Chapter 18: Rescued

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations

---

Liu Xu’er’s anxious heart slowly calmed down with Shi Cheng’s soft words of comfort. She wasn’t actually five; she could manage her own emotions. 

After some time – it felt to Liu Xu’er that hours had passed – the outside suddenly started becoming noisy again, and someone was shouting. “Get a cart! Xiaolu! Get your family’s cart over! Village Head, Village Head, choose a few people to accompany them!”

Liu Shu and Liu Lin both wanted to get off the kang! Liu Xu’er also stood up and looked outside. Even Liu Sen squeezed around Shi Cheng’s hold to look outside. 

Liu Hong and Xiaotian had to keep a desperate grip on both Liu Shu and Liu Lin, while Aunt Wu moved like the wind, running outside. Liu Gao shi anxiously shouted. “Watch the kids well for me!” Before rushing out as well! 

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Mbl rlsrzl kd vbl assx olal yzz ydmkswpzu zssjkdt yv lynb svbla. Nkw Dw’la pvsse sd vkrvsl vs zssj swv. Gzz pbl pyo olal zsvp sq vsanblp kd vbl ekpvydnl, zktbvkdt wr vbyv yaly caktbv yp eyu! Mblal olal ps xydu pbyesop kv oypd’v nzlya lmynvzu bso xydu rlsrzl vblal olal. 

Fbk Ubldt prsjl vs Bdnzl Cwyd. “Bdnzl Cwyd, blye shla vs pll bso vblu yal! Xdnl usw’hl dlop, nsxl cynj yde zlv wp jdso!”

Bdnzl Cwyd blpkvyvle qsa y xsxldv.

Fbk Ubldt ydtakzu rswdele sd vbl jydt. “R okzz pvyu blal yde osd’v ts yduoblal!”

Rv oyp sdzu okvb vbyv rasxkpl vbyv Bdnzl Cwyd iwknjzu ytalle yde ayd swv.&dcpr;

Ylppu hsknlp pzsozu pvyavle vs blye vsoyae vbl bswpl, ps xwnb ps vbyv Nkw Dw’la nswze xyjl swv vbl Akzzytl Tlye pbswvkdt bsyaplzu, “Mblal’p ds dlle qsa ps xydu vs ts! Ebyv’p vbl rskdv kd ps xydu rlsrzl tskdt?! Nkw qyxkzu’p casvblap ts! Mbl pkpvlap-kd-zyo…. Eblal yal vbl pkpvlap-kd-zyo? Ebyv vbl, obyv’p vbl xyvvla okvb vblpl rlsrzl….”

Gqvla y obkzl, y uswvb ayd shla yde nyzzle. “Rp Nkw Tsdt blal?!”

Nkw Tsdt qaydvknyzzu ydpolale, “Zlp! Ebyv’p vbl xyvvla?”

“Quickly come out! You and Mrs Wang will accompany the cart!” After calling out, he sped off. Liu Hong panicked. She started to head out, but got worried about the people in the house, so she turned back halfway, behaving like a headless fly. 

Xiaotian quickly said, “Hong jie, quickly go! I will keep watch here.” 

With that, a flustered Liu Hong agreed. Then she turned to tell Liu Shu, “Liu Shu! You must be good and look after your siblings. You absolutely cannot run out!”

Saying that she rushed off. 

Although Liu Xu’er was so worried that her heart was beating like a drum – she hated that she couldn’t just rush off to see what’s happening – she also clearly understood that she definitely could not go out. The instant she left, Shi Cheng and her older brothers would definitely not be able to remain still, and would definitely rush out with her. With the outside so chaotic, if they were to go missing or to fall into the ravine, that would make things so much worse! Also, how could they leave Senzi alone by himself? It would be too dangerous. It was best for all them children to stay put and not add to the trouble!

Shi Cheng was right at her side, softly murmuring, “Remain calm, you must remain calm. You cannot go out and add to the trouble….”

Uncle Quan was uneasy about leaving his family’s young master, so he was the very first to arrive back. Seeing all the children in the house look at him anxiously, he quickly said, “They’re both back up! It seems like your parents have hurt their legs, so right now the Village Head is looking for a cart to send them both to town!”

Shi Cheng immediately said loudly, “So long as they are fine!” He looked down at Liu Sen, “Senzi, your parents are both fine!”

Liu Sen looked blankly outside. 

Shi Cheng lifted his head to look at Liu Xu’er. Liu Xu’er had also let out a sigh of relief. He stretched out his hand to pat her arm, softly saying, “The most important thing is that they are fine.”

Liu Shu then asked. “How about ourselves? Do we need to follow them?”

Without waiting for anyone else to say anything, Uncle Quan immediately said, “What can little children like you do even if you go?! Isn’t the situation chaotic enough?! Also, rushing toward town in the dark like this is quite dangerous!”

Currently he was the only adult in the room. He obviously had the awareness to keep a close eye on these children. 

Liu Shu didn’t try to head outside. After Liu Hong had left, he had immediately taken up the responsibility of watching over his younger siblings. He could not head outside. 

Liu Xu’er continued to look out the window. She heard quite a few people making a racket. The sound slowly drifted toward the village entrance, indicating that they had already left the village. After a long while, Liu Gao shi, with Aunt Wu supporting her, returned quite breathless. 

Liu Lin quickly went and gripped her lapels. “Nai! How are my dad and mum?”

Liu Gao shi took a deep breath before saying, “They’re fine. Their leg is broken….. All of you stay at home! Your uncles and gugu have all gone with them, so all of you should just wait patiently at home.”

“Nai! Did they fall badly?” Liu Xu’er asked. 

Liu Gao shi paused. “I didn’t see them. After I had run there, they had already been sent out.”

Aunt Wu quickly added. “Lots of people are spouting rubbish. In any case, your parents were both conscious and speaking! That means that nothing major has happened to them. It’s alright, Aunt. You should also not worry!” The last sentence was directed to comfort Liu Gao shi. 

Liu Gao shi rubbed her nose and nodded her head. 

After another little while had passed, people started dropping by their courtyard to look in on the children. All the visitors said the same – Liu Xu’er’s parents were fine. They had broken their leg, but they were still conscious!

At last, even the Village Head came by to visit. He said a few comforting words, before getting everyone to go home. 

The children had gone from their initial panic to their current state of calm. Even Liu Sen was nodding off in Shi Cheng’s arms. 

Outside, the people slowly scattered. Aunt Wu’s man, Uncle Wu, had also come in. He had just been with the other rescuers at the ravine, so he was very clear about the situation. He came in to explain the details to Liu Gao shi. 

“It was Second’s wife who first twisted her ankle, and in a moment of carelessness, slipped and fell. Your Second, in a panic, rushed to grab hold of her, but he didn’t manage to get a good grip on the branch, and so both of them rolled down. Second protected his wife by twisting her on top. He broke his leg, but his wife only has a sprained ankle. She seemed to have some broken skin, but otherwise, the situation doesn’t appear to be serious. When we brought the two of them up, they both kept speaking, and it seemed like they were both alert and conscious. You can all rest assured!”

When Aunt Wu heard that, she quickly said, “That’s great, that’s great!”

Hearing that her son had broken his leg, Liu Gao shi’s whole face creased. But it was still a much better situation than first imagined, so she could only repeatedly thank him saying, “Thank you, thank you so much, their uncle! It’s already so late at night…. It’s really all thanks to our fellow villagers….”

“There’s no need for all this, after all, we’re all neighbors. Oh that’s right, Aunt. You’d best return home. Your family members have all gone to town, and there cannot be no one at the old home. As for these children here, I will let my Xiaotian stay here to watch over them. They will be alright.”

As Uncle Wu was speaking, Aunt Wu was nodding along. After spending some time persuading her – even Liu Shu joined in to convince Liu Gao shi to return – coupled with Liu Gao shi’s unease at having no one in the old home, she eventually gave a few instructions to the children, thanked Aunt and Uncle Wu profusely, and left. 

Uncle Quan was standing impatiently at one side, looking at Shi Cheng. Liu Xu’er quickly told Shi Cheng softly, “You should also hurry home.”

Shi Cheng also felt that he needed to go back, so he nodded his head in agreement, got off the kang and went back with Uncle Quan. 

Aunt Wu tidied up the kang. All of the children could sleep in this room tonight. Although Liu Xu’er was very worried, her five-year-old body was unable to withstand all the excitement tonight. After lying down for a while, she fell asleep. 

On the second day, Liu Xu’er woke up when the sun was high in the sky. Aunt Wu was sitting at the side of the kang and speaking to someone, the sound of their voices faintly carrying over. 

“It’s not that I want to criticize First’s wife, but it was so chaotic last night, yet she didn’t even know to come and check in on these few kids? These are her niece and nephews!”

“Ai, it wasn’t only Liu First’s wife, Third’s wife also didn’t show! I heard that Third himself didn’t go down the ravine! Just waited at the edge…. What kind of brother is that!”

“Really?! Third didn’t go down the ravine yesterday?!”

“No, he can’t even compare with a child! He stayed well away from the ravine edge. Speaking of, even though Liu First’s wife really isn’t all that, at least he himself isn’t bad. You didn’t see him last night – he was so anxious. He and Fourth almost leapt down the ravine to search for them….”

“He’s the eldest! That should be the way!” Aunt Wu exclaimed huffily, before hurriedly turning to look at the few still sleeping on the kang. She said more quietly, “Second’s family was already so poor, they’ve only just separated from the family, and now both adults have gotten injured…. How will they manage….”

Liu Xu’er moved slightly and the people at the side of the kang immediately stopped their chatter. Liu Xu’er then slowly opened her eyes, as if she had just woken up. Rubbing her eyes, she asked, “Aunt Wu, have my parents come home yet?”

Aunt Wu quickly smiled and said, “Not yet, they may be in town for a few days? Don’t fret about it, Aunt Wu will be here to accompany you the next few days!”

The other aunt who was sitting and chatting saw that Liu Shu and Liu Lin were blearily starting to wake. So she made her excuses and left. 

The children all went to wash their faces. Liu Shu told Aunt Wu, “Aunt Wu, you and Xiaotian jie should go home. There’s no problem during the day – I will watch my younger siblings and make sure they don’t go anywhere!”

Aunt Wu was worried about her own home, so she nodded. “That’s good! In any case, I am just next door, so if there are any issues, just give me a shout!” Saying this, she went home, Xiaotian having already returned to prepare the meal. 

Liu Xu’er saw that Liu Sen was still asleep. She noticed that it was nearing noon, and reckoned that once he woke, Senzi would definitely be hungry. So she washed her face and hands and rummaged the kitchen to see what she could make for them. 

After rummaging for a while, she managed to unearth the noodles that He shi had prepared the day before. On that day, her few jiujiu were around, so He shi had prepared more buckwheat noodles, and the uneaten portion was placed in the cupboard. In this weather, food wouldn’t spoil even if it was left for eight or 10 days. 

So Liu Xu’er boiled some water to cook the noodles. 

Although she was young, cooking noodles wasn’t too difficult. Even if she couldn’t reach the stove top, it would be enough to stand on a little stool. 

“Dage! You and erge should go and gather some grasses for the rabbits and the chickens. You should gather as much as you can!” Liu Xu’er called toward her elder brothers. 

Liu Shu agreed. After a while, Liu Lin came in. 

Liu Xu’er was surprised. “Erge, didn’t you go with dage to gather grass?”

Liu Lin shook his head, “Dage instructed me to stay home to look after you. It’s enough for him to go out.”

Liu Xu’er nodded, but she was still a little worried. “Dage won’t go to the ravine edge would he?”

“No, even if he went, it’s broad daylight now. If any adult saw him, they would shout at him to get back!” Liu Lin shook his head as he spoke. 

That was true, so Liu Xu’er relaxed and waited for the water in the pot to boil.