Chapter 171 What a strange little girl!
Xie Xuanxiao silently carried the man out.
Li Nanke skipped along beside him, tilting her head several times to peek at the man clinging to Xie Xuanxiao's back.
The man had his eyes closed, and his sallow face looked lifeless.
She felt that he looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.
As they emerged from the woods, they encountered a refugee who was carrying a bowl of porridge.
Upon seeing the man Xie Xuanxiao was carrying, the refugee stamped his foot.
"Old Zhou, you went to try to kill yourself again? Why are you so stubborn? How many times have you tried to die in the last three days?"
If you don't die, it means God doesn't want you, so stop making a fuss.
The man's eyelids twitched slightly, but he did not open his eyes.
The refugee led Li Nanke and Xie Xuanxiao into the outermost tent and brought the porridge to Old Zhou's mouth.
"Have some porridge and rest. You haven't eaten anything since last night."
Old Zhou silently turned his head away, pursing his lips and refusing to eat.
Seeing him like this, the refugees placed the porridge beside him.
Xie Xuanxiao frowned. "Which county is he from? Where are his family?"
The refugee sighed and lowered his voice, saying, "I heard they came from Changyuan County, and they were carried here by two other refugees."
They said they found him unconscious on the road and brought him here.
He only woke up three days ago, and since then he has been determined to die. In the past three days, he has tried jumping into the river, going on a hunger strike, and banging his head against a wall, but he was rescued each time.
The refugee glanced at Old Zhou and lowered his voice even further.
"His family...sigh, I heard the whole family is gone, they all died in the Changyuan dike breach."
Xie Xuanxiao's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously looked at Lao Zhou.
Old Zhou would lie on the haystack in the corner all the time, as if everything around him was irrelevant.
How desperate it must be to watch your entire family perish in the flood.
He had initially thought it was because he had broken a leg...
Xie Xuanxiao pursed his lips in annoyance, took two steps forward, and saw Li Nanke squatting down in front of Lao Zhou.
He reached out and poked Old Zhou's empty trouser leg, or more precisely, poked his knee through the trouser leg.
Old Zhou's legs trembled slightly.
Li Nanke sighed in distress.
“You only have one leg left, you can’t even stand up, and you don’t eat. No wonder you haven’t died yet.”
Xie Xuanxiao's face darkened, and he stepped forward and grabbed Li Nanke.
Suppressing his anger, he growled in a low voice, "You... how could you rub salt into someone's wounds? Aren't you deliberately provoking him?"
Li Nanke looked up, blinked her grape-like eyes, and spoke with an exceptionally righteous tone.
"I'm telling the truth, am I wrong?"
"You...you can't even tell the truth!"
Li Nanke pouted, "I think Grandpa Zhou doesn't want to die at all."
"That's enough!"
Xie Xuanxiao wished he could cover her babbling mouth.
Old Zhou, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, breathing rapidly, and glared angrily at Li Nanke.
"What do you know, little girl? I dream of dying right now so I can reunite with my family and repent to them!"
"It's a pity that I've lost a leg and become a cripple, unable to even walk on my own. Otherwise, I would have died long ago!"
"Heaven has no eyes!"
Old Zhou's beard twitched with excitement as he raised his hand and weakly pounded his right leg.
Li Nanke's eyes widened.
"So what if I have a broken leg? Brother Xie just said that there are plenty of people with broken arms and legs in the military camp, and they can still do their jobs."
If I were you, I would immediately pick up this bowl of porridge and drink it all, conserve my strength, practice walking on one leg, and then die however I wanted.
"You're not eating or drinking right now, and you can't even bring yourself to die, so it's clear you don't really want to die!"
"You...you!"
Old Zhou sat up straight, panting heavily, his hand trembling with anger as he pointed at Li Nanke.
I wanted to say something, but my throat was so dry and sore that I couldn't utter a single word.
Finally, with trembling hands, he picked up the bowl of porridge in front of him and brought it to his mouth, gulping it down.
Because it was poured too quickly, the congee slid down the corners of his mouth and dripped onto his clothes.
Old Zhou finished the bowl of porridge in an instant, angrily put the bowl down, and glared at Li Nanke.
After being lubricated, the harsh sound in his throat disappeared. "Little girl, you wait, I'll definitely have the strength to die on my own in a couple of days!"
Li Nanke nodded seriously.
"It's settled then. I'll come find you again tomorrow and help you tie the rope in the woods."
Old Zhou snorted, turned over, and showed her the back of his head.
Li Nanke wasn't angry. He took out a few coins from his purse and gave them to the refugee next to him.
"Could you please bring him some porridge and a pancake tonight?"
The refugees accepted the money with great joy.
"Don't worry, young lady."
Li Nanke glanced at Lao Zhou.
"See you tomorrow, Grandpa Zhou. I hope you can eat your fill and be able to jump up and reach the rope by yourself."
Old Zhou remained motionless.
Li Nanke didn't mind and walked away with her hands behind her back.
Xie Xuanxiao glanced at Lao Zhou, then at Li Nanke who had already left, and silently followed.
Old Zhou slowly turned over, opened his eyes, and looked at them with a complicated expression.
These days, the people around him either earnestly advise him to speak properly, or they are extremely careful and dare not mention his family or his broken leg in front of him.
This little girl had no inhibitions whatsoever; she not only lifted his broken leg but also poked it!
What a strange little girl!
Xie Xuanxiao caught up with Li Nanke and turned his head to look at her closely.
"You're not really going to come and help him tie the rope tomorrow, are you?"
Li Nanke smiled slightly.
"why not?"
Xie Xuanxiao's eyes widened. "You...you want to put him in a life-or-death situation so he can survive? You just deliberately provoked him with your words?"
Li Nanke blinked and smiled slyly.
"I just saw that he wanted to die, so I genuinely wanted to help him. I couldn't understand what Brother Xie was saying."
Xie Xuanxiao...
Just then, Zisu rushed over.
"Miss, you're here! I've finally found you. I couldn't find you for so long, I thought something had happened again."
Zisu's face turned a little pale, and when she saw that one of her braids had completely come undone, her expression changed immediately.
"Why is your hair down, young lady? Has someone been bullying you?"
Li Nanke pulled Zisu away, vaguely hearing her cheerful explanation.
"I got caught on a tree branch and encountered a cold-hearted person who refused to help, so I had to pull my braid off myself."
Zisu frowned.
"Who is so heartless as to let such a lovely girl get caught in a tree branch without helping her? How wicked!"
Xie. Cold-faced and heartless. Xuan Xiao...
Li Nanke is such a strange little girl!
They won't suffer even the slightest loss!
He must have lost his mind; he actually changed his opinion of her just now!
Li Nanke had no idea what Xie Xuanxiao was thinking. She followed Song Yi and worked in the refugee camp until late afternoon before returning home.
When they returned, the drama at Marquis Anping's place was still going on and on, and the show hadn't ended.
She first went to the main courtyard to see Madam He. Only the middle path remained of the bluestone slabs in the courtyard; the paths on both sides had been cleared away.
Sitting on the porch, Madam He smiled and said, "We can start turning the soil tomorrow."
Song Yi said, "Then we'll come back early tomorrow and help Grandma till the land."
The mother and daughter had dinner with Madam He and then returned to Fanghua Courtyard. Li Mu only returned at this time.
"Father, tell me quickly what you found out today?"
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