Qu Qingqing had been at the seaside for several days, the day He Caiwei saw her. This was the fifth time she had taken out her sheepskin bag to blow.
As evening approached, a family, confident in their strength with three men, attempted to rob him of his sheepskin bag. However, they underestimated him, thinking that since he was just a woman, three grown men could easily defeat her. In the end, their plan backfired.
When Qu Qingqing was praising her appearance in broad daylight, she noticed that she was being stared at. After observing carefully, she realized that it was the house with the most men, and the three men were staring at her with somewhat unfriendly eyes.
On the surface, Qu Qingqing didn't pay much attention, but in fact, she had already begun to be on guard. Along the way, she not only changed her sheepskin bag, but also a sharp sickle and a dagger.
That night, she found a secluded spot to rest, and used some stones to wed her sickle, creating a makeshift trap. She gripped the dagger tightly in her hand and gathered plenty of dry twigs around her so that they would step on them if they got too close, serving as a warning to her.
Sure enough, around 3 a.m., the rustling of the twigs woke her up. Then someone stepped into her sickle trap, letting out a cry of pain, and then seemed to have their mouth covered, leaving only muffled sounds.
Qu Qingqing secretly went behind the tree, climbed up the branches, and by the time the others realized what was happening, she was gone. It was dark here, and they had no idea where to look.
There was no other way but to give up. When they got back to where their family was, they learned that the person who had stepped into the sickle trap had a large chunk of flesh cut off from their foot. They had walked back in a pool of blood. If they hadn't been found in time, the person would have died from blood loss.
The sickle she left there was very sharp; after noticing the hostile gazes today, she sharpened both of her blades to an unparalleled edge on a stone.
Everyone here is incredibly tacit, each choosing a spot and keeping to themselves. So even after daybreak, it's unlikely that this family will be able to get compensation from her. After all, everyone choosing their own spot is an established understanding here. If someone crosses the line at night, it means they definitely have bad intentions, and everyone is trying to guard against them.
Qu Qingqing stayed in the tree all night. After coming down, she calmed herself down, took the bloodstained sickle to the beach to wash it, and then tucked it back into her waistband.
She hadn't come unprepared; she had consulted many fishermen who went out to sea and received a lot of advice. Then, she took her money and ration coupons to villagers' homes to borrow fire and ask them to help her make some durable, long-lasting food. She planned to tie these sheepskin bags together to make a raft resembling a cushion, so she could rest on it when she got tired.
The food and clothing were placed on the raft, which was then tied to the person. This not only reduced the person's weight but also allowed them to save some items for use on the other side.
Qu Qingqing herself didn't know how to tell the water temperature or direction, but she carefully observed the older people. She didn't understand a word they were saying, but she did know that she should follow them whenever they left, as that was the safest way.
She had been here for several days and had seen the villagers of these fishing villages pull corpses out of the river, but high risk meant high opportunity, and no one here wanted to give up.
Three more days passed, and finally the news arrived that the older group was going to cross the sea. Qu Qingqing followed them cautiously.
This small fishing village isn't the closest to the port city, but it's the safest. The old men found their way here; there are some relatively high reefs at the bottom, and these reefs are scattered, so they can occasionally use them to rest their feet.
As darkness falls, the wind at sea becomes quite strong. The old men are waiting to cross the sea when the wind isn't too strong these next few days.
Of course, many people saw that these people were quite prudent and wanted to cross the sea with them, but they neither agreed to take them nor refused to let them come along.
So, when the sky was completely obscured, people started going into the water one after another. Qu Qingqing chose a relatively far spot and followed them into the water. With the raft made of sheepskin, she was obviously more relaxed than the others in the water.
However, after an hour, two hours, she became numb. She couldn't see the direction in front of her at all, but a steady stream of people were following behind her.
She didn't know how long she had been swimming like that until she heard the gunshots, which brought her back to her senses, and she quickly looked for a place to hide.
She was terrified by the gunshot. Although she couldn't see her surroundings, she could smell blood, and the smell was getting stronger and stronger.
Qu Qingqing used all her strength to get away from the crowd. When she finally managed to get her feet on solid ground, she felt completely exhausted and collapsed weakly behind a rock far from the crowd.
Even now, it still feels unreal, but the rock she's leaning against tells her that she's really on the other side, that she's finally reached the place she's been dreaming of.
Qu Qingqing wanted to laugh but was afraid that her laughter would attract attention. Yet, she also felt that the process was both tense and exciting. Her intuition told her that she had to leave in the dark before dawn when she couldn't see people clearly.
Qu Qingqing's tense and exciting half-month was completely unexpected by He Caiwei. At that time, she was at her uncle's house, fighting with her nominal older cousin.
They've been here for ten days and have fought five times. I don't know if Lu Qingfeng couldn't bring himself to hit her because she's a girl, or if he really couldn't beat her, but all the fights they've had these past few days have ended in a draw.
The two fathers stood there watching with smiles on their faces, not saying a word to stop it. Lu Zhiheng, however, was still shouting, "You brat, take it easy, don't hurt my daughter."
They arrived in Kyoto from Pengcheng on the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. The streets and alleys of Kyoto were bustling with activity. Although supplies were scarce, the New Year celebrations were definitely more abundant than usual.
The large packages that He Caiwei and her group brought were filled with candy, meat snacks, some green vegetables, and potatoes and sweet potatoes that they grew in their own yard.
They could buy potatoes and sweet potatoes at the grain station here, but they were all dried sweet potatoes that had already been sun-dried.
Those things are hard to chew, so Lu Zhiheng specifically called his brother before coming to pick them up at the train station, just so he could hire someone to carry the bags of potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, and meat onto the train.
If it weren't for the fact that it was snowing heavily here, Old Man He would definitely have suggested that they come by horse-drawn carriage, as it would have been more convenient to bring their things.
But when he heard that it had snowed heavily here and that even the carriage couldn't leave the house, the old man gave up.
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