Chapter 9: Tears of Farewell

  Qī Zhēn'er rushed out of the village and ran all the way, Qī Fèng'er's words had already been heard by someone, so she wasn't worried that anyone would ask her why she was running towards Dà Péng Mountain.

  Arriving at the foot of Dapeng Mountain without seeing Hu Zi's figure, Qi Zhen'er's heart tightened. Although Qi Feng'er's words had just been full of loopholes, she had also analyzed the authenticity of Qi Feng'er's words, but all kinds of possible situations still flashed in her mind along the way.

  If Huzi really didn't run out and get discovered by the Liu family, she wouldn't be able to escape either. She couldn't abandon Huzi and run away herself. Then their future lives would be even more miserable than now. No matter whether the Liu family found out that she had sold Feng'er or not, she would still put this account on her siblings' heads.

  "Little tiger, little tiger, I'm your sister, where are you?" Qizhen pressed down the anxiety that surged up from her heart and called out while searching through the grass.

  She walked all the way to the mountain hollow but still didn't see any sign of Hu Zi. Qizhen's heart was both anxious and aching, thinking that either Hu Zi hadn't managed to escape or he hadn't listened to her and come up the mountain.

  Qizhen'er couldn't help but burst into tears, where could Huizi go after all?

  "Sister, you've finally arrived." A slightly hoarse voice came from behind Hu Zi.

  Qī Zhēnér was overjoyed and turned around, throwing her arms around him and bursting into tears.

  The little boy didn't know why his sister was crying, but he was infected by her sad emotions and started crying too.

  After crying for a while, Qizhen finally let out all the grievances in her heart and barely stopped her tears. It's not early now, she doesn't have so much time to cry, she has more important things to do.

  "Where's the package sister asked you to bring?" Qizhen'er asked, looking at Huzi who had nothing with him.

  The little tiger wiped away his tears and pointed to a clump of grass behind him, saying: "Sister, you never came, and I remembered that you told me not to let anyone find me, so I hid there. Later, after waiting for a long time, I accidentally fell asleep. The thing is still there, and when I heard you calling me, I hurried out without taking it."

  Qizhen'er couldn't help but laugh, it was because she had been delayed for too long. Hu zi was telling on her. She patted his head and praised with a smile: "Our Hu zi is so clever, sister said not to let anyone find out, he hid well, really smart."

  The little tiger was embarrassed by his sister's praise, and he had just accidentally fallen asleep.

  Found where the tiger cub was hiding, picked up the bundle, Qi Zhen'er checked that everything she had asked the tiger to bring was there. Actually, it wasn't much, just a few old clothes, some dry rations they had hidden away these past few days, a water bag bought by Qi San Niu when he did odd jobs in town, which Qi Zhen'er had filled with water the day before, a broken lotus leaf package wrapped with雄黄 (a type of herb), this was something Qi Zhen'er had secretly taken, as the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, Liu Shi had bought it at the market a few days ago, she thought it would be useful on the mountain. There was also a bag of salt.

  Hutou is still young and can't carry too much, so Qizhen considers that they need to run away and lets Hutou take as little as possible, just these are just right for him.

  She took out a tattered dress from two years ago, tore it to shreds and threw it on a branch, then tossed one of Tiger's shoes as well. Only then did Qizhen feel at ease.

  Carrying Hu Zi, she walked up the mountain along the marks she had made a few days ago. Under a tree with a cloth strip tied around it, she dug out an axe that Qizhen had secretly hidden when she went up the mountain to explore the road some time ago. These days, there was enough firewood at home, and no one had gone to the woodshed, so no one had discovered the missing axe. Holding the axe, Qizhen felt much more at ease, after all, the two children were in the mountains, and if they encountered any large wild animals, they would have no way to deal with them, but having something would give them some courage.

  Arriving at the mountain waist, Qizhen'er turned her head to look in the direction of Qijiazhuang, but it was already not very clear, with only a piece of houses faintly visible.

  Qizhen'er knelt down, pulling Huizi with her, and kowtowed several times in the direction of Qijiayuan Village. Huizi followed her sister's example and also kowtowed.

  "Brother, remember this is our father and mother's home, they are buried here. As for us, from now on we have no home." Where there are loved ones, that's where the home is; their home is only in their hearts now.

  Huzi didn't understand his sister's words, but he also knew they were going to leave the Liu family. Although he didn't know where they were going, he was still very happy. After all, Qiangzi had always made him do bad things and let him take the blame, and Feng'er was no good either, always telling on him and his sister to their aunt, getting them punished. As for that home, Huzi actually didn't have much feeling towards it; if his sister wanted him to leave, he would leave.

  Qī Zhēn ér liǎng rén tài xiǎo zǒu bù kuài, tā zhī qián yě kǎo lǜ dào zhè xiē wèn tí, suǒ yǐ zhī qián zài zhè tiáo lù shàng yǐ jīng kǎn chū le yī tiáo xiǎo dào, xiǎn xiǎn gòu tāmen liǎng guò. Xiàn zài shān lǐ de měng shòu duō, bái tiān hái hǎo, yào shì yè wǎn tāmen liǎng kě jiù cǎn le. Suǒ yǐ tāmen yào jǐn kuài fān guò zhè zuò xiǎo shān, zǒu dào xià yī zuò shān zài kào jìn cūn zǐ de dì fāng xī yī yè.

  On the other side, Qizhen's sister and brother had a difficult and perilous journey, but at this moment, the Qi family was also not peaceful.

  "You silly girl, you're going to drive me mad! Everyone else can't wait to get away from them, but you stupidly jump right in. Do you think being a maid is a good thing? You're even fighting and scrambling to go, how did I end up with such a foolish daughter like you!" Liu heard that Qi Feng'er was going to sell herself into the Qi household to take Qi Zhen'er's place, and her heart was filled with hatred. As soon as she saw Qi Feng'er return, she couldn't help but scold her.

  Zi Xingwen also took the rattan stick to hit Zi Feng'er, he loves money, but didn't think of buying his own daughter, this would be a joke if it got out! She's good, having such a foolish daughter willing to sell herself.

  "Don't stop me, let me beat this brainless thing to death! What's our family lacking that we need you to sell yourself?" Liu saw him wielding a rattan stick and striking it at Qi Feng with all his might, desperately blocking him. This was her darling, after all these years she couldn't bear to touch even one of his fingers, how could she tolerate him being beaten with such a thick stick?

  "Calm down and think of a way quickly, tomorrow they will have to send Feng'er away. What's the use of hitting her now?" Liu said, bursting into tears.

  Qifeng'er feared that her parents would really go and find someone to ruin the whole thing, so she hastily said: "Mother, I also had no choice but to agree. The steward from the Qi manor said he had already reserved a spot for our family, but since Zhen'er ran away, if we don't send someone else, both our family and the Wu steward's family will be in trouble. And it's not just that - we're also tenants of the Qi manor, so if they blame us, we'll be in big trouble. Moreover, the Wu steward's family has been helping us so much, we can't drag them down either. That's why I agreed to enter the Qi manor."

  The Liu family only heard that their Feng'er had replaced Zhen'er and entered the Qi manor, but they didn't know about all these twists and turns. It's really as if heaven wants to ruin their family! They were raising their good daughter like a treasure, yet she has to go serve another family as a maid, just thinking about it makes her feel stifled.

  Liu's gritted teeth and asked: "Where is that dead girl Zhen'er?" For so long, not to mention that dead girl Zhen'er, even Hu Zi hasn't been seen.

  Zi Xingwen listened to Feng'er and also felt that going to find Wu Guanshi would not only fail to keep Feng'er, but also offend them. They were tenants of the Qi family's land, but Wu Guanshi was in charge, if they offended him, it would be really difficult to get by later. Only when Liu Shi mentioned Qi Zhen'er did he remember that Feng'er was a substitute for Zhen'er, and if he sent Zhen'er away, wouldn't everything be fine? He also asked: "Where is Zhen'er? Go find her and bring her back to me."

  Qifeng'er listened to them and was worried that they would definitely find Qizhen'er. If Zhen'er returns, wouldn't she know that what she said was a lie? Then she could go to the Qi manor. But she didn't know what to do, someone heard her tell Zhen'er that Hu'zi went to Dapeng Mountain and then left. She couldn't reveal herself, so she said: "I saw Hu'zi going to Dapeng Mountain today, and I accidentally told Zhen'er, she might have gone to Nan Shan Dapeng Mountain."

  Liu was shocked: "What did Hu Zi go to Dapeng Mountain for?" But looking at Feng Er's eyes, she was full of suspicion. This daughter of hers was ruthless but wouldn't lie, every time she lied she would pinch the corner of her clothes, and now her hand kept rubbing against the corner of her clothes, she believed there was a problem.

  "How would I know?" Zi Feng'er pouted, "I just saw him heading in the direction of Dapeng Mountain, isn't that worrying about him? Just saying it slipped out."

  If Feng'er is worried about Hu Zi, Liu would be even more disbelieving. Can't she understand her own daughter's thoughts, who came out of her own belly?

  "All right, go to Dapeng Mountain and bring Zhen'er back to me." Liu's command was clean and efficient. She still didn't know that Feng'er had deceived Zhen'er into selling herself, and it was also her fault for not stopping her. Now she could only find Zhen'er back.

  Qifeng'er hesitated, looking at her father and then at her mother, taking small steps with her feet. Where is she going to find Zhen'er's brother now? Zhen'er must know that she was deceived by now, and who knows if she will foolishly go look for the steward from the Qi manor again.

  Zi Xingwen saw her like this and angrily shouted: "Get out!"

  Zi Feng'er was startled by her father and raised her foot to run out, but she was knocked back by the person who came in from outside, hitting her waist on the corner of the table, causing her to gasp in pain.

  "Brother Qi, something's wrong! Someone found Zhen'er's torn clothes and Hu Zi's shoes at the foot of Dapeng Mountain!" Huan Ge exclaimed, too anxious to apologize to the person he had bumped into.

  Qī Xìngwén and Liú shì were both stunned by the news, but Qī Xìngwén reacted quickly, asking: "What's going on? Have you seen Hǔ Zǐ and Zhēn ér?"

  Huan Ge was also called to pass on a message, but he wasn't very clear about the specific situation either. He spoke in a jumbled and confusing way for half a day, but neither Qi Xingwen nor Liu Shi understood what he meant. They decided to head to Dapeng Mountain to take a look.

  At this time, many people in the village had already received the news and gathered at the foot of Dapeng Mountain. Everyone saw that the clothes were torn to such an extent, and there was a mess nearby, guessing that Zhen'er's younger brother had encountered misfortune.

  This season is just the time when wild boars are on the move, and everyone just made such a guess, but no one went to verify it. After all, there are too many large beasts on Dapeng Mountain, and if they were hit by something, it would be bad.

  Liu also saw the tattered clothes and shoes, recognizing that they were indeed Zhen's and Hu Zi's, and burst into tears while hugging them. Qi Xingwen was also gloomy-faced.

  Everyone who saw them felt heartbroken and thought the couple had a good heart, being so heartbroken for their younger brother's children. They couldn't help but comfort them: "Don't grieve! They were also an unfortunate pair; now they can finally reunite as a family, which is a good thing."

  Liu's family heard the crying sound and it grew louder, their Phoenix had no last chance. They were a good family, reunited in the underworld, but what a pity for their Phoenix!

  Feng didn't think that her careless guess would actually be correct, now Zhen can no longer compete with her. Thinking about the good life she's going to have, she started to sympathize with Qi Zhen from a superior position, what a miserable death!

  Everyone had finally coaxed Liu's family into calming down when someone shouted loudly, "Old Qi and Old Qi's wife, hurry up and get together! Widow Xing is making a scene at your house!"