An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

Xia Qingyue put the hay in a pile, spread dry firewood on top, took out a flint from her body, and lit the hay.

The fire slowly grew bigger.

With the light of the fire, Xia Qingyue returned to the outside of the cave to check whether he could see the fire inside and whether there were any traces left.

After confirming that everything was OK, she ran back and took out some things from the backpack she brought, including herbal food and water.

"Uncle, are you and aunt injured? If so, treat the wound first."

Li Benfu, who was holding his wife, collapsed on the ground. He came to his senses after hearing the sound and raised his head, "Qingyue, Yuzhen was beaten by them. She has wounds on her body that have not been treated. She is very burned now."

"Let me see." Xia Qingyue touched Chen Yuzhen's forehead, which was very hot. She lowered her eyes and caught a glimpse of the other person's slightly open collar, with numerous scars underneath.

The fever is caused by wound inflammation and must be treated as soon as possible.

"Uncle, these are herbs that stop bleeding and reduce inflammation. Crush them and apply them on Auntie's body. Also apply them on your own wounds. I'll make some medicine for you to drink."

She gave Li Benfu some Lobelia scabra, which she had picked on the road in the evening.

The pot used to boil the medicine was a clay pot filled with water. She opened the lid and saw that most of the water had leaked out.

Fortunately, there was water in the three bamboo cups she brought. Although some of it spilled, there was still some left. She poured half of it into the pot and gave the rest to Li Benfu and his wife to drink.

Find a few large stones and put them together to form a triangle, put the pot on top and burn fire underneath.

Dried herbs for reducing inflammation and fever were thrown into the pot to cook. She took out from her backpack twelve purslane steamed buns wrapped in large leaves and four white flour steamed buns that had been made a few hours ago.

All the white flour steamed bread was eaten by Heihei.

Li Benfu and his wife took off their clothes and applied medicine. Xia Qingyue turned her back to them and wolfed down four steamed buns and drank a little water to quench her thirst.

After all this trouble, I’m hungry and thirsty. If I don’t eat something, I’ll have hypoglycemia.

After eating, Xia Qingyue regained her energy and looked at the cooking medicine.

There were eight purslane steamed buns among the large leaves, which were left for Li Benfu and his wife.

After a while, Li Benfu's grateful voice came from behind, "Qingyue, our wounds have been treated, thanks to you!

How did you get there? Those people were looking for you. They tied us up there to catch you!"

Thinking back to what had just happened, Li Benfu's heart was pounding and he was filled with fear.

If they implicate Xia Qingyue, they will never be able to forgive themselves in this life, and would rather die than not do their best to protect her.

Li Benfu was lost in thought, his nostrils trembling as he smelled the aroma of food. When he came to his senses, he looked up and saw Xia Qingyue standing in front of him with a steamed bun in his hand.

"Uncle, eat something and drink some water. You need to get well before you can take care of Aunt."

When she got closer, Xia Qingyue could see Li Benfu's appearance clearly.

His hair was messier than a chicken coop, greasy and tied into clumps. He had white hair on his temples. His face was dirty, with several wounds on it, and his skin was turned inside out. His beard was untidy, and his haggardness was visibly evident.

His clothes were torn beyond recognition, and his body was covered with red and purple scars under the holes, and he exuded a foul odor.

Chen Yuzhen's condition was similar to his, but her injuries were much more serious.

Li Benfu grabbed the steamed bread and started eating it in big mouthfuls. As he ate, two lines of hot tears shed and a choking sound came from his throat.

After he finished eating, Xia Qingyue asked, "Uncle, what happened to you?"

Li Benfu told the story truthfully from beginning to end:

"That night at the end of May, something unexpected happened in the cave. Tan Xiaozhu and the bandits put drugs in our food, knocked us out, and took us back to the village.

I had a stomachache that day and ate less. I fainted for a while and then woke up. I wanted to rescue my family, but I was found and knocked unconscious by them.

When we arrived at the village, they locked my family and the Zhu family in a dungeon and made us live together without food or water for two days.

On the third day, Tan Xiaozhu showed up and asked us about you and your whereabouts.

After asking several times, Tan Xiaozhu did not get a satisfactory answer, so he began to torture and interrogate me. He first attacked my parents and my father-in-law and mother-in-law, and then the old lady Zhu and her son from the Zhu family.

After several days of torture, Tan Xiaozhu was still not satisfied and became even more angry.

In the following period, Tan Xiaozhu came to ask every day, until a few days ago, when Yuzhen was suddenly taken away. Two days ago, I was also taken out.

After I got out, I was hung on a tree by them just like Yuzhen. From their conversation, I learned that their target was you!"

"Qingyue, you must be careful. Those people want to catch you and find your shelter. No, they are not human. They are not worthy of being human. They are worse than animals!"

After Li Benfu finished speaking, he covered his face and burst into tears.

Xia Qingyue had a bad guess in her mind.

In order to force the results out, Tan Xiaozhu might have been ruthless, and someone in the Li family might have suffered.

"My parents, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and one of my uncle's children were beaten to death!

They are terrible evil spirits, and they forced my sister-in-law to death. She died right in front of us!"

After Li Benfu finished speaking angrily, he punched the ground several times, making a loud bang and raising dust.

The blue veins on his forehead and neck were all bulging and throbbing, and his wide-open eyes were filled with devastating grief and murderous hatred.

Li Benfu's tears were streaming down his face and his fists were clenched tightly.

The atmosphere was depressing, the air seemed to condense and stop flowing, making people feel breathless.

Xia Qingyue sighed in her heart. She could understand Li Benfu's feelings at the moment.

She was thinking about how to comfort him, he bit his back teeth and spoke word by word:

"For the sake of life and health, uncle, his children are still locked up in there. It's a place where people are eaten without leaving any bones. When Yuzhen gets better, I will go there and find a way to rescue them!"

She opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself.

Li Benfu looked over, his voice returning to its usual softness, but without any fluctuations, "Qingyue, I know what you want to say, don't worry, I won't act impulsively and rush to get killed.

I want to go around the village to find out the situation first, and then take action when the time is right!"

Xia Qingyue nodded.

"Uh--"

Chen Yuzhen, who was lying on the side, woke up. She struggled to get up, but touched the wound and groaned in pain.

"Yuzhen!" Li Benfu ran over nervously.

The soup in the pot was bubbling with bubbles.

After the medicine was ready, Xia Qingyue wrapped the handles on both sides of the pot with leaves and poured the black medicine into a bamboo cup.

"Qing, Qingyue?"

"Is it really you?"

Chen Yuzhen, who was helped up by Li Benfu, looked at Xia Qingyue with tears in her eyes. Her dry and peeling lips trembled violently. She looked around and shouted in panic: "No, you can't take us to your shelter!"