Cheng Su and Ning Ge were finalizing the follow-up matters when Qiulan called out, "Sister Su, your phone call."
"Eat more. Don’t wait until you get back and make people think you’ve been through a tough battle, getting starved and skinny," Cheng Su, pointing at Ning Ge to finish the soup, walked over to the counter to answer the phone.
"Hello, it’s Cheng Su!"
"It’s me!" On the other end of the phone, came her mother-in-law’s voice.
"Mom, it’s you. What’s up? How’s everything at home?" Cheng Su sat down.
"Well, we’ll be harvesting peanuts in a few days, and your father and I have discussed that once we’ve harvested and pressed the oil, we’ll send you some," Mother Qi said on the phone.
"Mom, there’s no need to trouble yourself, we can buy anything we need here. Keep it for yourselves to eat," Cheng Su hurriedly said.
"Store-bought can’t compare to what we press ourselves; who knows if they add water to the store oil. If you don’t eat it, let my son eat it," Mother Qi huffed.
Cheng Su pursed her lips.
"Where is Taiguo? Has he gone on a mission?"
Cheng Su paused, "Yes." How did she know?
"Really gone? How many days has it been? This is serious, I was wondering why I had this dream all of a sudden. Taiguo’s been injured on the mission," Mother Qi grew anxious immediately upon hearing this.
Cheng Su felt a mix of laughter and tears and said, "Mom, what do dreams have to do with his mission? Don’t overthink it."
"What do you know? I dreamed that Taiguo got injured. It’s an ominous sign. Can’t you find a way to get in touch with him and ask?"
"Mom, it’s all state secrets. How can he be in contact with family at any time? He’ll be fine," Cheng Su reassured.
"It seems you, as his wife, don’t care one bit about your own man, always meddling in who knows what, completely indifferent to him, a heartless woman; hanging up," Mother Qi ranted before Cheng Su could say more and disconnected the call.
Listening to the dial tone from the receiver, Cheng Su felt utterly helpless. She placed the receiver back on the phone, thought about Mother Qi’s words, and became lost in thought.
Indeed, Taiguo’s mission had lasted quite a while. Was everything alright? Could he really be injured? That place in Xiangxi was notorious for its abundance of gu insects and poisonous creatures.
Cheng Su’s frown deepened, and she became somewhat restless.
Meanwhile, far away in Xiangxi, Qi Taiguo was fiercely battling with tomb robbers.
"Dahe, go around to the east and cut them off. Don’t let them escape. Be safe; these people are using Soviet-made Type 56 rifles," Qi Taiguo ordered, himself chasing the bearded leader to the west.
"Yes."
Qi Taiguo kept a tight pursuit of Xiao Wangguo, who had planned for the presence of the complicated terrain for quite some time, navigating it agilely like a quick mongoose and suddenly disappearing from sight.
Qi Taiguo watched the thicket, following the freshly disturbed path, all the while remain vigilantly aware of his surroundings.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a whistle and felt a surge of relief. It was the signal from Ma Guangshe, indicating that support was on its way, and his heart settled more.
Running footsteps approached from ahead, and Qi Taiguo quickly burst through the underbrush, completely disregarding the thorns cutting his hands and face.
A figure flashed past in front of him, and Qi Taiguo raised his handgun, but the other side had already started firing at him.
"Damn it." Qi Taiguo cursed, rolling on the ground to narrowly dodge the incoming bullets, then looked up and aimed forward.
A grunt followed by a rustling sound reached his ears. Hurriedly rising, Qi Taiguo chased after it.