Hero 

Lin Miaoyin felt his hand grip hers tightly, using all his strength, his veins bulging. Her hand hurt from the pressure. 

Once his leg was bandaged, four men carried him on a stretcher, hurrying down the mountain with a person holding a lantern following them. 

Lin Miaoyin wanted to follow, but the doctor stopped her, telling her to go home and prepare the things needed for the hospital. She could go to the county tomorrow morning; there was no point in following now. 

“Sister-in-law, I’ll go with Brother Meng. You can go tomorrow to switch shifts. I’ll definitely take good care of him, don’t worry,” Jin Chengren said as he caught up. 

She looked at the stretcher with Meng Yuanzheng on it, who gave her a reassuring glance. 

He was still comforting her. Her heart tightened, and she almost burst into tears. She quickly nodded and watched as they carried him down the mountain. 

Secretary Li led the uninjured people back to Houtouwan Brigade. On the way, the few miners who had barely escaped death began to talk about what had happened in the mine. 

They were working when they suddenly heard someone calling. Upon listening carefully, they realized it was a warning about a mountain collapse. 

Usually, landslides happen during heavy rain, but the storm from last night had stopped in the morning, and by afternoon, the sun was shining. How could the mountain collapse now? 

Besides, there had been several even larger storms recently without any issues. The mountain’s rocks were hard—if they weren’t, how could they have dug such a deep mine without it collapsing? 

Before they could think too much, a young man ran in, saying the mountain was about to collapse and that they should hurry out. 

They were startled but didn’t fully believe him. They asked why he thought the mountain would collapse. 

The man said the situation was urgent and insisted they go out first, promising to explain later. They suspected he was playing tricks on them, so they exchanged a few words. When the man explained he had seen cracks in the mountain, they were still hesitant. 

Just then, they heard the sound of rocks cracking above their heads, and the cave walls started to split. 

The noise seemed to come before the landslide outside, and they realized something was terribly wrong. They all scrambled to flee. 

But the man suddenly stopped them, blocking the exit, which stirred up a commotion. 

The man said it was dangerous to leave now and that they could be crushed along the way, but they didn’t care. They just wanted to escape and even tried to push him out of the way, thinking he was trying to harm them. 

The man blocked the exit, and it seemed Jin Chengren understood his intentions. He stepped in to help stop the others from running out, but between the two of them, they couldn’t hold back the crowd. They were shoved forward. 

Just then, the cave ahead collapsed entirely. 

Jin Chengren, at the front, was suddenly in danger. A large rock fell, but the cave was dark and crowded, and everyone quickly turned to run back. 

The rock would have crushed Jin Chengren’s head, but Meng Yuan Zhen pushed him aside, and the two of them fell to the ground. The rock missed them but rolled across the ground, landing on Meng Yuan Zhen’s leg. 

Jin Chengren quickly climbed up and called for others to help move the rock. 

By then, the collapse was nearly complete. The mine had fallen silent again. The way out was completely blocked, but the interior had not fully collapsed due to the mountain’s hard inner layers. 

The other miners felt they had survived a disaster and were full of guilt toward Meng Yuanzheng. If he hadn’t stopped them, everyone else might have been crushed. 

Several people worked together to move the stone. When they saw Meng Yuanzheng lying on the ground, his face pale as paper, they carried him to the farthest part of the mine, leaning him against the wall. They didn’t dare to move him. 

They had no idea what was happening outside, nor whether there would be another collapse. 

Everyone was at a loss. 

Meng Yuanzheng, however, said the people outside were surely rushing to rescue them. Instead of waiting for the air to run out, they should find tools and start digging out from inside. 

At that moment, everyone trusted his words. They quickly found tools and began digging. 

The mine was large, and to facilitate transportation, it was also wide, so there was space to dump the dug-up dirt. 

They dug slowly, but thinking of the people outside trying to rescue them, they felt motivated. 

During this time, Meng Yuanzheng had been leaning against the wall, half-drowsing, half-conscious. 

They took turns checking on him periodically to see if anything had gone wrong. 

In any case, Meng Yuanzheng had become the hero everyone was talking about, having saved over a dozen people by himself. 

Lin Miaoyin quietly listened, recalling a scene from the original story where Jin Chengren had his leg broken while saving someone. 

The person he saved wasn’t even a good person. When he heard that he was supposed to bring a gift to thank Jin Chengren, he complained, saying that this descendant of landlords had exploited poor commoners in the past. Now that he had saved someone, it was merely atoning for the sins of his ancestors, and there was no need to thank him. 

Meanwhile, several people had died, and the leaders were so busy dealing with the crisis that Jin Chengren didn’t receive enough attention or compensation from the commune. 

Now, the same thing had happened to Meng Yuanzheng, and she wouldn’t let him suffer the same fate. 

When the group returned to Houtouwan Brigade, every household had their lights on, waiting eagerly. She went to the Lin family first, putting away their things, raincoat, and hat, and found that Cui Fen had already prepared the meal. 

Lin Miaojun didn’t return until it was almost dark. As soon as he heard the news, he hurried up the mountain to assist. 

Everyone washed their hands and faces, trying to clean up as best they could, before sitting down to eat. Since they had been working physically all afternoon, Cui Fen had made a hearty and filling meal for dinner. 

Lin Miaoyin stopped eating after having three flatbreads and two bowls of porridge. 

“Go back and pack your things. Tomorrow morning, your brother will take you to the county. You can’t find your way there alone, so bring everything—your bedding, basin, toothbrush, and everything. I estimate you’ll need to stay there for about a week,” Mother Lin said. 

“Don’t worry about the money, the government will cover the medical expenses,” Father Lin added. 

Lin Miaojun remembered something and said, “I bought two cans of malted milk today. Take one with you. Also, bring some jujube and brown sugar. Wife, Mother, could you make some flatbreads and millet porridge? Let’s take them along.” 

After everything was arranged, Lin Miaojun took Lin Miaoyin back to her home. After he left, she boiled hot water for a bath and washed her hair. Then she packed her bedding and spare clothes into a nylon bag, and filled a net bag with a foot basin, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, towel, and malted milk. 

This was her first time sleeping alone since coming to this world. Surprisingly, she wasn’t scared; she just felt a mess of emotions inside. When she wiped her face, her hands were covered with tears. 

She scolded herself internally—what’s there to cry about? 

Even so, the tears kept flowing. 

It was just a broken leg, not like he was going to be crippled. 

But it was her fault. How painful must it have been for the stone to crush his leg like that? 

He had stayed in the mine for so long before getting out. 

Thinking of this, tears flowed uncontrollably. 

Author’s Note: 

I’m not a stepmother, I’m the protagonist’s real mother and the hero’s real mother-in-law. The hero’s leg being broken isn’t my fault (runs away) 😂🙈