Meng Jingwei woke up again at eight o'clock the next morning.
In the room were Xiao Meiyan and Qing Muye.
The two had stayed by her side all night.
Meng Jingwei woke up and opened her eyes, feeling a little weak all over.
"Hey, Meng Jingwei, you're finally awake?"
Xiao Meiyan exclaimed when she saw Meng Jingwei was awake.
Qing Muye immediately got up and walked over. He reached out and placed his hand on her forehead. Seeing that her fever had broken, he asked, "How are you feeling?"
"How did I get back?"
Meng Jingwei asked subconsciously, then raised her injured hand, feeling pain in her wrist.
"You didn't come back until late at night, so Qing Muye took people to look for you."
Xiao Meiyan sat beside her, her eyes turning red with distress. "Fortunately, you're alright, otherwise I would feel so guilty."
Having been born into a wealthy family, Xiao Meiyan was usually arrogant and overbearing, but she simply liked Qing Muye. Meng Jingwei had a good relationship with Qing Muye, and she could help her date Qing Muye, so she also liked Meng Jingwei a lot.
Despite her overbearing nature, beneath her flamboyant exterior was a kind heart.
"He brought me back?"
Meng Jingwei remembered the masked man from yesterday, and her gaze deepened.
"What's wrong?"
Qing Muye sensed something was amiss and asked, "Who treated your injury?"
"I did it myself."
She replied.
Qing Muye didn't ask further.
When going up the mountain, they always carried a dagger.
Qing Muye thought Meng Jingwei had also brought a dagger when she went up the mountain yesterday, but she had fallen near a steep slope, and the dagger might have fallen down the mountain.
"It's good that you're okay."
Seeing that she was safe and sound, Qing Muye's worried heart finally settled. He said, "You should rest well for these two days, and you don't need to participate in anything else."
"Okay."
She had lost blood and was a bit weak, not wanting to move.
The village chief stewed a chicken for her to nourish her body.
In the afternoon, the villagers came to visit Meng Jingwei. The kind villagers brought eggs, or chicken, duck, goose, fish, and other things.
After all, in the countryside, these were the only things available.
Meng Jingwei was deeply moved by the villagers' simple and enthusiastic hospitality and felt very happy.
After resting for two days, Xiao Meiyan became even more attentive to Meng Jingwei, serving her diligently.
Meng Jingwei enjoyed it immensely.
One day, while fishing for crayfish at the pond by the entrance, she encountered the masked man again.
Seeing the masked man walking past the pond with a cane, she called out, "You, stop!"
She dropped the small wooden rod for fishing, got up, and ran to the other side. She walked up to the masked man and questioned him, "I saved you that day, why did you leave me on the mountain?"
Good deeds go unrewarded, what kind of world is this?
She was furious!
The masked man, leaning on his cane, hunched his body. He didn't look at Meng Jingwei but rolled up his sleeves and pointed to the mottled marks on his arm. "That day... I was in a hurry to get down the mountain to find someone to save you, and I fell down the slope."
Meng Jingwei looked at the scars on his right arm, then saw him roll up his left arm, which also had some scars, and she believed him.
"Okay, I thought you were ungrateful and ran away."
Meng Jingwei's pent-up frustration for days finally subsided. She then said to the masked man, "Come on, let's go fishing for crayfish, and I'll treat you to spicy crayfish tonight."
According to the villagers' accounts of the masked man's family situation, she knew he was only in his late twenties or early thirties, very young, and likely to be fun.
So she thought of taking him fishing for crayfish and having spicy crayfish that evening.
Her arm was injured, so she couldn't do heavy work. Xiao Meiyan was a young lady from a wealthy family; her trip to Liangchuan County was just a formality, and she couldn't do any work.
The two of them, with nothing else to do, fished for crayfish at the pond by the entrance to pass the time.
After all, without the internet or television, life was incredibly lonely.
"No, thank you."
The masked man refused directly.
Meng Jingwei felt a bit touched by his willingness to 'roll down the slope' to save her that day, so she insisted, "Come on, come on! My crayfish fishing skills aren't good, I've only caught half a basin in the whole afternoon. More people means more strength."
Crayfish were very popular and well-liked in the city.
But in the deep mountains, the simple villagers focused on farming and planting, and they had no interest in crayfish. This led to an abundance of crayfish in the ponds by the entrance or in the village fields.
So, fishing for crayfish was naturally very easy for them.
The masked man watched Xiao Meiyan and Meng Jingwei play happily. He fished for crayfish by the pond without saying a word.
That night, after Meng Jingwei fainted, he sat by her side. The dagger in his hand had already been at Meng Jingwei's throat, but the man, thinking that she had been poisoned while saving him, eventually retracted the dagger and went down the mountain.
Life and death were fated; it was up to her luck.
As it turned out, she didn't die!
That evening, before Qing Muye arrived, the masked man left.
Meng Jingwei's repeated invitations were futile.
So, after Qing Muye and Chen Kui returned, they began to process the crayfish, mince garlic, and made garlic crayfish.
Using a rural clay pot to cook crayfish, the flavor was rich and exceptionally delicious.
After the meal, Meng Jingwei, who had eaten her fill, took a stroll in the village, with Qing Muye and Xiao Meiyan accompanying her closely.
A few days later, a construction team of twenty to thirty people arrived from outside, along with a team to measure and install a signal tower.
The construction team was funded by the Lan Cheng Public Welfare Foundation to build schools and came to select land and start construction. The team installing the signal tower intended to connect the village to the network.
As a result, later, landline telephones, televisions, and mobile phones were gradually purchased for the villagers.
Everyone was extremely busy.
However, heaven did not cooperate.
Just as the construction team for building the school was preparing to start, a heavy downpour swept in.
The rain came fiercely and suddenly. Since there was no way to contact the outside world, the people in the mountains had no idea what was happening outside.
The torrential rain continued from the afternoon.
Although Dongpu Village was located slightly higher up, it was at the foot of the mountain, which made people a little worried.
Meng Jingwei and Qing Muye stood at the entrance of the village, watching the river water at the entrance rise. The muddy yellow water flowed rapidly. She sighed, "When will this rain stop? The children are attending classes at school, I'm afraid the school is leaking everywhere right now."
In remote mountainous areas, the schools were dilapidated, and it was the rural farmers who helped maintain the school buildings.
In the simple tiled houses, rain caused leaks everywhere, making it impossible for the children to study with peace of mind.
"It will be fine once the new teaching building is completed,"
Qing Muye said.
"Let's go to the school to have a look. We donated a lot of books to the school these days, let's not let the rain get them wet."
Meng Jingwei suggested.
"Okay."
Qing Muye agreed, turned around, and walked towards the school with Meng Jingwei.
"Wait for me for a moment, I'll go back to get something," Meng Jingwei said to Qing Muye, then went to the village chief's house where she was staying.
Qing Muye waited for a while, then saw her return with a backpack.
As he spent more and more time with Meng Jingwei, Qing Muye felt increasingly that this seemingly ordinary woman had too many shining points that attracted him.
"This is for you."
Qing Muye walked to her side and handed her something.
However, he held it in his hand, so Meng Jingwei couldn't see what it was. She asked, "Could it be a tray... of raspberries again?"