The next morning, the sun shone on the earth, but it could not dispel the gloom in people's hearts.
The harrowing experience of last night still lingers in the minds of every villager from Stone Village, leaving them with lingering fear.
Despite their deep sorrow, life had to go on, so they had to pull themselves together and continue their escape.
Along the way, the sunlight was blocked by thick clouds, and the whole world was particularly gloomy and oppressive.
The group dragged their exhausted bodies forward with difficulty, their steps unusually heavy, as if each step carried a thousand pounds of weight.
The villagers suffered more than just property loss and physical harm.
The more serious injury is that the trust in the world deep in one's heart is slowly collapsing.
The will to flee is gradually eroded, and when it is finally gone, the entire group will completely disintegrate.
To prevent a similar incident from happening again, the village chief arranged for several more households to be stationed around the camp to keep watch that night.
These villagers bear a heavy responsibility and dare not slack off in the slightest.
If any unusual situation is detected, he will immediately ring the bell in his hand to warn other villagers.
After these arrangements and deployments, the villagers of Shitou Village finally felt a little more at ease.
---
In the days that followed, the nights remained anything but peaceful.
The villagers became much more vigilant, but they still suffered several attacks from refugees.
Fortunately, everyone was prepared and worked together to resist, and in the end only a few people were injured.
After traveling for several more days, the number of refugees decreased significantly, and the villagers of Stone Village were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, fate always seems to enjoy playing tricks on those who have endured hardship.
The temperature dropped sharply, causing many villagers to catch a cold.
Qin, Cui Erlang's mother, was also one of the victims of this accident.
The already arduous journey was compounded by this vexing typhoid fever, making things even worse and tormenting people to the point of near death.
Although Cui Jia Dalang was skilled in medicine, the pills he had prepared had been stolen by the refugees that night.
In this way, even with excellent medical skills, one would have no place to use one's talents.
Upon learning of this, Wang Xiuxiu inquired with Cui Jiadalang about the properties of the herbs used to treat typhoid fever.
After receiving a detailed description, he begged Songsong to help him search for it.
At first, Wang Xiuxiu was just trying it out.
Unexpectedly, Songsong lived up to expectations and successfully found several herbs that Wang Xiuxiu needed after searching.
"Hey, take this to your older brother and see if this medicine can be of any use."
After saying that, Wang Xiuxiu handed over the wrapped herbs.
Cui Erlang took the herbs, examined them carefully for a moment, and his excitement was palpable.
"It's useful, it's useful! This is the herbal medicine for treating colds!"
Having been influenced by his elder brother for a long time, Cui Erlang was able to identify some common herbs.
“That’s wonderful, I just happened to run into you. You should take it home quickly to treat Aunt Qin’s illness,” Wang Xiuxiu urged with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Cui Erlang was moved to tears and repeatedly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you so much, Sister Xiuxiu! Thank you so much for your help. I really... I really don't know what to do!"
After saying this, he even made a gesture as if to bow deeply to Wang Xiuxiu.
Seeing this, Wang Xiuxiu quickly waved her hands, "No need, no need. You helped me drive away the refugees before, this is just my way of repaying you."
Wang Xiuxiu has never liked owing favors. She was saved by Cui Erlang when the refugees attacked her last time, and ever since then she has been looking for a suitable opportunity to repay him.
After receiving the herbs, Cui Erlang did not delay. He asked his elder brother to identify them and immediately brewed them into a medicinal soup.
After taking the medicine, Qin's condition improved significantly, and she fully recovered in just two days!
Later, it was learned that the life-saving herb was actually found by Wang Xiuxiu.
Qin felt somewhat embarrassed, after all, she had said a lot of bad things about Wang Xiuxiu before.
I'm truly at a loss for what to do now that I've suddenly received such a great favor from someone.
However, although Chen Chunhua's character is despicable, Xiuxiu is not Chen Chunhua's biological daughter after all.
Judging from Wang Xiuxiu's behavior during their escape, she has not picked up any of Chen Chunhua's bad habits.
She's a kind-hearted girl!
Wang Xiuxiu never expected that her unintentional act would greatly change Qin Shi's impression of her.
"Erlang, go and deliver some bean cakes to the Wang family. We also accepted the herbs that Xiu'er found. Our family can't be impolite, so remember to secretly slip some to Xiu'er, and don't let anyone see..."
"I know, Mom! Don't worry!"
Cui Erlang readily agreed, and dashed off as if the wind had taken hold of him.
Watching her son's excited back, Cui's mother opened her mouth, intending to add, "And don't let the Wang family see you."
Before he could even finish speaking, Cui Erlang had already vanished without a trace.
With the bean cakes in his arms, Cui Erlang jogged all the way to the vicinity of the camp next to the Wang family's, peeking and looking in the direction of the Wang family's camp.
Just then, Wang Xiuxiu was about to gather some firewood when she spotted Cui Erlang hiding in the shadows.
She was a little puzzled, but she still quickly went to meet him and asked softly, "Second Brother Cui, is there something you need?"
When Cui Erlang saw Wang Xiuxiu walking towards him, he became nervous and stammered, "N-nothing, it's just that I really appreciate your help with the herbs. My mother is feeling much better after taking them!"
After saying that, he subconsciously turned his head to look around. After making sure no one was paying attention, he quickly took out a bean cake wrapped tightly in cloth from his pocket, carefully handed it to Wang Xiuxiu, and said in a low voice, "This is a thank-you gift from my mother. Please keep it safe."
Wang Xiuxiu refused to accept it, waving her hand in refusal: "Second Brother Cui, how can this be! It's just a small favor, I can't accept your gift."
However, Cui Erlang forcefully stuffed the bean cake into her hand without saying a word, urging, "Xiuxiu, you'd better put it away carefully, it won't be good if someone sees it!"
After saying that, he looked around again and waved for Wang Xiuxiu to leave quickly.
Although both of them were covered in dust, Wang Xiuxiu still managed to catch a glimpse of kindness in his dirty face.
This feeling of warmth stirred something within her.
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