“I’m here not just to leave you behind. There are indeed reform-through-labor prisoners on the farm, and there are also many who are so heinous they should be locked in a military prison.

However, even though they are reform-through-labor prisoners, they can’t be let out.

They have to serve their sentences on the soil of the Republic, not escape to the Soviet Union and bring shame to our country.

So, you staying behind is a small problem. You need to stay behind with everyone.”

Liu Han was stunned. “Director Chen, do you know how many people are planning to escape?

Over two hundred people from the two production teams, plus nearly two hundred reform-through-labor prisoners—altogether that’s over four hundred people!

If I want to convince one of them, as soon as Sun Dabo hears about it, he’ll have the prisoners beat me into a meat patty.”

“From Umayi to the mining area, it’s a total of an hour and a half. My husband Nie will bring the armed department people with him.

When he arrives, of course, these people will be surrounded. But right now, what you need to do is stay behind with them.”

“Director Chen, I told you, I can’t keep them here.”

“You can’t, but I can,” Chen Lina replied.

Nie Weimin jumped in with the air of an adult: “My mom wants to tell you, as a truck driver, you control the engine. You may not be able to stop the people, but you can stop the truck.”

“Nie Weimin.”

“Hmm?”

“Alright, go talk to your Uncle Liu.”

This little brat, if nobody beats him with a stick, he’ll definitely grow up to be a gangster.

He’s got an unbelievable talent for this, incredibly smart, everything just clicks.

Nie Weimin, pretending the hose was a pipe, said: “Sun Dabao went to drink. Everyone else should be busy preparing, running around.

There shouldn’t be anyone guarding the garage. The big truck you’re going to use for escape has an exposed fuel tank.

If Uncle Liu goes into the garage with a hose, he can suck all the fuel out. I guarantee all the trucks won’t be able to leave Loulan Farm’s gates.”

“Good kid, how do you know all this?”

“I’ve been following my mom around, studying. She’s a race car driver,” Nie Weimin said proudly.

He was boasting to Chen Lina, but he passed all the credit to someone else.

Chen Lina said, “I need to add something. You have to give me the keys to your truck. I’m taking the children out. For the rest, suck all the fuel dry. Turn all these fuel-hungry trucks into paper tigers.”

“Ah, Comrade Chen, shouldn’t we stay here and wait for Dad?”

“Enough of that, you want to be a little hero? Hurry up, follow me, follow Uncle Liu. We’re leaving together. My responsibility is to take care of you, not play hero here.”

Alright, Liu Han said, “Let’s do it,” and came over, shaking Chen Lina’s hand tightly. “As for the leaders in the mining area, I hope Director Chen can speak a good word for me. From now on, I’ll work hard to reform and never bring disgrace to our farm or the mining area.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

“What about Yao Po from Zhang County?” Liu Xiaohong asked, tugging at Chen Lina’s hand.

Chen Lina glanced at her and saw that Sun Xiaoai was still tied to the bed.

The Gou brothers were next door, and Gou Ersao might come over at any time.

If she saw Sun Xiaoai tied up, she would surely untie her. But taking Sun Xiaoai with them was risky.

If she struggled or tried to warn others, it would be a big problem.

After thinking it over, Chen Lina said, “Liu Han, you go first. I’ll stay here with the children and keep watch over Sun Xiaoai. Later, you can drain the fuel from the other trucks and come back to pick us up. My husband, Nie, should be on his way. Don’t worry, just handle your business.”

She wasn’t sure what time it was.

She felt anxious because she didn’t even have a watch and had no idea what time it was.

Had Nie Bozhao already informed the military?

Or would the armed department of the mining area handle it?

As for Sun Xiaoai, she definitely couldn’t be taken along, but keeping her was dangerous.

Chen Lina’s eyes flashed, and a ruthless decision formed in her heart.

“Old Nie, you intellectuals, I bet you’ve never used a gun before. Take this sand-loaded hunting rifle. I’m afraid the recoil from the Type 54 might be too strong for you to handle,” said Gao Dayong, the head of the armed department, handing Nie Bozhao the hunting rifle.

Nie Bozhao didn’t take it.

He picked up a Type 54 from the table, weighed it in his hands, took off his black-framed glasses, cleaned them with a cloth, and put them back on.

He smiled and said, “Minister Gao, at our base, I’m always the first in disassembly competitions. How about we have a little match?”

Just then, Chief of Staff Yu from the armed department entered with a few comrades.

Seeing that they were going to race to disassemble the guns, everyone scattered, and someone even started a countdown: “When I say three, two, one, you start. Time will be measured with a stopwatch. The loser will have to dance for everyone after the mission tonight.”

“No, no, if I lose, I’ll dance. If Minister Gao loses, I have other requests, but I won’t say them now. If he dares to compete with me, I’ll only tell him after I win.”

The scholar entered the camp, looking all refined and prim.

Minister Gao didn’t think someone like Nie, who couldn’t even hold onto his glasses, could win.

With a wave of his hand, he said, “If you win, I’ll give you my family. Go ahead.”

Both men held their guns.

After the countdown of three, two, one, they bent down and began disassembling the guns.

At 25 seconds, Nie Bozhao was the first to snap the assembled gun down on the table, but Gao Dayong wasn’t far behind, just one second slower.

“Alright, let’s go. I lost. Lao Nie, whatever you want, just ask.”

From Director Guo to the security team members, they were all drunk and dizzy by this point.

Sun Dabao seemed to be reeking of alcohol, but in reality, he wasn’t drunk at all; he had secretly poured all the alcohol out.

“How’s it going? Have all the workers and the people in the cow shed been notified? It’s time for us to leave.” Leaving the security team and Director Guo to drink, Sun Dabao slipped out and said to his underlings.

“Everyone’s been notified. We just need to get the vehicles ready now,” the henchmen replied.

“Follow the planned route, gather at the back gate of the farm, and then we’ll break through the gate. The convoy will follow us, and we’ll head straight into the desert,” Sun Dabao instructed.

As soon as they heard this, the henchmen immediately rushed to start the vehicles.

When Sister Gou received the urgent order to evacuate, she quickly came to notify Chen Lina: “Little Chen, you should hurry and get ready, it’s time for us to leave.”

Every second counted, but Liu Han still hadn’t arrived.

“Nie Weimin, take Er Dan, San Dan, and Xiao Hong over to Uncle Gou’s house next door and stay there for now.”

“No, Comrade Chen, we should leave together.” Nie Weimin replied.

Chen Lina gave the children a look: “I’ll be right there, go now.”

Er Dan and San Dan didn’t want to leave.

Liu Xiaohong quickly picked up the skinny San Dan: “Hurry, let’s go.”

Nie Weimin reached the door, and saw that Chen Lina had a brick in her hand, not knowing when she had picked it up.

He said, “Oh, you’re going to use illegal methods, and now you’re going to hit me?”

“Because the leader said that we should treat comrades with warmth like spring and treat enemies ruthlessly like autumn winds sweeping leaves. My responsibility is to ensure your safety, but that doesn’t include her.”

Sun Xiaoyue clearly wanted to struggle, but Chen Lina grabbed her by the hair and pointed at her nose, saying, “I’ll smash your head with this brick, and in the confusion, no one will know how you died. You better behave, or I’ll kill you.”

Sun Xiaoyue was probably scared by the vicious look in Chen Lina’s eyes and finally stopped moving.

Chen Lina, steeling herself, slammed the brick onto her head.

This woman was as slippery as a desert rat.

If she let her escape again, she would definitely go around connecting with others and never give up.

In the wilderness, the sound of a truck engine was particularly loud.

Soon, a truck stopped in front of the hut and honked its horn.

“Dad, that’s my dad! Everyone, get ready.”

“There are several big trucks on the farm, how do you know that’s your dad?” Nie Weimin was still cautious.

“My dad honks his horn with one long and one short sound,” Liu Xiaohong said.

Sure enough, the horn sounded with one long beep followed by a short one.

At that moment, Sister Gou and the others had finished packing, and when they saw the truck approaching, they started climbing aboard with their large bundles.

“Are we really going to escape into the desert, to the Soviet Union?” Sister Gou asked.

Liu Han rolled down the window and shouted, “Get in the truck.”

Chen Lina dropped the brick and ran out of the hut.

She led the children and quickly sat in the driver’s seat.

Gou Dacai and his family sat in the back, thinking this was the truck that would take them to the Soviet Union.

At this moment, Gou Dacai started crying: “Hey, brother, this isn’t humane! I have three kids too, and my wife, to save up for you, has been eating cornmeal mush for days, so hungry her belt has shrunk. How can you take me to the Soviet Union?”

“Brother, in the Soviet Union, there’s plenty of food and women. Once we get there, I’ll find you one,” Liu Han said.

Gou Dacai, upset after realizing his brother was taking him to the Soviet Union, almost tried to jump out of the truck, but Gou Dacai’s wife held him back firmly.

The truck roared to life and charged straight at the Loulan farm gate.

The security team only had ordinary hunting rifles, and by the time they loaded them, the truck had already slammed into the gate.

Chen Lina had been in a car crash in her past life and knew the force of such an impact.

Steel and flesh were like stone and tofu.

She buckled the seatbelt around the children, turned her back to the driver’s seat, and stretched out her arms to protect them, bracing for the impact.

At the moment of the crash, the impact was sharp, and the sound of children crying filled the truck.

The sound of shotgun pellets hitting the truck’s skin rang out, sparking flashes of light.

She suddenly felt warmth on her back and looked up to see that Liu Xiaohong, who she hadn’t noticed before, had somehow crawled onto her back.

“Foolish girl, are you crazy? Why did you unbuckle your seatbelt? Do you know how dangerous that is?”

Liu Xiaohong didn’t say anything, just gritted her teeth and smiled foolishly.

The shotgun pellets continued to whiz past.

Chen Lina couldn’t push the girl away and feared the pellets might hit her, so she quickly pulled Liu Xiaohong from the front seat into the back row, holding her close.

Once they left Loulan Farm and ran for a short distance, they saw yellow smoke and lights in the distance—several trucks from the Eastern Red Army speeding towards them.

“You are surrounded. Drop your weapons and surrender. We are the armed forces of the mining area. We guarantee that if you surrender, no one will be harmed,” a voice shouted from the truck’s loudspeakers.

Chen Lina took out the white shirt she had worn when she arrived, tied it to a stick, and waved it out the window.

“Mom, why are you waving your shirt? You love that shirt so much,” Er Dan asked.

Nie Weimin, excited, liked to tease his younger brother: “Silly, it’s a white flag of surrender. Otherwise, the army uncles will treat us as enemies. Didn’t you watch any movies?”

The military Beijing 212 off-road command vehicle, like a land cruiser, was weaving through the convoy.