Shrank to a 3-Years-Old Child Chapter 121: Rescue Arrives
“The monks’ quarters haven’t collapsed, and there are quilts inside. The kitchen next door is also fine. Donor, call a few people, and I’ll take you there to get the supplies.”
The abbot stood up, clasped his hands together, and bowed slightly to Gu Lan with a compassionate look. “Thank you for your generosity! You will surely receive what you wish for in the future.”
His distant gaze swept over Qingqing, as if he could see through everything.
Gu Lan’s heart tightened, and he instinctively stepped in front of Qingqing.
Sensing his strong defensiveness, the abbot ignored him and turned to call a few brave monks to help.
Twenty or so young men emerged from the tourists’ group, all of them looking strong and well-suited to carrying things.
They followed the abbot into the ancient temple and quickly made their way to the monks’ quarters at the back. Once inside, they grabbed whatever they could use, tossing it onto the quilts without a second thought, packing everything up and running.
The quilt, bulging and slung across someone’s back, looked like a thief returning with a bounty.
But no one cared about the ridiculous appearance; having supplies to get them through the cold night was all that mattered.
Qingqing had accidentally fallen asleep.
She’d been out for a day, and then had helped carry rocks to rescue someone. Her energy was expended, so it was natural for her to fall asleep.
When she awoke, it was to the warmth and flickering light of a fire that woke her.
She opened her eyes and saw a large bonfire. Many people gathered around it, roasting food.
Several large pots were set up in the distance, their flames also blazing. Thick porridge simmered within, or the aroma of clear soup wafted from them.
She scrambled to her feet, the thick quilt slipping off her body. Her body felt soft and limp, unlike the stiffness she’d felt before, sleeping directly on the ground with a coat between them.
It felt as if there was another quilt spread beneath her.
Where did the quilt come from?
Just as this question crossed her little head, Gu Lan and Wang Shuzhi arrived, each carrying two large bowls.
“Qingqing, wake up! Get up and eat.”
“Oh.”
A spoon and bowl were thrust into her hands. The bowl contained thick white porridge, and the fragrant aroma of white rice wafted into her nostrils, successfully stirring her hungry stomach.
“Gurgle…”
Her face flushed, and she quickly glanced up at Gu Lan and the others. No one laughed at her.
Gu Lan picked up a chopstick of stir-fried vegetables and offered them to Qingqing. “Be good, eat! This is a temple, and there’s no meat to eat. Only vegetables.”
“Okay.” Knowing this was not the time to be willful, Qingqing obediently took a spoon and stuffed herself with a large mouthful of both the vegetables and the porridge.
The food filled her cheeks so much that she looked like a hamster eating.
Gu Lan and the others ate their own food, occasionally serving her some vegetables.
After finishing off the bowls of food, they each got a bowl of vegetable soup.
“Drink some soup to warm your stomach.”
Qingqing only had half a bowl; she couldn’t eat any more.
The soup was freshly cooked, and it was still a little hot to the touch, but in this cold weather, it was just the right temperature to be comfortable.
Qingqing couldn’t help but hold the bowl for a while longer, until her hands were slightly burned red, then she lowered her head and took a sip of the soup.
It was unclear who made this soup; it only contained vegetables, but it tasted better than soup with meat.
Qingqing finished half a bowl by herself, still feeling unsatisfied, but her stomach couldn’t hold any more.
It was bulging like a half circle, she was so full.
“Thank goodness, Boss, you were so smart that you allowed us to rescue the supplies in time, otherwise, where would we get to eat now?”
After eating and drinking his fill, Wang Shuzhi sat down on the ground without any image, and burped contentedly.
In fact, no matter how much he cared about his image, he was doomed now.
His beige sweater had turned gray, his once fashionable short dark blue hair was now a tangled mess, his handsome face now speckled with black, gray, and yellow, and his body was covered in wood chips.
With this look, people would mistake him for a beggar, not a celebrity.
Gu Lan and Ou Qing were relatively well-off by comparison. Though disheveled, they at least looked like ordinary, somewhat slovenly people.
They sat down in a circle, surveying the chaotic yet orderly surroundings, their hearts still weighing heavily on them, uncertain of the future.
“We’re lucky! There’s a dining hall inside the ancient temple catering to tourists, so we have plenty of rice and provisions. We also have over ten acres of vegetable fields out back. At least for the time being, even if we get trapped, we won’t have to worry about food.”
“But it’s only for a short time. If rescue doesn’t arrive any longer, we’ll be in trouble.”
Wang Shuzhi ruffled his hair a few times, pulling out a small stone. He threw it away without even glancing at it.
He had completely given up on himself now. No image, no image. No one knew him here anyway.
This man had already forgotten the girl he’d bandaged before.
“How about we try to call for help again?”
“No,” Ou Qing showed Wang Shuzhi his phone. “It’s dead.”
“My phone’s dead too,” Wang Shuzhi said, a look of despair on his face. He should have brought a power bank with him.
“Mine still has power, but no signal.” Gu Lan’s words dashed the three’s last hope, and they could only reluctantly accept reality.
“Let’s just wait. If all else fails, we’ll risk descending the mountain on our own.” They didn’t know if the mountain road had been damaged by the earthquake.
Qingqing couldn’t help with these matters, so she could only sit aside and fend for herself. Glancing at her hands, still covered in bandages, she unconsciously clasped them together, placing them against her chest in a gesture akin to prayer.
For the first time, the thought crossed her mind: “If only… Qingqing could grow up faster.”
“Chirp…” A sparrow fluttered its wings, darting through the forest and quickly vanishing.
The nation’s responsiveness never disappoints.
Before dawn the next day, rescuers arrived.
God knows how excited everyone was when they heard the noise and woke up from the darkness, and saw the flickering flashlights and the familiar fluorescent stripes.
Some people even broke down in tears on the spot, crying as they said, “Thank you, thank you for finally coming.”
“Everyone get up, take your things, those who can walk by themselves, walk by themselves, those who can’t walk, wait, we will arrange for people to carry you down the mountain, the seriously injured will be handled first, hurry up and act.”
Under the command of the rescuers, everyone stood up obediently.
Qingqing and the others could all walk by themselves, so they followed the rescuers who led the way down the mountain.
It was still dark, and fearing that she would get lost, Gu Lan simply tied Qingqing’s scarf around her waist and his own, tying a knot so that they would be together no matter what.
The way down the mountain was very rugged.
Just as Gu Lan had expected, some of the stone steps had been dislodged, some even broken. Others were buried by the cascading sand and rocks, leaving only a narrow path.
This was the path cleared by the rescuers as they ascended the mountain.
There were numerous signs of this clearing, indicating that many areas were extremely time-consuming.
It was almost certain that the rescuers had arrived immediately upon receiving their call for help, having labored almost all night just to get up the mountain.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you.”
…
Many people could see this, wiping tears as they walked, and sincerely thanking these most compassionate people.
The rescuers, upon hearing the thanks, offered only a shy smile, seemingly a bit embarrassed.
As they neared the foot of the mountain, the ground
began to shake violently again.
—An aftershock!
A rescuer walking ahead, his face paled, and he immediately turned back and shouted, “Quick, get down on the rock wall and hold on!”
“Ah!” Caught off guard, Qingqing lost her balance, slipped, and was about to fall.
She had just reached a staircase displaced by the earthquake. The once smooth steps now tilted outward at a sixty-degree angle, the guardrail gone, and beyond lay the bare cliff.
Everyone who passed by was terrified, fearing a single slip and fall.
“Sister!” The aftershock had come so suddenly, and Qingqing’s fall even more so, so suddenly that Gu Lan barely had time to react.
Fortunately, the scarf tied around the siblings’ waists helped, halting Qingqing’s fall and giving Gu Lan a chance to rescue her.
He pulled Qingqing to his side, holding her tightly in his arms, and waited until the aftershock died down before he dared to let her go.
“Hurry up, let’s get down the mountain!”
The sun gradually rose higher, and the sky brightened.
The group, exhausted, slowly made their way to the open space at the foot of the mountain, feeling a sense of relief at having survived.
They… had survived.
The joy of having escaped a desperate situation led everyone to hug each other and cheer loudly. Qingqing also smiled and hugged Gu Lan.
Wang Shuzhi wanted to run away from Qingqing, but Gu Lan gave him a warning glare. He turned back, aggrieved, to seek comfort from Ou Qing.
“Brother, let’s hug.”
“No.” After a pause, Ou Qing added coldly, “You’re too dirty.”
Wang Shuzhi stretched out his arms for a bear hug, but was ruthlessly rejected. His eyes widened in disbelief, his face a look of heartbreak.
“How…how could you do this to me?”
His fingertips trembled faintly, as if the accused Ou Qing was some heartless man who had deceived a decent girl.
“Oh my goodness, you’re here!”
A nanny car sped up, and a disheveled man got out.
He glanced at the crowd with dismay, then saw a figure that could be thrown away even if it turned to ash. He immediately rushed over, hugged Wang Shuzhi, and howled.
“Do you know how worried I am about you? If I bring you out but don’t bring you back intact, how can I go back and face my aunt?”
It turned out that this person was Wang Shuzhi’s agent and also his cousin.
Ever since the earthquake, the cousin has been panicking and driving around looking for people.
Fortunately, he was well prepared and searched all the tourist spots one by one, and finally found this ancestor.
Now he doesn’t have to worry about his life.
Brothers gathered here, and many relatives and friends came over on the other side.
“Qingqing.” Someone suddenly called Qingqing’s name from behind.
“Huh?” Qingqing turned her head subconsciously and was hugged directly.
EmpressYue Corner
Good day everyone, sorry I’ve been MIA. My laptop got an issue that required fixing. I’m fully back so expect weekly updates.
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