Chapter 127
Gu Xi slept until almost noon before finally waking up.
When I woke up, my head was a little dizzy, and it took me a while to become fully awake.
Xu Yuansheng was very worried. Seeing that she had finally woken up, he asked, "Big sister, is anything wrong?"
I'm really worried that she might be feeling unwell after sleeping for so long.
"Hmm..." Gu Xi said while washing her face, "I'm quite tired, it feels like I ran a marathon, and I slept for too long, my head is a little dizzy, I need to rest for a while."
This situation seems like overexertion.
Xu Yuansheng breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, "It's good to be able to sleep more. You worked hard yesterday."
Leaving home early in the morning and not returning until the wee hours of the morning, even the strongest body couldn't withstand that, let alone rescuing someone and running through the woods...
Xu Yuansheng was worried that her sister's health wouldn't hold up and that she might get sick.
Fortunately, after observing her for a while, it was found that apart from not being in good spirits—probably because she had slept too much—she was fine. The scratches on her body were not so red and swollen after applying medicine.
Gu Xi got up too late, and since it was almost noon, she decided to eat breakfast and lunch together.
Only they ate at home today; Xu Huaisheng ate at school, and Shen Mingzheng didn't come back.
Gu Xi asked, "Has your brother-in-law not come back yet?"
"I didn't see him." Xu Yuansheng shook his head. "But the bicycle was returned; Comrade Zhou brought it over this morning."
Did Xiao Zhou say anything?
"No, he seemed quite busy. He left in a hurry after delivering the bicycle."
Having been in the army for so long, Xu Yuansheng also knew some rules: don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, and don't inquire about things in the army.
Gu Xi had no choice but to give up and instead talked about visiting Cheng Yuanyuan in the hospital yesterday, and then about the educated youth who were subjected to domestic violence.
"...Domestic violence is either zero times or countless times. If you encounter a man who abuses you, you must never forgive him or be soft-hearted. You must bravely fight back and then get a divorce!" That's how she taught her younger sister.
Infidelity and domestic violence are unforgivable.
Xu Yuansheng said, "Of course, domestic violence is absolutely unforgivable."
She has a violent temper and cannot tolerate such things. If anyone dares to hit her, she will definitely retaliate fiercely. She even dares to scheme against her own parents, let alone strangers.
Gu Xi was relieved to hear this, and wished that Yuan Sheng would not have to worry, but her younger sister was quite worried.
Xu Huaisheng's personality has become somewhat naive and soft-hearted; we need to pay more attention to her and teach her more in the future.
After lunch, Gu Xi didn't go back for a nap, mainly because she had slept too much and couldn't fall back asleep after just waking up.
She began to worry about Fang Suihua, wondering how she was doing.
Gu Xi wondered if she should go to the town's police station to see her.
"Big sister, you'd better not go," Xu Yuansheng said in a low voice. "What if there are spies from those criminal gangs in town watching you? If you go there, won't they spot you?"
If those people find out that it was the eldest sister who saved Fang Suihua, will they retaliate?
According to her sister, if Uncle Qiu, who sells meat on the black market, is also a human trafficker, then there must be other informants.
Her sister often buys meat at the black market, and many people have seen her. If she were to appear at the police station at that stall, she would easily arouse suspicion.
It's better to be safe than sorry; it's always better to be cautious.
Gu Xi naturally understood this principle, but thinking of Fang Suihua's breakdown yesterday, she couldn't help but feel a little worried.
“If you’re worried, I can go to the town’s police station for you,” Xu Yuansheng said. “Anyway, I’ve never bought meat from Uncle Qiu’s place, and none of those people have ever seen me.”
Gu Xi couldn't let her take the risk. "Forget it, let's not go. I trust the higher-ups will make the arrangements. Let's just wait for news."
However, Shen Mingzheng did not return until evening.
Gu Xi guessed that there might be some discoveries after the rescue, and they would have to keep busy for a while. If they could take the opportunity to wipe out all the criminal gangs in one fell swoop, that would be great.
I just hope Shen Mingzheng's trip goes smoothly and nothing goes wrong.
**
Although Gu Xi had experienced a terrifying night, life in the family compound remained much the same as usual, and people lived peacefully.
Several days passed, and Shen Mingzheng still hadn't returned.
To the outside world, they said he had gone on a mission, and not many people even knew that Gu Xi had returned home late that night.
That day, Xiao Zhou came to Gu Xi and said that someone was looking for her.
When she arrived at the military base's gate and saw Fang Suihua sitting there, she was very surprised.
"Fang Suihua!" Gu Xi hurried over, looking her over as she asked, "Are you alright?"
Fang Suihua's tense expression relaxed considerably when she saw her, and she subconsciously moved closer to her, a smile appearing on her face. "Um, I'm fine. I just came today to thank you..."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but look at Gu Xi.
That night it was too dark, and I could only see with the light of a flashlight. Now it's broad daylight, and I find that the person who saved me is even more beautiful than I imagined. Standing there, she looks as beautiful as a fairy.
She had never seen such a beautiful girl in her life.
Gu Xi couldn't help but smile. After asking, she learned that it was someone from the military who brought Fang Suihua over because she wanted to come and thank Gu Xi.
These days, she has been staying at the town's police station, waiting for news.
As for the rescued women, they have been sent to the county hospital for treatment and are being handled by the county police.
Gu Xi asked the soldier who brought Fang Suihua over and learned that someone would take her away in the afternoon. So she took her to register and then brought her home.
Throughout the journey, Fang Suihua followed closely behind Gu Xi, revealing her dependence on her.
When Gu Xi arrived at the family compound and met people, she would introduce them like this: "She is my friend, and she came here specifically to see me."
Without giving it much thought, everyone greeted each other warmly.
Gu Xi brought Fang Suihua home.
Xu Yuansheng came out when he heard the noise and saw her sister returning with a young female comrade. He was a little puzzled, but when he learned that her name was Fang Suihua, he understood. He warmly welcomed her and made her a cup of malted milk powder.
Fang Suihua was somewhat flattered by their enthusiastic attitude.
Gu Xi pulled Fang Suihua down to sit and asked, "How have you been these past few days?"
“It’s fine.” Fang Suihua held the malted milk powder, looking somewhat at a loss. “I originally wanted to come and find you, but something seems to be happening in town, so they asked me to stay here first…” After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, “It seems there are spies in town, and they’re trying to catch them.”
Gu Xi paused for a moment, then frowned. Why were spies being brought up?
Could it be that not only are criminal gangs lurking in the town, but also spies? Could they be gathering intelligence on the military? Or did this crackdown on crime just happen to uncover the spies?
Thinking about it this way, I understand why Shen Mingzheng hasn't come back these days, and why Fang Suihua is also stuck at the police station and can't leave.
People in China are very sensitive to spies these days. Even Xu Yuansheng couldn't help but gasp and become alert, recalling whether he had encountered any strange people when he went to the town market to buy things, and whether those people were spies or something like that.
Gu Xi wisely refrained from asking further questions and instead inquired, "When can you go home?"
"I can go back tomorrow," Fang Suihua said with a smile. "Someone from the military will take me back. I'll just say I came here to visit a friend..."
The trafficking of women easily attracts gossip. When people condemn the heartless traffickers, they inevitably look at the unfortunate women with strange eyes. Whether the look is well-intentioned or malicious, it will cause great harm to the victims.
Fang Suihua is not married yet. If people knew about what happened to her, there would probably be a lot of gossip.
There's a lot of gossip in the village; sometimes rumors can drive people to their deaths.
For her own good, we will find a suitable excuse for this incident to be presented to the outside world. This is also why the military decided to send someone to send her back. We can't let her be driven to death by rumors.
After hearing this, Gu Xi smiled and said, "Yes, that's right. I am your friend. You can come and visit me when you have time, and we can also write letters to each other." Then she asked, "Can you read?"
“I can read, I went to junior high school,” Fang Suihua said somewhat shyly. “But I only finished the first year of junior high because my mother was sick at the time, and things were busy at home, so I had to go back to take care of her…”
This time, Gu Xi finally figured out where Yaoshan County, where Fang Suihua's family lived, was. It wasn't too far from Huanshan County, but the county was relatively remote, so she had never heard of it.
This kind of thing is quite common.
In those days, information was not readily available. Unlike in the future when we have mobile phones and computers to check maps anytime, people are mostly familiar with their own small plot of land where they grew up. Once they leave their town or county, they are not very familiar with other places.
Gu Xiliu had a meal at Fang Suihua's house, and when she left, she gave her a few books.
When Fang Suihua saw the author's name, she couldn't help but think that the author's name was the same as Comrade Gu's... before she realized and asked in surprise, "This is a story you wrote?"
Gu Xi was a little embarrassed: "Yes, take it back and read it. We'll keep in touch when we have time. I'll write to you, and we'll be pen pals. When you get home, you can tell the people in the village that you came to see me this time."
Fang Suihua was deeply moved and couldn't help but step forward and hug her.
Just like that night, when Gu Xi was breaking down, she gave her a hug and helped her pull herself together.
She choked up and said, "Thank you, Comrade Gu. Meeting you is the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me... I will write to you in the future."
Gu Xi patted her and smiled, "Suihua, you must take good care of yourself from now on. You can write to me if anything happens."
Fang Suihua hummed in agreement.
Gu Xi saw her off until she left in the military vehicle, then finally looked away and said to her younger sister beside her, "Yuansheng, let's go home."
Xu Yuansheng walked beside her and said, "Big sister, it's all good. I hope Comrade Fang will also be well in the future."
I hope these things never happen again.
Gu Xi said, "After she gets home, we'll send her some things."
This confirms that she came to visit a friend.
Xu Yuansheng smiled, glanced at her, and thought that her sister was really soft-hearted and would help those in trouble as much as she could.
**
Shen Mingzheng hasn't returned yet, and Gu Xi doesn't know how those things are going, so she doesn't feel comfortable asking him.
As for the matter of catching spies in town, it didn't become a big deal. Apart from Fang Suihua, who was at the police station at the time, vaguely hearing some noise, ordinary people knew nothing about it and just went about their lives as usual.
However, out of caution, Gu Xi still did not go to the town.
Upon learning that Cheng Yuanyuan had been discharged from the hospital and returned to the farm, Gu Xi planned to visit her over the weekend, and also bring her two younger sisters and Gu Tuantuan along for a farm outing.
Kids really enjoy this kind of activity. Xu Huaisheng and Gu Tuantuan immediately started clamoring to go after hearing about it. Even before the weekend, they were already looking forward to it, and every day after school they would get together and chatter on and on.
Early on a weekend morning, Gu Xi set off with them.
Gu Xi rode a bicycle with Xu Huaisheng and Gu Tuantuan on the back, while Xu Yuansheng rode a bicycle by himself, which he had borrowed from Qiao Hui.
The journey to the farm where the educated youth were located did not pass through the town, and there was no worry about being seen if one showed up in the town.
Although more than half a month has passed, Gu Xi is worried that some people might have slipped through the net, so she tries to avoid showing her face to avoid unnecessary trouble.
The weather was a bit chilly this morning, but it didn't dampen everyone's spirits.
After riding bicycles for about two hours, they finally arrived at the farm where the educated youth had been sent to the countryside.
Upon learning of their arrival, Cheng Yuanyuan from the farm grabbed Gan Dongliang and ran out, waving and shouting from afar, "Gu Xi, Yuansheng, Huaisheng, you're here!"
Gu Xi and the others had already gotten out of the car and were waiting there.
Seeing Cheng Yuanyuan running over happily, he couldn't help but smile.
Cheng Yuanyuan also knew Xu Yuansheng and Xu Huaisheng; she had met them at the town market.
She stepped forward and gave them a warm hug, picked up Gu Tuantuan, and laughed happily: "Welcome, come in! I'll show you around. There are many fun places on our farm."
Today is the weekend, and the educated youth are also resting. They don't have to work. Most of them are either at the educated youth settlement, or they go out to find some work to do, or they go to the city to buy things.
Cheng Yuanyuan led the three Gu sisters and Gu Tuantuan to the educated youth settlement to rest.
There were quite a few people at the educated youth settlement, and the female educated youth all recognized Gu Xi and greeted them. The male educated youth heard the commotion and came out to investigate. When they saw Gu Xi and her two sisters in the crowd, they couldn't help but have designs on them.
Xu Huaisheng was still young, so it was hard to tell what was going on, but Gu Xi and Xu Yuansheng, two unfamiliar faces, each with their own kind of beauty, easily attracted the attention of the men.
Someone pulled Gan Dongliang aside and asked in a low voice, "Are they Cheng Yuanyuan's friends? Where are they from? Are they married?"
The last question was asked with a hint of shyness.
Gan Dongliang said, "Gu Xi is already married, but her sister doesn't have a boyfriend yet." Before the other person could secretly rejoice, he added, "You should just give up. Gu Xi won't marry her sister off here."
I heard there are many outstanding young men in the military, so even if I were to find a partner for my sister, I would only give priority to those in the military.
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