106. Song Shutian touched his nose, unable to help but laugh at himself, "You little rascal, you even tease me. Tell me the truth, Jiang Qiao, how did you learn this trick?"
Jiang Qiao sighed, "What can I do but practice every day? My master is my uncle, but he's already sacrificed his life. He formally became my apprentice back then. I've been practicing since I was little. It's just the old folks and kids at home. What can I do? I need to train well so he can stay in the army with peace of mind. But even if I train well, he won't be coming back—"
Song Shutian never expected that a single sentence would trigger so many events. He also never imagined that Jiang Qiao's uncle had already sacrificed his life; he was their comrade-in-arms.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked about your sad story."
Jiang Qiao sighed, "So much time has passed. The deceased are gone, but we who are alive still have to live well. We have to live out his share of life."
Song Shutian deeply agreed with this sentiment, saying, "Little Jiang Qiao, why don't you join the army in the future?"
Jiang Qiao shook her head. "My parents are both in the military. I'm their only child. If I join the army, our family will probably become just a decoration. I'd rather not. I strongly support you soldiers. But I can consider doing something else. It's all about contributing to the country, just different roles. Every industry needs manpower, don't you think?"
Song Shutian smiled and shook his head. "You little girl, you're quite the talker. I initially thought it was a shame you weren't in the army, but then I realized you'd excel at anything else."
Jiang Qiao raised an eyebrow. "Then I'll take your good wishes—"
Once back in the cave, Grandpa Qiao quickly pulled his granddaughter to the fire so she could warm herself.
"How is it going? Have the people outside found us yet? You know, we're really unlucky. We finally manage to go on a long trip, and we run into something like this. Most people probably never encounter anything like this in their entire lives. My experience could be written into a book."
Not to mention him, even Lin Laidi deeply agreed. "That's right, old brother. You know, we two are pretty good. At least we weren't scared by those bastards. If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have wet their pants by now. I can tell my son about this when I get back. His mother is no ordinary village woman. I've been through a lot."
Little Bean nodded with a smile, "Tell Dad that Grandma is a hero too, and she can help fight bad guys now."
Jiang Qiao was actually very curious about what was going on between the man and the woman.
The old lady hadn't allowed these two to speak before, but when Jiang Qiao asked, they both wanted to cry.
"After we jumped ship, we swam as fast as we could. Who would have thought we'd run into them halfway through? We thought we were saved, but it turned out they were bad guys who were using us as human shields. That guy was one of their gang, and we didn't even know him. They were laughing and joking around just a moment ago."
Jiang Qiao sighed and fed the two of them some food. "What about the others? What's their situation? Has anyone come to rescue them?"
The man nodded. "After we boarded this boat, we saw that quite a few fishing boats were coming this way. We should be able to get rescued soon. I hope everyone is alright."
Jiang Qiao admired the two of them quite a bit; at least they could swim for so long, a skill that was beyond the reach of ordinary people.
The silent woman spoke up, "We've both been good swimmers since we were kids, and we never thought it would come in handy at this time. Now I finally understand what it means to have more skills than nothing."
Song Shutian, who was standing at the cave entrance, using the binoculars that Jiang Qiao had taken from the ship to survey the sea, suddenly exclaimed.
"Our ship is here! Look, the five-star red flag—"
When he said those last few words, he couldn't help but shed tears. Seeing this red flag, he felt warmer and more at ease than anyone else. He had finally completed his mission and could safely bring the person to their destination.
Everyone who could move inside the cave rushed out, except for one person: Jiang Qiao. They all eagerly asked, "Where is she? Where is she? Let us see her too—"
They took Song Shutian's binoculars and looked into the distance. After seeing it, they cheered and jumped for joy. If it weren't for the difference between men and women, they probably would have been hugging each other right now.
Jiang Qiao stood guard beside the group, motionless. The woman was puzzled, thinking, "We can't run away—"
Jiang Qiao smiled and shook her head. "It's not that I'm afraid you'll run away, but I'm worried that these people will cause trouble. You probably know who they are. I'm even afraid they'll harm you, so I have to keep an eye on them."
Looking at Jiang Qiao, Guo Zhigang's eyes almost blazed with rage. Today's whole thing was ruined by this brat.
Jiang Qiao rolled her eyes at the other person. "Gazing at me won't help. Haven't you heard that those who do many evil deeds will surely perish? Even if it wasn't me today, it would have been someone else, because your actions are the most unpopular."
After the initial excitement subsided, everyone came in. Song Shutian asked Jiang Qiao and Grandpa Qiao for their scarves. As for what he wanted to do with them, Grandpa Qiao didn't know, but Jiang Qiao did.
They readily let him take it. Meanwhile, the people on the warship were anxious. They searched all over the sea but couldn't find Song Shutian and his group's rubber raft.
They've rescued several groups of people, but they still haven't found their target. A thick fog has rolled in at sea, and they've been searching around for a long time.
Unexpectedly, when the fog lifted, they saw smoke rising in the distance. Regardless of whether it was the person they were looking for, they had to leave. Maybe it was another person who had fallen into the water?
Jiang Qiao listened to the approaching sounds from inside the cave and quickly told everyone to pack their things. If Song Shutian was so excited, it must be a warship from this side. Moreover, she didn't think that the other side would dare to send a warship over. If they did, they would be courting death.
The crew on the warship were using binoculars to survey the island when they suddenly shouted excitedly to their comrades, "We found them! We found them! It's Song Shutian and his men! Look, his flag signals—"
The people on the ship cheered. Although they didn't know who Song Shutian and his group were, they had been given a strict order to find them.
Upon hearing the ship's horn, Song Shutian excitedly rushed off the ship, shouting, "Jiang Qiao, hurry up and pack! Our warship is coming to take us home!"
Seeing that Jiang Qiao and the others had already packed up, he couldn't help but laugh.
Everyone was happy, except for the few who were still tied up. Seeing the five-star red flag flying high on the ship, no one could express their excitement. They waved, jumped and shouted at the warship.
Jiang Qiao observed coldly for a moment. The man and woman were equally excited, while the other group of people were dejected and hanging their heads.
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