Chapter 66: Fame comes of itself when one does not seek it

  "What's wrong, the story hasn't gotten to the touching part yet, why are you crying?" Xue didn't know what was on Liu Ying'er's mind and couldn't bear to ask, so she stretched her waist: "I'll eat a piece of chocolate first, drink some water, take a break, and then continue telling you." After speaking, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out the remaining four pieces of chocolate and several sugar beans, loosening her palm slightly, making it look like a full handful. She picked out one piece of chocolate and put the rest back.

  Liu Ying'er wiped her eyes: "I won't listen, I'm sleepy, want to sleep for a while, you finish eating and don't move around, lean on me and rest." Her heart was already filled with sorrow, Tan Lang's thoughtfulness was so thorough, how could she repay him. She didn't want to let Xue Xiang waste his breath anymore, trying to minimize the consumption of heat.

  Xue had not eaten for over thirty hours, his stomach was growling with hunger, and as soon as the chocolate touched his tongue, it activated all his taste buds and gastric acid, and his mouth was filled with saliva. One piece of chocolate down, his hunger pangs became even stronger, but he dared not continue eating, the remaining chocolates and sugar beans were life-saving materials for him to survive or perish.

  As soon as Xue Xiang heard the sound of his stomach growling, Liu Ying'er felt even more guilty. She turned her back to Xue Xiang and secretly wiped away tears. A piece of chocolate was savored for a full five minutes, nibbled bit by bit, each piece chewed dozens of times, without needing to swallow, all dissolving into sugar water that flowed into his stomach. After finishing eating, Xue Xiang lay down beside Liu Ying'er, fortunately it was midsummer, and the cool cave wasn't too cold, the ground temperature was just right. He stretched out his arm, gently lifted up Liu Ying'er's head, moved it to his bicep, and lightly wrapped his arms around her. Liu Ying'er didn't struggle at all, cooperating as she lifted her head, turned her body, faced him, and leaned into his embrace, without a hint of shyness. All these movements were natural and smooth, as if the two people's closeness was meant to be from birth.

  Xue Xiang risked his life for Qianli, and together they went through thick and thin, relying on each other for survival. Finally, they made it through the difficult times and saw a brighter future. At this moment, he was filled with joy, and even the hunger in his stomach seemed to disappear. He gently held onto this heavenly beauty, and even if they were still in a desperate situation, being with her made it feel like paradise. Even if they were to die together in this place, what regret would he have?

  ……….

  Day breaks and night falls, the moon rises and sets, the light in the cave flickers on and off. Xue Xiang's heart has already turned to ashes. In the stone room, Liu Ying'er leaned against his chest for a long time without making a sound. On the stone wall above his head, three clear scratch marks were revealed, which was the scale he used to count the days. Three more days have passed, and Liu Ying'er had fainted from hunger the day before yesterday. Since she finished eating the biscuits, she hadn't eaten anything else, only occasionally drinking some water. Two days ago, there was still one last sugar bean left, Xue Xiang tried every means to persuade her, almost kneeling on the ground begging her, but she just closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and didn't say a word. The water in the canteen had been drunk dry long ago, fortunately, there was some accumulated water in the cave, so the two of them hadn't died of thirst yet.

  Xue struggled to crawl to the last puddle, only a small pit the size of a palm, where the last drop of water had accumulated. He stretched out his left hand and carefully let the water flow into the center of his palm, then curved his palm and scooped it up, his right hand hastily stacked under his left hand, afraid of spilling a single drop. He crawled to Liu Ying's side, carefully pried open her already dry lips, and poured the water in. Repeating this several times, he was almost exhausted, his whole body soft as a cotton ball, dizzy and faint like being on cloud nine.

  After resting for a while, Xue Xiang struggled to crawl back to the water hole, buried his mouth in the hole, and sucked hard until there was no water left. He wanted to lift his arm, but it was so heavy that he had to lower his head and bite his left index finger fiercely, causing blood to gush out. With his last bit of strength, he took off his tattered undershirt and used all his might to write a "rescue" character on the ground. He struggled to get up, but fell down again, raising clouds of dust. Afraid to waste energy trying to stand up again, he crawled to the flashlight, removed a thin copper wire wrapped around the lamp head, straightened it inch by inch, and threaded it through a hole in his undershirt. He crawled towards the opening of the cave, every step extremely difficult, feeling as if he was being tortured, with excruciating pain all over his body, as if someone was cutting into his bones and flesh. His abdomen had long since lost all sensation due to cramps, and his vision was becoming increasingly blurred. No, he couldn't sleep - he bit his lip, and the sharp pain from the fresh blood flowing into his mouth momentarily cleared his mind. With this last burst of energy, he finally managed to send out a signal for rescue outside the cave.

  Xue Xiang leaned against the wall, gasping slightly, and gazed longingly at Liu Ying'er's beautiful figure. He bent down, inching his way towards her, but eventually, he had no more strength left. The commands issued by his brain could no longer be executed by his body; even moving a finger was now a luxury. This short distance had become an insurmountable chasm. He blinked his eyes, which were the only organs still capable of movement, and gazed greedily at her. Slowly, slowly, his vision blurred, and then he fell into darkness.

  …………

  Xue Xiang had a very long dream, in which he dreamed that he became a thirty-year-old fatty who was killing it in the chess room. Suddenly, he dreamed that he became a seventeen or eighteen-year-old handsome young man holding an adorable doll, standing in a strange yet familiar courtyard. There were people frolicking in the courtyard, and he was just about to walk over and join them. A beautiful figure suddenly appeared at the door, so elegant and captivating, smiling at him. So familiar, who is she? Just as he was about to ask, the girl smiled coyly and ran away...

  "Don't go..."

  "Big brother, you're awake!"

  "Third brother, third brother....."

  Xue woke up to a familiar cry. Before his eyes was a snow-white hospital room, with a large white light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and a faint scent of soda water that made him feel more alert. As he turned his gaze, he saw the faces of his loved ones, Xiao Wan, Xiao Shi, Ma Lei Zi, Xiao Kang, Lao Zhu, all etched with worry and anxiety. Xiao Wan's eyes were red and swollen like peaches, and the little guy's face was dirty and tear-stained, looking like a big flower cat.

  Xue Xiangchong smiled at the crowd, just about to speak up, but instead, he let out a series of coughs. Kang Tong quickly came forward to help him sit up, and grabbed two thick cotton pillows to support his back.

  "How's Xiao Yi? How was his surgery?" Xue had left when Xiao Yi was undergoing surgery, and now that he didn't see Xiao Yi by his side, he couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

  "In the children's ward, the handwritten note was a success and had already been removed. Big brother, he doesn't know about your situation, I lied to him saying you went on a mission and haven't returned yet." Xiaowan handed him the water from the bedside table, continuing: "Big brother, you were unconscious for three days, it scared us so much, we thought...thought..." As she spoke, Xiaowan began to sob. These past few days had really frightened her and exhausted her.

  Xue Xiang hastily stretched out his hand to wipe away her tears and patted her head: "Don't cry, big brother is fine, ah, I'm so hungry. Xiao Wan, get me something to eat, these days have been all about glucose." Xiao Wan indeed stopped crying and went out to get him some food.

  Xue Xiang pretended to be relaxed and continued: "Lao Zhu, Ma Lei Zi, Xiao Kang, today is what day? Who pulled me out of the cave? This action is slow enough."

  "Third Brother, today is August 5th, you're really doing your job to the letter, aren't you? You'd risk your life for a military order. But isn't it too much to ask? On the other hand, Third Brother, this time you've really made a name for yourself, Wan Jia Sheng Fo!" Zhu Shi Jun cut in, neither answering his question nor showing any admiration.

  August 5th! I was rescued on the day I fainted, and my luck is too good. My life shouldn't be in danger, right? Hmm, executing military orders? Xue Xiang heard it vaguely and asked, "Executing what military orders? Old Pig, how did you know?"

  Without waiting for Zhu Shijun to respond, Lei Xiaotian smiled and said: "Third brother, this is still a secret? Who doesn't know about it now? You've become a big hero. Here, take a look at this newspaper."

  Xue Xiang opened it and was stunned, flipping through several newspapers, which were filled with reports of the Qin Tang earthquake. There was one article that stood out, titled "Racing against time to deliver military orders, sacrificing life and death to show heroism - Remembering Comrade Xue Xiang, a legendary hero of our national defense army". The article was extremely sensational, describing him as a heroic model like Huang Xigang or Qiu Xinyun, saying that he had been entrusted with a top-secret mission. Due to the sudden disruption of phone lines between Qin Tang and Beijing (the reason for the disruption being sabotage by enemy forces, but no one in Qin Tang dared not acknowledge it), he rushed to deliver the intelligence overnight, overcoming countless hardships and difficulties, and saved millions of people in Qin Tang. As a result, while rescuing a nurse, he fell into danger and was still unconscious. The article concluded that he was a brave warrior of our army and a good son and daughter of the party, with emotional language that suggested the author regretted that he had not died heroically.

  Xue Xiang was left speechless, and then turned to the next page, with a similarly shocking title: "7.8-magnitude earthquake accurately predicted by our country, international community stunned". The article reported that China's earthquake prediction capabilities have far surpassed those of other countries, and experts from world powers such as the UK, France, the US, and Russia will be sent to learn from and seek guidance from China, marking a significant leap in China's scientific and technological level. Xue Xiang also saw the name of Ma Xifeng, who was responsible for receiving the foreign experts, and thought that Ma Tiechui had finally cleared his father's name.

  Xue Xiang let out a sigh of relief as he continued to dig, his hard work had not been in vain. The earthquake that struck the entire region resulted in only over 800 deaths and over 1,000 injuries, a far cry from the historical records of over 200,000 deaths and tens of thousands of severe injuries.

  "Little treasure, you haven't responded to big brother for half a day, what's wrong? Come, let big brother take a good look at my little flower cat." Xue bent down and picked up Xiao Shi, who was staring at him silently, onto the bed. The little guy struggled a few times but couldn't break free.

  Xue Xiang pulled over the towel on the bedside table, wiped her face for her, and the little guy's chubby cheeks thinned out a lot. He was heartbroken: "Come eat an apple, our little treasure has lost weight, needs to be supplemented." Without knowing who had come to visit, he bent down to pick up an apple from the bedside table, only to find that the floor along the wall was filled with all kinds of fruits and flower baskets. Xue Xiang chose the largest one, took out a knife, peeled it, cut off a piece, and handed it to her mouth. The little guy turned his head away, ignoring him, and went on a non-violent non-cooperation strike.