The incident happened abruptly. The commune members dining under the trees on the slope outside cried out in surprise. Seeing the person involved was only covered in dirt but otherwise unharmed, they then burst into a roar of laughter.
The widow Qiu, infuriated upon hearing the commotion, came out and started berating at the top of her lungs.
Someone retorted loudly, "Widow Qiu, you’re being completely unreasonable. It was your daughter who knocked your son down the slope. What has that got to do with us? Are you just looking to take your anger out on us?"
The commune members, eating from their large, coarse porcelain bowls, all chimed in, "Exactly, Widow Qiu, you’re being far too overbearing."
Having no choice, Widow Qiu pulled up her son, who was in a pitiful state, shot her daughter—who stood there not daring to make a sound—a glare, and marched back into her own courtyard.
Upon entering the courtyard, Widow Qiu immediately started scolding her daughter, "You good-for-nothing girl! Were your eyes in the back of your head? Look at the state your brother is in because of you! Now, scram and fetch some water."
As soon as Qiu Baojuan left, she turned to her son with concern, "How are you? Did you get hurt anywhere?"
Qiu Baolin shook off his mother’s hand and brushed the dirt off his clothes, "Stop making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s utterly embarrassing."
After fetching the water, Qiu Baojuan quickly made herself scarce. "Mom, I’m going to serve the meal."
Once she was gone, Widow Qiu remembered the important matter at hand. "You came back so late, how did things go?"
As Qiu Baolin tidied himself up, he replied, "Of course, everything has been arranged."
As he said this, an involuntary wicked smile crept across his lips, his eyes filled with the certainty of success.
Hearing her son’s words, Widow Qiu whispered, "Once this is done, our family’s good days will finally come."
But truth be told, it was too good a dream to be true.
「Hua’an Farm Reclamation」
Qiao Shaoguo saw they had almost reached the deep mountains without finding anyone. "Everyone, let’s stop for a bit?" he said.
Captain Song, who had come along for the search, also looked quite grim. "Regimental Commander," he said, "I’m afraid they’ve gone into the deep mountains. It’s too dangerous to search for them at night; we can’t risk everyone’s safety."
Fire almost seemed to shoot from Qiao Shaoguo’s eyes. "The regiment has repeatedly ordered everyone not to venture into the mountains!" he exclaimed. "These blockheads still dared to go into the deep mountains? Do they think they have too long to live?"
As the sky darkened, Qiao Shaoguo looked at the people who had followed him up the mountain to search. He gritted his teeth and said, "Let’s head back first. We’ll prepare torches and tools, then re-enter the mountains." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ⓝovelFire.net
Not searching was out of the question. Even if his nephew wasn’t among them, he couldn’t just ignore the situation.
Meanwhile, the few unlucky souls who had vanished in the mountains were currently bound and being taken deeper into the wilderness. They had gotten lost in the mountains yesterday. Just when they had finally found the path back today, they encountered bad men.
These men had disguised themselves so well that the lost group let down their guard. Just as the men gained their trust, they attacked them viciously without a second thought, then tied them up and led them deeper into the mountains.
Wei Zijia’s face was streaked with tears. If it weren’t for Qiao Wenyu and Zheng Xuewen’s protection, she would have felt like dying.
She was truly terrified, afraid she would die just in these deep, wild woods.
They walked for what seemed like an eternity, until her feet grew numb, before their captors finally halted.
One of them, a lanky man, spoke in Japanese, "Wouldn’t it be simpler to just kill them? Why are we bringing these burdens along?"
The shorter Japanese man, while starting a fire, glanced at the three bound captives. "What do you know?" he said. "Keeping them alive will be very useful."
The lanky man looked worried. "Are you crazy? They’re from the nearby Agricultural Reclamation Group! If we attract unnecessary trouble and it jeopardizes our mission, how will we answer to our superiors?"
The shorter one looked up and said, "We’ve already clashed with the military. We don’t know how many are already pursuing us. Having them in our grasp gives us an additional way out."