Two days later
Downstream on a muddy riverbank, the battalion commander rushed into the makeshift camp, panting. "Regimental...Regimental commander! There's...there's news! Downstream at Willow Bay, someone pulled up a...a female...female corpse...They said she was wearing blue clothes..."
Before he could finish speaking, He Yanzhi sprang to his feet, his eyes flashing with a terrifying light, roaring like a wounded wild beast:
"Where is it?! Take me there! Quickly!"
He pushed the soldiers aside and rushed towards the riverbank like a madman.
...
At this moment, a crowd gathered on the riverbank of Willow Bay.
He Yanzhi pushed through the crowd and saw a corner of blue fabric covered with a straw mat on the shore. His pupils contracted sharply!
His body stiffened, and as soon as he regained consciousness, he lunged forward, ignoring the cold and murky river water, and jumped in, his hands trembling as he tried to lift the straw mat!
No!
No way!
Wenru, you wouldn't abandon us, father and son, like this!
His outstretched hand trembled violently. He closed his eyes and slowly lifted the straw mat.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a completely unfamiliar face... that of a middle-aged woman, swollen and deformed from being soaked in water.
He Yanzhi froze instantly, seemingly relieved.
The battalion commander, who had been following He Yanzhi, was also relieved. He pulled up the stiff He Yanzhi, "Regimental Commander! It's not your sister-in-law...it's not her...please...please come up here! Take a rest! I beg you!"
Their commander hasn't had a rest for several days!
He Yanzhi was dragged ashore by him, his body soaked and cold, slumped in the mud, staring blankly at the corpse.
So his wife is still alive, right?
She's not dead!
She's definitely not dead!
But where is she?!
She must be waiting for him somewhere!
...
A few days later, in the office of a remote commune in Gaomu County.
He Yanzhi, travel-worn and weary, rushed into the office. His lips were cracked and bleeding, his gaze fixed on the commune cadres, and his voice was as hoarse as sandpaper.
"Comrade! Please check again! Is there a mistake in the registration?! A woman with a child! Long hair! About this tall! Speaking with a slight Beijing accent! Was she taken in a few days ago?! Where is she now?"
The commune cadre flipped through the simple register and pointed to a line. "Commander He, it's really registered. A few days ago, there was a woman with a baby boy, her clothes were tattered, and she said she was escaping from the flood... Her features... are somewhat similar to what you described."
But... but three days ago, she said it was a relative from her hometown who came, a man... registered a name and address and then took her away..."
The official pointed to a blurry signature and out-of-town address on the register.
He Yanzhi leaned closer to the line of text, staring intently at it as if he wanted to burn it through.
Those unfamiliar names and addresses pierced my heart like icicles.
He suddenly looked up, his eyes completely vacant, his body swayed, and he had to hold onto the table to keep from falling.
He was picked up... he was picked up by someone...
He seemed to see Guan Wenru in the distance, wearing that blue dress, holding a child, turning back to give him a sad smile, which vanished in an instant.
Wenru!
Guan Wenru!
Where are you?!
...
Another day passed, on a steep cliff in the Qilian Mountains.
The herdsman guide, wrapped in a fur coat, pointed to the misty mountain valley in the distance and said to He Yanzhi in broken Chinese:
"It's...it's over there! I saw smoke while herding sheep the other day, and the person didn't look like someone from around here...but...but it's too dangerous over there! There are too many wolves! Going up there now would be deadly! Commander He! You should go back!"
The guide's face was filled with fear; going into the mountains at this time was extremely dangerous.
He Yanzhi's face was cracked from the cold wind, and his lips were bluish-purple, but his eyes were fixed stubbornly on the direction of the mountain hollow, and his voice was unusually firm, "I'm not going back! She might be waiting for me. You guys wait here, I'll go by myself!"
Ignoring everyone's attempts to stop him, he pushed away those who were helping him and, like a tireless machine, began to climb the steep, snow-covered rock face, using both his hands and feet.
...
Several hours later, exhausted, He Yanzhi finally climbed to the ravine.
He staggered toward the low stone houses.
He Yanzhi pounded on the wooden door, his voice hoarse and desperate, "Wenru! Guan Wenru! Open the door!"
The door creaked open, revealing a wrinkled, completely unfamiliar old herdsman's astonished face, speaking in Yugur, a language the herdsman couldn't understand.
Inside the room were several equally bewildered children; there was no woman, and certainly no sign of Guan Wenru or the boy.
Looking at the empty house, He Yanzhi rushed to the abandoned sheep pen, which contained only hay and sheep dung.
His last ounce of strength and faith seemed to vanish in an instant. He staggered back to the edge of the cliff, and facing the empty, deathly silent valley, he used almost the last of his life force to let out a heart-wrenching cry:
"Guan Wenru! Where are you! Where are you?!"
The only response he received was the howling, icy wind swirling through the valley.
His eyes glazed over, his body swayed, and as he stared at the gray sky, his consciousness began to fade.
......
Meanwhile, deep in the Hexi Corridor, in a remote village in Zhangye that is adjacent to the dried-up old course of the Yellow River, there is a low and dilapidated mud-brick house.
The light was dim.
An old woman with a wrinkled face and cloudy eyes tremblingly carried a bowl of hot water to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
She gently patted the face of the unconscious woman on the kang (a heated brick bed), her voice hoarse and thick with accent, "Daughter? Daughter? Wake up... have some water... What a tragedy... how could the Water Dragon King have treated you like this..."
The woman lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) was none other than Guan Wenru, whom He Yanzhi had been frantically searching for.
At this moment, Guan Wenru's face was ashen, her lips were cracked, and she showed no reaction.
Next to her was a little boy, Dazhu, who was also unconscious.
Dazhu's little face was flushed red, and his breathing was weak.
Grandma Wang sighed, carefully bringing the bowl to the boy's lips, and trying to pry his mouth open with the chipped spoon. "Little boy? Little boy? Open your mouth... drink something hot... be tough... don't let this old woman die here..."
The boy's lips moved instinctively, and he managed to swallow a few drops of warm water, letting out a soft, painful groan, but he still didn't wake up.
Grandma Wang stared at the two children, one big and one small, with her cloudy old eyes full of worry.
I was also a little panicked. Should I have meddled and tried to save people?
When she pulled the person out of the water, the little girl was barely alive, but she was still clinging tightly to the baby on her back... she couldn't be pried apart.
Moreover, the clothes this little girl is wearing clearly don't belong to this area.
You're a stranger here!
A woman from out of town with a baby... what are we going to do... what if the clan chief finds out...?
Grandma Wang dared not think any further.
She instinctively turned around and glanced nervously at the tightly closed door, which was propped up with a broken wooden stick, as if afraid that someone might suddenly break in.
After thinking for a moment, she laboriously rummaged through a broken wooden box at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed) and pulled out two old, patched, coarse cloth clothes that she had kept at the bottom of her trunk, and helped Guan Wenru change into them.
My dear daughter, please wake up soon! Your family is probably going crazy looking for you.
You'll only know how to get home when you wake up.
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