Li Qiang's wife looked rather grim. "Hua Hua is mostly recovered, and Nian Jie'er seems to be getting better too. Shouldn't we get going now..."

Qin Xiaoniang sighed, "It's time to go, but too many things have happened along the way, and we've been delayed a lot. I don't know if we can arrive in Xinzhou on time."

Upon hearing this, Li Qiang's wife felt a little guilty. "It's all my fault. I've caused you all trouble again."

Qin Xiaoniang didn't blame her. Instead, she took out a jujube and handed it to Huahua, saying, "Eat this. It's good for your health."

"Thank you, young lady."

Qin Xiaoniang smiled and said, "Our Huahua is so sensible now? Unlike your mother, who gets into arguments with people all the time."

Li Qiang's wife smiled awkwardly, "Let's leave tomorrow. I think we've been stuck in this desert for almost half a month."

Qin Xiaoniang nodded. "It's time to go. The children are almost fully recovered. The sooner we leave this place, the less suffering everyone will endure."

"Um......"

Qin Xiaoniang looked towards where Su Yu's wife was resting and saw that she was holding two children and leaning against a poplar tree to rest. She hadn't even gone into the tent to rest last night.

Although this person was timid, he was very stubborn. He would rather suffer with the child than bow his head and give in.

Qin Xiaoniang was speechless for a moment. "Since Madam Zhou is so serious, I'm afraid she'll remember this matter very well."

Li Qiang's wife didn't take it seriously. "If I remember it, I'll remember it. Am I supposed to apologize? We've all come together and survived with great difficulty. There's no need to hurt our feelings over such trivial matters."

Qin Xiaoniang smiled and continued adding firewood to the pot, "You're quite perceptive now!"

Li Qiang's wife didn't say anything more and lowered her head to help Qin Xiaoniang cook porridge.

Dates are easy to cook until soft, and in no time, their sweet aroma wafts into the tent.

Song He'er woke up after sleeping for a while and came out to see Qin Xiaoniang and Li Qiang's wife serving porridge.

"Mother..."

Qin Xiaoniang looked up, somewhat surprised, "He'er, why did you only sleep for a short while? Why don't you eat some porridge and then go back to sleep?"

Song He'er shook her head. "I'm not going to sleep. We should pack our things and get going as early as possible tomorrow."

Chun Di came over from behind, carrying Huan Ge'er, her expression somewhat grim. "Su Yu's wife's child is probably hungry; he's been crying and fussing. Should we go over and ask him?"

Qin Xiaoniang put down her spoon and looked into the distance. "Of course we should go and ask. The beating has nothing to do with the child. We can't let the child suffer. Chundi, give Huan Ge'er to me. You can serve a bowl of red date porridge and feed those two children."

"Okay, I understand." After saying that, Chun Di ladled out a bowl of porridge and carried it to Su Yu's wife.

"Madam Zhou, the baby is hungry, please feed him..."

Su Yu's wife looked up and smiled somewhat embarrassedly, "Thank you for still thinking of me."

“It’s not just me who’s thinking about you, everyone is thinking about you. You should really change your temper. If you keep going like this, it’ll be the children who suffer.”

Su Yu's wife's eyes reddened slightly, and she accepted the porridge with trembling hands. "I know..."

"Madam Zhou, we're leaving tomorrow. You should take the children to the tent to rest, and help everyone pack their things."

"Um."

Su Yu's wife didn't say much, but answered word by word, perhaps feeling that she had made some mistakes and felt guilty.

Chun Di checked that the two children were unharmed, then turned and left...?

After everyone finished breakfast, they began packing their luggage.

Seeing the commotion, Wang San walked over and asked, "Are you getting ready to set off?"

Qin Xiaoniang nodded, "Yes, if we don't leave now, who knows how long we'll be delayed."

"Okay, then I'll go tell them to get ready."

After saying that, Wang San turned to leave.

Qin Xiaoniang called out to him from behind, "Um, you've really worked hard these past few days, running around looking for medicinal herbs and food for us. I'm so sorry..."

Wang San smiled and said, "You're being too polite with me. My son is eating and living well with you, so I'm very at ease."

Qin Xiaoniang smiled but didn't say anything more.

But it was indeed true; the child slept in the tent, drinking hot rice porridge, which was better than sleeping in the open with them.

This way, we're even.

The day passed quickly, and the next morning, after a simple meal of dry rations, everyone continued their journey.

As food became increasingly scarce, the camels felt more at ease and quickened their pace.

In less than half a day, the entire group had covered twenty miles.

"Mother, I'm thirsty!"

Nianjie'er has just recovered from her illness, and after walking for so long, her body is not quite able to take it anymore.

Qin Xiaoniang was worried about the children's health, so she stopped to have a drink of water and rest for a while before continuing.

Song He'er gazed at the vast expanse of white before her, lost in thought...

Where does such a long lake come from in this vast grassland?

"Third Aunt, doesn't that shimmering spot ahead look like a river?"

Zhang Xiu'e handed the water to Nian Jie'er, looked up, and gazed in the direction Song He'er had indicated. Sure enough, there was a small river sparkling in the sunlight ahead.

"It's true! Everyone, look! There's a river ahead!"

Chun Di jumped up happily, "The presence of a river means we'll be out of the desert soon!"

"Let's rest for a while, then hurry on our way and take a closer look at the riverbank to see if we've really left the desert!"

"good!"

Everyone excitedly picked up their water bottles and took a few sips.

After resting for about half an incense stick's time, the group set off again.

When we arrived at the riverbank, we saw green grass growing on the opposite bank, and further ahead, we saw a lush grove of trees.

Zhang Xiue laughed happily, "We're finally out! We're out!"

Qin Xiaoniang carried Huan Ge'er to Zhang Xiu'e's side and reminded her, "We don't know how deep this river is. What if it's very deep and we can't cross it?"

Song He'er stepped forward to comfort her, "Mother, I don't think it's very deep. After all, this is a river that passes through the desert, so there must be a lot of sand in the riverbed. The water is probably no more than knee-deep."

Zhang Xiue nodded. "He'er is right. I'll go over and try it first. If it's not too deep, I'll come back and pick up the baby."

With that, Zhang Xiue walked toward the riverbank.

Wang San stepped forward from behind and blocked Zhang Xiu'e's way.

“Zhang Niangzi, you stay and watch the children. We men will wade across. If everything is alright, you can leave.”

Zhang Xiue smiled, thought it was a good idea, and readily nodded.

"Well... thank you!"