But as she walked, she felt something was wrong. It was getting darker and darker, and she couldn't even see her own hands anymore.
The path we came from has long since disappeared.
Instead, there was only pitch blackness.
"Thump, thump, thump-thump-thump—"
Wang Chenshi could actually hear her own heartbeat.
Her hands began to tremble, but she forced herself to keep walking. The bamboo basket she was carrying fell to the ground, but she didn't dare to pick it up. All she wanted to do now was get down the mountain.
They walked and walked, for an unknown amount of time, until Wang Chenshi's heart had broken down.
She finally saw a faint light ahead.
Wang Chenshi dropped the branch in her hand and ran forward with her old legs.
She got closer and closer, thinking she was finally out, but before she could even feel happy, Wang Chenshi cried out.
"ah--"
"Help me..."
Before the fifth word could even be uttered, a loud "bang" was heard.
It turned out to be a cliff, and the faint light was the moonlight reflecting off the cliff face. Because Wang Chenshi was running too fast, she couldn't stop and fell straight down, hitting her head on a rock in the stream.
Blood gushed out immediately.
It dyed this body of water red.
Wang Chenshi twitched twice. Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was still slightly opening and closing, as if she were calling someone's name.
But then there was silence.
At that height, no one could survive.
As dawn broke, Wang Guangyao woke up from his sleep, but his mother was nowhere to be seen.
"Mother, mother——"
Where are they?
Wang Guangyao called out a few times, but no one responded. He thought Wang Chenshi had gone to the river to fetch water, but the pot was still on the wooden stove, exactly the same as last night. He touched it and it was ice cold. Looking at the bed opposite, there was no one there at all. There was a clean undergarment on it, which his mother had prepared to change into after taking a bath.
Wang Guangyao's heart tightened.
Mom didn't come home last night?
He wanted to go out and look for it, but he couldn't feel anything below his thighs, let alone walk. He could only sit up with difficulty, and he could only move with his hands.
Wang Guangyao could only sit on the bed and wait anxiously.
He waited and waited, until the sun rose and then set.
It got dark again.
Mother still hasn't come back.
He had been hungry for a whole day.
I had been holding my pee for a whole day.
Wang Guangyao struggled to climb to the wooden chamber pot. It was called a chamber pot, but it was actually just a deeper basin that Wang Chenshi had picked up on the road. It was tattered and chipped, and the inside was filthy. It was covered only by a wooden board.
In the past, when Wang Chenshi went out, she would bring the chamber pot to Wang Guangyao's bedside so that he could relieve himself.
Last night at dinner, Wang Chenshi thought it smelled bad, so she took the food away and planned to throw it away in the morning.
Unfortunately, he never came back.
There was something that looked like a small stool next to the stove.
There was just a big hole dug in the middle. When Wang Guangyao wanted to defecate, he would put this stool on the urinal, hold onto the pillar, and sit on it to defecate.
The chamber pot was half full.
It rotted overnight and smelled terrible.
Wang Guangyao frowned, unbuckled his belt, and turned to the side to relieve himself.
Because of his leg injury, he hardly drinks any water during the day, unless he is extremely thirsty, since the porridge and wild vegetable soup he eats contain water.
The wild vegetable soup he ate last night wasn't enough to fill him up, and coupled with not having eaten all day, Wang Guangyao was burning with hunger. His stomach acid refluxed, and he was so uncomfortable that he lay on the bed unable to move.
Now he had no interest in looking at the sky; his mind was filled with thoughts of where Wang Chenshi had gone.
Did she encounter a wild animal, or did she fall and faint, or perhaps she abandoned him, this burden, to go find her older sister and enjoy a life of luxury?
Wang Guangyao thought and thought until he became sleepy.
When I woke up again, it was already broad daylight.
Wang Guangyao couldn't wait any longer. He left the straw bed and slowly crawled out.
Remembering his mother's words, he found the path leading up the mountain and climbed over it. The path was full of mud and stones, and Wang Guangyao's hands quickly developed bloody marks.
He was in pain, hungry, and extremely agitated.
"Mom, where are you?!"
"mother--"
He called out for a long time but received no response; only birds, startled by his voice, flew away.
Wang Guangyao climbed for a while, then rested for a while, but when he turned around, he found that he had only climbed half a mile at most.
"mother--"
Another shout rang out.
Still no one responded.
Wang Guangyao gave up. He looked up at the sun; it was already midday. He was covered in sweat and extremely thirsty. Just then, he heard the sound of flowing water. He turned around, crawled over, and saw a small river. He drank several mouthfuls before finally letting out a sigh of relief. However, the water had a rusty taste and didn't taste very good.
There was a grove of trees by the water, and Wang Guangyao could vaguely see a patch of white.
He climbed over and realized it was a mushroom.
So he happily picked a lot, but having nothing to put them in, he simply took off his coat and wrapped the mushrooms up.
Unable to find his mother, Wang Guangyao decided to return to the dilapidated temple to cook mushroom soup and fill his stomach first.
It took him a morning to get there, and naturally, it took him an afternoon to get back. He wrapped the torn cloth from his trouser leg with both hands to prevent the wound from getting worse.
In the evening, Wang Guangyao fetched water from the river in a pot. He moved the pot forward a little before crawling over it. It took him almost half an hour to walk what should have been a two-minute walk.
It was already dark when he finally managed to eat the mushroom soup.
While things are tough here, Yan Xia is throwing a party at home.
Today is the birthday of Xiao Ji, Xiao Su, and a new maid. Yan Xia personally made a cake and also had an outdoor barbecue in the large garden of the mansion at the end of the city.
The three of them, who were celebrating their birthdays, each made a wish and then blew out the candles and cut the cake together.
After everyone had a taste, the formal barbecue party began.
Lanterns were hung on the trees, pavilions, and corridors in the garden, making it bright even in the darkest night.
The aroma of barbecue wafted everywhere, filling everyone's nostrils. Even the little dumpling cried out, though unfortunately she had no teeth.
He could only drink his wet nurse's milk while drooling.
Today's barbecue includes lamb skewers, pork skewers, cartilage skewers, pork intestines, chicken skewers, chicken gizzards, chicken livers, chicken intestines, and more.
There are countless grills; you can grill whatever you want to eat. There are five grills in total.
It wasn't just barbecue; they also served alcohol and drinks.
And a fruit platter to cut through the richness.
This is how you should spend your summer.
Halfway through the meal, Tuanzi fell asleep. Yanxia asked the nanny to take Tuanzi back first. Xiaohe was worried and took Changfu with her. Yanxia stayed behind. She drank a lot of strong liquor that night and eventually passed out.
When I woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky.
"Xiao Ji, how did I get back?" Yan Xia's throat was a little dry. She took a sip of water that Xiao Ji brought her, which made her feel a little better, and then asked.
“Aunt Yan, you drank too much and fell asleep on the stone table. Jin Yu saw that you almost slipped, so he carried you to the carriage and brought you back. I didn’t drink. I helped you change your clothes and fed you some hangover soup before I went to sleep.”
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