CHAPTER 285: CHAPTER 285: SHE IS STILL LUCKY

"The landslide covered a huge area, engulfing most of Tangshan Village in an instant," Zheng Guohui said with a frown and a slight choke in his voice in response to Xu Xiuxiu’s questioning. "We’ve already reinforced the search team. Tangshan Village is not that big, and we should receive good news soon. It’s just that the captain... hasn’t been found yet. But I believe in Captain Song’s ability; he should be able to come out of this alive."

After all, he was a wartime buddy who had weathered many storms with Song Yuanhuan. The news of Song Yuanhuan’s accident was heart-wrenching for Zheng Guohui too, but as a man, and moreover as a soldier, he wouldn’t show all his heartache on the surface, even though the mudslide was much too close to their rescue site. The other comrades who had been found had all sacrificed their lives; only Captain Song remained missing. Even if he were found, everyone knew the chances of survival were slim.

"I’m going to find him," Xu Xiuxiu said as tears cascaded from her eyes, followed by a quick wipe of her hand before she steeled herself and took a step forward.

"Sister-in-law, please don’t rush," Zheng Guohui blocked Xu Xiuxiu’s path. "We weren’t planning on telling you because we were afraid you’d be too worried and couldn’t handle it. Besides, Tangshan Village is now submerged in mud, and it would be futile for you to go. Trust us, we will find the captain." After the afternoon’s mudslide, Tangshan Village had become a vast sea of mud, and the mud mixed with various sharp objects and rocks. Even experienced soldiers were prone to injury while searching for survivors there, let alone Xu Xiuxiu.

However, with Song Yuanhuan in trouble, he had initially wanted to keep it from Xu Xiuxiu. Without a doubt, learning of this news would devastate Xu Xiuxiu. If she had been elsewhere, concealing the truth might have been possible, but she was here, and the news of Song Yuanhuan’s accident would surely reach her ears. In that case, there was no point in hiding the truth from her, which was why Fu Guanglei had sent him to be the bearer of bad news.

"I need to find him," Xu Xiuxiu said, having barely taken in Zheng Guohui’s words. She was stubbornly set on finding Song Yuanhuan herself and would not cease until she found him alive.

"But..." Zheng Guohui still intended to stop Xu Xiuxiu.

"He’s my man. It’s only right that I look for him and no one can stop me," Xu Xiuxiu shouted uncontrollably with fierce determination in her eyes. It was the first time she had ever confronted one of Song Yuanhuan’s comrades with such an aggressive attitude, as if daring him to try stopping her again.

It was evident that Xu Xiuxiu was impervious to any attempt at dissuasion. All she knew was that Song Yuanhuan had an accident and his life was hanging by a thread, and she had to find him. She wasn’t scared of an accident because she had her space; if something happened, she could simply hide inside it. Although the space was small, it was still a haven that afforded her an extra layer of protection.

"Sister-in-law, please don’t make this hard for us. The captain’s fate is currently unknown, and if something were to happen to you, we wouldn’t be able to face the captain," Zheng Guohui said, his voice laden with sorrow but also a tinge of selfishness.

He didn’t want Xu Xiuxiu to go to Tangshan Village, and his reasons were understandable. However, at that moment, he didn’t quite grasp Xu Xiuxiu’s mindset. She was well aware that heading to Tangshan Village would only cause more trouble for others, but if she didn’t go and search, she felt she would go insane with the waiting.

She had always believed herself to be reborn and transported through time, with more knowledge about the future than others due to her decades of foresight. She had a small but beneficial space; spiritual spring water that could strengthen the body and pink fruits whose effects were unknown to her, but they were likely no ordinary fruits.

Thus, she always held a sense of vain elusiveness, surreal yet real, always feeling as if she were especially blessed by God. She had sons and daughters, and Song Yuanhuan doted on her, loved her, and they even had twins—a boy and a girl—without effort. Everything seemed to go smoothly for her, and even when nuisances like Lu Xiangxiang, the typical fool from novels, emerged, she never took her seriously. Xu Xiuxiu always knew that Lu Xiangxiang was no match for her.

She felt like the heroine in a novel, endowed with a lucky aura—Song Yuanhuan, even if he encountered trouble, would ultimately turn peril into safety. But today, upon learning that Song Yuanhuan had met with an accident, she suddenly became frantic. She realized she had been thrust back into reality, that she was indeed a real person living in this world. She might not always be fortunate, and Song Yuanhuan was not invulnerable; he couldn’t always narrowly escape danger. What if, as the heroine of a novel, she were cast in a tragic tale of a woman’s relentless struggle for empowerment!

Therefore, Xu Xiuxiu’s thought process completely collapsed.

"Zheng Guohui, I’m going to find Song Yuanhuan," Xu Xiuxiu said, taking deep breaths, her tone so earnest that it brooked no contradiction, "I’m informing, not asking." With that, Xu Xiuxiu took the lead and walked out from under the makeshift plastic tent.

"..." Watching Xu Xiuxiu stride ahead, Zheng Guohui was left speechless; then he cursed softly under his breath and turned to follow her closely.

The way Tangshan Village looked after the landslide was much worse than Xu Xiuxiu had imagined. It wasn’t just the collapsed houses anymore; now, they were all soaked in vast amounts of mud, looking like a swampy quagmire. Moreover, due to the dead poultry, there was also a pungent odor wafting through the air.

Seeing this, Xu Xiuxiu’s panic intensified, and she felt dumbstruck, because she realized searching was futile. As far as the eye could see, there was only mud. Finding Song Yuanhuan was akin to catching loaches in a pond—invisible, untouchable, with absolutely no leads to follow.

"Sister-in-law...," Zheng Guohui had been keeping close to Xu Xiuxiu, watching her determination as she trudged from Dengshan Village to Tangshan Village through the muddy and difficult path, seemingly unfazed. She persevered all the way to Tangshan Village.

"Take me to the place Song Yuanhuan was before the accident," she said.

"Okay," Zheng Guohui nodded and began to lead Xu Xiuxiu in the direction where Song Yuanhuan had been before the accident. Suddenly, not far away, a soldier dressed in green military fatigues called out to Zheng Guohui, "Deputy Team Zheng, come quickly, we’ve found Captain Song!"

"Really?" Zheng Guohui was a bit startled and surprised to hear the news, and he immediately disregarded Xu Xiuxiu, who was following him, splashing through the mud towards the shouting soldier.

At the sound, Xu Xiuxiu also seemed electrified, hurrying to catch up and joining the group of people. When she saw Song Yuanhuan’s body, half-crushed under a huge rock and his face pale without a hint of color, her suspended heart finally dropped with a thud. Indeed, she was still lucky.

"Yuanhuan," Xu Xiuxiu curved her lips into a smile and carefully approached Song Yuanhuan’s side; without any medical experience, she didn’t even dare to touch him.