Luckily, the main road through town was paved with concrete, so they could move fast. On the dirt roads outside town, they would have been caught in no time.
The gang chased behind them, swearing as they ran. After a while, as the gap kept widening, they gave up and only hurled stones at the tractor from a distance.
Ye Yaodong and his two brothers ducked this way and that, dodging several stones before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
"Good thing we had the tractor, or none of us would've got away."
"Good thing we were moving fast, too. They almost caught us."
The sudden appearance of that gang had startled them all. They had only just sold their catch. If they had run into those men, a beating would have been the least of their worries. If their money had been stolen, they would have had nowhere to turn!
"Good thing I reacted quickly."
It was also lucky he had taken another look. Damn it, of all the people to run into. Fortunately, they hadn't lingered in the shop.
This had taught him another lesson: whenever he had a large sum in his pocket, he had to take it home first, not hang around outside. One careless moment could easily lead to trouble.
If they hadn't stopped outside the Taiwanese goods shop, nothing would have happened.
After that scare, they bumped their way home without further incident. Before they could even jump down, a crowd of children excitedly surrounded them.
"Ah, Dad's back! Dad's back..."
"Dad, did you buy anything nice to eat..."
"Did you get maltose..."
"I want one of those drawn sugar figures... like the ones Yangyang and the others brought back a couple of days ago..."
"Me too..."
All three fathers were bewildered. They hadn't