After taking a bite, Tang Jiao held the pear up to Gu Yu’s mouth, urging him to eat some as well. He refused.
“I already ate on the way back,” he said. “I picked these especially for you two. Besides, pears aren’t meant to be split anyway.”
Tang Jiao hesitated. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t care about something like that. But now, she paused, then decided not to insist. The pear wasn’t very big to begin with, and she finished it in just a few bites.
As she ate, she listened while Gu Yu told her about what he had discovered that day.
“I found a really good cave,” Gu Yu said. “There’s a water source not far from it, and the entrance faces the sun. I went inside and checked—it’s big enough for us to live in. It’s a bit elevated from the ground, but that actually makes it safer. It’s a little far from here, though. If we leave soon and hurry, we should be able to reach it before nightfall.
“I also ran into several pear trees along the way—this same kind. The fruit isn’t big and doesn’t look great, but you’ve tasted it. It’s good, and the skin is thick, so it should keep for quite a while.
“There should be other fruit trees nearby too. I was in a hurry today and didn’t have time to look closely, but from a distance I saw a tree covered in orange-red fruit. It was probably persimmons. Once we’re settled, we can go back and check.
“I saw a lot of wild vegetables along the way as well. Looks like you dug up plenty today. Later, we can harvest more and dry them—they’ll count as food too.”
As Gu Yu spoke, he continued packing. Once Tang Jiao finished eating, she quickly went to help.
When she heard that he had actually gone inside the cave, she was startled. She grabbed him and patted him up and down anxiously.
“How could you just go in without knowing what kind of cave it was? What if there were dangerous animals inside? You wouldn’t even have time to run!”
Gu Yu laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not that reckless. I threw stones inside first. When there was no reaction, I lit some wood and grass and tossed that in too. Nothing happened for a long time, so only then did I dare go in.”
Hearing that, Tang Jiao finally let out a big sigh of relief. She shot him a glare and snorted. “Hmph! You think you’re so clever.”
Gu Yu didn’t argue with her. He knew she was worried about him, so he just smiled and kept packing.
They couldn’t carry too much this time. If they overloaded themselves, it would slow them down, and they wouldn’t make it before dark. Spending the night in an unfamiliar place was far too dangerous.
In the end, each of them carried one large backpack. Inside were thin quilts, thick clothes, electronic devices, food for the next two days, water bottles, a camping lantern, a night light, knives, lighters—everything essential or hard to replace in this situation.
Tang Jiao found masks, hats, and gloves and bundled both herself and An’an up thoroughly. Anything that fit went into the packs; whatever didn’t was hung on their bodies, with the last few items carried in hand.
Gu Yu also found a sturdy stick, sharpened one end, smoothed it carefully, and handed it to Tang Jiao to use as a walking stick—and, if needed, a weapon. He found a smaller one for An’an as well.
Some of their remaining supplies were stored inside the current cave and the entrance blocked. The rest were still covered with grass mats and weighted down with stones where they were, to be moved little by little once the new cave was set up.
The two little animals were placed together in a small cage, which An’an carried. An’an himself was strapped to Gu Yu’s back, while Gu Yu wore his backpack across his chest.
Once everything was ready, they set off.
Gu Yu walked in front to lead the way, glancing back from time to time to remind Tang Jiao to watch her footing.
It had rained just the day before, and the ground was still slick wherever the vegetation was dense. Only areas with more exposed rocks and fewer plants were easy to walk through.
They still had a long way to go—over one mountain, through a stretch of forest, then halfway up another slope, and finally around part of a sheer rock face before they could reach their destination.
It was already past one in the afternoon. The day before, it had grown dark before six o’clock, and traveling together was much slower than when Gu Yu had been alone. They had to hurry.
Fortunately, Gu Yu had left clear markers along the way that morning, so finding the route wasn’t difficult. Their progress was fairly smooth at first.
After about an hour of walking, they still hadn’t reached the summit, but Tang Jiao was already completely exhausted. She was gasping for air, her lungs burning as if they were about to burst, barely able to speak.
She wasn’t carrying anything heavy, and An’an had been on Gu Yu’s back the entire time. But after years of office work and little exercise, this hour-long climb had pushed her to her absolute limit.
Gu Yu had wanted to stop and rest half an hour earlier, but Tang Jiao had forced herself to keep going, worried they wouldn’t reach the cave before nightfall. Now, though, she truly couldn’t continue.
They stopped on a relatively flat boulder, and Tang Jiao collapsed onto it the moment they arrived. Gu Yu hurriedly took out a water bottle and offered it to her. She didn’t even have the strength to wave him off or speak, just lay there motionless. Gu Yu lifted her upper body and fed her a few mouthfuls of water, then gave An’an some as well, before kneading Tang Jiao’s legs.
An’an leaned over and planted several kisses on her face.
“Mommy, kisses give you strength!” he said earnestly, then tried to imitate his father by helping massage her legs.
After a full ten minutes of rest, Tang Jiao finally felt like she’d caught her breath and come back to life. She wanted nothing more than to stay sprawled there, but she knew that wasn’t an option. If she rested any longer, she feared she truly wouldn’t be able to stand again.
Bracing herself, she forced her way up. “I’m fine now. Let’s keep going.”
Gu Yu and An’an both looked at her with concern.
“Are you sure you can manage? We can rest a bit longer.”
“No,” Tang Jiao insisted. “If we rest again, I really won’t want to walk anymore.”
They set off once more. Aside from An’an, none of them had the energy to pay attention to the scenery. Gu Yu barely spared any attention beyond keeping alert for potential danger.
In truth, Gu Yu was even more exhausted. He had been on his feet almost nonstop since morning. But he was used to physical labor, and as the man of the family, he felt he had to shoulder more. So he pushed himself without complaint.
They walked and rested intermittently, stopping for a while where Gu Yu had mentioned several pear trees. They picked enough pears to last them a couple of days before continuing on.
Thankfully, they finally reached the base of the cave Gu Yu had described—just before nightfall.
By then, all three of them, even An’an, looked utterly bedraggled.
There was no real path along the way. When Gu Yu had come through earlier, he had only cleared the most obstructive branches to save time, which meant the route was barely passable at best.
The entire journey had been filled with branches, thorny vines, and dense weeds, scraping and snagging at them as they went. Combined with the slick, muddy ground, even in full protective gear they’d still picked up countless small cuts. Their clothes were torn in several places and filthy beyond recognition.
Still, they had arrived safely and on time—and that made everything worth it.
Tang Jiao collapsed onto the grass at the foot of the cave and tilted her head back, studying their new shelter.