Su Qiao returned to the edge of the pit, leaned over her previous spot, and peered into the narrow, dark pit below, just wide enough for one person.
Even though it was still morning, the light down there was very dim, and with Xiao Qifeng’s body blocking part of the view from above, she could hardly see the bottom at all.
But the child’s sobbing from below grew increasingly distinct.
The sound was low, muffled, broken, almost as if something was covering her mouth.
Her eyes immediately welled up again, and she shouted down loudly, “Xiao Lan, don’t be afraid! An uncle from the army is coming down to rescue you!”
Hearing her voice, the sobbing grew even louder.
The pit wasn’t very deep, and Xiao Qifeng soon reached the bottom.
He first untied the rope binding the little girl’s hands, then took off his jacket, bent down, and wrapped her entire body, including her head and face, inside. Holding her with one arm, he slowly climbed back up, his other hand gripping the stone wall.
When he reached near the top, Xiao Qifeng handed the child up.
Su Qiao quickly caught her and moved into the shade, pulling open the clothing to reveal her face, and indeed, it was her long-lost little sister, Su Lan!
“Xiao Lan!” Su Qiao could no longer hold back. She hugged her sister tightly and cried out.
She had dreamed of this moment countless times.
She had dreamt over and over of finding her sister, holding her in her arms, but each time she woke up, realizing it had all been an illusion.
This time, it felt so real.
She could feel the warm little body of her sister in her arms. She hugged her tightly, burying her face in the top of her sister’s head, not even daring to open her eyes, afraid that it might be another dream.
“I’m scared, sister! I’m scared!”
Xiao Lan, terrified and anxious all morning, immediately burst into tears the moment she saw her sister.
She clutched Su Qiao’s clothes tightly, held onto her, and shook violently as she cried, her small body trembling in Su Qiao’s arms.
When Xiao Qifeng climbed out of the pit, he saw the two girls clinging to each other, crying together as one.
Watching Su Qiao, her eyes and nose red from crying, her face streaked with tears, Xiao Qifeng felt a brief moment of disbelief.
He found it hard to connect this image with the fierce, quick, and capable girl he had seen earlier.
He pressed his lips together and stared at the two girls for a long while, feeling that this tearful, vulnerable Su Qiao was the version he remembered, more like the real her.
As the crying subsided and they had vented most of their emotions, Xiao Qifeng stepped forward and helped Su Qiao, still sitting on the ground, to her feet. “Come on, Xiao Lan has some scrapes on her legs; we need to go back and take care of them.”
“Oh, right,” Su Qiao said, suddenly remembering there was someone else there.
She hurriedly wiped the tears from her face, unwrapped the military jacket from around her sister, and handed it back, then gave her a careful once-over.
Although it was only May, the weather was already getting warm.
Xiao Lan was wearing just a single layer of pants and a top.
Before she even looked at her sister’s legs, Su Qiao noticed the marks on her wrists and the hemp rope tied around her waist.
One end of the rope had a fresh cut mark, clearly made with a knife, while the section around Xiao Lan’s waist was worn smooth from frequent use.
It was obvious it had been used regularly.
Su Qiao’s eyes blurred again for a moment.
She blinked hard, lifted the little top covering her sister, and saw the bruises along her stomach and waist where the rope had dug in.
“Xiao Lan, how did this happen?”
Su Qiao gently ran one hand over the bruises while gripping the rope tightly with the other. Yet, to avoid frightening her sister, her tone was incredibly soft.
“Xiao Zhuang tied me up. I didn’t want to go, so he pulled really hard… really hard…” Xiao Lan sobbed, demonstrating with her little hands as she spoke.
Although so young, she had perfectly mimicked Li Zhuang’s impatient expression, making Su Qiao grit her teeth in anger.
Xiao Lan’s pants had a large tear from scraping against the stone wall, revealing a big scrape on her knee.
Fortunately, although the scrape was extensive, it wasn’t very deep, which allowed Su Qiao to feel just a little relief.
At that moment, she remembered Xiao Qifeng standing beside her.
Su Qiao turned and looked at him gratefully. “Thank you…”
“Xiao Qifeng.”
Before she could finish, Xiao Qifeng spoke first. “Stop calling me ‘Comrade of the People’s Liberation Army.’ Saying that makes me really want to answer, ‘Serve the people!'”
His words left Su Qiao momentarily stunned, and then she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Thank you, Comrade Xiao Qifeng.” She reached out her hand and said sincerely, looking at him.
But Xiao Qifeng was clearly not satisfied with her gesture.
He didn’t take her hand; instead, he bent down and lifted Xiao Lan into his arms.
Once he straightened up, he asked reluctantly, “You really don’t remember me at all?”
A flicker of surprise crossed Su Qiao’s eyes.
She withdrew her hand and carefully studied the man in front of her.
She wanted to shake her head, but the hopeful look in his eyes made her feel awkward.
Looking at her sister in his arms, Su Qiao hesitated and said, “A little… familiar?”
Xiao Qifeng took a deep breath and then turned his head to the side.
He glanced up at the blazing sun, chuckled lightly, and then proactively changed the subject. “Let’s head down the mountain soon, the sun’s too hot.”
Su Qiao felt a little embarrassed.
She wanted to ask more, but Xiao Qifeng clearly didn’t want to continue. She tried a few times, but he kept steering the conversation elsewhere.
The two of them walked down the mountain together. Because she was walking slowly, Xiao Qifeng carried Xiao Lan, with Su Qiao following closely behind.
Her attention was entirely on her sister, so she didn’t notice anything unusual until they reached a steep slope that required jumping down from a large rock.
“Your leg… what happened?” she asked, noticing his slightly limping right leg.
“I got injured before; the bone just healed,” Xiao Qifeng replied lightly.
That reminded Su Qiao of what her cousin Su Xiaona had said.
She had mentioned that this man had come down from the battlefield, injured his leg in combat, and the injury was severe enough to cause a disability.
So, even though he didn’t limp visibly, his leg had really been hurt!
But this man had just jumped several meters down into a pit, rescued her sister, and then carried her all the way back.
A surge of intense guilt and unease immediately rose in Su Qiao’s heart.
Xiao Qifeng noticed her guilt and unease, but he wasn’t fond of hearing words of thanks.
“Hold Xiao Lan for me; when I get down, you hand her to me,” he said first, before Su Qiao could speak.
“I’ll go down first… your leg—”
“Not crippled yet.”
“…”
When the two of them, holding Xiao Lan, reached the foot of the mountain, they hadn’t even entered the courtyard before seeing a group of people standing there.
Among them were Su Sanmei and her son Li Zhuang, the village secretary Jin Guiyou, and their uncle Su Changfu.
Seeing the three of them, Su Sanmei was the first to step forward.
“Xiao Lan’s found? Where did she run off to play? Good grief, this child gets more and more reckless as she grows up, staying home would be best, but she runs around everywhere. Look at how she scared the adults! Your uncle and the others in the village were still searching all over for her!”
As she spoke, she reached out to take Xiao Lan from Su Qiao’s arms.
But Xiao Lan clung tightly around her sister’s neck, refusing to let go.
Su Qiao sidestepped, avoiding Su Sanmei’s hand, and her gaze added a trace of mockery.
What is she doing? Spouting nonsense and shirking responsibility? Acting as if everyone else is blind!
Su Qiao ignored her, walking straight past and approaching the village secretary Jin Guiyou.
“Uncle Jin, Xiao Lan was hidden by traffickers in a stone pit on the back mountain. They tied her hands and gagged her. It was Comrade Xiao who discovered her and went down into the pit to carry her out. That pit is four or five meters deep, if it weren’t for Comrade Xiao, I probably still wouldn’t have found my sister.”
At this, she turned to Su Sanmei. “Aunt, I didn’t understand what you just said. You’re not trying to claim that Xiao Lan ran up the mountain herself, tied her own hands, gagged herself, and jumped into the pit, are you?”
That remark immediately left Su Sanmei speechless.
The back mountain was dangerous. Not even an adult could easily go up there, let alone three-year-old Xiao Lan. How could she possibly have climbed that high?
There was no doubt, she had been carried up by someone.
Hearing Su Qiao’s words, Jin Guiyou couldn’t help but glance sharply at Su Sanmei, his eyes piercing.
Su Sanmei’s heart skipped a beat, and she immediately ducked behind her eldest brother, Su Changfu.
Even so, she didn’t forget to defend herself: “That doesn’t mean traffickers took her, right? Maybe someone was just playing with her. We’ve all lived in this village for years, who’s ever heard of traffickers showing up? Xiao Qiao, don’t go scaring people with nonsense!”
“Aunt, then who do you say was playing with her? Who in this village would dare joke like that? And I also want to ask, what’s with this rope on Xiao Lan? Did she tie it herself?”
Su Qiao said this as she put her sister down, and only then did everyone notice that besides the marks on her body and hands, a length of roughly finger-thick rope, cut at one end, was still wrapped around her waist.
The village chief, Jin Guiyou, immediately looked grim.
He stepped forward and bent down to examine the rope carefully.
Without a word, Su Qiao walked to the base of a tree, picked up the other piece that had been left there, and handed it to him.
At the same time, she lifted the hem of her sister’s clothing, pointing to the bruises: “Li Zhuang himself told me that whenever no one was home, Xiao Lan would be tied to the tree by my aunt and the others.
Uncle Jin, Xiao Lan is only three. Even if there weren’t traffickers, what if some other danger had come? If anything had happened, who would be responsible?”
Her eyes were already wet as she lifted her sister’s clothing.
Hearing this, she was immediately reminded of her previous life and the sister she had never been able to find.
A blazing fury erupted in her heart, and her anger flushed her cheeks!
She stepped forward toward Su Sanmei, locking eyes with her and demanding: “Aunt, when you agreed to take care of Xiao Lan, how exactly did you guarantee her safety? You promised me with your hand on your chest that you would treat her well, even better than your own son. And this is your idea of ‘good care’? When Li Zhuang was little, did you tie him to a tree like a dog too?!”
Her gaze was sharp, her tone not overtly fierce but piercingly forceful.
Her whole presence radiated an aura that dared no one to underestimate.
Although she was the elder, Su Sanmei couldn’t help but shrink back under Su Qiao’s questioning. She didn’t dare meet her eyes, and her gaze began to flit nervously.
To anyone watching, that alone revealed her guilt.