Chapter 50

That day, the sky had been clear and bright during the day, and no one had expected that by midnight, a heavy rain would begin to pour.

The rain was heavy, and the raindrops hitting the ground made a popping sound, which woke both Shen Qingyun and Yin Xiaoman, who had been fast asleep.

Shen Qingyun got out of bed, stood by the window, and looked outside for a long time, his face full of worry. He was afraid that if the rain didn’t stop, it would delay the progress of roadwork the next day.

But Yin Xiaoman secretly prayed in her heart, hoping that the rain would continue for a little longer, even if it lasted until dawn, so that this person would miss his morning exercises and at least get a bit of rest.

No matter what the two of them were thinking, the rain kept falling, and it seemed to be getting heavier.

At six o’clock in the morning, it was time for them to wake up. But the rain showed no signs of letting up. Shen Qingyun got up, took a look, sighed, and lay back down, closing his eyes.

However, this time, it didn’t go as Yin Xiaoman had hoped. She couldn’t steal a moment of peace for herself.

Just a few minutes after lying down, someone began banging loudly on the door outside.

There was a row of urgent knocks followed by a voice: “Commander, Commander, open the door! Dami is missing!”

Hearing those words, Shen Qingyun instantly sat up, and even Yin Xiaoman opened her eyes.

“What’s going on?” Shen Qingyun quickly got out of bed and ran to open the door for the person outside.

Yin Xiaoman quickly followed behind him.

Outside stood Shi Lei, drenched to the bone, his clothes and hair completely soaked. He looked extremely nervous as he said to Shen Qingyun: “I don’t know! He was here when the lights went out last night, but when we woke up this morning, he was gone. The squad leader said his blanket was still cold, which means he must have left a while ago.

Commander, I checked the entire dormitory, and not only could I not find him, but neither his umbrella nor raincoat were missing. I’m worried, afraid that the kid might’ve gone out to play last night and didn’t come back!”

As he spoke, both Shen Qingyun and Yin Xiaoman were instantly alarmed.

The barracks lights went out at 9:30 PM, and the rain didn’t start until nearly 11:00 PM.

Dami was just a little child. What could possibly be so important that he would go out at such a late hour, especially in this kind of weather?

And furthermore, he hadn’t returned the whole night?

“Commander, do you think Dami… might have fallen into the sea and been swept away by the waves?” Shi Lei said again.

Those words made Yin Xiaoman’s heart skip a beat, and a sharp pain struck her suddenly.

Zhongshan Island was a volcanic island, with large stones everywhere formed from the lava that had cooled after the volcanic eruption. The island had only one side with a gentle sandy beach, while the rest of the island was full of jagged cliffs.

If Dami had been near the rocks last night, it wasn’t impossible that a big wave could have knocked him down, sending him into the water.

Even without the waves, the heavy rain had made the ground slippery, and if that kid had lost his footing and fallen…

Yin Xiaoman shivered.

“Why are you still standing there?! Go send people out to search?!” Shen Qingyun shouted, turning around to go back into the house to change his shoes.

Yin Xiaoman quickly ran inside and grabbed two raincoats, handing one to Shen Qingyun and putting the other on herself.

Shen Qingyun furrowed his brow.

“I’m going too. Otherwise, if I stay home and think about it, I’ll only get more anxious.” Yin Xiaoman said firmly.

Shen Qingyun thought for a moment but did not stop her.

The group left the house, and Yin Xiaoman made sure to lock the door behind them. She feared that if the two kids at home heard, they might slip out to follow them, which would only cause more trouble.

Before leaving, she thought about it again and wasn’t fully reassured. She went to wake up Da Bao, giving him a few more warnings.

When Da Bao heard that Dami was missing, he was also very worried but knew that he couldn’t cause any more chaos at that time. He quickly patted his chest and promised to stay home and look after his younger sister.

The rain outside was still heavy. Even with the raincoats on, their heads and faces were quickly drenched.

At this point, Shen Qingyun no longer paid attention to Yin Xiaoman and began quickly organizing tasks. 

He divided the entire camp into small teams. Aside from the usual patrols, everyone else was given specific orders to search the mountains, the coastline, and other areas around the island’s perimeter.

No one assigned Yin Xiaoman any tasks, but she gritted her teeth and followed the small search team into the mountains, patiently searching along the back hills.

After calming down, Yin Xiaoman no longer believed that Dami had fallen into the sea and been swept away by the waves.

The boy had lived alone on the island for more than half a year. She couldn’t believe he lacked the basic awareness to stay safe.

But then, where could he have gone? 

What was he doing?

Shi Lei had discovered Dami’s disappearance at six in the morning. By six fifteen, the entire camp had scattered to search for the child.

However, the mountain was steep, and the rain was relentless. The back hills were undeveloped, and usually, people only felt the branches scraping their clothes or the stones tripping them. No one had ever felt the need for further caution.

But now, these very things had become obstacles.

The forest was dense, and without sunlight, the area was very dim. The low visibility made it feel as if anywhere could hide a child, and yet, it was impossible to see clearly anywhere.

The rocks were even more slippery, making the ascent far more difficult than usual.

By around ten o’clock, Shi Lei stopped Yin Xiaoman.

They were about to climb a nearly 70-degree slope.

Looking at the steep rock face, Yin Xiaoman knew her limits and wisely decided to give up. She understood that at this point, her persistence would only cause more trouble.

When she returned home, she changed into a dry outfit in a rush, not even bothering to dry her hair. Yin Xiaoman went straight into the kitchen. She wanted to quickly prepare something warm for everyone.

Although the Kitchen Unit had likely stayed behind to prepare meals for the soldiers, she wasn’t worried about their food. Her husband was still out there in the rain!

And then there was that troublesome Dami.

Thinking about the child, Yin Xiaoman wasn’t sure whether she was more heartbroken or angry.

But either way, she had made up her mind: she couldn’t let him live in the barracks with the soldiers anymore.

The little rascal was far too clever. She couldn’t even begin to guess what was going on in his mind every day.

At his age, Dami was at that stage where he thought he had grown up, that he could do anything, dare to take risks, and venture into the unknown, but he didn’t understand how to avoid danger.

It was really impossible without an adult keeping an eye on him.

Yin Xiaoman still couldn’t understand how he managed to slip past the soldiers on patrol that night and sneak out of the camp by himself.

She made ginger syrup and prepared lunch, but by the time the meal had cooled, neither of them had returned.

She was becoming frantic, her mind uncontrollably wandering into anxious thoughts.

Although she hadn’t had much contact with Dami, he was a living, breathing child, one who appeared every day in front of her!

She simply couldn’t accept the possibility that this child might be in danger!

She couldn’t sit still in the house. Even though the rain was still falling, she kept running to the door and peering outside, repeatedly.

Erniu didn’t know anything had happened to Dami. She just thought he hadn’t come because of the rain.

With nothing else to do, she kept humming to herself at home, insisting on going to the camp to look for her brother to play.

Her constant whining was beginning to make Yin Xiaoman’s head spin.

Although Da Bao didn’t dare to ask, he was certainly anxious too. He was being dismissive of his younger sister, but he kept sneaking glances at their mother, his face filled with hesitation.

The atmosphere in the house seemed to freeze.

It was around three or four o’clock in the afternoon when Shen Qingyun brought Dami back into the house.

By then, the boy had already lost consciousness.

It was said that Shi Lei, along with a small team, had found him in a stone cave on the back hill.

At that time, he had a high fever, curled up on a mat made of banana leaves soaked through by the rain, completely unresponsive.

Shen Qingyun held Dami in his arms. The boy’s eyes were tightly shut, his clothes clinging to his body, his face a dark shade of purple, and his lips were colorless.

Only two abnormal red spots were visible on his cheeks, showing just how high his body temperature was at that moment.

Seeing him like this, Yin Xiaoman couldn’t care about anything else. She grabbed the blanket she usually used and wrapped him up in it, then took him from Shen Qingyun’s hands and placed him on Da Bao’s bed.

When she held him in her arms, the light weight made her pause. It was then that she truly realized just how thin the child was!

Da Bao was heavier than him.

After taking Dami, she urged Shen Qingyun to go wash up and change clothes, while she herself went to the kitchen to bring some warm water, hoping to help the child clean up.

But as soon as she set the basin down, Shi Lei hurried over, holding Da Bao’s change of clothes and the fever medicine he had brought from the camp.

Seeing that he had already changed his clothes, Yin Xiaoman didn’t refuse his offer to help clean Dami.

After all, though the child appeared frail, he was older than Da Bao and the others by several years, so it wouldn’t be very convenient for her to help with his changing.

While Shi Lei helped with the change of clothes, Yin Xiaoman finally asked the question that had been on her mind: “Where exactly did you find him? How did this child end up alone in that place in the middle of the night?”

Upon hearing her question, Shi Lei sighed: “Sigh, it’s my fault for not thinking of it earlier. Yesterday might have been the death anniversary of his father. It was only when I found him that I realized that. The cave wasn’t far from where his father was buried.”

Yin Xiaoman was stunned, unable to speak for a moment.

Shi Lei was the only one from the security camp who had gone to the island with Commander Lu, and he was one of the first to find Da Bao.

According to him, when they found Dami, the child refused to go with them, saying he wanted to stay there and keep his father company.

Through questioning, they learned that Dami’s father had died more than half a year ago, and it was this child who had dug a hole by hand to bury his father.

The environment on Zhongshan Island was both damp and oppressive, and at that time, there was no way to bring his father’s remains back.

So, after consulting with the child, they had built Dami’s father’s grave on the mountain, in a place with the mountain behind and the sea in front, where he could see his hometown in the distance.

So much time had passed that, to be honest, Shi Lei had forgotten about it. Furthermore, since he was unfamiliar with the area, he couldn’t even remember the exact spot where Dami’s father had been buried.

It was when they found Dami in that small cave that, with a casual glance, Shi Lei noticed the tombstone Commander had personally written for that person not far away, which made him remember the incident.

And when he counted the days, it was exactly the time that Dami had mentioned, the anniversary of his father’s death.

“Ah, it’s all my fault. If I had thought of it earlier, Dami wouldn’t have had to stay in the rain for so long.” Shi Lei said, looking regretful.

Yin Xiaoman touched the little one’s burning hot cheeks, knowing in her heart that even if Shi Lei had thought of it earlier, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Could anyone have stopped the child from doing what he wanted to do?

It was more likely that he had already made up his mind to spend the night with his father, wasn’t it?

What was even more likely was that he had agreed so easily to come to Zhongshan Island with Lu Ping precisely because he intended to accompany his father.

Thinking of this, Yin Xiaoman’s pity and frustration for Dami increased even more.

The vitality of children was something that adults could only envy.

Dami’s fever seemed to come on strong, but after taking the medicine and being cared for by Yin Xiaoman with some thin porridge and a steamed white bun, he slept for a while and by the next day was back to his lively self.

It was Yin Xiaoman, on the other hand, who had caught a cold from the heavy rain and had been sick for several days.

As a result, Dami seemed a little guilty in the following days. He clearly kept his distance from Yin Xiaoman, avoiding eye contact, not daring to be alone with her. However, he worked even harder and more enthusiastically than before.

Even so, he still couldn’t avoid a scolding from Shen Qingyun.

After confirming that Dami was completely fine, Shen Qingyun dragged him back to the camp.

It was unclear what that man had said to him, but when he returned, his clothes were drenched in sweat, and he could wring out half a pound of water from them.

His body and face were covered in dust and mud, looking completely disheveled.

Even so, he rarely resisted and followed Shen Qingyun without a word, holding the small package of clothes he had brought to the island.

His dejected yet obedient demeanor was clearly fulfilling some promise.

Yin Xiaoman didn’t ask anything, choosing to pretend she hadn’t seen it, letting the men handle it in their own way.

Sure enough, not long after they returned home, Shi Lei came with a few soldiers, laughing heartily as they carried in a bunk bed. In no time at all, they replaced Da Bao’s single bed.

From then on, Dami had truly settled into the Shen Family home.

Mr. Hua and Engineer Ning arrived on the island a week later with the first group of experts. Along with them came five others.

Among them, a couple in their forties, both engineers in the field of physics, were said to be married.

The three younger individuals were their assistants.

The couple and the three young assistants chose to stay in dormitories closer to the outskirts, saying: “If we work late, it’s easier to walk fewer steps.”

As Yin Xiaoman had expected, Engineer Ning and Mr. Hua chose to be their neighbors.

The elderly couple picked a house in the front row of the Shen Family’s property. It was a two-bedroom house, one room for each of them, perfectly suited.

The house had a small balcony outside the master bedroom, and the balcony was open with a small door.

Through this door, it only took a few steps to reach the Shen Family’s home.

Yin Xiaoman had been on the island for some time now, but she had no idea that beneath the volcano there was another secret!

If it hadn’t been for the group of experts arriving and the boats continuously delivering equipment for several days, she would have never known that the mountain had been hollowed out, hiding an enormous warehouse inside.

She couldn’t even tell exactly how big it was, but she knew that two trips were made each day by ship, each fully loaded with various instruments, equipment, and supplies. For seven full days, the warehouse still wasn’t full!

This revelation left Yin Xiaoman so shocked that she could barely close her mouth. But, occasionally, when she overheard some casual conversation between Engineer Ning, Shen Qingyun, and the others, she was astonished to hear them lamenting about the construction speed, expressing regret that the pace was too slow, and mentioning that several more such warehouses would need to be built in the future.

Hearing this, Yin Xiaoman’s heart stirred with excitement.

Though she hadn’t seen it yet, she could easily imagine that within just a few years, Zhongshan Island would no longer be overgrown with wild grass as it was now. It would definitely be transformed into a thriving, vibrant place, filled with development and activity.

This thought filled Yin Xiaoman with a greater sense of hope for the future.

Now that the experts had arrived, her role as their dedicated cook had begun.

She had no time to think about much else. For several consecutive days, she buried herself in the kitchen, preparing everything they might need.

The members of the expert team did not eat at the camp’s cafeteria.

When Yin Xiaoman was first brought to the island, Lu Ping had specifically arranged for her to receive vaccination shots.

He told her that the reason they needed a dedicated cook for the experts was due to the nature of their work.

After arriving on the island, their workload would be extremely heavy, and working overtime would become a regular occurrence.

To ensure that these national treasures could maintain proper nutrition and that their work would not be affected by external factors, not only did the meals need to be delicious, but their meal times also couldn’t be limited to the three regular meals a day like the soldiers.

Lu Ping instructed Yin Xiaoman to ensure that there was always hot food ready on the stove no matter the time of day, and that any request for additional meals by the experts would be met with the quickest service.

So, once they had settled in, when the Kitchen Unit leader, Ren Ping’an, came to ask her where she wanted the expert group’s dining area to be set up, Yin Xiaoman decisively decided to arrange it at her own home.

Only in this way could she ensure that she could respond immediately whenever needed.

As a result, the dormitory they were living in had been modified.

The living space remained unchanged, but the kitchen had been expanded.

Not only was the area larger, but the stove had also been upgraded from a single burner to a double burner.

Not only that, but Ren Ping’an thoughtfully brought along some soldiers from the Kitchen Unit to help her build a small coal stove along the edge of the kitchen.

When not in use, they could cover it with a wooden board to serve as a countertop. But if she needed to simmer a soup or stew something, it was ready to use at any time.

In addition to the kitchen, Ren Ping’an also had people enclose the empty space outside their home into a large courtyard, as per Yin Xiaoman’s request. This way, she could dedicate a small area to plant some spring onions, garlic, ginger, and fresh vegetables, making it more convenient for her to harvest them.

Since their house was chosen from the inner-most row of dormitories, it didn’t interfere with the path of anyone else.

To make it easier for the expert team to eat, Ren Ping’an and his team also included the adjacent house in the courtyard. They knocked down the walls between the rooms, transforming them into a large single unit.

This way, four large tables could be set up inside to accommodate over thirty people for meals at once.

When Yin Xiaoman saw the large setup that Ren Ping’an and his team had arranged, she couldn’t help but worry a little inside.

After all, she was doing everything on her own, and her only assistant, Da Bao, was still a child. Would it be too much for her to cook for so many people at once?

But after the team had been on the island for a few days and had been busy with their work, Yin Xiaoman realized that she had been overthinking.

These people were truly busy.

Not to mention seven people eating at the same time—except for the first day when Engineer Ning and Mr. Hua stayed to chat and had a meal with her, no one had eaten at the new dining hall since then.

Most days, when it was meal time, she and Da Bao would bring the food to their research labs, or one of the three young assistants would rush over to grab it.

And the carefully planned, delicious, and nutritious menu she had put together was completely rejected by the experts when she handed it over for review.

Instead, they changed it to simple, filling meals, like dry rations that could be eaten on the go.

When she saw the revised menu, with all her efforts undone, Yin Xiaoman couldn’t help but feel a strange mix of emotions.

While she respected these people even more, she also made a firm decision:

She would do her best to ensure they received proper nutrition and, at the same time, make sure their meals were convenient and enjoyable.