Chapter Twelve: New Hope

  After leaving the Qi's house, Zhen'er told herself that everything related to this place had died with her past life. What she needs to do now is to solve their sleeping problem at night and then find a place far away from the Qi's house to start a new life with her brother.

  She chose to walk from the mountain at first because there were not many people willing to climb the mountain during this season, and their footprints were not easily discovered. So even if the tattered clothes at the foot of the mountain were found, no one would believe that the two little kids dared to climb the mountain.

  Another advantage of walking along the mountain is that it can save leg strength. Qizhen had heard people say before that climbing a mountain is tiring, but the distance is short. For example, from Qijiazhuang to Fucheng, taking the official road takes one day, while climbing the mountain only takes half a day. She and Huzi wanted to get far away from Qijiazhuang, so they had to take the small path.

  Away from the Qijiayuan, away from all the sources that make Hu Zi sad. Hu Zi is still young, under Liu Shi's oppression, his personality has some problems, he will be very violent and irritable when provoked, Qi Zhen'er has worried about him more than once. Fortunately, he is still young now, in the future, find a good place to slowly grind him back also works. This is also why she is willing to take risks and walk on mountain roads.

  Qizhen and her brother hurried as much as they could, but still fell short of their expected pace. Mainly because after Qizhen's severe injury, she didn't rest properly before getting out of bed to work, saying she was fine when in fact she was still a bit weak. Hu zi being small couldn't walk fast anyway, and in this mountain forest, it was even slower.

  The mountain is densely covered with forests and weeds, making it very difficult to walk. In order not to be scratched by branches on her face and hands and feet, Qizhen'er specially wrapped these places with cloth.

  The mountain is very dangerous, and these Qizhen children know it. In their previous life, there was a little girl who was about the same age as them, from a hunting family. When she went into town to watch the flower lanterns, she was kidnapped by a kidnapper and later sold to the Qi family. She got along well with Qizhener, teaching her many hunting skills and how to find prey. Knowing how to find prey also means knowing how to avoid it. Qizhen's good fortune in escaping death so many times in her previous life was thanks to her.

  This time walking on the mountain, Qizhen'er thanked her in her heart again for telling her these things, allowing her and Huozi to stay away from danger.

  They walked for a long time but still couldn't see the next village, and as the sky was getting dark, Qizhen knew they couldn't stay in the mountains any longer. She took Huizi down from the nearest road.

  Although she didn't know where the mountain led to, or how far they could go, Qizhen's heart was still full of hope as she left Qijiazhuang. Wherever she went, she would be happy. She thought Huazi felt the same way, and from the moment they started climbing the mountain, his face had an expression of ease that she had never seen before.

  Looking around, there was no shadow of a village, so Qizhen had to find a place with a windbreak at the foot of the mountain.

  The wheat has not been harvested yet, and from a distance, it's all green, filling people with hope.

  They found a thick and lush grassy place, Qi Zhen'er spread out the bed sheet she brought from home, sprinkled sulfur around, and slept with Hu Zi.

  Maybe he was too tired, Hu Zi fell asleep soon.

  Qizhen'er gazed at Huzi's sleeping face under the moonlight, feeling a warmth in her heart. The first day of walking on mountain roads must have been very uncomfortable and painful, but Huzi didn't even make a sound. If he hadn't fallen down, Qizhen'er wouldn't have noticed that his feet were already blistered. Later, when Qizhen'er offered to carry him, he refused.

  They only brought some mantou, which became hard and cold after a while. Qizhen'er had difficulty eating it, let alone Huzi. He didn't cry or make a fuss, but ate one with cold water. Later, Qizhen'er picked some fruits for him on the mountain, and he ate more. His sensible and obedient appearance made Qizhen'er feel heartbroken.

  The next morning, Qizhen was awakened by the sun. The sunlight in April and May was already a bit dazzling, and when Qizhen opened her eyes for a moment, she was still dazed and didn't understand where she was until she saw Huazi beside her, then she came to herself with a bright smile.

  She didn't dare to sleep all night, sometimes worrying about wild beasts running down from the mountain, and sometimes worrying that Liu's family would catch up with her, until she finally fell asleep in a daze.

  When Qi Zhen'er opened her eyes and saw the dazzling sunlight, she finally believed they had really escaped from the tiger's mouth.

  After taking a look, it was already late, Qizhen'er pushed Huzi.

  Huzi opened his eyes and saw his sister smiling happily, still a bit dazed, asking: "Sister, is it time to eat? Did Auntie leave us some food?"

  This little guy hasn't woken up yet, and Qizhen'er laughed at him: "Little lazy worm, get out of bed quickly, the sun is going to shine on your butt!"

  Fortunately, Hu Zi quickly became fully awake, looked around and pouted: "Sister, I'm hungry."

  Qī Zhēn ér yī tīng, kě bù shì, zuó wǎn jiù chī le yī gè wō wō tóu, hái zǒu le nà me duō de lù, kěn dìng dōu xiāo hào de chà bu duō le, tā gāo xìng de lián è dōu méi yǒu gǎn jué ne.

  She took out a steamed bun and handed one to Hu Zi, also handing him the water bag.

  Hutou listened and took over, didn't make a fuss, just scrunched up his face and looked at Wowa with a bitter expression.

  Qizhen'er felt uneasy in her heart, this nest head was indeed hard to swallow. These two days they walked through the forest, these things were spoiled slower, after two more days when it got hot, these things couldn't be stored anymore. She had to think of a way to solve the problem of food and clothing.

  After eating a little something, Qizhen packed up and called Huizi to set off.

  For the first time walking on a mountain road for so long, Hu Zi was still a bit overwhelmed no matter how obedient he was. His feet had blisters yesterday, and in order not to worry his sister, he endured it all night, and after resting overnight, they got a little better. Now that he wants to get up, his legs are soft again and he falls down.

  Qizhen'er was startled by the sound and hurriedly ran to his side, anxiously asking: "Huzi, what's wrong with you? Which part of your body doesn't feel comfortable?"

  The little tiger originally wanted to hide it, but seeing her sister anxiously feeling around on his body and pointing at his foot with a pitiful expression saying "it hurts".

  Qizhen rolled up his pant legs, revealing his shoes, which were already a bit tattered, with the big toe of his left foot exposed. Taking off his shoes was even more pitiful, with several large blisters; Qizhen looked at them and felt very distressed, but Huzi had endured this for so long.

  Under current circumstances, it's impossible to apply medicine or soak his feet in hot water, so Qizhen had no choice but to put the shoes on him.

  She carefully packed her luggage and let Qizhen carry it on his back. She then directly carried Tuzi on her back.

  For the past two years, the siblings have been living a life of hunger and poverty, both becoming very thin and weak. Qizhener is slightly better off, having always worked hard to build up her strength despite being small in stature.

  Hu Zi was in a bad state, born without milk to drink, with a weak and frail body. He had almost not made it several times, and at the virtual age of six, he only had the height of a three-year-old. Qi Zhen'er carrying him on her back didn't feel much strain.

  Walking on the mountain, Qizhen'er discovered an unexpected surprise - mushrooms. This is a deep mountain, with plenty of dew, and there are already mushrooms in the forest. If it weren't for Qizhen'er's sharp eyes spotting them through the grass, she would have overlooked these good things.

  Before the rain, Qizhen would also carry a small basket with her little friends to pick mushrooms on the mountain. She was small and weak, and didn't dare go deep into the mountains, so she picked fewer ones. For this reason, Liu's wife had scolded her before, but never thought of letting Feng'er follow them up the mountain.

  After Qi San Niu left, Hu Zi's body was weak, and Liu Shi didn't dare let him go to the mountain alone. They went a few times when Zhen Er had time off.

  Zi Zhen'er didn't expect their luck to be so good that they could even get some mushrooms to fill their bellies.

  There is a river in the mountain, very long. Qizhen originally planned to walk along the river, so there would be no problem with water shortage, until she found animal footprints on the riverbank, and seeing that the animal was not small, she changed her route.

  When she was on the Dapeng Mountain, Qi Zhener didn't dare to walk on the path trodden by hunters, fearing that she would meet acquaintances and suffer a setback. After crossing the mountain, she walked boldly on the clearly visible path. Humans have tempers, animals also know fear.

  Following the sound of water, Qizhen'er carried Huizi to the water's edge. First, she washed some mushrooms and wrapped them in clothes to soak in the water. Then, she carefully took off Huizi's shoes and let him soak his feet downstream. Qizhen'er also washed her face and soaked her feet for a while.

  Eating raw mushrooms, gnawing on a horned head, drinking water, Qizhen'er regretted why she forgot to bring a flint. Otherwise, she could have cooked some food for Huzi to eat now.

  Although the mushrooms were raw, Tiger was eating them happily and he didn't want to eat Wonton noodles anymore.

  As she walked into this area, Qizhen found that there were more signs of human activity, and the mountain clearly had paths where people had walked out. She thought that following the river should lead her to a village soon.

  After eating and soaking his feet, Hu Zi felt much better. He also didn't let Zhen Er carry him anymore, instead carrying the bundle of clothes and following Zhen Er as she walked.

  Zhen'er saw that he insisted on walking by himself, so she let him be. Carrying Hu Zi and walking for this long, to be honest, she was getting a bit exhausted, and her pace had slowed down a lot. They were now deep in the mountains, and if they couldn't find someone's home to borrow for the night, it would be very dangerous. She also wanted to hurry up and speed up their journey.

  Not far along the river, Qizhen'er discovered that there was a wisp of smoke rising in the distance ahead and excitedly called out.

  "Look, Hu Zi, there's someone's home up ahead."

  Too much ado about nothing, there's no content, another update later, hahaha~~~~please vote a lot