CH 37

Villainous Poor Student (2)

Outside, the rain was getting heavier and the sky was pitch black, with lofty mountains standing darkly around the mountain village, Song Xu Yi couldn’t help but shiver as soon as she left the house.

Fortunately, the two families were not far apart and it did not take long for them to return to the next door.

Song Xu Yi lit the paraffin lamp and was about to quickly pack her bags when the system in her head hesitantly sounded again.

“Xu Yi are you really going to take He Siyu away?”

He Siyu?

The people in the village had always called He Siyu “wild child” and “bastard” so the original owner never knew the girl’s name.

It was only then that Song Xu Yi noticed that the girl’s shoulders were already wet.

The two families were less than thirty meters apart, so it was reasonable to say that He Siyu’s shoulders should not be this wet, but all the way over, she had been huddled in a corner of her straw coat, leaving most of it to Song Xu Yi.

Song Xu Yi lowered her eyes, and an image suddenly flashed through her mind.

Three years ago when the original owner escaped and was captured He Siyu went to see the original owner, the painfully lost original owner hated the whole village and spoke equally viciously to He Siyu. She threw away the mulberry that He Siyu had brought with her and cursed out angrily at He Siyu, “Who wants your stinky stuff! Get lost…”

Probably because she was afraid that Song Xu Yi would dislike her, He Siyu deliberately avoided physical contact with Song Xu Yi before she was drenched by the rain.

She must have been very sad at that time, right?

When Song Xu Yi entered He Biao’s house, she noticed that even though He Biao’s house was in shambles, it was clean and there was not a speck of dust on the windows or chairs…

It couldn’t have been cleaned up by He Biao, who was drunk every day.

The only person who had cleaned up could have been He Siyu.

She is obviously clean, but she deliberately smells bad…

He Siyu is just as clever as the plot summary indicates. In her situation, disguise is indeed the best way to protect herself.

How could life be so difficult?

“Go and change into a coat by the fire first-“

Song Xu Yi’s eyes fell on the patch-covered, already too black to see, single garment He Siyu was wearing, tossed a thick coat to He Siyu, and packed her bags once again.

“I want to raise her,” Song Xu Yi replied to the system, “the current He Siyu is not the scheming, unscrupulous executive she became, she’s just a poor, oppressed child, and I can’t stand by and watch her remain in a devil’s den… “

“Besides, those who are close to vermilion are red and those who are close to ink are black, I will try to cultivate her so that she becomes kind and upright and not waste her talent…”

Song Xu Yi’s words convinced the system…

The system couldn’t help Song Xu Yi with her tasks, but it was able to use its scanning function to constantly guide Song Xu Yi: “There are two pairs of rubber shoes in the woodshed in the backyard, although they are a bit too big, you can use them for walking on the mountain…”

“There’s a sickle in the woodshed, you can take it for protection…”

“Ah! Xu Yi! Great, the man in this house has hidden 30 yuan of pocket money in the crack of the wall… yes, it’s under the second brick on the left…”

30 yuan was not much, but in these days, saving it was enough for the two of them to eat several meals in the small village.

With money in hand, Song Xu Yi’s heart was a little more at ease.

In a trance, the door slammed, and He Siyu appeared to come out of the door draped in a straw coat after changing her clothes.

The system told Song Xu Yi, “She hid something in the stone hole at the entrance to her house…”

It wasn’t long before He Siyu also returned with a bag.

Song Xu Yi didn’t ask what He Siyu had taken, she handed He Siyu her rubber shoes, put on her other straw coat, frowned and lifted the paraffin lamp on the table, intending to set off——

If there was anything that Song Xu Yi did not like, it was the paraffin lamp. It was so stormy and the path was so rough, so there was no telling if the paraffin lamp would be able to light the way…

And at that moment, He Siyu, who had been silent, suddenly reached out and grabbed Song Xu Yi’s hand.

She opened her bag.

——Inside the bag, two half-new hand flashlights caught Song Xu Yi’s eye…

Using only one flashlight to save power, the two walked out with each other in hand.

It was the easiest time to escape——no one would have thought they would be escaping in such bad weather, the rain would have washed away all traces and the village hounds would no longer be able to follow their tracks.

Yet this was also the most dangerous time as well. The rain brought heavy obstructions, the mountain roads were soft, the hills were extremely slippery, and if they were not careful they would end up in the same mudslide as the family who had bought the original owner…

However, neither of the two girls hesitated to walk step by step along the river towards the mountains.

The original owner had heard from the people in the village that it would take about three days to walk out of the mountains, and that the path was full of sheep’s intestines, with snakes and insects constantly on the way, and that people who were not familiar with the path could easily get lost in the mountains and die on the way out of the village.

Song Xu Yi didn’t know if the village people were deliberately trying to scare the original owner so that she would stay in the village quietly, but she had brought all her portable rations with her, so she should be able to survive for five or six days with a little saving; moreover, her knowledge of medicine from her first life was still in her mind, and through the original owner’s memory, she knew that there were many available herbs in the mountains; not to mention that there were few snakes and insects in winter, even if she encountered them, Song Xu Yi felt that she could handle them…

The village was left in their wake, the howling of the hounds at the front of the village gradually becoming inaudible in the rainy night…

The rain blurred their vision, the light from the flashlight was less than two metres, the straw raincoat didn’t keep out all the rain, the rain ran down their cheeks and into their collars, their bodies became cold and rigid, and the only thing they could accurately sense was the hands they held together…

In the latter part of the night, the heavy rain that had been falling all night finally stopped, but the temperature seemed to be getting increasingly cold…

The two accelerated their pace in unison.

——They had to run far enough to not be caught up by the village people who were familiar with the terrain by the time the next day came around.

Fortunately, it had rained overnight and a number of trees had fallen on the road, which would also delay the village people for a while.

The river flows along the south side, and to get out of the mountains one must go south. At night, you cannot use shadows to tell the direction, and there are no stars to guide you on rainy days, but Song Xu Yi knows other ways——

When the direction was uncertain, Song Xu Yi would stop and observe the surrounding scenery. With the help of the system, Song Xu Yi could quickly find the landmarks that guided her and then continue on her way…

He Siyu remained silent, following behind Song Xu Yi like a shadow.

Gradually, the sky was getting lighter.

Yet the sky was still dark and dreary, and the temperature seemed to be getting increasingly colder…

Before long, something fell from the sky and landed on Song Xu Yi’s eyelashes——

——It’s snowing!

The snow is getting steadily heavier and thicker on the ground.

It is a rule in the village not to go into the mountains on snowy days.

The mountain path was rugged, with heavy snow covering the ground, and it was easy to encounter danger when walking among the mountains and forests…

Song Xu Yi did not think that the others in the village would risk their lives to chase after her and He Siyu.

But this also meant that it would be very dangerous if the two of them were to continue traveling.

“We have to stop now.” Song Xu Yi looked at a leeward cave not far away and pulled He Siyu, who was still continuing on, “It’s too dangerous to walk on!”

He Siyu turned her head around.

The rain had washed away the dirt on her face, even though the skin on her face was chapped, He Siyu’s features were extremely beautiful, her eyes were beautiful, especially the red mole under her eyes, which gave her a cold and charming aura, it was hard to imagine that such a beautiful girl could be born in such a deep mountain…

No wonder she had to cover up her appearance…

He Siyu’s lips were frozen white, but her face was flushed with an abnormal redness, she looked up and around and shook her head, “He Biao will catch up with us——”

This was the first time He Siyu had spoken, and her voice sounded extremely hoarse, as if she hadn’t spoken in a long time.

After saying that, He Siyu turned her head away and continued on her way with one deep and one shallow foot…

Song Xu Yi froze for a moment: she didn’t expect that He Siyu’s fear of He Biao had reached such a state…

She didn’t know if He Biao would catch up with them, but He Siyu looked like she was obviously running a fever, so if she continued down the path, it could be life-threatening…

Yet looking at He Siyu, conventional means were not going to get her to stop…

“Wait!”

Song Xu Yi called out to He Siyu once again, this time, Song Xu Yi’s voice softened a little: “Sister, I really can’t walk anymore! I’m tired and hungry, let’s just rest for a while, okay…”

As she said that, Song Xu Yi took out a sweet potato from her bag and handed it over, “Eat something first so that you can walk faster later…”

Perhaps the words “walk faster” touched He Siyu, who took a deep breath, but finally stopped and took a big bite of the sweet potato…

However, the tired little girl didn’t stop to rest at all, she ran around and plucked some unknown grasses from the wilderness and handed them to He Siyu like a treasure: “This is a herb to drive away the cold, will you chew it?”

The couple who bought the original owner’s son was mentally handicapped and in extremely poor health. The couple had always taken their son to seek medical advice, and the two of them had also learned some basic pharmacology, and people in the village would seek them out for any headache or fever, while the original owner was often sent into the mountains to dig for medicine… naturally, she knew some basic herbs as well.

He Siyu did not move, her dark eyes looking at the herbs in Song Xu Yi’s hand.

“You don’t believe me!”

Song Xu Yi hummed, pretending to gamble and pouted her lips, taking the lead in picking up one herself and chewing it.

After waiting for a while, He Siyu picked up a separate herb and put it in her mouth——

The herbs had a pungent taste, and as soon as they entered her throat, she felt a warmth all over her body, and He Siyu froze for a moment, finishing chewing one in silence…

Her body seemed to have regained a bit of strength, He Siyu stood up and was about to walk forward when she suddenly became dizzy…

He Siyu’s eyes widened——she remembered as an afterthought that the leaves of the two herbs did not seem to be the same!

But it was already too late, and at the end of her vision, all He Siyu could see was the face of the little girl across from her, with her head tilted and her smile playful and mischievous…

He Siyu had already been abused for many years, and this time she was even more ill, so she did not even have the strength to stand up afterwards, let alone move up the mountain…

For the next three days, He Siyu spent her time in the cave.

Song Xu Yi started a fire with matches, found herbs and boiled medicine for He Siyu, and after three days of bitter medicine, He Siyu’s fever finally subsided, and the snow began to melt…

Song Xu Yi’s heart ached for He Siyu. She had added some sleeping herbs to He Siyu’s medicine, but even when she was sleeping, He Siyu’s body was tense and her brow was furrowed, and her body began to tremble when she was touched…

Song Xu Yi knew that this was a stress reaction from years of being in a threatening environment, and it would not go away overnight…

Perhaps because she was angry with Song Xu Yi for drugging her, He Siyu had ignored Song Xu Yi all these days.

Song Xu Yi did not take offence and continued to smile at her every day…

By the afternoon of the third day, the snow had almost melted.

Even though He Siyu did not mention it, Song Xu Yi set off on the road out of the mountains with her backpack and He Siyu…

After the snow fell, it became easier to identify the direction: the snow melted quickly to the south, and there was usually residual snow to the north…

After two more days of walking, a three-to-four meter wide road finally appeared, with tractors passing by in twos and threes, a row of shops selling fruit, paper money and other things on the side of the road, and a dilapidated, dusty bus parked on the side of the road, which was in the process of being boarded…

Even Song Xu Yi, as calm as she was, could not help but show a smile when she saw this, while He Siyu, who was looking at the bus, also showed a faint light in her vacant eyes…

“Three yuan per person, hurry up, we’ll be leaving in ten minutes…”

From afar, the sound of a loud speaker bellowing could be heard…

“Xu Yi, stop!” Fiercely the system but suddenly spoke, “He Biao is sitting in front of a shop door watching the bus——”

Song Xu Yi stopped and took a closer look: sure enough, He Biao was sitting in front of a shop, staring motionlessly at the people getting into the bus.

Song Xu Yi hastily pulled He Siyu into a corner and hid!

He Siyu also saw He Biao from afar, and her face instantly turned incomparably pale, and her body began to tremble violently——

“There is a way——” Song Xu Yi held He Siyu’s cold hand and gently reassured her as she glanced around and saw two boys playing marbles on the ground to the side…

“Brother, is that uncle in front looking for his lost daughter?” Song Xu Yi called out to one of the boys, pointing at He Biao and asking from afar.

The boy followed Song Xu Yi’s line of sight and glanced at He Biao, nodding: “He came over yesterday, saying that his adopted daughter, whom he had raised for thirteen years, had run away and was probably trying to get into the city to find her real father. If she wanted to go to the city, she had to come here to take the bus, so he came over and stood guard here…”

He Siyu’s face turned white and she tightened her grip on Song Xu Yi’s hand.

Song Xu Yi felt pain, but did not let go of He Siyu’s hand, she patted He Siyu’s hand twice soothingly, took out the flashlight from her bag that was no longer powered and handed it to the little boy…

“I actually know his daughter, she just ran that way, she dropped this from her bag when I was chasing her,” Song Xu Yi pointed in a random direction, “I’m too busy buying things and going to the city to find my aunt, I don’t have time to run to the front and tell him——”

Song Xu Yi took out a piece of money from her bag and handed it to the little boy with a smile, “Thank you for your hard work, this is for you to buy candy…”

When the little boy saw the money, he didn’t care about playing with his marbles and immediately ran over to He Biao with the flashlight!

He Biao recognized the flashlight and immediately chased after it in the direction the little boy pointed.

And taking advantage of this gap, Song Xu Yi darted and pulled He Siyu into the bus –

“Auntie, my aunt is sick, my aunt can’t spare the time to see us off, I haven’t finished my winter holiday homework and I need to go home, please stop at the Dahua vegetable market bus stop, my mother sells chicken inside…”

As soon as she got on the bus, Song Xu Yi switched to the Mandarin language of this world, gave the conductor six yuan and pulled He Siyu to the end of the bus…

The original owner once heard the couple say that they were going to borrow money for their mentally handicapped son from the great aunt who sold chickens at the Dahua vegetable market, so Song Xu Yi used the name of the place loosely.

The conductor looked at Song Xuyi’s tattered clothes and originally suspected that Song Xu Yi had run away from some village, but not many girls in the village could speak Mandarin, and they didn’t even know what a winter holiday homework was, and Song Xu Yi had explained where her mother was, so she didn’t suspect anything and started to wave with a vague ‘hmm’ to the other people on the bus…

Perhaps it was a blessing from the heavens that a few farmers who had gone to the city to sell their produce came up next, and the nylon bags filled the carriage to the brim, and there was not even a place to stand in the crowd, because the farmers had given the conductor a few extra yuan for the ticket according to the rules, which the conductor didn’t look at, and thought there was no more room for the people at the back, and then urged the driver to start the bus a minute or so earlier.

Finally, the doors of the bus were closed and the bus full of people started to move forward…

Song Xu Yi kept her eyes on the glass window at the back of the bus, and after a hundred metres of travel, a dark figure appeared from the road——He Biao sensed something was wrong and chased after them!

However, the bus could no longer fit anyone in the bus, and the driver ignored the pursuer and drove faster…

Gradually, He Biao could no longer be seen.

The bus into the city ran once a day, so if he missed this one, He Biao would not be able to follow them today.

Song Xu Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief and slumped in her seat and held He Siyu’s cold hand: “It’s okay! There’s no need to be afraid…”

He Siyu looked out of the bus window without speaking, and amidst the noise of the bus, even the system didn’t notice the small “clunk” coming from the side…

A sharp, polished blade slid under the seat beneath the broad sleeve of He Siyu’s other hand…~