Chapter 40 Fear

After leaving the uncle's house, Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The autumn harvest is coming soon. She probably won’t come to town again within half a month. She needs to spend the bills that are about to expire.

There are twelve industrial rolls in hand. Lin Qi originally planned to buy only one kettle, but now she bought two. One is placed in the cave, and the other is placed in the educated youth camp. It is much more convenient to drink hot water in winter.

"I have some tickets here too." Xu Hexiao handed the tickets to Lin Qi.

Lin Qi confiscated it and said, "Just buy whatever you want to buy."

She knew that Xu Hexiao had tickets and was not short of money.

"I want to exchange two cloth coupons with you." Xu Hexiao lowered his voice, his face a little hot under the brim of his hat.

"You want to buy clothes?" She just bought him two sets of clothes. Aren't they enough? Is she buying them for his grandfather?

"Buy some underwear." Xu Hexiao's face was burning.

Lin Qi choked: "............I still have four cloth coupons, I'll give them all to you."

Xu Hexiao took the cloth coupons to the clothes counter and gave the rest of the coupons to Lin Qi before leaving. "You can buy whatever you want. You don't have to keep them. I don't come to town very often."

Lin Qi thought about it and realized that Xu Hexiao had never been to the town in such a long time. So she stopped being polite and started her shopping spree.

Lin Qi bought all kinds of daily necessities that she could use. She also bought a lot of food. When she saw egg cakes for sale, she weighed two kilograms of egg cakes. She also bought a lot of eggs, nearly a hundred in total.

The salesperson at the counter looked at Lin Qi with a scrutinizing look, "How come you, a country girl, have so many tickets and buy so many things?"

"These are not just for me." Lin Qi explained, "The autumn harvest is coming up, and the village will be busy. No one has time to come to town during this period, so they asked me to buy everything I can."

After hearing Lin Qi's words, the salesperson showed a look of sudden enlightenment, "I knew it, how could a country boy like you have so many tickets?"

Lin Qi: “….”

It seems I have to be more careful next time I buy something.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao's backpacks were full of things. They went to buy more than 30 meat buns and returned home after buying them.

The two of them ate meat buns while walking, feeling relaxed and leisurely. This was a state that Xu Hexiao had never been in before. Although there was a full backpack on his back, he felt more relaxed than ever before.

It seemed that at this moment, on the deserted mountain road, he and Lin Qi were equal.

When the two of them went back, they still took the path in the mountains, which required them to climb over several hills.

Xu Hexiao realized that Lin Qi was moving faster now than when they came. When they came, they carried the bucket together. Was she trying to accommodate his speed?

"Are you pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger?" Xu Hexiao thought of how Lin Qi looked when she first came to the team and her performance in front of others. It was hard for him not to be suspicious.

Lin Qi was silent for a while before she said, "I was really stupid before, but later I suddenly became smart, my mind became clear, and my body gradually became coordinated. I wasn't pretending before, but now I am."

Don't play dumb, it's not her turn to do such an easy job as cutting grass for pigs.

Xu Hexiao was surprised, "So that's how it is."

No wonder, even her family and people from the same place say she is stupid.

The two went to the pool again. This time, not only Lin Qi went into the water, but Xu Hexiao, who had been walking for most of the day and was sweating all over, also wanted to go down and take a bath.

"Well, let me catch a few fish first. Otherwise, the noise will be too loud and the fish will be scared away." Lin Qi said.

Xu Hexiao paused while taking off his clothes and said, "Okay, I'll wait on the shore until you finish catching the fish."

"Don't be impatient, wait slowly." Lin Qi curled her lips and smiled slyly, just like a fish jumping into the water. Her movements were light and did not cause much splash.

Xu Hexiao watched her diving deeper and deeper. Her figure became more and more blurred. He couldn't help but feel worried. How could she go to such a deep place?

Just as he was worried, several people suddenly rushed down from the opposite mountain, and Xu Hexiao even heard gunshots.

What's going on?

Xu Hexiao immediately hid the two backpacks, the bucket and Lin Qi's clothes in the bushes. He looked at Lin Qi in the water, then at the person who was about to rush to the water's edge, and without saying a word, he hid in the long green grass by the water's edge.

"If you come any closer I'll kill him!" A man wearing a white shirt, a side-parted hairstyle and glasses pointed a pistol at the temples of a thin middle-aged man. Three other men were protecting the man with glasses.

The four men held the hostages and ran along, shooting behind them from time to time.

What is going on?

Xu Hexiao held his breath, staring nervously at the people approaching, while glancing at the water with his peripheral vision. Originally, he was worried that Lin Qi would suffocate if she stayed in the water for too long, but at this moment, he hoped that Lin Qi would stay in the water and not show up.

"Panglimu, you can't escape. I advise you to surrender." The people on the mountainside hid behind a big tree and shouted to the people by the pool.

There was a big rock on one side of the pond, and Panglimu and his men had already retreated behind it. Xu Hexiao was hiding in the thick water plants, only two or three meters away from them.

Xu Hexiao didn't move, sweat dripping down his forehead and into his eyes, and he didn't dare to wipe it off. He looked towards the water, but Lin Qi was no longer there.

Where did Lin Qi go?

Five minutes had passed since she entered the water. Why hadn't she come out yet? What had she encountered down there?

On the one hand, Xu Hexiao wanted Lin Qi to come up, but on the other hand, he didn't want Lin Qi to come up. His heart felt like it was being torn by something, as if it was going to tear him apart.

"Panglimu, leave the hostages behind and I will let you go." The people on the mountainside were still shouting.

Xu Hexiao felt that this voice was somewhat familiar; it belonged to Captain Song.

Captain Song led the team to arrest people. Who were these people holding guns? Did they do something bad?

"If you want us to release them, just retreat three miles away. We will release them once we are safe." Panglimu shouted.

While he was shouting, his three teammates were firing towards the middle of the mountain to stop anyone who wanted to go down the mountain.

"Song Qing, control your subordinates, otherwise I will not be polite!" Panglimu shouted again, and the next second, he punched the hostage in the abdomen.

The hostage was caught off guard by the sudden severe pain and let out a painful groan.

"Panglimu, stop!" Song Qing shouted in an anxious tone.

Be careful when using the right weapon!

Panglimu sneered, "Back off, or it won't be a punch, but a gun!"

"Okay, let's retreat!" Song Qing shouted.

"Captain, do you really want to retreat?"

"For the safety of Dr. Sun, we must retreat!"

"team leader!"

"retreat!"

Song Qing took the lead and retreated backwards. His body passed over the grass and trees, which swayed and made rustling sounds.

Where no one else could see, his hand was pointing in a certain direction, giving an attack command.

There were new reinforcements, just on the other side of the hill, more than a hundred meters away from them. When they retreated, the reinforcements over there were advancing silently. The noise they made attracted the enemy's attention and just provided cover for their teammates.

The police withdrew?

So should these bad guys also withdraw?

Lin Qi and he are safe!

Xu Hexiao bit his lip, stared at the water, and prayed in his heart: Lin Qi, wait a little longer, come up later.

Lin Qi seemed to have heard his thoughts. The water surface was still calm, without even a ripple. Not to mention Lin Qi, there wasn't even a single fish to be seen.

It was eerily quiet.

"Panglimu, we have retreated. Isn't it time for you to release them?" Song Qing shouted again.

"Boss, they really retreated. All seven of them retreated!"

"Are you sure all seven have withdrawn?"

"Seven people made noises from seven different places. They all retreated."

"If they retreat, we will retreat too. Be careful and don't make any noise."

"yes."

Panglimu and his four companions took the hostages and began to retreat.

Xu Hexiao's heart was beating in his throat and he didn't even dare to breathe.

One meter, two meters, three meters——

call out!

whoosh!

Phew!

thump!

Several voices rang out in quick succession, with almost no order in particular.

"Boss, no, there are people over there!"

"Fuck you, Song Qing, you hurt my brother, I'm going to fight you!"

"Boss, go away and leave me alone!"

A few more bullets flew over, and two of the original four people were injured and one died, leaving only Panglimu and the hostage safe and sound.

Panglimu looked in the direction where the bullets came from, and then looked in the direction of Song Qing and the others. There was no one behind him. In front of him were Song Qing and the others who had returned, on the side were the enemy's reinforcements, and on the other side was a pool of water.

They can't escape!

"Song Qing, if we can't get him, you can't get him either!" Pang Limu's tone was fierce, with a determined madness. After he finished speaking, he gritted his teeth and pointed the gun at Dr. Sun's solar plexus.

"Panglimu, stop it!"

"Too late!" Panglimu sneered, tapping his index finger lightly -

thump!

Bang!

The gun missed.

The sound of someone falling into the water was heard.

Song Qing and others rushed towards the pool.

"What's going on?"

"Where are the people?"

"In the water!"

There were a few more splashing sounds of someone falling into the water.

The gun fired in the water, and the surface of the water quickly turned red. It was impossible to tell who was injured, and it was even difficult to distinguish between friend and foe.

Wow!

A young girl emerged from the water, grabbed the collars of the two men with her hands, and swam towards the shore with them.

"Dr. Sun!"

As soon as Lin Qi reached the shore, Dr. Sun was taken away from her.

“Ahem—”

Dr. Sun was coughing violently.

Xu Hexiao in Lin Qi's arms was also coughing. While coughing, Xu Hexiao stared at Lin Qi with his eyes, as if he felt a little aggrieved, but also as if he was relieved, with redness in the corners of his eyes.

"Lin Qi, I'm scared." Xu Hexiao said. When their house was raided and he and his grandfather were driven to the cowshed, he was not as frightened as the moment when she came towards him with a gun just now!

He was afraid she would die!

He would rather be the one facing the gun!

However, Lin Qi knew nothing about his thoughts.

She just thought he was scared, rubbed his head soothingly, and comforted him, "You are very brave. It was cool when you threw yourself at the enemy!"

Xu Hexiao: “….”

Forget it, he won’t say it.