Chapter 50: Cold Winds and Rambling Thoughts

The decision not to leave wasn’t just because they truly couldn’t make the journey—the most important reason was that the family simply didn’t have much money left.

Over the past few days, Qing-niang had fallen ill, and Yanxin had been running around nonstop—bringing back meat, medicine, and even buying an ox.

Though she didn’t doubt his abilities, judging by the situation now, it looked like their savings were nearly depleted.

If the two of them tagged along, what would happen if they got hungry on the road? Would Yanxin just ignore them? Most likely, he’d end up rationing food to share with them.

In the end, they didn’t have many days left to live. Better not to drag the young ones down with them.

Let the eldest and third son’s families go with them—they were still young.

Even if they ran out of food on the road, they could chew on tree bark and still make it out. With strong limbs and good health, it would be much easier to survive out there.

“Give two more taels of silver to Dalang from that five-tael portion,” Granny Ge said with difficulty, making this hard decision—after all, all her children were like pieces of her flesh.

Sanlang had the Qi family behind him, while the house that was allocated to the eldest wouldn’t be of much use once they left—it couldn’t be taken with them anyway.

A mother worries endlessly when her children travel far. She wished she could prepare everything perfectly for them.

But when she thought of her second son, the pain, anger, and anxiety flared up again.

What pained and angered her was how he had quarreled alongside his wife today—showing no regard for his elder brother, and not much respect for his own parents either.

What worried her was the future of his family. War was about to break out, and yet they were still going to town to buy a house?

Granny Ge couldn’t help but wipe away tears again.

“I’ll go after Erlang.”

What use was buying a house now? They were still his parents—how could they just watch their child walk toward disaster?

And Wu Daye still held out hope for their second son. If he knew chaos was coming to Qizhou and that fleeing was necessary, maybe he’d give a portion of that silver to his eldest brother?

Even if they couldn’t go with the He family, as long as he was willing to share, once everything settled down and they came back, the house could still be lived in by Erlang’s family.

“Go then.”

Granny Ge agreed, and Wu Daye rushed toward the town in haste.

---

Meanwhile, Song Yeqing had returned home. She brought the solar-charged lamp from outside and hung it on the wall in the main room. Then she lit the stove to heat water for washing.

With light, everything became easier at night.

The windows were covered with old bedsheets by the couple, so the unique white light wouldn’t leak out.

She had sternly instructed the two boys not to talk about anything happening at home.

The main concern was the elder boy—he was at a stage where language development was active and he had an overwhelming desire to share things.

Even if the younger one occasionally blurted out a word or two, people would likely dismiss it as childish nonsense.

As for whether the boys would grow up curious about the strange modern items she used or the oddities in their home—

Even if they got suspicious, there was nothing to be done.

They were a family now, a unit. It wasn’t realistic to hide everything from the kids.

Still, once they were older, she wouldn’t be able to be so flamboyant anymore.

For now, let the children believe their mother was some kind of magical woman who could pull anything out of thin air.

---

The cold wind cut through like a blade. Song Yeqing stood under the eaves, gazing at the sky.

The moonlight was soft and clear, stars shining brightly.

She pulled her thick, ancient-style gray cotton coat tighter around herself. She couldn’t stand the cold any longer and went back inside, leaving a small crack in the door and window to keep some air flowing, while she sat by the fire again.

She wondered how things were going on He Yanxin’s side. Was everything proceeding smoothly?

---

Over there, He Yanxin was hiding on a flat patch of land within the mountain forest. Two oxen were tied up nearby.

This was a hiding spot he had scouted before entering the village. He hadn’t brought the carrying basket—it was hidden here.

He rubbed his hands and stomped his feet to keep warm, occasionally pulling out the pre-set tablet to check the time.

Wild animals usually feared humans, so there weren’t any large predators in the mountains near the village. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared stay in such a remote area.

He had made the ox cart purchase just after dark—exchanging money and goods inside the village and immediately driving the cart out. The total cost for the two oxen and carts was thirty-two taels.

One was a simple ox cart with a makeshift carriage, and the other was a flatbed wagon for transporting goods. The flatbed was loaded with hay from the sellers.

After unloading the carts and hiding them by the roadside, he drove the oxen to a more concealed spot further up the main road.

All that maneuvering had worn him out.

He was especially worried someone traveling at night might spot the carts and take them. If they vanished, he’d have nowhere to turn, and the whole plan would be ruined.

“This weather is freezing. Hey, Brother Ox—you two cold? Of course you are. But just bear with it! I can’t exactly start a fire here, can I?”

Even alone, He Yanxin couldn’t sit still. He kept rambling aloud.

“Let me check the time again,” he said, pulling out the tablet.

“Oh, only 9:30… still a long wait. Hey, how about you two go for a jog to warm up?”

He paused for a few seconds and muttered, “Wait, no… if you run off, what am I supposed to do?”

It was his first time herding oxen—he had worked really hard just to manage this much.

The two oxen let out a few low “moo”s in response, which could be counted as a reply.

But He Yanxin was dissatisfied. “Don’t moo! What if someone hears and comes looking?”

If the oxen could talk, they probably would’ve already shouted, “Master, please stop talking!”

Was this guy mentally okay? He kept asking the oxen questions but didn’t want them to respond.

The oxen couldn’t run, but He Yanxin couldn’t sit still anymore. He started jogging in place to warm up.

The mountain air was truly frigid—even wearing a thick cotton coat couldn’t keep out the biting wind.

And he had to endure this cold for another hour and a half.

His plan was to act at 11:00. If anything happened in the village right after he left, it would be obvious he was behind it.

Once he had warmed up, He Yanxin started rambling again.

“Brother Ox, do you think I’ll ever get to go back? Ha… My body is probably in a little box right now.”

“No no, let’s not say unlucky things. I’m alive and well now.”

“I wonder how my parents are… and my brother. Sure, he annoyed me a lot, but now that I think I might never see him again, I feel really sad.”

After a long pause, he continued, “I think Song Yeqing is a really strange person… and she’s making me act strange too.”

“Sigh… I’m telling you guys this, but you better not repeat it, okay? Got it?”

“Ugh… Block the wind for me, will you, Brother Ox?”

…

The two oxen listened to his endless muttering, their tails swishing rapidly behind them.

If they could become sentient, they’d probably drop to their knees and shout, “Master, please stop!”

And just like that, He Yanxin passed a long hour and a half by talking to two oxen.

(Author’s note: I think it was probably the oxen who thought this wait was long.)

“Stay here and wait for me, okay? Don’t go wandering off.”

After giving instructions to the oxen, He Yanxin entered a side path into the forest. He walked for over ten minutes before finding a clearing suitable for launching the drone.

The clearing was just above the village where he had bought the oxen. The location was not too close or too far—perfect for controlling the drone and making a swift escape.

There was no artificial light, only faint moonlight, which made flying the drone more difficult.

He Yanxin carefully operated the controller, his eyes fixed on the indicator light on the drone.

So far, everything was going smoothly.

The drone hovered steadily about a hundred meters above the village.

It had begun!

He pulled out the tablet and played the pre-recorded audio.

At 11:00 p.m., in the silence of the night, with everyone deeply asleep—

A strange sound suddenly echoed from the sky, startling those who were light sleepers.

As they slowly recovered from the shock, they began to understand the message—and became even more terrified, hurriedly waking their family members.

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(flying a drone at night without light—I’ve never tried it myself. Actually, the author is too broke to even own a drone, haha. So, is it possible? If the author says the male lead can do it, then he can. If not, just ignore the plot hole!)

(End of chapter)