When asked where she was going and what she was going to do, she simply wouldn’t say.
As an accomplice concealing her whereabouts, Hu Xibing still felt extremely uneasy.
He had made a call to the troop at noon, but the communications soldier told him that Captain Meng wasn’t there, and he hadn’t found anyone. He had intended to inform Captain Meng that he was taking Chiang Xiao to the provincial city; it seemed that he could only wait to give Captain Meng a surprise upon arrival.
When Chiang Xiao appeared before him, Hu Xibing took one look at her and immediately got a shock.
"Sister-in-law, what have you been up to?"
In front of him, Chiang Xiao’s hair was somewhat disheveled and even had a leaf stuck in it; some parts of her clothes were torn, and her shoes were covered in dust and bits of grass.
Following his gaze, Chiang Xiao glanced down and immediately got a sinking feeling.
Because she had rushed on her journey, she hadn’t had a chance to check her appearance; the trek through the old forest wasn’t easy, and she had ended up quite disheveled.
"I took a trip into the mountain," Chiang Xiao said dryly.
"Into the mountain? Are you hurt?" Hu Xibing asked, startled.
"Don’t you always go into the mountains with your grandfather and the others? Why did you sneak into the mountains by yourself this time?" Hu Xibing felt he had been given quite a scare.
She had gone into the mountain alone, and he had actually helped conceal it!
That girl’s courage was truly too great!
Initially, Chiang Xiao didn’t want to tell Hu Xibing that she had gone into the mountain, but her disheveled appearance betrayed her, and she hadn’t had time to change her clothes. Besides, even if she could change, she didn’t have another pair of shoes to wear.
Moreover, if she was going to distribute some meat later on, she would have to make up an excuse, so she simply took the initiative to tell him. After all, she had safely returned, and Hu Xibing had no grounds to scold her.
"Last time, I found something, and my grandfather and the others wouldn’t let me go dig for it, so this time I went into the mountain alone to dig it up."
"What thing?" Hu Xibing asked instinctively.
Chiang Xiao blinked and said, "A secret."
Only then did Hu Xibing notice, besides her large backpack, she was carrying a cloth bag in one hand and a basket in the other. He couldn’t help but ask, "What are these?"
"Meat, I’m bringing it to Tyrant Meng."
Chiang Xiao calling Meng Xinian ’Tyrant Meng’ was something Hu Xibing had become numb to.
Yet, hearing that she was bringing so much for Meng Xi, Hu Xibing thought Captain Meng would be pleased.
It was easy to imagine how happy Captain Meng would be upon seeing his little sister-in-law.
The two caught the last bus to the county town and then took a train into the provincial city.
However, they could only catch the night train now.
In that era, the green-skinned train clattered along, and sitting in the hard seats, Chiang Xiao closed her eyes and barely managed to sleep through the night in a daze.
In the middle of the night, it seemed that Hu Xibing got up to go to the restroom.
After a while, he returned and sat down beside her.
At first, Chiang Xiao didn’t notice anything amiss because she was half-asleep and didn’t pay much attention.
However, the person started to sit closer and closer to her, his body touching against her arm, and his thigh pressed up against hers, warm and tight.
The person’s breathing was slightly rushed.
Chiang Xiao’s eyes snapped open instantly. The train was passing a small village; it was very dark outside, and the carriage was also dark, but the pale moonlight filtering through the windows was enough for Chiang Xiao, whose eyesight had become exceptionally good. This was enough!
This person wasn’t Hu Xibing!
She recognized the man’s face in an instant!
It was a man with small eyes!