Chapter 67 - 68: Finally Arrived
Li Xiaohua nudged Liu Liu, who was behind her, with her foot. "Should we go over and help Mom?"
"No need," Liu Liu said without looking up. "Mom’s no fool like the youngest son. That pair won’t be able to take advantage of her."
"What if they get physical?"
Liu Liu gestured with her chin toward the Gu Family Brothers nearby. "Take a look at the way they’re watching. What do you think?"
Li Xiaohua, "..."
"Third Sister-in-law, if you’ve really got nothing better to do, why don’t you go comfort Eldest Sister-in-law? She’s been sitting there in a daze for a whole day now." Liu Liu glanced worriedly at Xie Ruyi. ’Even though I complain about my own kids, I’d be worried sick too if they actually went missing.’
Li Xiaohua, "..." ’I don’t dare. Right now, Eldest Sister-in-law’s eyes are swollen like blisters. One wrong word and they’ll burst, and the tears will just pour out. I don’t want to get a dirty look from Eldest Brother.’
The Lan mother and daughter-in-law argued at length but couldn’t get a single thing out of Li Cuicui. Filled with resentment, they could only glare at her before turning around and storming back.
"Was that really necessary?" Gu Dashishi said once the women had left. "If the youngest comes back, the Lan Family will just make trouble for him again."
Li Cuicui shot him a look. "They say once the wound heals, the pain is forgotten. Don’t you forget how recently you got those injuries. Are you taking the youngest’s side already?"
"I’m not taking his side. But no matter what, he’s still our son. We have to leave him a way out."
"If he comes back and still can’t break it off with that Lan girl, then as far as I’m concerned, we can disown him." Li Cuicui stuffed all the cleaned roots into a sack, shot Gu Dashishi a look, then picked it up and walked over to Gu Yuanjin.
’That damned old hag, who’s she guarding it from?’ Gu Dashishi muttered under his breath, but he didn’t dare say anything more. After all, his survival in the coming days depended on Li Cuicui.
* * *
"Look! Ahead! That’s the peak we climbed before. I can’t believe we actually made it out of there," Jin Qianqian said, her face alight with excitement as she brushed the beggar-ticks off her clothes.
Even though they’d grown accustomed to walking long distances, mountain trails were a completely different beast from the main roads.
"Let’s fill up our water containers first," Jin Qianqian said, producing a large tub of water. It was all from the small lake they’d found, and they had already filled all the plastic barrels and bottles they had emptied before.
This way, even if they ran into some unforeseen trouble, they could hold out for a while longer.
The two worked in sync, filling all the bamboo canteens they carried before quickening their pace toward the prominent mountain in the distance.
Carefully avoiding one group of refugees after another, all searching for water, the pair finally encountered some of their companions from Bainiao.
Ancient Wen Heng walked over and patted Gu Mingqiu’s shoulder. "Mingqiu, what brings you all the way out here today?"
"Brother Yuanyu? What are you and Sister-in-law doing here?" Gu Mingqiu stared at Gu Yuan Yu, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
Aside from his tattered clothes, his healthy complexion and moist lips made him look more like he was returning from a mountain excursion than fleeing a disaster.
"We took a long detour and barely managed to get out of the city. By the way, don’t we usually stay near our encampment? What are you all doing way out here?"
Gu Mingqiu replied, "We can’t get into the city now, and we haven’t found a new water source. All we can do is dig for roots around here to quench our thirst. At least it keeps us alive."
At this, Gu Mingqiu sized up the couple. "Since you two managed to get away, why come back? You know staying out here is a death sentence."
Seeing everyone’s curious stares, Ancient Wen Heng’s expression turned somber. "We got pushed into the city with the crowd. But my father and mother are still out here. How could I just abandon them?
So, we had to navigate by landmarks, cross several mountains, and take a lot of detours just to find our way back."
Gu Mingqiu gave him a thumbs-up, full of admiration. "Brother Yuanyu, you’re a truly devoted son. A lot of people who left days ago never came back. They probably found a better way out for themselves."
Even the people with Gu Mingqiu began to look at the young couple differently. Gu Yuan Yu and his wife were truly good and filial people.
Having met up with acquaintances, Ancient Wen Heng and Jin Qianqian relaxed a little. Now, as long as they stayed with this group, others with ill intentions would have to keep their distance.
"By the way, Seventh of the Gu family," Liu Heizi began, his eyes repeatedly scanning the bamboo canteens at their waists, "you were in the mountains for so long. Did you happen to find any water?"
Ancient Wen Heng pulled Jin Qianqian to stand between him and Mingqiu. "We did find a source of water," he said. "It’s just a bit far. It’ll depend on what everyone wants to do."
"Really? How far?" Many people cried out. "As long as it’s reachable by foot, no distance is too far for us!" ’Could it be any farther than the several provinces they’d already crossed?’
Hearing news of water, everyone forgot about searching for roots and wild vegetables. They crowded around Ancient Wen Heng, bombarding him with one question after another.
"Why don’t we all head back first and see what the village chief and the others have to say?" Gu Mingqiu suggested, seeing that no one’s heart was in their work anymore and that Ancient Wen Heng was struggling to field all the questions.
Jin Qianqian agreed. "Yes, talking about it here is pointless. This is something the whole of Bainiao needs to discuss together."
’We can lead them there, but they have to be willing to make the journey.’
* * *
"I suppose the ones who haven’t returned yet... aren’t coming back," He Cao Gen said, looking at the chiefs of the other villages. He was the one who had to broach the heavy subject.
"Those bastards are truly not human, abandoning their elders and children like that just to save their own skins. What are the old and the young supposed to do now?" The village chief of Stone Village felt his head throb just thinking about the villagers who had been pestering him with questions for days.
"Tell me about it. I’ve been driven half-crazy these past few days," the chief from Tianhe Village complained. "Then there are the ones who were injured earlier. With the able-bodied people gone, there are fewer hands to dig for roots and vegetables. They’re just hanging on by a thread, and we can only spare a little from our own rations to keep them alive."
"..."
"..."
They went back and forth, complaining for what felt like an eternity, but in the end, they could only stare helplessly at the tightly shut city gates and let out a deep sigh.
"Have any of you noticed people snooping around our area these past few days? I don’t think I’ve seen them today, though. Do you know what they were up to?" Village Chief Shi suddenly recalled his observations and wanted to see if the others had noticed too.
"Village Chief Shi, you’re a bit late to the party. We all have a good idea of what’s going on." Seeing Village Chief Shi’s inquisitive look, Village Chief Li grinned mysteriously. "Want to know?"
Village Chief Shi, "...?" ’If I didn’t want to know, would I have brought it up?’