"Ugh, ugh?" Xiaoyue trembled as she tried to make a sound, but her neck was being choked, and she couldn't make any noise. She could only make "ugh, ugh" sounds.

The sound of heavy rain pattering down the ground splashed up countless water droplets at Xiaoyue's feet. Xiaoyue was being dragged by the person behind her. She tried to struggle but couldn't muster any strength. A faint smell of blood reached Xiaoyue's nose from the earthy smell of the rain.

Seeing that Xiaoyue was not cooperating, the man tightened his grip on her neck, causing Xiaoyue to become completely dizzy and unable to breathe properly.

Despite the man's repeated dragging and pulling, she was powerless to resist.

Suddenly, they lost their footing and fell into the trap. Fortunately, the roof was wide enough to block the rainwater from falling into the trap.

The man behind her, as if he had just fallen into a trap, had exhausted all his strength. He released his arm from Xiaoyue's neck and fell straight down, with Xiaoyue landing on top of him.

He pulled out a tinderbox and found the man clutching his stomach, the bandages on his stomach covered in blood, and cold sweat streaming down his pale face.

After seeing this, Xiaoyue quietly curled up in a corner. There was nothing she could do but wait for Lu Xiaomei to wake up, find out, and then ask the villagers to rescue the two of them.

The man clutched his stomach in pain, his eyes tightly shut, as if he was about to die. Xiaoyue, fearing that the man would discover her and harm her, blew out the tinderbox and pretended to be quiet.

As dawn broke, Liang Qi got up early. It had rained all night, and remembering the elm mushrooms, he decided to take a basket and go to the place where Xiaoyue had taken him to pick the elm mushrooms.

Before even arriving at the destination, they saw a patch of yellow elm mushrooms, along with scattered matsutake, morel, and sheep morel mushrooms. Liang Qi excitedly picked a basketful in no time.

As she picked the herbs, she began to wonder why Xiaoyue hadn't arrived yet. Normally, Xiaoyue would have arrived much earlier than her.

Carrying a basket on his back, Liang Qi decided to go to Xiaoyue's house to take a look.

The gate was open, and Liang Qi carefully walked into the yard, where he bumped into the little boy who had just woken up.

Little Douding wanted to see the chicks, but there was a big pit in front of the shed, and he couldn't get through. When he saw Liang Qi carrying a basket into the yard, he quickly waved to Liang Qi, "Brother, there's a big pit."

Xiaoyue was awakened by the little bean's voice. She had spent the night in the trap and was soaked before entering it. In addition, she dried her clothes with her own body heat, so her mind was all muddled and confused.

He stood up, touching the wall. His hoarse voice sounded like sand was stuck in his throat; it hurt and he could barely make a sound.

Liang Qi knew about the last time Old Man Ge was trapped in the pit. Seeing the little boy waving, he quickly ran to the edge of the pit, while Xiao Yue lit the tinderbox.

Just then, Liang Qi saw Xiaoyue's pale face. He didn't care about anything else, jumped into the trap, picked up Xiaoyue, and then leaped out of the trap.

Old Man Ge pulled himself up by a rope that time because he didn't want to show off his strength in front of everyone.

He carried Xiaoyue to the main room, then came out and carried the man out as well. The man was also unconscious. Liang Qi placed the man on the wooden bed in the shack, and Xiaoyue spread the mat from the shack into her room.

Lu Xiaomei rushed over to wipe Xiaoyue's body, and then found that Xiaoyue only had one set of clothes, so Lu Xiaomei had no choice but to change Xiaoyue into her own clothes.

Liang Qi, carrying a basket on his back, led the little boy to Hu Langzhong's house and invited the doctor.

After taking Xiaoyue's pulse, Doctor Hu instructed Hu Banxia to bring the medicine to her.

Xiaoyue first drank the porridge made by Lu Xiaomei, and then drank the medicine that Lu Xiaomei had brewed for her. After drinking the medicine, Xiaoyue sweated and felt much better.

Xiaoyue asked Lu Xiaomei to brew another batch of the same medicine. After the medicine was ready, Xiaoyue supported herself and went to see the man.

Xiaoyue carried the medicine. By this time, the door of the shack had been placed on the trap. She stepped through the door into the kitchen. The chicks and other animals had been let out by Xiaodouding, but the house smelled of chicken, duck and goose droppings.

Passing through the kitchen, I came to the wooden bed by the window. The person on the bed had their eyes closed, their face was deathly pale, their brows were furrowed, and their dark purple lips were bitten tightly.

Just as Xiaoyue was at a loss, she noticed Liang Qi coming in. Xiaoyue couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on her face.

"Help him up, I'll give him some medicine," Xiaoyue said to Liang Qi with a smile.

"What medicine? Has Doctor Hu examined him?"

"No, it was me who drank it. They came to rob me in the middle of the night, and I even found a doctor for them. Do you think I'm the kind of person who repays evil with kindness?" Xiaoyue was furious when she thought about last night.

"That……"

Xiaoyue knew what Liang Qi wanted to ask. "It's alright. We got soaked together, we fell into the trap together. He's probably caught a cold too. As for anything else, I can't worry about that."

I just wanted him to sober up and leave my house.

Liang Qi helped the man up, supporting his back with one hand and gripping his chin with the other.

Xiaoyue saw that the man's mouth opened slightly, so she poured the medicine down his throat all at once. Liang Qi looked at the wound on his stomach, which was bleeding again with every movement, so he untied the bandage and sprinkled his own wound medicine on the man.

Xiaoyue asked for clean bandages again.

Xiaoyue didn't have any bandages, so she asked Lu Xiaomei to cut up some white and red floral cloth that had been washed the day before and wrap it around the man's body.

She fed the man another bowl of porridge before asking him what Liang Qi wanted from her.

"It rained yesterday, and all sorts of mushrooms are sprouting on the mountain." Liang Qi's face lit up with excitement.

"Let's go into the mountains," Xiaoyue decided immediately upon hearing that there were mushrooms.

“Go home and get your basket, I’ll carry the basket and then the big crate.”

Liang Qi hesitated and said, "Your body isn't fully recovered yet."

Xiaoyue waved her hand and said with a smile, "See you on the mountain." After Liang Qi left, she went into the main room, took the leftover rice from yesterday, made two rice balls, wrapped them in a cloth, and put them inside her clothes. Seeing Lu Xiaomei sewing clothes, she went up to her and said with concern:

"Third sister-in-law, you've just gotten a little better, so don't overexert yourself. The cloth is there, you can use it anytime."

After finishing her haircut, Lu Xiaomei looked up and smiled, "It's not tiring. Having something to do makes the days go by faster."

Seeing Xiaoyue carrying a basket on her back, she said anxiously, "You're going up the mountain again? You're not well yet, stay home for a day."

“I can’t stay here, I’m fine, Third Sister-in-law. By the way, don’t go to see that man lying in the shack. He’s no good. I’ll kick him out as soon as I can move.”

Lu Xiaomei agreed. When Xiaoyue went outside, she saw Xiaodouding playing with the ducklings and goslings. She smiled and said, "Xiaodouding, you can take the ducklings and goslings to the water by the mountain. They can not only swim, but they can also catch small fish to eat in the water."

"Really?" The little boy's eyes widened.

Xiaoyue patted the little boy's head and nodded with a smile.

Before heading into the mountains, Xiaoyue visited her reclaimed land and found that the ground was still damp from the previous night's rain. Before the ground dried, Xiaoyue scattered all the ramie seeds she had bought from town onto the ground. After scattering the seeds, Xiaoyue went to the river to wash her hands.

Looking up, he realized that the man hadn't touched the area where the fabric had been washed the day before.