Thinking about it this way, he didn't seem to forget her as time went by. Instead, he missed her more and more.
The emotions that had been suppressed by Xiaoguo seemed to burst out again at this moment, with such force that he was unprepared.
Afterwards, Shao Zhan used all his strength to put the jade pendant in his hand back to his heart, as if only in this way would he not collapse from longing.
-
After leaving, Xiaoguo did not go back directly, but couldn't wait to find Zhao Yuyan to tell her the good news.
As soon as he entered the room, he found that the room was empty, the bed was clean, and the person who was supposed to be lying on the bed was nowhere to be seen, even Yu Ling was gone, which made Xiao Guo very confused.
After coming out of the mist, he happened to meet Yu Ling who had hurried back.
"Madam, you are here!"
Yu Ling said in surprise.
Xiao Guo nodded, looked at her sweaty face and asked curiously, "Why are you sweating so much?"
"My mother wanted to drink some water, but there was no water at home. I was delayed when I went to get some water. Fortunately, I gave my mother the apple you sent me before I left. Otherwise, I don't know how thirsty she would be."
Yu Ling chattered a lot while walking towards the house with a kettle in her hand.
Xiao Guo followed her, wanting to ask her where Zhao Yuyan was, but she didn't find a chance to interrupt until Yu Ling looked at her anxiously. Then she had a chance to ask, "You don't know where your mother is either?"
"I don't know. He said he was thirsty at that time. Could it be that he couldn't wait and went out to find water? It's all my fault for coming back so late..."
Yu Ling regretted it so much. If she had known earlier, she would have come back earlier and not bothered with such trivial matters. If she hadn't been helping the old lady fetch water, she wouldn't have been delayed for so long.
Xiao Guo felt that it was not what Yu Ling guessed. Zhao Yuyan did not seem to go out to look for water. Thinking of this, she asked, "Yu Ling, check if anything is missing from the house."
"What?" Yu Ling didn't understand why she asked that, but she still looked around carefully. She was about to shake her head, but suddenly she remembered something and ran outside, and found that the shovel at the corner was gone.
Xiaoguo followed out and knew at a glance where Zhao Yuyan had gone, but she couldn't tell Yuling, so she comforted her first, then found an excuse to leave and walked towards the back mountain.
After Yuling returned to the house, she felt more and more uneasy. Then she saw Xiaoguo leaving. She could not sit still any longer and wanted to go out to look for her mother. However, when she came out, she found that Xiaoguo, who had used the excuse of going home, had secretly gone up the back mountain.
Yuling is not a dull person, on the contrary, she is very insightful. She was very suspicious of Niang and Xiaoguo at first, but the two of them suddenly seemed to be familiar with each other, and there seemed to be some secret in their words.
Yuling didn't want to speculate about the two of them like this, but she still followed Xiaoguo as if possessed by some unknown force.
Xiaoguo was a first-timer but became familiar with the place after the second time, and he arrived at the place he had visited that day very familiarly.
Sure enough, I heard the woman coughing before I got close.
Xiaoguo sighed softly, then cheered up and walked over.
"How can you walk so far and dig so much soil when you are thirsty?"
Zhao Yuyan, who was immersed in digging, was startled by the sudden sound. After calming down, he looked at the person who came.
"Why are you here?"
Hearing her question, Zhao Yuyan guessed that she might have run into Yuling, so she immediately asked, "Did Yuling go back?"
Xiao Guo nodded, and Zhao Yuyan quickly picked up the shovel and started walking up, saying, "If Yu Ling can't see me, she will definitely be worried."
Xiao Guo used the force to pull her up, and then said, "You knew Yu Ling would be worried, but you just lay down and rest."
"Why lie down? There will be plenty of opportunities to lie down in two days. I have to dig out the grave while I can still move. Then I can just come here and do it."
Zhao Yuyan was very concerned about not having a tomb after her death. She didn't want to be like other people, who were wrapped in a straw mat and thrown into a random pit after their death.
Although she couldn't live a decent life, she wanted to die with dignity.
Even though she didn't have shrouds and a coffin, she wanted to dig a larger, proper grave and erect a tombstone. She didn't want to become an unknown person like everyone else after her death.
What she liked most was her own name, which was given by her father himself. When she was born, Prefect Zhao looked at the yard happily and was inspired to compose an impromptu seven-character poem.
"In the courtyard, the fragrant orchids attract a pair of butterflies, and in the spring, flowers bloom and swifts return."
Xianglan is her mother's name, and Yuyan is her name. When she was born, it was spring and flowers were blooming. The swallows had returned here after a long flight, and everything seemed full of vitality and prosperity.
The name "Yuyan" is not only Magistrate Zhao's good hope and blessing for his only daughter, but also means that he wants her to be like a swift, working hard to pursue her dreams and never give up easily no matter what desperate situation she encounters, with a tenacious life and a spirit of not admitting defeat.
Before she got married, she had always been like this and had never let her father down. But after she got married, she had no choice.
She, the swift, could not bear the washing of the rain after all, and fell on her way to the warm spring.
"If you lie here, you won't be able to see what's outside the island, nor will you be able to see Yu Ling after she settles down."
Xiaoguo really couldn't stand her look of despair. She lost all her desire to live and was full of death. Her body, which could have held on for a few days, looked like it would collapse at any moment.
When Zhao Yuyan heard her words, she didn't react at first, then she turned around and looked at her, excited and a little incoherent, "What do you mean by what you said?"
Xiao Guo chuckled, "That's what you thought."
"Can I understand that I am now free again?"
Xiaoguo said nothing, but nodded silently, agreeing with her guess.
Zhao Yuyan's legs suddenly went limp, and she quickly held onto the shovel. She looked at Xiaoguo in disbelief and nodded countless times. Only then did she believe this unrealistic reality that she didn't even dare to dream about in her dreams.
Her sunken eyes were bloodshot, and the tears accumulated in her eye sockets looked like bloody tears. The veins on her neck and forehead were bulging with excitement. Her dry mouth was temporarily voiceless due to excitement and she couldn't speak. She could only open and close it to tell Xiaoguo how happy she was at the moment.
It was obviously a horrifying scene, but Xiaoguo only felt sad.
Xiaoguo firmly believes that a person's willpower is infinite.
A long time ago, I heard about an old man with advanced cancer who relied on his willpower to hold on for eight months just to see his unborn grandson. As soon as his grandson was born, the old man gave him a name and then passed away.
Therefore, she also believed that if she stimulated Zhao Yuyan a little more, she would definitely be able to hold on. At least she would be able to leave the island and see that Yu Ling had been found. If she died again, her mood would definitely be different.
This was all she could do for this poor woman.
Xiaoguo talked to her a lot and drew a lot of big cakes. For example, if she went out, she could see Yuling jumping around and smell the fresh air outside, completely abandon her identity as a family member of a criminal, and live the rest of her life freely.
This series of operations successfully aroused Zhao Yuyan's desire to survive, and she couldn't help but fantasize about the days after she got out.
Xiaoguo looked at her and breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing her full of strength, he felt relieved. At least he didn't have to worry about her dying alone here.