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