“Ugh—!”
Qin Yue’e immediately straightened her legs and braced them against the rock face, desperately searching for somewhere to place her feet. Her hands frantically grabbed the vines.
Luckily, the vine tied around her waist stopped her fall. After finally catching hold of some weeds growing from the rocky slope, she managed to stop herself.
She didn’t dare cry out. She forced herself to endure the unbearable pain in silence.
A large patch of skin had been scraped off her palm, and blood soaked into the dry vine.
She couldn’t scream. The children were still up above. If she called out and frightened them, they might panic and get themselves into trouble.
Qin Yue’e looked down.
Her sudden fall had brought her much closer to the stream.
Beside the crystal-clear stream, she spotted several patches of weeds covered with what looked like poultry droppings.
Her eyes lit up.
Sure enough, waterfowl really did gather here!
Holding onto the reeds and weeds along the bank, Qin Yue’e carefully made her way toward the water.
Under a thick patch of reeds was a cluster of soft aquatic grass. Hidden beneath it was a whole nest of wild duck eggs!
She hadn’t come here for nothing after all.
There was no time to celebrate. Qin Yue’e quickly wiped each egg clean and carefully placed them into her pockets.
To keep the eggs from cracking, she had lined her pockets with dry grass.
She continued searching.
Another nest!
And another!
There were so many!
Her pockets were almost full, and Qin Yue’e looked around regretfully.
If only I’d brought the basket down with me!
Before coming here, she had searched several other places but found nothing. That was why she hadn’t bothered bringing the basket this time.
There were only reeds and weeds along the riverbank. She needed something to carry the eggs in.
But that was hardly a problem for Qin Yue’e.
For a rural woman, weaving baskets was practically a basic skill. Almost everyone knew how to do it!
She picked out several long, sturdy reed stalks and pulled off a bunch of leaves.
With a few quick movements of her hands, she soon had a small basket woven together.
She reinforced the bottom with reed stalks, then lined it with reed leaves and dry grass.
She carefully transferred the duck eggs into the basket.
There was still room for another dozen or so.
Qin Yue’e continued searching until she had combed through the entire riverbank.
Only then did she tightly weave a lid for the basket and hang it from her waist.
The wild ducks living around this area were probably in for a disaster.
When they came back, their entire nest had been cleaned out by Qin Yue’e!
But Qin Yue’e couldn’t worry about that.
If she wanted the soldiers to have meat to eat, she had to take advantage of every opportunity.
After finally climbing back up the slope using the vines, Qin Yue’e’s head appeared over the edge.
Two little heads immediately came running toward her.
They stared at her with their big, curious eyes.
“Mommy! Were there little ducklings down there?”
Qin Yue’e reached over and rubbed Xiao Zhuyue’s head.
“Yes! But the little ducklings were guarded by their mother ducks, so they were hard to catch. I brought some duck eggs back instead. When we get home, we’ll hold them up to a light one by one and see which ones can hatch into ducklings!”
She took out two duck eggs and gave one to each child to play with.
Then she placed them both into the basket on her back and started walking toward the military compound.
Xiao Zhuyue stared excitedly at the large duck egg in her hand, completely fascinated.
She couldn’t believe that something so round could actually grow into a little duck.
She excitedly turned to her brother, Xiao Qingfeng.
“Mommy said this can grow into a little duck!”
“Ah-ba, ah-ba—”
Qingfeng clearly had no idea what she was talking about and simply babbled happily.
Qin Yue’e couldn’t help laughing as she carried both children.
She didn’t know whether boys and girls simply developed differently, but Xiao Zhuyue could already talk nonstop like a little debater, while Qingfeng still mostly went “ah-ba, ah-ba.”
He could say “Daddy,” though.
Too bad his useless father had no room in his heart for either of his children!
Thinking about that man made Qin Yue’e angry all over again.
The scraped skin on her palm seemed to hurt even more.
Huo Guangji was practically going crazy searching for Qin Yue’e.
The entire compound wasn’t that big.
Where could that woman possibly have gone?
He knew she wanted nothing to do with him, but surely she couldn’t have taken the money and secretly run away!
That little bit of money wasn’t even enough to cover the trip back to her hometown.
What an idiot!
Liu Shutong came over with several soldiers.
The moment he saw Huo Guangji, he immediately gave him a furious scolding.
“Look at you! You can’t even keep an eye on your own wife! Wasn’t Xiao Qin serving food in the mess hall at noon? How did she and the two children disappear in the blink of an eye? There’s nothing around here except mountains! If something happens to those three, I’ll hold you responsible!”
Huo Guangji pressed his lips tightly together, his back teeth nearly grinding themselves to pieces.
Where could that woman have gone?
Hadn’t she already scolded him at noon?
Why had she taken the children and run off?
Was she still not satisfied?
There were plenty of wild animals in the mountains. A woman carrying two little children could easily run into trouble.
Huo Guangji didn’t dare imagine what could happen.
“Commander, I’ll take First Squad into the mountains to search!”
“Then get going!” Liu Shitong barked through clenched teeth.
“Second Squad, split up with First Squad and search separately! We need to find them alive!”
He didn’t dare say the rest.
In these vast mountains, everyone knew what could happen if a woman disappeared alone.
The soldiers of First Squad quickly assembled.
Just as they reached the entrance of the compound, a disheveled woman suddenly emerged from the small path beside them.
It was Qin Yue’e!
Huo Guangji immediately rushed forward and grabbed her by the hand.
His furious roar was loud enough for everyone in the office to hear.
“Where the hell did you go?! And you took the children with you? Do you have any idea how worried everyone was? We nearly turned the entire place upside down looking for you!”
Qin Yue’e was stunned by his shouting and instinctively tried to pull away.
“Let go of me! You’re hurting me!”
Huo Guangji had grabbed the very hand she had injured.
When he tightened his grip, blood immediately seeped through the cloth wrapped around her wound.
Huo Guangji’s pupils contracted when he saw the blood on her palm.
“That’s what you get for running around recklessly!”
Although his words were harsh, he immediately released her hand.
He then looked into the basket on her back.
Only after confirming that both children were unharmed did he finally relax.
Liu Shitong also hurried over when he saw Qin Yue’e.
“Xiao Qin, where did you go? And you took the children with you… Did Huo Guangji upset you again?”
Only then did Qin Yue’e realize that her sudden disappearance had caused everyone in the unit to panic.
She looked at the soldiers standing behind Liu Shitong.
They were lined up neatly, carrying rifles and torches, clearly prepared to search the mountains.
Her heart softened.
So many people actually cared about her safety.
“Commander Liu, I’m really sorry. I just took the children into the mountains to collect some wild duck eggs. I didn’t realize I’d make everyone worry! I’m completely fine, and I know the way back.”
Qin Yue’e quickly showed them that she wasn’t seriously injured.
Then she opened the little basket and revealed the wild duck eggs she had collected.