"I'll go out and think of a solution. Making contact with the outside world is the most important thing." Lu Di looked at Qin Xiaoyu and Sister Zhang with concern. Sister Zhang's condition wasn't good either. Her wound hadn't been properly treated and was now red and swollen, showing signs of suppuration. She also had a low-grade fever.

Lu Di ran away, leaving Qin Xiaoyu and Sister Zhang to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) and fend for themselves.

There were so many refugees that food became a problem. Although the host family was hospitable, they didn't have much food left and didn't know how long they would have to endure this hardship, so they were reluctant to give it to them. They could only cook a small amount of porridge in a large pot, just enough to see the bottom of the bowl, to fill their stomachs.

Neither of them could move, and everyone else was starving, so no one was willing to share their food. They waited anxiously for ages before a kind person finally gave them the bottom of their bowl.

Qin Xiaoyu never imagined that she would face such a predicament one day. She naively thought that she had overcome all the difficult paths.

A Lei hadn't heard from her for two days, and his family must have been extremely worried.

The thought of this made Qin Xiaoyu feel a pang of sadness; she had really gone too far. With her wedding date approaching, she had risked everything to run away; she had truly let A Lei down.

The thunder outside grew louder and louder; another heavy rain was about to begin.

When Lu Di returned, two days and one night had passed. When he entered the door, Qin Xiaoyu was already delirious with a high fever.

Despite her leg pain, Sister Zhang sat up to take care of her, frequently changing the damp cloth on her head to help cool her down.

"Oh my god, it's about to burn! This person is in big trouble!" The hostess was a little panicked. This couldn't be allowed to result in someone dying. No matter how high-ranking an official was, he couldn't die in her house.

"Everyone gets sick sometimes, so please be kind to me." Sister Zhang spoke more politely, without the domineering air she usually displays in government offices.

"I have to keep an eye on her. If she's about to die, carry her out!" The landlord pulled up a broken stool and stood guard by Qin Xiaoyu's kang (heated brick bed).

"How is Director Lu?" As soon as Sister Zhang saw Lu Di, she asked as if she had seen a relative.

"I walked more than ten miles and found a village where I could make a phone call. I've already contacted the city, but the road is blocked and cars can't get through." Lu Di had been walking and had fallen countless times. He was covered in mud, and his pants and shoes were completely unrecognizable.

"How many days will it take for the highway to reopen? I don't think Xiaoyu is doing well. If this fever continues, it'll damage her brain!" Sister Zhang was so anxious that she couldn't even speak coherently.

"I know, I urged them as much as I could, but they're still working on repairs over there. I had no choice but to rush back to let you know." Lu Di slumped down, utterly exhausted.

The rain lessened a bit the next day. Villagers who had come from the front said that the roads and bridges had been completely washed away and it would probably take a while to repair them.

"Could you find a few people to carry her out? If we don't take her to the hospital, I'm afraid she really won't make it." Lu Di was also frightened by Qin Xiaoyu's condition.

"If it doesn't work, let's carry him out. I'm afraid something bad might happen." Sister Zhang has raised children and knows some medical knowledge, but she's still not sure what to do.

"The roads outside are slippery and muddy, and it's raining. How can we walk?" The villagers all shook their heads.

"I'll give you 100 yuan to carry her to a place where the road is passable!" Lu Di still had the decisiveness to do so at the critical moment.

Upon hearing that it would be 100 yuan, the villagers were intrigued, as they only earned a few yuan a day for their work points.

Lifting such a petite woman is much easier than lifting fertilizer.

“I think we shouldn’t carry it. The road is difficult to walk on, and four people can’t carry it. I’ll just carry it on my back.” A strong young man stepped forward.

“Okay, I’ve already paid for it, just get the people to the place for me,” Lu Di said decisively.

The villages here are all impoverished, and it's impossible to find even a raincoat. In the end, they borrowed a piece of oilcloth from someone to cover Qin Xiaoyu. The person carrying her wasn't so lucky; he got completely soaked in the rain.

Sister Zhang has a leg injury and cannot be moved. She can only stay here and wait for rescue.

Just as they were getting ready to go out, a villager suddenly burst in.

"Here it comes! Here it comes! A big one!" he exclaimed as he rushed in, gesturing wildly.

"What is that?"

"The plane, which looks like a big dragonfly, is about to land in the threshing ground at the east end of the village. It's being aimed."

"A helicopter?" Lu Di's eyes lit up. Could it be that the military had arrived for rescue?

He opened the door and rushed into the rain, running towards the threshing ground as guided by the villagers.

In the rain, a lithe figure ran towards them. He recognized him at a glance; it was the man who had cracked his head open at the post office restaurant last time—Qin Xiaoyu's boyfriend.

"Where's Little Fish?" A Lei recognized Lu Di and asked hurriedly.

"Quick, come with me!" Lu Di led him running towards his residence.

The helicopter took off, and Qin Xiaoyu still couldn't believe that she was really in A Lei's arms.

"My hero really did fly here," Qin Xiaoyu murmured.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" A Lei pressed her forehead against his hand again and again.

"I said my hero should come to save me on a colorful cloud, and you really came."

"Fool, can't you just give me a break?"

"No, I want you to feel the pain to the bone." Qin Xiaoyu drifted off to sleep again.

Qin Xiaoyu and Sister Zhang were taken to the nearest city hospital.

Later she learned that A Lei had been frantically searching for her for the past two days, and it was Lu Di's distress call that finally located him. Just then, the military also dispatched helicopters to evacuate trapped residents, and they searched three more villages before finally finding Qin Xiaoyu.

"You're such a nuisance, woman. Do I have to stick by your side forever? How much more trouble are you going to cause?" As soon as Qin Xiaoyu came to her senses, A Lei launched into a tirade of insults.

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