"ah!"
While Zhao Honghui was being questioned about Yao Yao's gun in the tea room, he was speechless. He heard a scream and immediately rushed out and broke down the door.
"Yaoyao! What's wrong?"
Xie Yuyao woke up with a start, her eyes filled with fear, and cold sweat soaked her hair.
When she saw Zhao Honghui, she sat up abruptly and hugged him tightly, tears streaming down her face.
Zhao Honghui ran his hand down her back, but found nothing unusual in the room. "Did you have a nightmare?"
Xie Yuyao said intermittently, "Those who died turned into zombies and kept chasing me."
"It's alright, it's all fake," Zhao Honghui coaxed Yao Yao in a low voice.
He didn't know what zombies were, but the word "corpse" in "dead person" probably refers to a type of zombie.
Yao Yao was too frightened; she was far from being as strong as she appeared.
This might be her first time killing someone; hopefully, she won't suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), also known as war sequelae, is a delayed-onset and persistent mental disorder that occurs after an individual has experienced, witnessed, or encountered one or more events involving actual death, threat of death, serious injury, or threat to physical integrity of themselves or others.
This is a disease that cannot be cured by medical means, and it causes great harm to both the body and mind.
Zhao Honghui wished she could turn back time, so that she wouldn't have to face a life-or-death crisis or suffer such a heavy mental burden.
Outside the room, Ye Xingchang and Hui Zi, who arrived later, exchanged glances after hearing the conversation inside, and made a new judgment about Xie Yuyao: she was not a veteran of the battlefield.
Hui Zi pointed to the door, indicating that he would go get the bullets.
Ye Xingchang nodded and watched him leave.
Inside the house, Zhao Honghui told Xie Yuyao about his first murder and how he adjusted his mindset.
Finally, he looked at Yao Yao with deep affection and said, "Time will heal everything. I'll always be here for you."
Xie Yuyao returned his embrace; only in his arms could she find peace.
Seeing that her emotions were gradually stabilizing and she was feeling tired, Zhao Honghui told her to lie down and sleep, "Sleep peacefully, I'll stay with you."
After Xie Yuyao lay down, she held his hand and closed her eyes, her mind filled with images of him chasing, ambushing, and shooting at her.
She suddenly opened her eyes and moved over to the side, saying, "You must be tired after working so hard. Let's lie down and rest together."
Seeing the concern in her eyes, Zhao Honghui's heart softened. "Wait a moment."
He stepped out of the room and saw Ye Xingchang standing under the eaves.
Ye Xingchang looked over and said, "You stay with her for now, I'll handle the aftermath."
Zhao Honghui nodded apologetically and gratefully, then went back to his room and lay down.
He used his hand as a pillow and held Yao Yao in his arms as they slept.
Zhao Honghui's powerful biological clock woke him from his sleep. Looking at his lover so close to him, he couldn't help but kiss her forehead.
Xie Yuyao subconsciously moved closer to the heat source, clinging to him like an octopus.
She slept until the sun was high in the sky before opening her sleepy eyes and seeing Zhao Honghui lying next to her.
Recalling what happened last night and realizing her own posture, Xie Yuyao tried to shrink away, but Zhao Honghui wouldn't let her.
Suddenly, the two of them froze.
Dressed in only a thin shirt, Zhao Honghui's gaze was deep. He kissed Yao Yao's forehead, got up from the bed, and said, "I'm going to take a shower."
Xie Yuyao watched him leave, then buried herself in the covers.
After washing up, the two had breakfast at a state-run restaurant and then rode their bicycles back to Qingshan Village.
As they passed the fork in the road leading up the mountain, Xie Yuyao tugged at Zhao Honghui's clothes: "Stop the car!"
Zhao Honghui stopped his bicycle. "What's wrong?"
“The herbs I picked yesterday afternoon are still on the mountain. I suffered so much for them, I have to get them back.”
“We have to find it.” Zhao Honghui nodded in agreement. He glanced at Yao Yao with a complicated look in his eyes, already guessing the whereabouts of the lost treasure.
The only thing that could make the treasure mysteriously disappear is probably this mysterious girl in front of us.
When Xie Yuyao saw his gaze, she immediately recalled their embarrassing encounter on that rainy day when they were harvesting the treasure.
Based on yesterday's experience, he probably had a guess in his mind.
Xie Yuyao casually asked, "If you knew the whereabouts of that treasure, would you confiscate it?"
“If it was obtained by enemy agents through the exploitation of the people, I will…” Zhao Honghui said without hesitation.
Seeing Xie Yuyao's dejected expression, he emphasized again: "If it belongs to someone else, it's not my place to deal with it."
Xie Yuyao's mood was like the weather in June, instantly changing from gloomy to sunny.
Zhao Honghui thought to himself: Sure enough.
The two were of one mind, but neither of them revealed it.
This enormous treasure, which enemy agents risked everything to uncover, remained a secret known only to heaven, earth, you, and me; no third person knew its whereabouts.
*
When they arrived at the place where they had met Ge Dong the day before, Xie Yuyao found the basket she had placed in the bushes, and the two continued back to Qingshan Village.
As soon as they returned to Zhao Honghui's house, Yang Chunhua saw them and hurriedly came up to them: "Yaoyao, where did you go last night? I was so worried about you."
Before Xie Yuyao could fabricate a lie, Zhao Honghui said, "Something happened, and Yaoyao stayed overnight at the commune."
"What's wrong? You didn't even call back." Yang Chunhua had been worried all night and slapped him hard on the back.
Xie Yuyao quickly said, "It was my oversight."
Seeing the two of them protecting each other, Yang Chunhua didn't criticize them any further.
Then, noticing the basket Zhao Honghui was carrying, filled with plants, she asked curiously, "What's this?"
“They are medicinal herbs. I picked them yesterday afternoon.” Xie Yuyao rummaged through them for a bit and told Yang Chunhua the names of the different herbs.
Yang Chunhua listened and wrote it down, "Are these valuable?"
"I'm not quite sure either; it was an assignment given by the training course."
Yang Chunhua then remembered, "Where did you pick it from? Hongqin and the others went to Daqingshan to find medicinal herbs together."
"On the way back," Xie Yuyao said briefly, then asked about the situation at the brigade.
"Now that the autumn harvest is complete, the next task of tidying up is voluntary, and you will be paid work points for doing it."
Although it's voluntary, quite a few community members still participate. The winters here are too long and cold, so people tend to hibernate. If they don't earn more work points before it snows, their whole family will have to tighten their belts to make ends meet.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xie Yuyao went to the backyard to prepare medicinal herbs, while Zhao Honghui rushed to the commune to clean up after Yaoyao.
By the time she finished processing the herbs, Zhao Honghui had already returned.
Xie Yuyao told him, "I'm going next door to find Shumei and ask about the furniture."
"Go."
At the neighboring brigade leader's house, Aunt Tian was arranging dried apples. Hearing Xie Yuyao's voice, she put down what she was doing and came out, looking her up and down with concern: "Yaoyao, where did you go last night? Everyone was so worried, afraid that something had happened to you."
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