RYEY – Chapter 219 Qin Guoqing Falls Unconscious

Cheng Liguo looked deeply at Cheng Qiao. Since his daughter was unwilling to say more, he did not press the matter. In truth, Cheng Qiao was worried as well—she could tell Li Huan about her rebirth, but she dared not tell her father. That would be like taking a knife and carving into a father’s heart.

Together, the two of them lifted Qin Guoqing and moved him to the front middle seat. With a slight movement of her delicate hand, the supplies that had just been put away reappeared in the carriage exactly as before.

“Dad, you give directions. We’ll deliver the supplies.”

Cheng Liguo nodded. With one hand supporting Qin Guoqing and letting him lean against him, and the other pointing the way, they turned right after leaving the hollow.

Cheng Qiao gripped the steering wheel and drove steadily along the road. Seeing a long stretch of mountains to the south of the road, she thought that must be the Qilian Mountains. Mist curled around the mountain peaks—it was a truly magnificent sight.

She recalled what her master had once told her: the Qilian Mountains were high and vast, with elevations ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 meters. If one went into the mountains, one had to beware of glaciers and, even more so, altitude sickness. That was why Cheng Qiao had prepared a great deal of medicinal materials such as cordyceps.

The vehicle drove smoothly into the Wuwei garrison area. The young sentry at the gate was very familiar with the vehicle, but when he saw that the driver was actually a beautiful woman, he involuntarily raised the rifle in his hands.

Cheng Liguo had already rolled down the window and asked the sentry to call Li Bing out. Another sentry ran over to Cheng Liguo’s side, glanced inside, and immediately saw Qin Guoqing lying unconscious.

He blew his whistle while running to the guard post to make a phone call for Li Bing. After receiving the call, Li Bing and Qin Daqiang rushed quickly to the gate together.

“Sister-in-law, why are you here? What happened to Guoqing?”

When Li Bing saw Cheng Qiao sitting in the driver’s seat, he was startled. Seeing Qin Guoqing unconscious, he was even more shocked. However, he did not lose his composure and instead introduced Cheng Qiao to Qin Daqiang.

Qin Daqiang’s eyes flickered slightly—it turned out she was Li Bing’s sister-in-law. At the same time, seeing his only son lying unconscious, his heart instantly tightened.

“Regimental Commander Qin, we were ambushed at a bend in the road. Guoqing fought the bandits to protect the supplies and was accidentally shot in the leg by their homemade gun.”

“At the bend again—those bastards! How is Guoqing now?”

“He should be fine. I already removed the steel pellets, disinfected the wound, and bandaged it. He’s unconscious because I gave him a little anesthetic—otherwise, with the bumpy road, the pain would have been unbearable.”

“Quick, quick—put him on a stretcher and take him to the dormitory. And open the gate, let the vehicle in.”

Hearing that it was only a leg injury and that it had already been treated, Qin Daqiang’s heart finally eased. He hurriedly had a stretcher brought over and sent his son to the dormitory first, following closely behind.

After Qin Guoqing was taken away, Li Bing climbed into the vehicle and directed Cheng Qiao to park it at the back door of the canteen. The cooks had already received the news and were waiting there.

Some people carried supplies, others kept accounts. In less than five minutes, the vehicle was completely emptied. While they were unloading, Cheng Qiao took a child out from the basket on her back.

“So this is little Cheng Li? Why did you bring him along too?”

Seeing little Cheng Li, Li Bing’s eyes crinkled into smiles. Although the child bore the surname Cheng, he was also the eldest grandson of the Li family.

“At home there’s Xuhui and his grandma. Mom alone can’t handle so much, so it’s better to bring the little fellow along.”

Li Huan wrote to Li Bing every month, telling him about both big and small matters at home. Naturally, this included the major event of adopting Xuhui as their son after he saved little Cheng Li’s life.

Li Bing nodded. Don’t be fooled by how uneventful life looked back home—farming alone could exhaust a person, not to mention taking care of a paralyzed elder and raising a six-year-old child.

“Sister-in-law, do you want to stay here, or live with your father?”

“I want to stay with my dad. He has cave dwellings here anyway. But you’ll need to send someone to take us back. Oh, right—these are the sweater, long johns, and some food that Mom asked me to bring you.”

Cheng Qiao handed a large bundle from her basket to Li Bing. Hearing that it was from his mother, guilt rose in Li Bing’s heart. Once he was promoted, his allowance would increase as well—then he would send more money home to his mother.

“Xiao Dao, you drive and take my sister-in-law and Uncle Cheng to the Parks and Forestry Office.”

“Got it! Hello, Sister-in-law, hello Uncle Cheng—I’ll take you there.”

Xiao Dao got into the driver’s seat. He and Qin Guoqing were the same age and had learned to drive together. He was very talkative, and after a few questions it turned out he was a local.

“Xiao Dao, if I want to go into the Qilian Mountains, do you have anyone familiar with the area who could act as a guide? I won’t let them work for nothing—how about two jin of white rice or white flour per day?”

Xiao Dao’s eyes lit up as he looked at Cheng Qiao. His father had originally been a hunter. When the family was so poor they could barely make ends meet, his father would take a homemade gun and head into the Qilian Mountains.

“My dad knows the area. But since I joined the army and started getting an allowance to support the family, he hasn’t gone up the mountains for a long time.”

“Alright. Whenever your dad agrees to be a guide, come find me at the cave dwelling—or you can look for my father.”

The vehicle did not go to the Parks and Forestry Office, but instead drove straight to the cave dwelling where Cheng Liguo lived. Cheng Qiao took two cooked eggs from her pocket and pressed them into Xiao Dao’s hand as a token of thanks.

Seeing the eggs, Xiao Dao thanked her repeatedly and carefully tucked them into his pocket. Eggs were usually reserved for patients—he only got to eat them occasionally.

Cheng Qiao got out of the car holding little Cheng Li. Just as she stepped down, a gust of wind blew in, sending sand and dust swirling through the air. She quickly took out a thin blanket from her space and wrapped little Cheng Li up completely.

Because of his angle, Xiao Dao did not see Cheng Qiao take the blanket out of her space. Cheng Liguo, however, was so startled by her action that his heart nearly stopped.

He guiltily glanced around. Fortunately, the wind and sand were dancing everywhere, visibility was low, and beyond two meters one could only see a vague silhouette.

He grabbed Cheng Qiao and ran toward the cave dwelling. As soon as they entered, a wave of warmth greeted them. It turned out that when Cheng Liguo had left, he had given the key to their neighbor, Yuan Guangming.

From the day Qin Guoqing set out, Yuan Guangming had been counting the days. Estimating that Cheng Liguo should be back around this time, he had cleaned in advance and lit the heated kang.

“Brother Yuan, I’m back. Come, let me introduce you—this is my daughter, Cheng Qiao, and my grandson, Cheng Li.”

Yuan Guangming lifted his head and looked at Cheng Qiao. She had bright eyes and white teeth, and most importantly, her smiling face seemed to wash away the gloomy weather, making the entire cave dwelling feel brighter.

“Good, good. Old Brother Cheng, as expected, your children are truly outstanding—each one a dragon or a phoenix among men.”

“Uncle Yuan, do you know a woman named Yuan Mengzhi? About forty years old.”

Seeing Yuan Guangming made Cheng Qiao think of Yuan Mengzhi. She had only seen Yuan Mengzhi once, yet the woman had left a deep impression on her—it was simply because Yuan Mengzhi’s aura was far too striking.