Chapter 104 Chapter 104 That "Girl"
It was winter, when Song Youning was eighteen years old.
In order to establish a good public image, her father participates in charity activities every year. This year, he went to a remote rural town to donate money to support education.
Originally, it was planned that her eldest brother would represent the family to show their importance. However, before departure, news came that her eldest brother had fallen ill and was unable to travel.
The matter had already been publicized, the arrow was on the string and had to be shot, so her daughter, who had just reached adulthood, had to take over temporarily.
Time was running out and she didn't have time to carefully check the accompanying personnel. Sitting in the car heading to the town, Song Youning was looking at the scenery outside the window at first, but gradually, she realized that something was wrong.
The car has been driving for too long.
The scenery outside the window became increasingly desolate. Even though it was a poor area, it didn't look like the road to a town.
Before setting off, Song Youning took a rough look at the map and knew there should be a relatively easy provincial highway leading to the town, but the driver turned into a fork in the road and drove onto an increasingly narrow and bumpy country dirt road.
Song Youning pretended to be casual and asked, "Master, did we go the wrong way?"
The man in the passenger seat immediately turned around and explained with a smile, "That's right, Miss. That road is closed recently. We have to take a detour."
The explanation was reasonable, and Song Youning nodded to show her understanding, but her hand in her pocket tightly grasped the phone - she had just discovered a few minutes ago that the full signal had turned into no service since some time ago.
The driver and the accompanying staff were all completely unfamiliar faces to her. They were silent throughout the journey, and when their eyes occasionally met, there was a flicker in them that made her uneasy.
She turned her head against the car window, pretending to rest her eyes, but she observed through the gaps between her eyelashes that the man in the passenger seat had made brief eye contact with the driver through the rearview mirror more than once. His eyes were sharp and alert, not at all like those of an ordinary staff member.
Song Youning's heart grew heavier.
Song Zhiyan’s acute illness might not be real, someone asked her to come here.
And he didn't want her to go back safely.
Fear surged like a tide, and Song Youning pinched his palms hard, forcing himself to calm down.
She couldn't just sit there and wait for death, she had to find a way to do something.
The only sound that could be heard in the quiet carriage was the sound of the heater. Suddenly, Song Youning covered his mouth and began to groan uncomfortably.
Her face turned pale, and she said weakly to the person next to her, "Excuse me... I'm very carsick... I want to vomit... Can you ask the driver to stop the car?"
The person next to her frowned, seeming a little impatient, but seeing that she really looked like she was about to vomit, he had no choice but to signal the driver to pull over.
As soon as the car stopped, Song Youning suddenly opened the door, bent down, and began to retch violently. Perhaps it was too uncomfortable for her to bear it, and her vomit accidentally stained the car seat.
Seeing this, the people traveling with him cursed inwardly. All the tissues in the car were quickly torn away by Song Youning. He had no choice but to get out of the car quickly and go to another car following behind to find water and tissues.
Just as the man was talking to someone in the car behind and the driver relaxed his vigilance and lit a cigarette, Song Youning seized the opportunity, used all his strength, suddenly stood up and rushed out of the car, quickly jumped off the road and ran to the side.
"Damn it! She ran away! Chase her!"
Immediately behind him came the sound of angry roars and chaotic footsteps.
Song Youning's heart was about to jump out of her throat. She knew she was not as strong as the men and there was no way she could escape on the open road. Her only chance of survival was to get into the seemingly endless, tall reed marsh, perhaps using the complex terrain to lose them.
Without hesitation, she plunged into the dense, dry, and yellow reeds that were taller than a person.
The cold reed leaves scraped across Song Youning's cheeks and arms, leaving red marks. The shouting and footsteps behind him came and went, and fear followed him like a shadow.
The withered yellow reeds seemed to form a huge, endless maze. No matter which direction she ran, the scene in front of her was almost exactly the same - densely packed withered reeds rustling in the wind.
Depressed, suffocated, and desperate.
But she couldn't stop, because stopping would mean death.
Song Youning gritted his teeth and, relying on his instinct for survival, forced himself to rush forward in a determined direction, regardless of everything.
She didn't know how long she had been running. Just when she felt her strength was about to run out, the reeds in front of her suddenly became sparse, and a faint light came through.
He heard the sound of running water and people talking at the same time. Through the gaps in the straw, Song Youning saw a river beach and the shadowy figures of several students in white and blue striped school uniforms.
Someone!
Song Youning seemed to see hope. The pursuers were nearby. She didn't dare to shout for help, so she could only speed up her pace, hoping to catch up with them before they left.
As she got closer to the edge of the reeds, the voices she heard became clearer and clearer. Several voices were shouting and cursing:
"You little bastard, you have a mother but no mother to raise you!"
"My grandma said that you are just as bad as your father!"
Song Youning's hands were already on the last few clumps of reeds blocking the way in front of him, ready to push them aside.
"Dare to steal my things, go to hell!"
The sound of "splash" falling into the water stopped the students' shouting and cursing, and also stopped Song Youning's movements.
Song Youning stood there gasping for breath, his heart beating so wildly that it almost burst through his chest.
She watched the group of students scatter, leaving the thin child who was pushed into the water struggling in the water, gradually losing strength and sinking.
A voice rang sharply in her head: Don't meddle in other people's business! Run!
But her feet seemed to be nailed down, unable to move at all.
As his eyes swept over the child's lifeless little body swaying slightly with the waves, Song Youning cursed in his heart.
Song Youning, you deserve to die!
She didn't know whether to curse this damn situation or her own unnecessary kindness at the moment.
Almost in the next second, she took off her coat without hesitation, rushed down the river bank, and jumped into the freezing cold water.
The river water instantly submerged her whole body, and the biting cold made Song Youning's limbs quickly become stiff and numb. She gritted her teeth and swam across with all her willpower.
Fortunately, the child seemed to have lost consciousness long ago and did not struggle. Song Youning grabbed the white and blue school uniform he was wearing and used all his strength to drag him back to the riverbank.
Song Youning collapsed to the ground, exhausted, coughing bitterly, her whole body shaking like a leaf in the wind. She turned her head and looked at the child she had rescued.
The little girl had an extremely beautiful face, with delicate features like a porcelain doll, but she was pitifully thin, as if she had been malnourished for a long time, and her skin was the pale color that came from not seeing the sun.
Song Youning reached out and felt her breath. It was faint, but still there. After patting her back a few times, the girl coughed up a few mouthfuls of water, her eyelids trembling as she slowly opened them.
Those were a pair of eyes that were pure black and astonishingly bright, like two bottomless pools of cold water.
"Hey, are you okay?" Song Youning asked in a hoarse voice.
"She" didn't react, as if she was scared silly.
A sound came from deep in the reed marsh, and Song Youning's heart shuddered. She quickly picked up her coat and wrapped it tightly around the shivering girl. She spoke quickly: "Listen, run downstream along the riverbank, you will definitely meet someone. Remember to tell an adult or teacher, I have to leave!"
After she finished speaking, she was about to stand up and run in the opposite direction, but a cold little hand grabbed her wrist.
"Let go! Run if you don't want to die!" Song Youning was anxious and angry, trying to break free.
The girl clenched her hands even tighter. "She" tilted her head back, her voice trembling slightly from the cold, but her tone was terrifyingly steady: "I know the way."
His dark eyes looked directly into Song Youning's anxious and panicked eyes, and he said clearly, word by word: "I'll take you away."
Song Youning took a look at the vast reed marsh and made a decision instantly.
Take a gamble!
The girl's steps were a little unsteady, but she led Song Youning back into the reeds with extraordinary familiarity. After twisting and turning, they actually left the noise behind them far behind.
She brought Song Youning to a low adobe house that looked very dilapidated.
"Where is this?" Song Youning asked breathlessly, looking around vigilantly.
The girl pushed open the creaking wooden door and walked in, her voice calm: "My home."
The room was dimly lit and the furnishings were so sparse that almost everything was visible. There was only a worn wooden bed, a crooked table and a small stove. Poverty was evident everywhere, but it was surprisingly tidy.
"She" walked to a shabby wooden cabinet, rummaged for a while, took out an old but seemingly the cleanest and tidiest coarse cotton jacket in the house, and silently handed it to Song Youning.
At this moment, Song Youning didn't care about being picky. He took the clothes and whispered, "Thank you."
There was no shelter in the dilapidated little house. Song Youning thought that they were all girls, so she started to take off her wet and cold clothes without any hesitation. She didn't notice that the other party was frightened by her behavior and quickly turned her back and hid outside the house. She also carefully closed the door for her.
When he took off his water-soaked clothes, his cell phone fell out of his pocket, rolled on the ground, and the screen lit up. The full signal illuminated Song Youning's eyes.
She picked up the phone as quickly as possible and dialed a number. The moment the call was connected, her heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally relaxed for a moment.
After changing her clothes, the girl went somewhere unknown. Song Youning had already contacted someone trustworthy to pick her up. It would be more appropriate to wait for rescue in a safe place at this time.
It was completely dark, and the house was cold and damp. Song Youning was tired and hungry after a day of running around and escaping, but the girl's poor home was in plain sight, and there was no food at all.
Song Youning could only bear it. Suddenly, the door moved and a thin "girl" came in. She fumbled in her pocket and took out several sweet potatoes of different sizes, which were still covered with dirt.
"She" skillfully buried the sweet potatoes in the ashes in the stove which were still hot, and then silently added a few thin sticks to make the fire burn brighter again.
Soon a simple yet tempting sweet scent filled the house.
The "girl" used a wooden stick to pick out the blackened sweet potatoes, dusted off the largest one and handed it to Song Youning, then picked up a smaller one for herself.
"Eat it."
"Thank you." Song Youning took the hot food, hesitated for a moment, and then imitated "her", carefully peeled off the charred skin, and took a light bite.
The two of them sat around the small stove, eating this special dinner in silence by the dim light of the fire. As the sweet potatoes went down her stomach, she felt full, but the extreme fatigue and brief warmth made Song Youning's consciousness gradually blurred. She hugged her knees, nodded her head, and fell into a deep sleep while sitting.
After an unknown amount of time, she was suddenly awakened by a series of rough and rapid knocks on the door.
"Open the door! You little bastard! Open the door for me!" A rude male voice was shouting outside.
Song Youning lost all sleepiness in an instant. She looked at the "girl" opposite her and found that "she" had also woken up. There was no panic in her bright black eyes, only a kind of indifference and familiarity.
"She" made a gesture to Song Youning to keep quiet, signaled her to follow with her eyes, and then quietly led her to the small door at the innermost part of the house leading to the back of the house.
"She" opened the door, and Song Youning immediately stepped out and hid in the shadow of the wall beside him. The "girl" lowered her voice and spoke very quickly: "Hide, don't make a sound."
Then, "she" took a deep breath, closed the back door, turned and walked towards the front door that was slammed loudly.
Song Youning hid in the narrow gap of the back door, holding his breath. He heard the front door creak open, followed by the man's even louder curses: "Damn it! Are you deaf? It took you so long to open the door!"
The girl's voice was cold and calm, which was not in line with her age: "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing? This is my house! I can come back whenever I want!" The man cursed as he squeezed into the house, his footsteps heavy. "What damn bad luck! I was about to make a fortune, but those losers couldn't even keep a teenage girl under control! The cooked duck flew away!"
Song Youning's whole body stiffened.
A teenage girl...isn't she the one you're talking about?
The man cursed and ordered the "girl" to him, "Go, pour me a glass of water! I'm so tired, I'll stay here tonight..."
His voice was suddenly interrupted by something, and the room became quiet, with only the man's heavy breathing being heard.
Song Youning's heart was in her throat, and a strong sense of foreboding enveloped her.
Just then, a gust of cold wind blew in from the gap in the back door. She shuddered violently and suddenly remembered that her wet coat was still on the chair in the room.
Almost at the same moment she remembered her coat, a quick, all-out shout came from the house: "Run!" Song Youning turned around and rushed into the dark night without any hesitation.
She heard a man's furious roar behind her and the sound of the back door being slammed open.
"How dare you, little bastard, ruin my good deeds!"
What followed was the dull thud of bodies colliding, the "girl's" suppressed groan of pain, and the man's furious shouting.
Song Youning didn't dare to look back and ran desperately. The cold air cut his throat and tears flowed uncontrollably. He couldn't tell whether it was fear or worry about the unknown "girl".
She stumbled in the dark mountains and ran for an unknown amount of time until the sky turned pale. Finally, she met the confidant sent by her mother who had hurriedly arrived based on the location.
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