“Mm—!”
Qin Yu’e immediately stretched her feet straight and kicked hard against the rocky wall, searching frantically for somewhere to brace herself while blindly grabbing onto the vines nearby.
Thankfully, the vine rope tied around her waist stopped her fall. After struggling for a long while, she finally managed to halt herself by clutching at the weeds growing along the slope.
She didn’t dare cry out. Instead, she forcefully swallowed the intense pain.
A large patch of skin had been scraped off her palm, blood soaking into the dry vines.
She couldn’t scream—the children were still above her. If she made a sound and frightened them, something could easily happen.
Lowering her head to look down, she realized the fall had brought her quite close to the stream below.
Beside the crystal-clear brook, scattered among the thick weeds, were bits of poultry droppings.
Qin Yu’e’s heart leapt with joy.
Sure enough, waterfowl gathered here.
Holding onto reeds and weeds along the bank, she carefully made her way toward the water’s edge. Beneath the reed beds was a patch of soft aquatic grass, and hidden within it lay a nest of wild duck eggs!
As expected—she hadn’t come here for nothing.
There was no time to celebrate. Qin Yu’e quickly wiped each duck egg clean and carefully tucked them into her pocket one by one.
To keep them from cracking, she even lined her pockets with dry grass.
Then she continued searching forward—and found another nest!
So many!
Her pockets were already close to bursting. Looking around, she suddenly regretted not bringing her basket down with her.
Before climbing down, she’d already searched several other places and found nothing, which was why she hadn’t bothered bringing the basket this time.
But this riverbank only had weeds and reeds. She needed something to carry the eggs.
Fortunately, this wasn’t difficult for Qin Yu’e.
For rural women, weaving baskets was such an ordinary skill that practically everyone knew how to do it!
She casually selected several long, sturdy reed stalks and gathered a bunch of leaves. Her fingers moved deftly, and before long she had quickly woven a small basket.
The bottom was reinforced with reed stalks, while the inside was lined with reed leaves and dry grass.
She transferred the duck eggs into the basket one by one. It looked like it could still hold another dozen or so.
Qin Yu’e continued searching along the riverbank until she’d checked the entire shore. Only then did she tightly weave a lid onto the basket and hang it at her waist.
The wild ducks living in this area were probably going to feel like the sky had fallen when they returned home—Qin Yu’e had practically cleaned out all their nests!
But for the sake of getting some meat to eat, Qin Yu’e couldn’t worry about that now.
After great difficulty, she finally climbed back up the slope using the vines. The moment her head appeared over the edge, two little heads immediately popped forward to meet her.
Wide eyes stared at her eagerly.
“Mom! Were there baby ducks down there?”
Qin Yu’e reached out and rubbed Zhu Yue’s little head, nodding.
“There were! But the little ducks are protected by the big ducks, so they’re hard to catch. I brought back duck eggs though. When we get back, we’ll hold them up to the light one by one and see if any can hatch into ducklings!”
She took out two duck eggs and gave one to each child to hold and play with. Only then did she settle them into the carrying basket on her back and head toward the camp.
Zhu Yue’s eyes widened excitedly as she stared lovingly at the large duck egg in her hands. Thinking that this round little thing could someday grow into a baby duck made her incredibly excited.
Turning to Xiao Qingfeng, she happily said,
“Mom said this can grow into little duckies!”
“Ababa ababa—”
Qingfeng probably still didn’t understand what she was saying and simply giggled foolishly.
Even Qin Yu’e, carrying both of them on her back, couldn’t help laughing.
She wondered if boys and girls simply developed differently. Zhu Yue’s little mouth was already sharp enough to debate anyone, while Qingfeng still only babbled “ababa.”
Though he did know how to call someone “Daddy.”
Too bad that scumbag father didn’t have the children in his heart at all.
The moment she thought of that man, anger rose in Qin Yu’e’s chest again, and the scraped flesh on her palm suddenly felt even more painful.
Back at the company camp—
Huo Guangji was practically going mad searching for her.
The camp wasn’t that big. Where could that woman possibly hide?
He knew she desperately wanted to draw a clear line between them, but she couldn’t possibly have taken the money and secretly run away, could she?!
That little bit of money wasn’t even enough for travel expenses back to her hometown.
Stupid woman!
Liu Shutong arrived with several men and immediately began scolding Huo Guangji the moment he saw him.
“Look at you! You can’t even keep an eye on one woman! Wasn’t Xiao Qin serving food perfectly fine at noon? How did she disappear in the blink of an eye with both children too? Outside these mountains are nothing but more mountains! If anything happens to that mother and her children, I’ll hold you responsible!”
Huo Guangji pressed his lips tightly together, nearly grinding his back teeth to pieces.
Where exactly could that woman have run off to?
Hadn’t she already cursed him out at noon? Why was she still running away with the children? Was she still not satisfied?
There were plenty of wild animals in the mountains. A woman carrying two babies—if something happened…
Huo Guangji didn’t dare continue the thought.
“Commander, I’ll take First Squad into the mountains to search!”
“Then hurry up!” Liu Shutong barked through clenched teeth. “Second Squad! Split up with First Squad! Find them alive!”
He didn’t dare say the second half aloud.
In these endless mountains, anyone could imagine what might happen if a lone woman disappeared.
The soldiers of First Squad quickly assembled. Just as they reached the camp entrance, a bedraggled woman suddenly burst out from the side path.
Who else could it be but Qin Yu’e?
Huo Guangji lunged forward in one stride and grabbed her hand.
His furious roar was loud enough to be heard all the way from the company office:
“Where the hell did you go?! And you even took the children?! Do you know the whole company has been tearing the place apart looking for you?!”
Qin Yu’e was stunned by his shouting and instinctively struggled.
“Let go of me! It hurts!”
The hand Huo Guangji had grabbed happened to be her injured one. With that forceful grip, blood immediately seeped through the cloth strips wrapped around her wound.
The moment he saw the bloodstains on her palm, Huo Guangji’s pupils shrank.
“You ran around recklessly—getting hurt serves you right!”
Although he said that, he still released her hand.
He glanced at the basket on her back again, confirming both children were unharmed. Only then did he finally relax slightly.
Seeing Qin Yu’e safe, Liu Shutong also hurried over.
“Xiao Qin, where exactly did you go? And with the children too… Did Huo Guangji upset you again?”
Only then did Qin Yu’e realize her sudden disappearance must have frightened everyone in the company.
Looking at the orderly rows of soldiers behind Liu Shutong, carrying rifles and torches, her heart softened.
So many people had been worried about her safety.
“Commander Liu, I’m really sorry. I just took the children into the mountains to gather some wild duck eggs. I didn’t expect everyone to worry so much! I’m perfectly fine, and I knew the way back!”
Qin Yu’e quickly showed that she wasn’t injured anywhere else, then pulled out the basket full of wild duck eggs.