There was only one small blue piece of clothing inside the box. Other than that, there were no identifying keepsakes.
Huo Qiang explained that Huo Yuan had indeed not been stolen from anyone. However, he wasn’t their biological son either. They had found him abandoned by the roadside.
At the time, they had been mocked by the villagers because they had never been able to have children. So they simply pretended that Liu Hongxia was pregnant and claimed that Huo Yuan was their biological son to shut everyone up.
As for why they felt guilty, it was because someone had later come looking for the child. Naturally, they couldn’t admit anything, so they simply said they hadn’t seen him and sent the person away.
Qian Xing thought about it briefly before putting the piece of clothing into her treasure realm.
As for this matter, she would leave it to the person involved to deal with.
But her score with the Huo family wasn’t settled yet.
Qian Xing gave a cold smile and entered Huo Qiang and the others’ room once again.
……
Half an hour later.
Liu Hongxia’s eyes widened in terror.
Where was her voice? Why couldn’t she speak?
She desperately tried to make gestures and stop Qian Xing, but it was completely useless.
What frightened her even more was the shouting coming from her son beside her.
“Mom, why has it gotten dark?! Or… have I gone blind?!”
Liu Hongxia turned toward her son.
There was nothing visibly wrong with his eyes, yet he couldn’t see.
How could this be?
She stared at Qian Xing with eyes so wide they looked as though they might pop out of their sockets.
This wasn’t a person.
This was a monster!
Qian Xing looked at her handiwork with satisfaction.
“You talk too much. Now you won’t have to talk anymore. It’ll save you from opening your mouth and ‘taking in’ innocent girls whenever you feel like it.”
“As for your son’s eyes—since all he knows how to do is look at women, he might as well not have them.”
“And your husband… He keeps quiet most of the time, but he certainly has the nerve to make a move.”
“You—you what?! You wicked woman! Give me back my eyes!”
Huo Jianguo screamed desperately, but everything before him remained pitch black.
“Mom, hurry and stop her! I can’t live if I can’t see! How am I supposed to survive like this?!”
“Mom—!”
“Stop yelling. She’s already gone.”
Huo Qiang watched Qian Xing’s retreating figure and couldn’t help hating Liu Hongxia.
If she hadn’t picked up this fool—no, this monster—and brought her home to become their eldest son’s wife just to save some money, they wouldn’t have ended up in this state.
“Wretched woman!”
“It’s okay. Dad, hurry to the kitchen and get the money. We’ll find a doctor to treat us. I don’t believe in some kind of demonic magic. She must have used one of those methods traditional Chinese doctors use. There must be a way to cure it!”
“I can’t move!”
Huo Qiang’s entire body was numb. He couldn’t even figure out what had gone wrong.
At the doorway, Qian Xing poked her head back inside.
“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you something.”
“I took the money from that hole. Don’t bother looking for it.”
The moment she finished speaking, all three of them rolled their eyes back and completely passed out.
Qian Xing’s lips curled upward.
She closed the door and returned to the treasure realm for a good night’s sleep.
The next morning.
Qian Xing brazenly grabbed someone and asked them where the village captain’s house was.
From what he had said last night, he seemed to have been trying to protect her. He didn’t look like a bad person.
Besides, as the person in charge of the whole village, he would definitely know how to get to the Southwest Military District.
……
“You want to go find Huo Yuan?”
Chen Weidong looked at the girl in front of him.
“The Southwest Military District is a long way from here. How are you supposed to find him by yourself?”
“I can.”
You can my ass! You can’t even remember your own name.
Chen Weidong secretly grumbled to himself.
He didn’t call her a fool to her face, but his words clearly carried that meaning.
Qian Xing was just about to explain when Chen Weidong waved his hand.
“Forget it. I’ll take you to the station to buy a ticket. Do you have any money?”
Qian Xing smiled at him.
“Thank you, Captain. I have money.”
“Then let’s go. I’ll write you an introduction letter. But as for your name…”
Chen Weidong hesitated.
He couldn’t very well write “Foolish Girl” on the letter. Maybe he should just make up a name for her.
“Song Qianxing. That’s my name.”
Chen Weidong looked at her in surprise.
“You remembered?”
Qian Xing didn’t know what the original owner’s name had been, so she simply said,
“I chose it myself. I’m not a fool anymore.”
Chen Weidong assumed she had heard someone say the name and was simply going along with it. He nodded perfunctorily.
“Then what about your luggage…?”
Qian Xing shook the suitcase in her hand.
She had taken one clean coat from Liu Hongxia. As for the rest, she had packed the medicine box she always carried whenever she traveled—
although at the moment, it only contained a single set of silver needles.
After writing the introduction letter, he took Qian Xing to the county town by bus.
Along the way, Qian Xing tried several times to tell Chen Weidong that she wasn’t a fool.
Chen Weidong then looked at her with some surprise.
“Okay, then tell me how much this is.”
He held out a handful of paper bills and coins.
Qian Xing: “…”
I don’t recognize the characters on this paper—the numbers!
Forget it.
She’d better keep her mouth shut.
Chen Weidong sighed and glanced at the girl beside him.
Although this foolish girl really was a little slow, at least she wasn’t noisy or troublesome. Perhaps she was only a little less intelligent than ordinary people. Maybe she could still be taught.
He wasn’t sure whether she could remember any of it, but he nevertheless told her everything he knew about the current situation outside, including the various rules and taboos, reminding her not to make any mistakes.
Thanks to him, Qian Xing finally gained a basic understanding of this place.
Sure enough, every place had its own difficulties.
Two hours later, they arrived in the county town.
Chen Weidong handed the introduction letter to the ticket seller and helped her buy a ticket to Yunan.
They had arrived at just the right time.
The only train running that day was about to depart.
He patiently explained how she should board the train and told her to look for the conductor if she encountered any problems.
Qian Xing looked at the stationary train and found herself rather fond of this place.
A destination thousands of miles away could actually be reached in just a few days.
In Great Xia, she would have had to walk for several months to cover the same distance.
How convenient!
“All right, I’m leaving first. I need to head back too. If I’m late, there won’t be any transportation.”
Qian Xing nodded and handed him a banknote.
“Here, use this for your ride. Thank you for helping me buy the ticket.”
Seeing the large-denomination banknote, Chen Weidong immediately waved his hands.
“No, no. Don’t give me this. The fare isn’t that expensive.”
Qian Xing forcibly shoved it into his hands, then quickly turned around and boarded the train.
She even waved at him from the doorway.
Chen Weidong watched as the train slowly began moving.
He was both amused and touched.
Who said fools didn’t understand kindness?
After thinking for a moment, he took the money and found a place with a public telephone.
Then he dialed a string of numbers he had memorized but had never actually called before.
“Hello, Southwest Military District…”
Chen Weidong couldn’t help straightening up.
“Hello, Comrade. I’m looking for Huo Yuan, from the Ninth Battalion—”
The communications officer on the other end, Zhao Jianshu, widened his eyes when he heard the name.
This was the first time anyone had ever called looking for Battalion Commander Huo.
He immediately said,
“I know who you mean, but he’s currently out on a mission. Is there something you need?”
“He’s out on a mission?”
Chen Weidong became anxious.
“Then when will he be back? His wife has come to join him in the army.”
Zhao Jianshu was stunned.
“Who did you say?! Huo Yuan? He has a wife?!”
“Yes. He just got married a few days ago.”
Chen Weidong hurriedly continued,
“Comrade, if he hasn’t returned yet, could you send someone to the train station to pick her up?”
“The thing is, her name is Song Qianxing. Her mind is a little…”