Xiaoyue glared at Hu San, who had greeted her, then turned and ran home in frustration. Just then, Hu San, who was driving the oxcart, shouted loudly as the cart drove away: "Don't you dare die!"
Xiaoyue waved to Hu San without replying, saying, "No, you two take care too."
After saying this, Xiaoyue felt an invisible ache in her heart, and she quickened her pace and ran back home.
Back home, Xiaoyue first pushed open the door to Liang Qi's room, and then hurriedly looked at Liang Qi.
Hearing the door open, Liang Qi sat up and looked up at Xiao Yue. Her face was deathly pale. In just a few days, her eyes were sunken, her eyebrows were almost knitted together, her nose was slightly drooping, and her lips were bluish. She looked sickly.
Upon seeing Xiaoyue, Liang Qi raised his eyebrows slightly and curled the corners of his mouth. As if his strength had been exhausted, he slowly lay down, his hand, which was propped up on the kang (a heated brick bed), reaching out to Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue grasped the outstretched hand covered with blue tendons.
Holding that hand, Xiaoyue used it as leverage to jump onto the kang (a heated brick bed). After taking off her shoes, she snuggled against Liang Qi and said, "Don't rush. Li Qianqian and her brother, Lu Xiaomei and her daughter, and She Chunyue and her brother have all gone up Qixing Mountain."
Liang Qi tenderly touched Xiaoyue's face, then mustered a little strength to try and push her away, but Xiaoyue didn't budge. Liang Qi, annoyed, snapped at Xiaoyue.
"Didn't I tell you to leave? Why did you come back? I'm fine lying here. Dad doesn't care about me, and neither does your fiancée. What kind of favor do you need to show me?"
Xiaoyue flicked Liang Qi on the head and laughed, "Uncle Liang thought you had already arrived at Qixing Mountain. Bai Hongmei was tied up by Li Lei to go to Qixing Mountain. Do you still think someone wronged you? I'll explain it to you."
A smile suddenly appeared on Liang Qi's face, but it immediately changed, and he said fiercely, "I don't want you to come with me. You should leave now. Besides, you're nobody to me. Why should you stay with me?"
After saying that, he turned his head away and ignored Xiaoyue no matter what she said.
Xiaoyue moved closer to Liang Qi, resting Liang Qi's head on her lap, and stroked Liang Qi's shiny hair, saying, "What will you do if I leave? Are you going to let those soldiers kill you with one blow? What about Uncle Liang? What about me?" Her voice grew softer and softer until it was barely audible.
Upon hearing Xiaoyue's words, Liang Qi slowly turned his head, tightly grasped Xiaoyue's hand, and said petulantly, "Isn't someone going to marry you? Why don't you care about bringing along a cripple like me?"
Seeing Liang Qi's rare vulnerability and slight jealousy, Xiao Yue chuckled, turned Liang Qi's head around, and looked into his eyes, saying, "You mean that Hu San, that person, um, that person..."
Xiaoyue started explaining, but suddenly she didn't know how to evaluate Hu San. Was she stupid? Not really. Xiaoyue just couldn't make a proper assessment of Hu San.
Liang Qi looked up at Xiaoyue's radiant smile, his heart tightening. He deliberately asked in a affected tone, "Why did you stop talking? Is he better than me?"
Xiaoyue raised her arm and gently punched Liang Qi. Knowing that Liang Qi was no longer angry, she carefully moved the pillow over Liang Qi's head, then got off the bed. While putting on her shoes, she said to Liang Qi, "We have to go somewhere else. We can't stay at home anymore."
Liang Qi slowly sat up, staring intently at Xiaoyue, and asked, "Where can we go?"
Xiaoyue walked back and forth along the narrow alleyway twice, feeling uneasy. She then looked at Liang Qi and said, "In short, we have to move to another place before dark. Otherwise, if they catch us, they might as well give us a quick death, but I'm afraid they'll interrogate us."
“Where can we go? Given my condition, and the fact that you can’t carry me, if I had known you could come and keep me company, I would have preferred to go to Qixing Mountain with the others. Now I’m just causing you to suffer with me.”
Xiaoyue said urgently, "Judging from the sky, it will be dark in at most half an hour. Didn't I set traps by the door and under the window? Why don't we go into the trap under the door? At most, they'll have three days to find food and clothing and then they'll have to leave."
Liang Qi pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, throw all the remaining grain into the trap. That trap is much bigger than the one you dug. When using soil in winter..."
Li Lei and his group used to fetch soil from the pit near the entrance. The pit's cover has been sealed off. Inside the house, there's a small space large enough for one person to descend into the pit, also for easier soil retrieval. Look carefully; you should be able to find the entrance.
Following Liang Qi's instructions, Xiaoyue cautiously probed the kitchen floor, checking if it was hollow, until she reached the area where the donkeys were kept. There, she moved the wooden bucket used for feeding the donkeys.
There was a handle at the bottom of the wooden tub. Xiaoyue pulled the handle up hard, and a dark hole appeared. She found that the hole was deep and large, with enough space. Xiaoyue lit a small bundle of firewood in the kitchen and threw it down.
The fact that the fire was burning very brightly proved that there was no shortage of oxygen inside, and that the flames had rolled a long distance proved that the space inside was also very large.
Xiaoyue turned around and said that she threw down all the tools hanging in the kitchen, as well as the pots and buckets. The axe had already been taken by Li Lei and the others.
They also considered taking the single bed that was stored in the warehouse, opening the cover, and putting the single bed into the trap as well.
Upon reaching the main house, Xiaoyue used the firelight to illuminate the village. She stood on a stool and looked towards the village, where she noticed torches approaching in her direction.
Xiaoyue hurriedly jumped off the stool, took down the gourd, filled it with water, and found the food that Li Lei and the others had left for Liang Qi, throwing it all into the cave.
After throwing the things away, Xiaoyue ran into the house, helped Liang Qi up, and said, "Quick, get into the trap."
After saying that, Xiaoyue helped Liang Qi, who was still unsteady on his feet, and pulled him into the trap as well. Xiaoyue then turned around and ran back into the house to throw the blankets and quilts into the trap.
He opened the cabinet and threw everything inside into the trap.
She threw in the medicinal herbs and medicine pots, and also threw in the firewood from the kitchen. Xiaoyue looked around the house again and found no flaws, so she closed the door. Xiaoyue then put the cover of the trap back on, used a hook to move the bucket for feeding the donkey back to its original position, and then climbed into the trap.
Xiaoyue lit a tinderbox. The well was cold and damp. Xiaoyue piled the firewood into a small heap, lit it, and the light inside became bright.
Xiaoyue then spread the clothes she had thrown out of the kang cabinet underneath, then laid out quilts and mattresses, and finally had Liang Qi sit on the quilt.
Just as I sat down, I heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the courtyard, along with the light footsteps and the cacophony of voices, all hurried and dense.
Xiaoyue came to Liang Qi's side, leaned against him, and tightly gripped his arm. The two of them could be heard breathing in the space. Liang Qi pulled Xiaoyue into his arms and whispered in her ear, "Don't be afraid."
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