Chapter 423 "No matter what happens in the future, my daughter and I must live well!"
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With her hair disheveled, her face filthy, and a very obvious wound at the corner of her mouth with traces of blood, Wang Cuihua anxiously looked at Zhao Xier lying beside her.
Zhao Xi'er finally opened her eyes at Wang Cuihua's calls, and weakly met Wang Cuihua's gaze: "Mother..."
"Hey! Mother's here! Mother's here!"
Despite the pain in her arm, Wang Cuihua shifted her body slightly to make Zhao Xier, who was resting her head on her lap, more comfortable.
"Come on, Xi'er, eat quickly! You'll feel better after eating!"
Wang Cuihua placed the thin bowl of porridge, so thin it reflected a person's image, near Zhao Xier's lips. With a slight tilt of her head, Zhao Xier could drink from this bowl of soup, which was more like a few grains of rice than porridge.
The aroma of the thin porridge reached her nose, and Zhao Xier couldn't help but swallow.
However, she didn't immediately open her mouth to drink, but looked at Wang Cuihua again: "Mother, you eat, Mother will eat first!"
"Mother isn't hungry, Xi'er, you should eat quickly, only by eating can the wound on your head heal!"
"If Mother won't eat, Xi'er won't eat either!"
Wang Cuihua had no choice; she knew that whatever her Xi'er said, she could do.
Therefore, after Wang Cuihua slurped down a small portion of the porridge from the bowl, she quickly handed the bowl back to Zhao Xier.
Zhao Xier didn't want to die. She knew her mother was right; they had to live!
There were more than a dozen women locked up with Wang Cuihua and Zhao Xier. The day before yesterday, three of them had committed suicide by banging their heads against the wall in this dungeon, which was neither a dungeon nor a proper underground shelter.
People are different.
Some people can't stand pain, some people can't endure hardship, but more often than not, most people simply can't accept the mental and psychological torment inflicted on them by others.
Those three women were like that.
Because they were imprisoned in this dugout, although there wasn't much light, the smell of blood from broken heads was still very obvious.
At that time, Wang Cuihua was huddled in the corner of the dugout with Zhao Xier in her arms, watching helplessly as the three women she had known for more than ten years committed suicide because they could not bear the humiliation.
She covered Zhao Xier's eyes, but she couldn't prevent Zhao Xier from smelling the strong odor of human blood.
The next day, two bandits came down from the dugout and carried the three corpses out.
The women who remained in the dugout thought that since some of them were already dead, the bandit would not take any more women away.
But bandits are beasts who have lost their humanity. How could they possibly change their nature just because someone else died?
Even though Wang Cuihua smeared mud on her face and body the moment she and her daughter were brought in, now, in this dugout, only Zhao Xier, who clearly looks like a young girl, has not been taken away.
The injuries on Zhao Xier's head and on Wang Cuihua's face, shoulders, and wrists were sustained during the fight with the two bandits over Zhao Xier.
Ultimately, the difference in physical strength cannot be overcome.
Zhao Xier was still taken away.
Today marks the third day since they were captured and brought here.
After being starved for two whole days, the group finally received a bucket of thin porridge on the third day.
Wang Cuihua tore off her own undergarment to bandage Zhao Xier's head wound. Now, watching Zhao Xier finish the remaining rice porridge, she smiled and said to Zhao Xier, "Good Xier, lie down quickly, close your eyes and rest well."
Before Zhao Xier could fall asleep, the sound of a woman crying could be heard from inside the dugout.
At first, Wang Cuihua endured it, and she stretched out her swollen hands to cover Zhao Xier's ears, who was lying on her lap.
But the crying, which started as a soft, faint sound, soon turned into a loud "wailing and wailing".
"Stop crying!"
What's the use of crying!
Instead of wasting your energy crying, why not lie down and think carefully about what to do next?
Wang Cuihua, annoyed that the crying of those women was disturbing her daughter Xi'er's rest, shouted a few words at the crying women.
Little did anyone know that Wang Cuihua's words would stir up a hornet's nest!
They only dared to beg for mercy from the bandits, and dared not resist like Wang Cuihua and Zhao Xier.
At this moment, they dared to raise their heads and look at Wang Cuihua, their tearful eyes already glaring fiercely at Zhao Xier.
"We're all like this!"
Why can't I cry?
You're so brave, so fearless, so unafraid to cry! But please, don't let your Xi'er get taken away!
One person spoke up, and the other immediately followed up: "The future? Where do we have a future?"
I just don't have Sixth Sister-in-law's temper, otherwise, I would have banged my head against the wall long ago!
Their words made Wang Cuihua's already buzzing head feel even heavier.
She turned her head, gave the two people who were talking to her a mocking "heh heh," and opened her mouth as if to curse.
However, before Wang Cuihua could utter her curse, Zhao Xier, who was lying on her lap, grabbed her sleeve.
"Xi'er?"
Zhao Xier gently shook her head at Wang Cuihua, and seeing this, Wang Cuihua shut her mouth.
When Wang Cuihua stopped talking, the two women lost their will to argue and started crying again.
They endured this until evening when two bandits finally came down from their dugout and brought them another bucket of thin porridge.
Meanwhile, the bandits dragged two women away.
As the last ray of light disappeared, Wang Cuihua licked her chapped lips, which pulled at the wound on her lip, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Mother!"
"Mother, is it hurting somewhere?"
There was not a ray of light in the dugout. Hearing Wang Cuihua's cries of pain, Zhao Xier, who was still lying down, struggled to get up and groped around to the side.
Wang Cuihua grasped Zhao Xier's hand tightly, "It's alright, Mother is alright!"
It was because the wound on the corner of her mouth was pulled that she cried out in pain.
"Mother's alright, Lai Xi'er. Lie down next to Mother, she's warm, you can hold her while you sleep."
The mother and daughter lay down head to head, with Wang Cuihua embracing Zhao Xier so tightly that she practically pulled Zhao Xier into her arms.
Suddenly, Zhao Xier whispered in Wang Cuihua's ear, "Mother, is there any chance we can escape alive?"
Just as Wang Cuihua was drifting off to sleep, she heard Zhao Xier ask this question.
"Mother, what should we do from now on?"
After a moment of surprise, Wang Cuihua gently patted Zhao Xier's back and whispered to her, "No matter what happens in the future, we two must live well!"
Your brother is gone, but your father is definitely still alive. I believe he wouldn't abandon us!
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