Abstinence Pei, don't be too sweet when chasing your wife

When the sky turned pale, Pei Luonan leaned on the passenger seat, stroking the butterfly hairpin repeatedly. The sharp edges of the broken diamonds made his palms hurt, but it was far less painful than the burning pain in his heart.

Kong Haoyu reported as he drove: "Yunxi Town is over 700 kilometers away from here, and it takes at least nine hours to get there by highway. I have already contacted the branch office there and asked them to find a guide and a vehicle in advance."

Pei Luonan hummed, his eyes falling on the street signs passing by outside the window.

The mountains in Qingchuan County were gradually replaced by plains. The rice on the ridges of the fields was green, and farmers carrying hoes could occasionally be seen in the morning mist. This scene reminded him of Gu Fanxing's words: the morning mist in the south of the Yangtze River was like "flowing gauze" that could dye the stone bridges light blue.

"Turn the navigation to the Yunxi Town Government," he suddenly said, his voice slightly hoarse. "Let's go to the town first and inquire about the exact location of Wangxi Bridge."

Just as Kong Haoyu was about to respond, the car body shook violently, followed by a harsh sound of metal friction.

He quickly stepped on the brakes and the car slid a few meters on the emergency lane before stopping.

"What's going on?" Pei Luonan frowned and looked over. The right rear wheel had deflated.

"It's a nail!" Kong Haoyu's face turned grim after he got out of the car to check. "It might have been punctured when we were passing the service area just now. The spare tire was sent for repair last week and hasn't been replaced yet..."

Pei Luonan's eyes swept across the empty highway. The road sign in the distance indicated that the next service area was forty kilometers away.

He took out his cell phone, but the signal was only weak, and the call to the rescue company could not be connected.

"Get out of the car and stop it." He opened the car door. There were still spots of mud from Qingchuan County on his military coat, but it did not affect his imposing aura at all.

Most of the vehicles on the highway sped past, and occasionally some slowed down, but when they saw that they were covered in mud, they immediately sped away.

Kong Haoyu was sweating profusely with anxiety: "Boss Pei, how about I walk to the service area ahead to ask for help?"

"No need." Pei Luonan stared at a truck approaching in the distance and suddenly raised the butterfly hairpin in his hand. The silver hairpin gleamed in the morning light, and the truck actually slowly stopped.

The car window rolled down, revealing a dark face: "Are you... in trouble?"

"My tire is flat, and I'd like to take your car to the service area ahead." Pei Luonan's tone was unusually gentle, "We can pay for the fare."

The two of them squeezed into the passenger seat piled with bamboo baskets, and the fragrance of bamboo shoots mixed with the smell of diesel hit them in the face.

The driver was a chatty middle-aged man. When he heard they were going to Yunxi Town, he suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "What a coincidence! I'm from Yunxi Town! Are you looking for the girl in the photo? She stopped at the old teahouse in town yesterday afternoon and asked me how to get to Wangxi Bridge. She said she went into the mountains at dawn this morning."

"She's wearing a light blue windbreaker?" Pei Luonan's heart tightened.

"That's right! I even bought a pair of rubber shoes!" The driver smacked his lips. "The bridge is under the Eagle's Beak Cliff. A few years ago, a mountain torrent washed away the mountain road. Now, apart from people picking herbs, few people go there."

When the truck arrived at the service area, Pei Luonan thanked the driver, immediately arranged to change the tire, and took a taxi with Kong Haoyu straight to Yunxi Town.

As the taxi sped by, his uneasiness grew heavier—Gu Fanxing had gone up the mountain this morning, and the road to Eagle's Beak Cliff was dangerous, and she was alone...

The phone suddenly rang, and the branch office reported urgently: "A sudden flash flood occurred in Yunxi Town. All roads in the Yingzui Cliff area have been washed away. No one is allowed to enter now!"

"When did it happen?" Pei Luonan's voice suddenly rose.

"Half an hour ago! The weather bureau said there would be heavy rain in the next three hours, and the town government has already organized an evacuation!"

As soon as the taxi entered Yunxi Town, it was stopped by the cordon.

When the police heard they were looking for the woman in the light blue jacket, their faces changed: "The forest ranger station said there's a woman trapped by a flash flood near Eagle's Beak Cliff, and she's calling for help!"

Pei Luonan pushed the policeman away and ran towards the town, with Kong Haoyu following closely behind.

The rain started falling again without him knowing. He almost fell down several times, but he didn't dare to slow down at all.

At the forest station, a ranger was shouting on a walkie-talkie: "Below Eagle's Beak Cliff! She's on that big bluestone! The current is too fast, the speedboat can't get through!"

"Get out of the way!" Pei Luonan grabbed the intercom, his voice trembling, "I'm her family member! Tell me the exact location, I'll go save her!"

"Are you crazy?" the forest ranger stopped him. "Going into the mountains now is suicide! Wait until the rain stops!"

"I can't wait!" Pei Luonan pushed him away violently, his eyes red. "She's trapped in the water alone now, how can you ask me to wait?"

He grabbed the life jacket from the corner and rushed out. Kong Haoyu wanted to stop him, but was frightened by the madness in his eyes.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the mountain road was washed out by the flood, forming gullies. Pei Luonan fell into the muddy water above his knees several times, and struggled to get up.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, he heard a faint cry for help in the distance.

"Stars!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, but the only response was the sound of the rain.

After going around several ridges, he finally saw the big bluestone.

Floodwaters were surging beneath the rocks, and a blue figure huddled on top. It was Gu Fanxing! Her jacket was soaked through, and she was shivering, hugging her knees.

"Fanxing!" Pei Luonan yelled and ran towards her. He took off his coat, tied it to a rope, and threw it towards the bluestone. After three attempts, the rope finally caught the stump on the stone. "Hold on to the rope! I'll pull you over!"

Gu Fanxing looked at him, suddenly shook her head, and pointed to her ankle - it was hit by a stone and was swollen so badly that she couldn't use any strength at all.

Pei Luonan's heart sank.

He looked at the rushing flood, then at her shivering on the rock, suddenly tied the other end of the rope around his waist, took a deep breath, and jumped into the flood.

The cold flood swallowed him up in an instant. He gritted his teeth and swam hard towards the bluestone. Just when he was two meters away from the bluestone, a huge rock washed by the flood crashed towards him!

"Be careful!" Gu Fanxing screamed and rushed over.

Pei Luonan dodged sideways suddenly, but was swept by the current and hit the stone wall. His consciousness blurred instantly, but he still held the rope around his waist tightly in his hand.

"Pei Luonan!" Gu Fanxing's cries pierced through the rain.

He suddenly woke up and used his last bit of strength to grab her outstretched hand. When their eyes met, he smiled: "I found you..."

Before he could finish his words, a bigger flood came and swept the two of them along with the bluestone into the torrent.

When Kong Haoyu arrived with the rescue team, he saw only an empty valley and a black coat floating on the water - that was the military coat that Pei Luonan wore last night.

The assault boat searched hard in the flood and finally pulled out the unconscious Gu Fanxing from the backwater bay, but there was no sign of Pei Luonan.

"The downstream flood discharge area is full of reefs and it's impossible to search..." the captain said in a heavy tone.

After waking up, Gu Fanxing grabbed Kong Haoyu's arm and cried, "He saved me! He pushed me onto the reef and was washed away!"

Over the next two days, the search team was divided into more than a dozen groups to investigate downstream, the diving team shuttled between the reefs in the flood discharge area, and the roar of helicopters continued all day long.

On the afternoon of the third day, the team members found a bloody black shirt in the shallows downstream, and Kong Haoyu recognized it as Pei Luonan's at a glance.

Gu Fanxing stroked the hole in his shirt and finally burst into tears.

Just as everyone was despairing, an excited voice came over the intercom: "A person was found in a cave downstream of the flood discharge area! He was wearing black suit pants, and his description matched the description!"

Kong Haoyu and Gu Fanxing stumbled over and saw Pei Luonan! He had a wound on his forehead and was unconscious.

As the ambulance drove toward the county hospital, Kong Haoyu watched it disappear at the end of the mountain road and breathed a sigh of relief. Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the cliffs, and he knew that while this thousand-mile search had shown signs of improvement, the true test lay ahead.