Sweet Chief Secretary

Xia Yu gritted her teeth and continued to move up. But she was exhausted after climbing two meters high. She lifted up her neck and looked around, but it was still too low. The surrounding trees obstructed her view, so she couldn"t see whether there was a highway.

In the end, she didn"t climb higher as she had no strength at all. She had to come down from the tree. Her feet were tingled as if a cone had been stabbing her heart when she landed. Immediately, she screamed and the whole body fell on the ground.

At this time, Xia Yu almost broke down. She grabbed the head with her hands painfully, yelled like venting, and couldn"t stop shedding tears.

Sitting on the ground for a long time, her head was blank. She s.h.i.+vered with fear when a gray rabbit suddenly came out next to her. The rabbit seemed to be scared by her either, and it ran away quickly.

After sitting for a while, Xia Yu found that sitting idle would not solve any problems. If she could not go out today and spent the night in this forest, she would be scared to death or freeze to death.

She didn"t feel scared last night because she was drunk and unconscious. At this time, she broke into a cold sweat on her back during the day, let alone the evening.

But at this moment her feet blistered, and some of the skin was already broken, so Xia Yu moved forward painstakingly. But after walking for less than ten minutes, the sky began to drizzle. Her body quickly became wet and s.h.i.+vered with cold.

She kept on steadfastly. But as the rain gradually became heavier, her eyes became blurred and her feet were painful and cold.

"Eh-hem, eh-hem..."

Xia Yu began to cough, and the fever was getting worse. She looked for a big tree to shelter from the rain, holding her knees with hands and constantly coughing. At this time, she was just like a drowned mouse. Finally, she broke down in tears when she saw that the rain became heavier.

"Eh-hem, eh-hem..."

Her cough and crying echoed in the silent forest except the sound of the rain.

Her head was getting dizzy and her body was so weak without strength. Xia Yu leant on the trunk and wanted to sleep. She was too tired.

When her eyes were about to close, she suddenly woke up and felt a shock in her body. She raised her hand and patted her face hard. She couldn"t sleep. If she had fallen asleep, she wouldn"t have been able to get out of here this time, and she would have had to stay overnight in this mountain. The longer she stayed here, the more likely she would die here, as she was still sick.

Xia Yu did not fall down relying on her last willpower. When the rain gradually became light, she continued to move forward.

"Eh-hem, eh-hem..."

Xia Yu covered her mouth and bent to cough, almost to cough out her lungs, and she might catch pneumonia if things kept going like this. Her legs felt like lead, but she gritted her teeth and carried on, not wanting to die here.

She wiped her face and rested against the trunk. After regaining some strength, she continued to move forward. The mountain road was rugged, and it was raining, so it was easy to slip and fall. Xia Yu got a branch as a cane, walking carefully with every step.

She couldn"t remember how long she had walked. When hearing the horn of the car, her eyes widened at once, her chest heaved violently, and her blood began to boil. She started to shout and scream in ecstasy.

As if the body had been injected with energy, Xia Yu threw away the crutch and ran forward quickly. She did not care about the pain sc.r.a.ped by vegetation on her face and ran forward desperately. At this time, she slipped and fell onto the ground heavily, falling down in a faint directly.

When Xia Yu woke up again, she found herself in a farmhouse. She had just opened her eyes when she heard an old woman saying: "It"s good that you wake up at last."

Xia Yu"s head still hurt, but her fever had dropped. She struggled to sit up, but she was too limp. She tried several times to get up but in vain, so she had to lie down. “Where am I?”

"Here is Xiejiacun Village. My husband brought you back when he saw you faint on the side of the road." The old woman was very happy. Xia Yu had been fainted in her house for two days, and the doctor in the village said that if she still didn"t wake up, she had to be sent to the big hospital in the county.

Fortunately, she woke up. The old woman was pleased that Xia Yu could speak clearly.

"Thank you." It was hard for Xia Yu to imagine what kind of end she would encounter without First Uncle Xie at that time in the rain.

"It"s a pleasure! He just happened to meet you!" First Aunt Xie said with a smile, and then she directed at Xia Yu: "Girl, why you went to the wilderness yourself?"

Was Xia Yu willing? It was just a plot! However, she couldn"t tell the truth. "I lost my way. I couldn"t find a way out even after walking for a long time. Fortunately, I met First Uncle Xie."

"You must be a tourist from the city. The mountain here is broad, so you should take a guide." First Aunt Xie didn"t doubt her words as such things often happened here.

"I didn"t want to go far at the beginning, but somehow I lost my way." Xia Yu had to follow her words.

"Fortunately, the Budhisattva blessed you and there was a narrow escape. Girl, where are you from?" First Aunt Xie talked with Xia Yu and got a gla.s.s of water for her to drink, helping her up.

The doctor had told her to let Xia Yu drink plenty of water.

"I"m from S city." Xia Yu took the water from her and drank it all in one breath.

"S city is a big city. There was a great talent in our village before called Xie Weihao, and he was the only undergraduate in our village. He worked in S city after graduation. Later, he married a girl in the city called Jiang Yayan. Unfortunately, although that girl was beautiful, she was not a good wife. She was too ambitious and always wanted to make a big fortune. She incited him to embezzle public funds to start a business. As a result, the business failed, and Xie Weihao was imprisoned. His mother was the most pathetic one, who raised him up painstakingly as a widow but finally faced such an end." Xia Yu"s answer that she came from S city attracted so many words of the old woman.

This was the old woman"s gossip and Xia Yu just listened to it. But she mentioned Xie Wenhao"s wife, who had the same name with her acquaintance Jiang Yayan. So, she asked: "That aunt is really very pitiful. What"s her name?"

"Xie Gendi. After her son was imprisoned, she started to cry every day. A few years later, her troublesome daughter-in-law came back with a little boy who was said the son of Xie Weihao. The child was very cute, just like what Xie Wenhao looked like as a kid. Xie Gendi braced up a little after she had a grandson. The woman also had a conscience and gave her a sum of money. She came back to see her once a year. Xie Gendi was ill not long ago, and Jiang Yayan took her away for treatment." Xia Yu only asked one question, and the aunt said a lot again.

Xia Yu"s heart missed a beat. She remembered that Jiang Yayan"s mother Xie Gendi was also a countrywoman, whose accent was about the same as the aunt"s. Could they be the same person?

Thinking of this, Xia Yu said calmly: "It"s luck in the midst of sadness for that aunt if so. Although her son is in prison, he will come back someday. She has a daughter-in-law and a grandson at home, and when her son comes back, there can be a family reunion."

"Girl, you are right. At first, Xie Gendi was unwilling to forgive Jiang Yayan anyway, but we all persuaded her into forgiving her for the sake of raising her grandson to such an age. Though she did make a mistake, she showed filial piety for Xie Weihao. Xie Gendi finally forgave Jiang Yayan for her grandson"s sake." First Aunt Xie was very talkative and told her everything she knew about Xie Gendi"s family.

The adults" names were both right, but the child"s... Xia Yu asked again: "What"s the name of the little boy?"

First Aunt Xie thought for a moment and said: "Jiangjiang, a lovely child. Xie Gendi liked him really, but his surname followed Jiang Yanyan"s, which was the only thing that Xie Gendi was dissatisfied."

Jiangjiang. Xia Yu meditated on the name in her heart. One or two persons sharing the same name could be coincidental, but it couldn"t happen in all people.

Xia Yu remembered Xie Gendi"s att.i.tude to Jiang Yayan, her eyes when she saw Zhang Peng and Zhou Yan, and those words she said. She knew all the reasons behind finally.

"You talk too much! Even if the girl is from S city, they may not know each other as the city is too big." First Uncle Xie came in as he heard the conversation inside.

"I just talked with the girl casually." First Aunt Xie took the things from his hands and put them aside.

"Uncle, thank you for saving my life." Xia Yu thanked him immediately. She did not know if she could speak without this old man.

"Don"t mention it. Everyone would do the same thing if encountering this." First Uncle Xie was an honest person, and he laughed sincerely.

"Uncle, Auntie, do you have a phone call? I want to call my family." Xia Yu was taken away by Yang Ke"er at Jiang Yayan"s home. At that time, she asked Yang Ling to take care of Jiangjiang.

If Yang Ling had found she was missing, she must have been very anxious and maybe she would have called the police. And maybe the police were looking for her everywhere. She was fine already so she should let them know she was safe.

"Ah! We don"t have that in the poor mountain." First Uncle Xie thought for a while and said:" How about living here for one night. Tomorrow I"ll go to the county and you can come with me. There are phones."

"Well, thank you, uncle."

"Don"t mention that. You must be hungry. I"ll go to cook dinner." Said First Aunt Xie.

Early the second morning, First Uncle Xie drove Xia Yu to the county with his agricultural vehicle.

Xia Yu first called Yang Ling. Hearing the voice of her, Yang Ling cried on the spot. "Sister Xia Yu, where did you go? I was worried to death."

"This is a long story. I will tell you in detail when I come back. Now I am at Liang County. Can you book a train ticket for me online?" Xia Yu was thrown out in pajamas. Her ID card and wallet were left in the home of Jiang Yayan.

"How did you go to Liang County?" Yang Ling didn"t know where Liang County was, but she quickly said: "Because I couldn"t find you and I didn"t know the phone numbers of your other friends, I had to find Young Master Yan. He is looking for you everywhere now. Send me your exact address, and I will send it to him."

Yang Ling saw that Xia Yu was together with Yang Ke"er when they separated. But when she came to find Xia Yu, she just found that the door was open. Her phone was broken in the ground and her wallet was at home, but Xia Yu was nowhere to be found.

It was not the first time that Yang Ke"er came to Jiang Yayan"s home to kick up a fuss, so she knew her ident.i.ty. Thinking that Yang Ke"er was close to both Xia Yu and Shen Yan, Yang Ling found Shen Yan at last.

Shen Yan found Yang Ke"er immediately, but she just denied it. She didn"t tell the truth until he flew into a rage. Shen Yan couldn"t take care of anything then, and he used all the human and material resources he could use to look for Xia Yu at the place that Yang Ke"er said. But they couldn"t find any trace of Xia Yu after a three-day search.

Shen Yan was going crazy. Yang Ling rang him when he was asking Yang Ke"er at home. "Young Master Yan, Sister Xia Yu has been found." At that time Shen Yan was going to use the knife, and Yang Ke"er was so scared that she even didn"t dare to cry.