The village chief's children hadn't even sat down to eat, and even the women were still in the yard. Lu Di initially offered to eat, but the village chief said it wasn't necessary, so he didn't press the matter. These customs were beyond the control of outsiders like themselves.
"How old are you?" Qin Xiaoyu turned to the village chief's daughter. This girl was outstanding. Her skin was dark, but healthy, with a smooth, satin-like sheen. Her skin was taut; from years of labor, there wasn't an ounce of excess fat on her body, and her figure was well-proportioned and beautiful. It was a mystery how she was born; her parents weren't tall, but she was easily 1.8 meters tall, with a perfect nine-head figure.
However, by Chinese standards of beauty, this face is hardly considered attractive. She has almond-shaped eyes with narrow, upturned corners, and thankfully, a straight and prominent nose, though her lips are a bit full. Her strength lies in her sharp, angular cheeks and well-defined features.
This is practically the standard high-fashion face from a Paris fashion show. Qin Xiaoyu was increasingly mesmerized, unable to look away.
The child was annoyed by Qin Xiaoyu's gaze and glared at her angrily.
"How old are you?" Qin Xiaoyu asked shamelessly as she approached.
“18,” the girl said irritably.
"This is my business card. If you ever want to find a job in the city, be sure to come find me." Qin Xiaoyu quickly pulled out the business card of the general manager of Riyue Apparel from her bag and handed it over.
The little girl looked at it hesitantly, then put it in her pocket.
Lu Di was in a hurry to get on his way and didn't dare to delay, so he left ten yuan at the village chief's house.
Upon seeing the ten yuan, the village chief and his family delivered it directly to the village entrance, expressing their deep gratitude.
"Farmers are truly simple and honest," Lu Di remarked.
"Let me drive for a while, in case we're going to be late. I'm not good at driving at night," Qin Xiaoyu suggested.
“Okay, you go ahead, I’ll switch with you in a bit.” Lu Di gave up the driver’s seat.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qin Xiaoyu deftly shifted gears and started the car, leaving the villagers speechless. She looked like an angel, and could even drive—she was like a fairy!
The road ahead is getting worse and worse. There are many deep ruts made by tractors in the middle of the road, so it seems that it is raining heavily here.
Qin Xiaoyu dared not drive fast, or she would waste even more time.
"I think we shouldn't force our way to Bincheng. Let's stay overnight in one of the villages ahead," Sister Zhang said worriedly.
"Let's try to get there as quickly as possible." Qin Xiaoyu's scalp tingled at the thought of living in the village and sharing a kang (a heated brick bed) with the villagers. She stepped on the gas, and the car picked up speed.
The sky was overcast, and thick clouds gathered on the distant horizon, signaling another heavy rain.
The car bumped along the road, and Qin Xiaoyu's palms were sweaty. She wanted to ask Lu Di to take her place, but when she turned her head to look, she saw that he had fallen asleep with his eyes closed; he was extremely tired.
Qin Xiaoyu couldn't bear it, so she gritted her teeth and drove past.
Large raindrops pelted down, pattering against the car body. Qin Xiaoyu turned on the windshield wipers, but visibility had already decreased significantly.
She slowed down and focused intently on the road ahead.
Through the rain and mist, one could vaguely make out what appeared to be a bridge and a river ahead.
"I'll drive," Lu Di said, rubbing his eyes as he was jolted awake.
Qin Xiaoyu was looking for a place to stop when, in a moment of distraction, she suddenly saw Zhou Xing standing at the front of the car. He was unusually tall and radiant, and his lips were moving as if to say, "Don't come any closer!"
Just as they were about to hit Zhou Xing, Qin Xiaoyu abruptly steered the car, abruptly turning it around. The ground was too slippery, and the car had already gone out of control, veering diagonally to the left.
Lu Di also noticed the danger and rushed to help her take control of the steering wheel. But it was too late.
What was just wasteland by the roadside has suddenly turned into a vast expanse of water, and the car plunged into it.
Qin Xiaoyu felt a buzzing in her ears, as if a thousand gongs were pounding relentlessly. She walked on the river, her feet barely touching the ground, running towards a ray of light…
"Go back, don't come any closer!" Zhou Xing suddenly appeared in front of her, shoving her hard with both hands. Qin Xiaoyu felt a sharp pain in her chest and opened her eyes.
"You were so scared! Wake up, wake up!" It was Sister Zhang's voice. Only then did Qin Xiaoyu realize that she was lying in a dimly lit room. Lu Di saw that she was awake, but didn't say anything and slumped back onto the kang (a heated brick bed).
"What's wrong?" Qin Xiaoyu's voice was hoarse.
"Director Lu pulled you out of the flood. If you had been swept away, you would have died!" Sister Zhang said, still shaken.
“The upstream area was releasing floodwaters, but we didn’t know. We were walking right into the floodwaters and almost got into trouble.” Lu Di finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's how it is," Qin Xiaoyu said blankly. She thought of Zhou Xing and understood a little. He was taking care of her in some mysterious way. If he hadn't stopped her, she would have lost all three of them if she had driven the car onto the bridge destroyed by the flood.
"Our communications have all been destroyed, so we can only wait here for a while." Sister Zhang tried to move closer, but she winced as soon as she moved. It turned out that her leg had been scratched by something, and the flesh was torn open.
They were lucky to be taken by passing villagers who were fleeing the disaster, and now they have taken refuge in a village on higher ground.
Qin Xiaoyu had swallowed a lot of water and was listless, unable to eat anything. The car had been swept away by the flood, and naturally, the suitcase was gone too. With no clothes to change into, she simply dried her wet clothes with her body.
In the middle of the night, she developed a fever.
She slept in the corner, next to Sister Zhang.
Zhang Jie's legs ached for the first half of the night, and she couldn't sleep, groaning and moaning until she was extremely tired. Qin Xiaoyu felt like she was on fire; her throat was dry and sore, and even swallowing saliva was painful enough to bring tears to her eyes. She wanted to get up and drink some water, but her body felt weak and she had no strength at all.
A cold hand pressed against her forehead; it was Lu Di. He left for a moment, then brought some water, helped her sit up, and fed it to her.
"This won't do, you'll get pneumonia from the fever," Lu Di said worriedly.
"The road is blocked now, so we'll just have to bear with it for now. It's okay, I'm not that delicate," Qin Xiaoyu comforted him.
"Is this illness something I can only endure?" Lu Di gritted his teeth and went out. He didn't know how many places he went to, but when he came back, he had two tablets of Analgin in his hand.
Qin Xiaoyu knew the medicine had serious side effects, but she couldn't be picky now. The medicine arrived, but the water was gone; the old kettle Lu Di had just brought was now upside down.
"A sip of cool water would be enough." Qin Xiaoyu was so thirsty that she didn't care anymore.
“That won’t do. The water source is now polluted and has germs. How can you stand it?” Lu Di said, then went to the outer room and started a fire to boil water.
There wasn't much firewood in the house, and he didn't know how to do any work. He spent a lot of effort fiddling around, filling the house with yellow smoke, but he still couldn't get the stove lit.
The people in the room couldn't sleep anymore, coughing in waves, and Qin Xiaoyu coughed so hard that she felt like she was going to vomit her lungs out.
She pleaded in her heart, "Ancestors, please spare me! I won't drink any more water, okay?"
The homeowner couldn't stand it anymore, so he came out and shooed Lu Di aside, continuing to tend the fire. If it weren't for the fact that he was a provincial leader, he probably would have cursed Lu Di's ancestors to death.
Qin Xiaoyu waited so long the flowers seemed to wither before she finally drank some hot water and took the medicine. Whether it was from coughing so badly or something else, she felt her fever subside a little.
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