Chapter 82 Meng Yingying is in trouble
Chapter 82
Qi Donghan waited for a full twenty minutes, but Xu Wenjun still hadn't returned by then. Qi Donghan was really worried; he feared something had happened.
He immediately called over the quartermaster, "I'll be back in twenty minutes at the earliest. You keep an eye on the scene and keep an eye on Commander Cao next door. We're not afraid if she tries to take it."
The quartermaster nodded, but still had some worries. "I'm afraid I can't handle this by myself. Commander Qi, please come back as soon as possible."
He was afraid that Commander Qi might end up like Xu Wenjun and Liu Mang, going there and never coming back.
Qi Donghan nodded and readily agreed, "I'll definitely be back in twenty minutes."
He walked quickly, and the traces of his footsteps would be very obvious in the deep mountains and forests. He continued to walk along the grass and trees that had been trampled down before.
When we got to the middle, we saw a large area of felled birch trees. It must have been logging for several years, felling a large number of trees and leaving only a pile of dead tree stumps, like severed heads, standing there all alone.
As spring turned to autumn, monkey head mushrooms began to sprout from the broken, withered tree. Some were larger than a human face, while others were the size of a fist.
A white and tender flower, and Meng Yingying and the others squatted in the middle of the wood, bent down to pick monkey head mushrooms, put them behind them, and continued to move forward.
They were clearly too busy to even get up and pack their things.
There are so many, so many that as far as the eye can see, they are all monkey head mushrooms.
They didn't even notice Qi Donghan's arrival until Meng Yingying, who had been picking for an hour straight, was about to stand up and stretch when she saw Qi Donghan standing on the pile. She was surprised and asked, "Qi Donghan, what brings you here?"
She hopped around the monkey head mushrooms on the ground and ran right up to Qi Donghan.
Qi Donghan looked at her face, which was dirty and covered in dust, but her eyes were exceptionally clear, with dark pupils, clear whites, and a slight upward curve at the corners.
Meng Yingying's eyes were truly beautiful, as if they could speak.
Qi Donghan's heart softened as he looked at you. "I'm a little worried that something might have happened since you haven't gone back."
Meng Yingying waved her hand, "Nothing will happen, you'll just be unable to resist seeing good things."
“Qi Donghan.” She turned around and pointed to the grove of dead trees. “You’ve come at the right time. Look at all those monkey head mushrooms over there. There are so many of them that the four of us can’t possibly pick them all.”
The four of them picked the logs in one go without looking back, but they had only managed to pick less than a tenth of the mountain. The loggers must have been cutting them down secretly back then, almost hollowing out the middle of the mountain.
So much so that on these broken tree stumps, some have three or four monkey head mushrooms growing on them, while others have one or two. And there are more than a thousand broken tree stumps here.
Qi Donghan naturally saw it, "I can't stay."
Meng Yingying was somewhat disappointed. He noticed that she was covered in sweat and handed her his water bottle.
He then explained, "If I don't go back for a long time, Commander Cao will definitely keep an eye on me and look for my whereabouts."
"So I'm going back."
Seeing that Meng Yingying wouldn't take the kettle, Qi Donghan unscrewed the lid and handed it to her. Meng Yingying was a little embarrassed and declined.
She drank all his water, so he had no water left to drink.
"Drink it." Qi Donghan said decisively. "If there's no water, I'll figure something out."
These people often go on missions, so they have a particularly strong ability to survive in the wild.
Meng Yingying accepted it. She took a sip, and only after she finished drinking did she realize that it was the kettle that Qi Donghan had used.
Rounding up, didn't they just kiss?
Meng Yingying had never been like this in either of her two lifetimes, and her face flushed red.
Qi Donghan also realized what was happening, and his ears felt hot. He didn't dare to look into her eyes, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up. "Keep it for drinking, and keep the water bottle too."
He did it on purpose, Meng Yingying glared at him, "Why didn't you remind me?"
Qi Donghan coughed lightly and decisively changed the subject, "I can't stay here too long, otherwise Commander Cao will find out. If she sends someone to find out, the monkey head mushrooms here will be in trouble."
Meng Yingying immediately tensed up, her attention diverted, "Then go back now."
"Don't delay." She pushed Qi Donghan away, but Qi Donghan was reluctant to let her go. "After I go back, I will send people over in batches, one or two at a time, so that the other side will not be able to find out."
"You can pick as many as you want, that's all you have to pay."
"You can pick them and leave them there; you don't need to pack them anymore. I'll have someone pack them for you."
At this point, Qi Donghan, who was always impartial and incorruptible, had a selfish thought for the first time: "Yingying, don't work too hard."
"If all else fails, I'll find a way to come and pick them." He'll do Meng Yingying's part of the work.
Hearing this, Meng Yingying felt a sweet warmth in her heart. She nodded and pushed him away, saying, "I know, you should go back quickly, lest Commander Cao finds out."
Qi Donghan then left. Xu Wenjun, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but click her tongue and say, "Old Qi is usually so decisive. When did he become so clingy?"
It's absolutely astonishing.
Ye Yingtao glanced back and saw that Commander Qi's eyes were almost drooling, so soft and tender.
That's terrifying.
Ye Yingtao touched the goosebumps on her arm. "Love really changes people a lot."
Who would have thought that Qi Donghan, who used to be so fierce, could now have such tender, loving eyes, so reluctant to part, so unwilling to leave?
As she said this, Xu Wenjun was picking monkey head mushrooms and walking towards Ye Yingtao. Seeing that Meng Yingying had not returned yet, Liu Mang had already run ahead.
Xu Wenjun then stammered, "Comrade Ye."
What do you think of me?
After asking the question, I started to feel uneasy, as if I were being judged.
Ye Yingtao understood what he meant. She paused for a moment, then said casually, "Instructor Xu, you are a very good person, the best person I have ever met."
And that was it.
Xu Wenjun's face instantly darkened, and even the monkey head mushroom in front of her seemed repulsive.
How come she's so fair-skinned?
It's like someone has been dead for three days.
It looks awful.
After Qi Donghan returned along the same route, the quartermaster was extremely anxious. He saw that Commander Cao and his men had also made the pine cone-harvesting poles and were even competing with them for low-lying trees, which was utterly shameless.
"Old Qi, you're back just in time! Go see them!"
"That's shameless."
"They've already snatched them up to our doorstep."
Qi Donghan glanced over and saw that Commander Cao was leading his men to seize the short tree that Chen Shuisheng had been holding. The tree was not tall, but its branches and leaves were lush and had spread out.
Chen Shuisheng was no match for four hands with two fists. "Gao Chunyang, you go and occupy this tree."
"Chen Shuisheng, come back."
Commander Cao thought Qi Donghan was afraid of her, and immediately felt his anger dissipate.
"See? It's always better to have something that's in someone else's hands than something that's in your own."
Before he could finish speaking, Gao Chunyang started acting out of the factory's usual routine. After the people from the Jishi team knocked down the pine cones, he stopped knocking them down and started picking them up at the base of the trees. Not only did he pick them up, but he also called others to pick them up.
"Quickly, quick, someone is helping us collect the pine cones. Everyone just needs to come and pick them up."
Now things were really messed up; Commander Cao's face was practically contorted with rage. In the end, only Commander Xiao could intervene and negotiate a truce, agreeing that each side should attack their own trees and not fight over them, thus averting a crisis.
Seeing that they hadn't suffered any losses, Qi Donghan stopped paying attention. He called over Chen Shuisheng and the quartermaster, and they went to a secluded place.
Then he said, "Meng Yingying and the others discovered a large patch of monkey head mushrooms, so they can't come back for the time being."
The quartermaster stared wide-eyed in shock. "I was wondering why none of them came back. It turns out they found something good."
"Was it Meng Yingying who discovered it?"
He even asked a question, and Qi Donghan nodded, "It's her."
"You know what, Meng Yingying is really lucky. She was the one who suggested making those pine cone sticks. And now she's out for a stroll and she's found a bunch of monkey head mushrooms."
Thinking of this, the quartermaster rubbed his hands together and said, "Old Qi, whenever we go out to collect materials in the future, let's invite Meng Yingying along."
Qi Donghan pretended not to hear. His Yingying was lucky, but she couldn't have to go through all this trouble every time.
He can still distinguish between public and private matters.
Seeing that he wouldn't agree, the quartermaster clicked his tongue twice, pretending not to have mentioned it, and changed the subject, "Shall we go over now?"
Qi Donghan grunted in response, then glanced back at Commander Cao, who was wandering around like a supervisor; the man was extremely vigilant.
He thought for a moment, "Go in batches, one or two at a time, and tell others we're going to the toilet."
"Hide more bags in your clothes, because we picked a lot of monkey head mushrooms and left them on the ground with nowhere to put them."
The quartermaster wrung his hands in distress, "How can this be? Monkey head mushrooms are such a good thing, how can we put them on the ground?"
Chen Shuisheng couldn't stand it and retorted, "They all grow on wood, so it's perfectly normal for them to be placed on the ground."
The quartermaster didn't want to talk to him, so he rolled his eyes, grabbed Chen Shuisheng's shoulder, and deliberately asked loudly, "Shuisheng, need to pee?"
"I'm so scared to go to the toilet alone. Will you come with me?"
Chen Shuisheng, "..."
He couldn't understand why such a grown man would utter such vile words.
When Commander Cao, who was keeping watch, heard the quartermaster's words, he also felt it was malicious and deliberately avoided them.
Men are truly wicked.
Why make such a racket while urinating? Seeing that Commander Cao was minding his own business and moving away, the quartermaster grinned slyly and said, "I'm just asking you, is my method any good?"
"Let's go, let's go."
While Commander Cao wasn't looking, he grabbed seven or eight bags, stuffed them into his stomach, and turned to leave.
Chen Shuisheng did as instructed, and the two of them went to the site. They saw that the monkey head mushroom was just like Sun Wukong entering the Peach Garden.
I simply couldn't take my eyes off it.
One person picks, one person packs.
Even with these hands, they felt they didn't have enough and wanted to bring in more people. After a while, people actually came, one, two, and three at a time.
More than a dozen people were sent over, and everyone immediately started working.
Over there, Commander Cao also noticed something was wrong. She turned to Commander Xiao and said, "Have you noticed that there seem to be fewer people on the other side?"
She felt like none of the people who went to the restroom had come back.
Commander Xiao was busy picking pine cones, and he didn't even look up. "Pay less attention to others and more attention to your own development."
"Come help me collect pine cones when you have time."
Commander Cao was so angry he nearly fell backward. "I really shouldn't have talked to a brute like you."
All they can do is work; they don't know a single thing about scheming.
She ignored Commander Xiao and went to count the people at the Harbin garrison. She remembered that they had brought a total of eight vehicles, each carrying a maximum of twenty people.
That means a total of 160 people came and took taxis. The numbers were roughly the same both above and below.
She counted three times in a row, "No, there are only about 120 people here, and that includes Qi Donghan."
She went to count the performing arts troupe again, but she didn't find Meng Yingying. Moreover, according to her memory, Meng Yingying seemed to have been gone for a long time.
He hasn't come back yet.
She grabbed one of the people she had specifically assigned to keep an eye on her and asked, "When did Meng Yingying go out?"
The other person recalled carefully, "About two hours ago, when we had just started picking pine cones, she went out with a woman and hasn't come back yet."
"What about the people who went to the restroom afterwards? Did they come back?"
She already has the answer; she just wants to confirm it with someone.
"No, the people who went out to use the restroom haven't come back."
Commander Cao slapped his forehead. "Damn it, they must have found something good, but they're afraid we'll find out, so they've sent people out in batches."
"Let's go." She called out to dozens of people, "Hurry up, follow the direction they went before."
It has to be said that Commander Cao is a truly astute man. Qi Donghan was keeping an eye on Commander Cao, and when he realized that he couldn't delay any longer, he stopped delaying and called out to his men, "Thirty men, put down what you're doing and come with me."
Everyone on their side knew perfectly well that the people who went out earlier hadn't returned, which meant they had already finished procuring the goods.
Everyone immediately dropped what they were doing. Most of them stayed behind to continue harvesting pine nuts, while the other half went with Qi Donghan.
Commander Cao didn't know the way, but she could see the marks on the ground. In order to save time, Qi Donghan led his men and ran forward.
He could only hope that Meng Yingying and her group would be quick and efficient, managing to pick at least two-thirds of them. That way, their group could then grab the last third.
Upon seeing Qi Dong flee, Commander Cao immediately led his men in pursuit, shouting, "Chase!"
"Keep up with them, don't miss them."
She was increasingly certain of her suspicions, but when she followed them to this grove of dead trees, she saw monkey head mushrooms growing on the broken treetops.
Commander Cao's eyes lit up with envy. "I knew it! They were out here picking up the good stuff!"
Such a large patch of monkey head mushrooms! They picked at least two-thirds of it, leaving only a small piece of broken tree stump.
Looking at the bags next to me, there were hundreds of bags piled up in front and behind. How many must have been picked?
They must have picked at least several thousand kilograms, right?
Or it might be more than that.
Commander Cao wished he could slap himself twice, for making her eyes sore and for slowing down her reaction. If she had discovered it sooner, at least half of the monkey head mushrooms here would have been theirs.
"go!"
Her voice was trembling, "Go grab some monkey head mushrooms now, as many as you can."
Everyone roared and rushed forward in a swarm. Seeing this, Qi Donghan's side naturally wouldn't lose to them.
This time, there were many of them. He brought thirty people with him again, and each of them grabbed a piece of monkey head mushroom, dividing up the territory almost instantly.
Seeing this, Ye Yingtao sighed to Meng Yingying, "They still found out next door."
Meng Yingying had been bending over to pick the fruit for three hours, and now her back was completely sore. She thought the effect was even better than when she was bending over backwards in the dance studio.
After working like this for a month, her core strength will probably be incredibly powerful, and she will no longer worry about not having enough strength or waist strength.
Hearing Ye Yingtao's words, she got up and stretched her limbs. "It's normal for them to come. We've already taken the lion's share, so we're not at a loss."
Meng Yingying had never done such strenuous work before. With so many people around, it would be pointless for her to grab a few monkey head mushrooms.
She got up and moved around, her mouth feeling dry, so she picked up her water bottle and drank some water. Qi Donghan walked over and said, "Go and rest over there. We have enough people."
More than fifty people came in total, so the workload of Meng Yingying alone was not much different.
Meng Yingying hummed in agreement. She didn't like joining in the crowd. "I'll go wander around to the side."
Qi Donghan wanted to be with her, but he couldn't get away, so he said, "Let Comrade Ye accompany you. If anything happens, just blow the whistle."
He took the whistle off his own neck and hung it around Meng Yingying's neck.
Meng Yingying didn't refuse, so she took it directly and went to call Ye Yingtao. Ye Yingtao looked at Meng Yingying like this and sighed softly, "Yingying, I think it would be good for you to have a boyfriend."
That's so enviable.
Commander Qi's thoughtfulness is truly astonishing.
Meng Yingying raised her eyelids slightly and walked forward through the bushes. "Envious? Then say yes to Instructor Xu."
From her perspective, Xu Wenjun is indeed a good person—young, promising, and with a bright future. Although she comes from the countryside, she is a local of Harbin, and such people will be very popular when they arrive.
Ye Yingtao sighed, "It's because I haven't thought it through yet."
"And when he asked me, I refused."
"To be honest, I just don't want to marry a countryman." She wants to marry a city man who gets a government-supplied food ration.
Meng Yingying couldn't persuade her about this, so she stopped talking about it. "I want to eat some fruit. My mouth is dry after a busy morning."
"They should be in the mountains in September, but I don't know if we'll be able to find them."
As soon as they finished speaking, they walked out of the dead forest and into a dense thicket of bushes, not tall but covered with vines.
"What is this?" Meng Yingying was taken aback. Ye Yingtao went in and picked one. "This is a wild grape, isn't it?"
"Much smaller than the grapes we grow at home."
Upon hearing that they were grapes, Meng Yingying didn't stand on ceremony. She picked a bunch of purplish wild grapes, tasted one, and the moment she bit into it, a sweet and sour sensation swept over her tongue.
"This tastes really good." Meng Yingying ate several in a row. "We can pick some to take with us on the road and eat them while traveling. This sour taste is 100% effective against motion sickness."
Quite a few people get motion sickness.
Having learned from their previous experience, she and Ye Yingtao each carried a bag when they went for a stroll. However, grapes are easily crushed when placed in the bags.
In the end, the two only dared to pick the less ripe ones, the firmer ones, which were easier to pack.
Halfway through her act, Meng Yingying asked, "Are wild grapes valuable?"
Ye Yingtao shook her head. "I don't know either."
"Let's pick them first."
Neither of them was very tall, so they could only pick the vines from the lower parts of the vines. They couldn't reach the taller parts, so they simply gave up.
"Should we go back and call for help?" Ye Yingtao asked Meng Yingying. Meng Yingying shook her head. "If we go back and call for help, Commander Cao's men will see us. If we don't go for a long time, Qi Donghan will naturally send people to look for us."
Anyway, she now understands Qi Donghan's personality.
Meng Yingying and Ye Yingtao each filled a bag with grapes and then gave up, holding a bunch of ripe grapes in their hands as they ate them and walked on.
As they walked, Meng Yingying suddenly stopped. Ye Yingtao was about to ask what was wrong when she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, gesturing for her to look ahead.
Ye Yingtao then noticed a pig eating grapes in front of her, with several piglets following behind. The piglets looked to be over two months old, with pure black fur, their hooves on the grapevines, grunting as they ate the grapes.
"pig!"
Ye Yingtao's eyes widened in surprise.
Meng Yingying hummed in agreement and quietly backed away. Only after she had walked more than ten meters away did she say to Ye Yingtao, "Go back, go back now."
"Run quickly and call Qi Donghan to bring his men over."
Ye Yingtao was taken aback. "And what about you?"
"I hid in the shadows and watched."
Ye Yingtao disagreed, "That won't do. Wild boars can be terrifying when they go berserk. It's not safe for you to stay here alone."
Meng Yingying didn't turn her head back. She hid in the bushes and used the gaps to watch the group of wild boars feeding.
“I won’t go and bother them, and I’ll just stay here and keep an eye on them, Cherry.” She turned back and lowered her voice, “Want some pork?”
Who wouldn't want to?
After returning, they ate cornbread and cornmeal for every meal, which made them stupid.
She didn't speak, but Meng Yingying knew what she meant. She turned around and said, "If you want to, then go back quickly, the sooner the better. The faster your people come, the safer I will be."
"Cherry, I counted one adult pig and five piglets. If we catch them, we can all eat meat."
This offer is just too tempting.
Ye Yingtao couldn't refuse either. She gritted her teeth and ran away, saying, "Wait for me here. I'll be right back. Hide well and don't go out."
Meng Yingying hummed in agreement. She hid herself well and peered at the piglet through the gap, her mouth watering.
Roast suckling pig must be delicious.
Since joining the performing arts troupe, she no longer needs to lose weight. With whole grains and mixed grains at every meal, coupled with high-intensity training, she not only didn't gain weight, but actually kept her weight under control.
When you don't have enough oil in your stomach, you crave meat intensely, and Meng Yingying was no exception.
She just hoped that Ye Yingtao would bring the person over quickly.
Ye Yingtao did not disappoint Meng Yingying's expectations. She really put in all her strength and ran all the way back to the withered forest.
Qi Donghan had been staring in the direction Meng Yingying had left, and when he saw that only Ye Yingtao had returned, his expression suddenly changed. "Where is Meng Yingying?"
He rushed forward almost reflexively.
Just as Ye Yingtao was about to speak, she noticed that everyone was looking at her, including Commander Cao from the next team.
She immediately changed her tone, her voice urgent, "Meng Yingying is in trouble, she fell into a ditch, come quickly and help me rescue her."
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