Chapter 403 – You Deserve It

“This stone contains copper. That means there’s likely a large copper deposit where you found it. If we can develop that site, it’ll be a huge boon for our country!” Tang Qingwen said excitedly.

Li Yiyi glanced at the stone in his hand, then asked him where he found it. In the end, she learned that the stone had come from the pile of firewood she had gathered earlier.

She figured the stone must’ve come from the spot where she’d picked up the firewood, so she told him exactly where that was.

Once they had the location, Tang Qingwen and Wu Botong decided not to follow the group down the mountain right away. Instead, they planned to head directly to where Li Yiyi had found the stone.

Li Yiyi could tell the two had made up their minds, so she didn’t try to stop them. As they left, she handed them the remaining beast-repelling incense and some detox pills.

“Thank you so much, Comrade Li. Really. Our country badly needs resources like this. If something does come of this, you’ll be a true benefactor to our nation,” Tang Qingwen said gratefully, looking at the supplies she gave them.

Having spent a full day and night together, the two men knew just how valuable those items were in the forest.

After all, they’d seen with their own eyes what happened to Ye Fan once he was without them—it had been a disaster.

So to them, these two small items were basically life-saving.

“No need to thank me. Compared to what you’re doing, I’m still far behind. And besides,” she said, looking at the two of them with admiration, “what you’re doing is worth it.”

After lunch, Tang Qingwen and Wu Botong said their goodbyes and headed in a different direction.

Hong Shuo walked over to Li Yiyi, watching the two men leave. He frowned slightly and asked, “Sis-in-law, you don’t think something bad will happen to them, do you?”

“No, they’ll be fine. We’re already some distance away from the deeper parts of the mountain. When I was gathering firewood, I looked around—there were no signs of large wild animals nearby. They won’t be in danger,” Li Yiyi replied calmly.

Then she looked at him and asked, “What mission is Jiang Hong carrying out this time in the mountains?”

Hong Shuo froze. He hadn’t expected her to ask so directly. His mouth opened, but nothing came out—it was like it had been glued shut.

Li Yiyi chuckled. “If it’s not convenient to say, then forget I asked.”

Seeing her turn to leave, Hong Shuo quickly caught up to her. “Sis-in-law, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you. It’s just that this is a mission—we’re not allowed to reveal any details. I hope you understand.”

Li Yiyi smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I know you have your rules. I was just curious, that’s all.”

The group rested for a while in the same spot until the sun wasn’t so intense. Then they continued heading down the mountain.

By the time evening came, they finally saw a village at the foot of the mountain.

Seeing smoke rising from chimneys, everyone’s faces lit up with excitement after a long day of travel.

A village meant safety. It meant they could finally eat a proper meal and take a hot bath.

As soon as they stepped into the village, they attracted attention from the locals.

Just as they entered, they saw five or six young men supporting an elderly man with white hair approaching them.

“Stop right there. Who are you? Why’ve you come to Liu Family Village?” the old man asked loudly, leaning on his cane and blocking their path.

Comrade Shen stepped forward with a friendly smile to explain, “Hello, sir. You must be the village chief. We’ve just come down from the mountain. We’re part of a research team that entered the mountains a few days ago. On our way down, we passed by your village. We’re really tired and hungry—could we stay in your village for the night?”

Before the chief could respond, one of the young men beside him whispered something in his ear, “Chief, it’s true. I went to check earlier—these are the people I saw. I recognize them.”

Only then did the village chief relax and stop questioning them.

“Alright then. You can stay for one night. Coincidentally, there’s a place where the educated youths used to live—use that for now. As for food, if you can pay a bit, we’ll help cook for you,” the village chief instructed.

No one had any objections to that arrangement, and they all quickly agreed.

The chief turned to the villager who had spoken earlier. “Dazhu, take them to the house where the educated youths used to live.”

“Got it, Chief. Leave it to me—I’ll make sure everything’s handled properly,” Dazhu said, patting his chest in assurance.

Only after hearing that did the chief relax and let the villagers escort him back to the village.

As they walked, Dazhu kept glancing over his shoulder toward the back of the group. When he didn’t see who he was looking for, he finally couldn’t help but ask, “I remember Doctor Ye went into the mountains with you. Why isn’t he back with you now?”

The people walking with him all had strange expressions at that question. Not one of them answered.

Seeing their reactions, Dazhu looked puzzled. But then Li Yiyi spoke up, “Brother Dazhu, from the way you’re talking, you must be close with Ye Fan?”

“Of course I am!” Dazhu said proudly. “Doctor Ye’s the main doctor for several villages around here. If any of us get sick, he’s the one we go to. And his fees are cheap too—way better than going to a hospital.”

Li Yiyi tugged at the corner of her mouth and continued asking, “He sounds like a pretty good guy. Do you know where he’s originally from?”

“He lives in Zhu Family Village. They say he was picked up and raised by a blind old granny. But she passed away a few years ago.”

At that point, Dazhu seemed to sense something was off. He stopped walking and looked toward Li Yiyi, asking curiously, “Comrade, why are you asking about Doctor Ye? Did something happen to him?”

Li Yiyi gave a faint smile and avoided his gaze, looking off to the side as she replied, “It’s nothing. Just curious about Comrade Ye, that’s all.”

“Oh, I see. You scared me for a second—I thought something had happened to him,” Dazhu said with a laugh.

Just then, as they passed a nearby house, the sharp wail of a child’s cry suddenly stopped them in their tracks.

“What’s going on? Why is that kid crying like that?” Liu Caifeng asked nervously, clutching Wu Xianting’s arm, her face pale with fear.