Chapter 3: Escape

Everyone in the brigade knew that Lin Limei guarded Yuan Songzhi as though he were her eyeball. On ordinary days, if any young girl so much as looked at Yuan Songzhi one more time, she would get angry.

With her conditions, the best she could obtain now was indeed Yuan Songzhi.

Do not be fooled by the fact that Yuan Songzhi was a cripple—was he not able to walk? In the entire commune, there was no shortage of girls who wanted to marry him.

It was only because he was already betrothed that many people gave up that idea.

Now, to say that Lin Limei wanted to push Yuan Songzhi onto Su Xiaoyin, who would believe it?

Besides, was Su Xiaoyin not Lin Tianyang’s wife-to-be? Though the two were not yet married, everyone in the brigade knew they were a pair.

Do not mind that many often said Lin Tianyang would find a wife in the city and abandon Su Xiaoyin. That was merely envious idle talk.

Even if they did not want to admit it, they had to. Su Xiaoyin was much prettier than many girls in the city.

If not for the fact that the Lin family had set the engagement early, young men wanting to court Su Xiaoyin could probably line up from one end of the brigade to the other.

Lin Limei clearly also thought that Su Xiaoyin was speaking out of shame and anger, grasping wildly at straws. She sneered, brimming with confidence.

“I would push Brother Yuan onto you? Am I insane?”

“Originally, I could not figure out why you would do this, but once you mentioned Lin Tianyang, I understood.” Su Xiaoyin supported herself against a stone, looking extremely weak.

“Last month Lin Tianyang came back and told you, did he not? At the factory, he got together with the daughter of a leader.”

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves.

When people heard this, their first reaction was disbelief. Lin Tianyang got together with someone else—what kind of beautiful girl must she be?

But very soon, they noticed the key point. She was a leader’s daughter. That did not seem impossible.

The crowd all looked at Su Xiaoyin with pity in their eyes.

This child had suffered since young. Everyone thought the second son of the Lin family was a good one, but who could have known?

Seeing that she had achieved the effect she wanted, Su Xiaoyin gave a bitter smile.

“I had already thought it through. If he came to apologize to me, I would act as if the engagement had never happened. From then on, I would only be his younger sister. But I never thought your Lin family could be so heartless.”

“You are lying! Yesterday you even said after the wedding you wanted to live in the city!”

As expected of the female lead, suspicion arose immediately.

“Yes.” Su Xiaoyin glared at her hatefully. “It was merely a test, and already your Lin family harbored murderous thoughts. As long as I die here in the mountains, your Lin family could not only seize the Su family’s things but also keep a good reputation.”

“Lin Limei, are you not afraid that if I die, I will come back to claim your life?”

“What nonsense are you saying? When did our family ever want to harm you?” Lin Limei’s face was full of bafflement, yet her tone grew firm.

“If I truly wanted to harm you, would I find someone else to come at you?”

Her words seemed somewhat reasonable. Just as the crowd was about to agree, they saw Su Xiaoyin suddenly stand up in agitation.

“Because you thought I had already rolled down the slope and died! I am telling you, unless your Lin family returns every single one of the Su family’s belongings, I will report to the Public Security!”

Her face turned pale, her voice trembled, and when she pointed at Lin Limei, she looked like a ghost from the underworld had come to demand a life.

“I will make sure that every beast in your family, who eats steamed buns soaked in human blood, dies a terrible death!”

After speaking, she collapsed stiffly to the ground.

“Careful.” Yuan Songzhi reacted quickly and caught her before she hit the ground.

He carried her in his arms and ran down the mountain, never once glancing at Lin Limei.

Lin Limei was stunned. But since Su Xiaoyin had fainted, she had no way to refute and could only give a pale explanation.

“I did not…”

But who would listen to her now?

Clearly, Yuan Songzhi was a cripple with limited mobility, yet carrying someone did not slow his pace in the least. Several men nearly failed to keep up with him.

“Songzhi, Songzhi, wait.”

As they reached the foot of the mountain, the brigade leader caught up with Yuan Songzhi.

“Your legs are not convenient. Let me arrange for someone to use an ox cart to take her to the clinic. You should stay here and wait. This way is better for appearances.”

Yuan Songzhi pressed his lips into a straight line.

Normally, he seemed cold, but he was actually polite to everyone. Yet now his words carried a sharp edge. “Captain, look at her condition. Does appearance still matter?”

Qin Haide choked on his words.

Then he heard Yuan Songzhi continue: “Actually, just now Su Xiaoyin was wrong. Lin Limei did not truly want to push me away. She was using me against Su Xiaoyin.”

“Every day she praised me in front of Su Xiaoyin, only to make Su Xiaoyin develop feelings toward me. As long as Su Xiaoyin committed a betrayal of the Lin family, they could openly cast her aside.”

“Since their Lin family so eagerly wanted something to happen between me and Su Xiaoyin, then let it be as they wish.”

The group descending the mountain finally understood what had taken place today.

Surely this entire incident was designed by Lin Limei. She pushed Su Xiaoyin down the slope. If Su Xiaoyin died, her purpose was achieved. If she survived, Yuan Songzhi would surely rescue her, forcing close contact between them.

In this way, she could firmly accuse the two of secretly meeting in the mountains and getting injured as a result.

She just had not expected that Su Xiaoyin already knew about Lin Tianyang’s affair at the factory.

This Lin family truly was utterly vicious.

Yuan Songzhi left it at that, then after a few steps, he stopped again. “Captain, please protect the scene. When Su Xiaoyin wakes, I will accompany her to report the case.”

After speaking, he limped away.

Qin Haide also realized the severity of the matter. He signaled with his eyes to his son, who at once understood and led several familiar men back up the mountain.

It was at this moment that Su Xiaoyin opened her eyes, just in time to see a bead of sweat rolling down Yuan Songzhi’s jawline.

She turned her gaze slightly aside. “You do not need to hurry so much. I am not truly in danger.”

Yuan Songzhi lowered his head and glanced at her, but his movements did not stop. “Wasn’t it you who said that when acting, we must make it look real?”

Su Xiaoyin thought about it and agreed.

“You reminded him just now to protect the scene. That was on purpose, wasn’t it?”

That was not part of their plan.

She could also see that the brigade leader was a good man, but in his heart, the brigade’s reputation was more important than anything else.

So when Yuan Songzhi reminded him about the crime scene, he would most likely find someone to destroy the evidence.

Yuan Songzhi’s reasoning was not hard to understand. A fake could never be made real. Since the crime itself was fabricated, there was no way to truly report it, even if Su Xiaoyin really did roll down the slope once.

Given the brigade leader’s character, if he destroyed the scene, he would feel guilty toward Su Xiaoyin. In that case, he would definitely make it up to her in some other way.

Besides, in today’s matter, no matter what was said, the Lin family was in the wrong. As long as it did not conflict with the brigade’s interests, the brigade leader would certainly try to help Su Xiaoyin.

Yuan Songzhi did not deny it. “It shouldn’t have harmed your interests, right?”

“Of course not, thank you.” Su Xiaoyin felt that Yuan Songzhi’s way of doing things suited her quite well.

“No need, I’m helping myself too.”

After this incident, both of them should be able to sever ties with the Lin family.

To be entangled with such a family was truly unlucky.

Yuan Songzhi carried Su Xiaoyin to the old locust tree by the roadside.

“You wait here first. I’ll go get the bicycle and take you to the hospital.”

Su Xiaoyin did not want to go. She was not really injured. Pretending was enough—why would she need to go to the hospital?

Yuan Songzhi seemed to guess what she was thinking.

He said, “If we are acting, then we must make it real. Go to the clinic and get a certificate. Then you can demand more compensation from the Lin family. Later, I’ll treat you to a meal at the state-owned restaurant.”

When she heard the first part, Su Xiaoyin did not react much. She could ask for compensation herself. But when he mentioned treating her to good food, who could refuse that?

She immediately agreed.

Watching his back as he left, Su Xiaoyin felt that his limp seemed even more pronounced.

Earlier on the mountain, she had been in a hurry to escape and did not care about his leg injury. His leg had not fully healed. Just now, carrying her so quickly must have affected it.

As she thought this, she saw him lift his hand and pound on his injured leg.

Lucky for him that he met her.

That leg of Yuan Songzhi’s, at present, besides her, there was probably no one else who could treat it.

–

Yuan Songzhi endured the pain in his leg and returned home. His mother and younger sister were weaving baskets.

“Brother, why are you back?”

Although Yuan Songzhi limped, it did not stop him from setting traps and hunting in the mountains. Usually, he would be gone the whole day. Today, it was not even noon yet, and he was already back, which was rather strange.

Zhao Cuilan also asked, “Nothing happened, right?”

“It’s nothing, Mom, Little Sister. I have to go to town for something. Later, I’ll lock the door from the outside. If anyone comes, just pretend no one’s home.”

Seeing how serious he was, the two of them immediately stopped what they were doing.

“What exactly happened?” Zhao Cuilan came up, her face full of nervousness.

“It’s nothing. I plan to break off the engagement with Lin Limei. The situation is a bit complicated. I’ll explain when I get back later. While I’m not here, if they come looking for you, who knows what tricks they’ll try. Better not to see them at all.”

“Alright, Brother, don’t worry. We definitely won’t bother with them.”

Usually, the mother and daughter both listened to Yuan Songzhi. All the more so since this was his lifelong matter. They would never ruin it for him.

Besides, both mother and daughter knew that Yuan Songzhi had been schemed into the engagement, and the Lin family was greedy. Now that he wanted to break it off, they had no reason to oppose him.

Thinking of Su Xiaoyin, Yuan Songzhi did not say more. From outside the courtyard, he locked the door and hurriedly rode away.

–

Xinqiao Commune belonged to Wenlai County, a small town in the south.

The small town was located in a hilly region. The mountains here stretched endlessly, enclosing them inside, as if they could never walk out.

Sitting on the back seat of the bicycle, Su Xiaoyin finally had the mood to carefully look at this place.

If it had been before the apocalypse, she would certainly never want to live in such a backward place.

But after those ten years, after seeing people’s homes turned into ruins, Su Xiaoyin dreamed of seeing such clear mountains and rivers again.

Now, not only could she see them, but she could also live here. She was filled with endless expectations for the days to come.

She hummed a little tune, and even Yuan Songzhi, riding in front, could sense her joyful mood.

Strangely, a gust of wind blew by, sweeping away his gloom from the past few days.

But their cheerful mood did not last long.

Su Xiaoyin had never expected the mountain road to be so bumpy.

By the time they arrived at the commune’s health clinic, she felt as if her buttocks were about to split open.

It was not easy for Yuan Songzhi, with his injured leg, to pedal such a long distance to bring her to town.

Listless, Su Xiaoyin was led into the clinic by Yuan Songzhi.

The female doctor was very young. Seeing Su Xiaoyin’s disheveled appearance, she was startled.

“Quickly sit down, what happened?” She looked at Yuan Songzhi with her eyes, as if they were acquainted.

Yuan Songzhi said, “She fell down the slope. Give her a check-up first.”

Hearing this, the female doctor did not dare delay. “Alright, then you stay here and don’t let anyone come in.”

Saying this, she pulled the curtain to examine Su Xiaoyin.

Once Su Xiaoyin’s clothes came off, the marks all over her body were exposed before the doctor’s eyes.

“You… someone bullied you, didn’t they?”

Hearing these words, both inside and outside the curtain, the two of them blushed at the same time.