CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: MARKINGS

Because she hadn’t eaten anything since the morning, Ye Xiaotong was vomiting the remains of what she had digested last night. The mixture of yellow and white matter soiled the small area in front of her.

The distinctive sour and foul smell of vomit quickly spread throughout the small tent, causing everyone around Ye Xiaotong to quickly retreat.

However, the rainstorm outside was too intense, the space inside the tent was already limited, so those who retreated bumped into others and were pushed back, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey, hurry up and clean up that vomit, it’s disgusting, so sour and smelly. Seriously, if you’re going to throw up, why not do it outside?"

"Yeah, you almost threw up on me and scared the hell out of me. Luckily, I dodged quickly. Hurry up and clean it up; it’s too gross."

The people sitting around the Ye Family weren’t their neighbors but rather some families who lived far in the village and were unfamiliar. Ye Guoqiang quickly apologized to them, while Yang Xiumei endured the nausea to clean up the mess.

Ye Xiaotong was already feeling unwell and didn’t want to clean it up, so she retreated a bit.

Yang Xiumei, on the other hand, no longer felt cold and instead began to feel hot. As soon as she smelled it, her vision blurred, and she felt dizzy and weak-limbed.

"Guoqiang, Guoqiang, I think I have a fever."

Yang Xiumei quickly became weak.

In the end, it was Ye Guoqiang who cleaned up the vomit. He held Yang Xiumei in his arms and asked Ye Xiaotong to find the team leader and see if anyone had brought medicine.

Ye Xiaotong felt very irritated, but in order to maintain her image, she forced herself to go despite feeling unwell.

The team leader went over to check on Yang Xiumei’s condition and immediately called out through a megaphone with enthusiasm.

"Everyone, someone from the Ye Family has a fever. Does anyone have any fever-reducing medicine?"

Although the hope was slim that anyone would have brought medicine like cold medicine while fleeing, the team leader still called out with hope.

For quite a while, no one responded, and everyone looked at each other.

"Who would bring this at a time like this? We barely have time to escape."

"Besides, if no one in your family is sick, where would you get medicine? Medicine is expensive now, even if we have some, we wouldn’t give it away."

"Yeah, with our clothes all wet, who wouldn’t want to save medicine for their own family?"

There were some sparse murmurs, but no one stepped up to say they had medicine.

He Chen glanced at the small bag placed beside him.

He suddenly remembered that Ye Manman had asked him to buy emergency medicines like cold medicine, anti-inflammatories, and band-aids before, saying they were good to have in the house just in case.

He wasn’t sure if she had brought them.

If she had, would she be willing to give them out?

Considering how her stepmother and stepsister had bullied her for so many years, He Chen decided to remain silent and didn’t ask her.

Ye Manman was also conflicted inside.

She did bring medicine, and quite a lot, but the idea of repaying evil with good, she felt she couldn’t do it.

After all, although Yang Xiumei didn’t bully her personally, the original host had been severely mistreated by them. The change in her personality to become so timid was a result of their long-term oppression.

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the tent.

"Leader! Leader! Thanks to the marks you made on the mountain, we almost took a wrong turn and wouldn’t have made it here! The mountain road was totally washed away, and we couldn’t see a thing."

"What a rain! I’m exhausted. We just went home to get some food and, when we looked, the group was gone. It scared us to death."

"Luckily, we found the right path. I also saw a mountain gully flooded; those cloth markers really saved us."

Suddenly, five young men and women walked in from outside, breaking through the curtain of rainwater.

The team leader, holding a megaphone, slapped his thigh when he saw them.

"I thought it felt like someone was missing, but when I asked, everyone said they were here. Turns out it was you who weren’t; thank goodness you caught up."

This group of young men and women were educated youths who came to the village earlier. They settled in the village after failing to pass the college entrance exam three times. Their living quarters were far from the village houses, and with fewer people, the team leader didn’t think of them at the time.

However, noticing what they said, the team leader scratched his head.

"You said you followed the marks I made? But I didn’t make any marks."

He couldn’t remember ever making marks, let alone using cloth strips.

The lead male educated youth froze for a moment.

"Huh? So those red and blue cloth strips we saw weren’t yours? I thought they were specifically for us to follow."

The team leader was more baffled.

At this point, an uncle suddenly stood up.

"Those strips were tied by He Chen’s wife. I heard her say she was afraid someone might fall behind, so she tied them on purpose, even using new clothes."

"You should thank her, really thank He Chen’s wife. It’s a good thing we didn’t listen to me; I thought there was no one behind."

The uncle was the kind-hearted person who previously reminded Ye Manman beside He Chen, but he didn’t think he was kind-hearted at the moment. His "kindness" almost caused harm.

The young men and women quickly ran over to thank He Chen and Ye Manman, causing Ye Manman to reluctantly remove her face from He Chen’s embrace.

Facing their enthusiastic thanks, she simply smiled faintly.

"It’s nothing, I was just being cautious. I’m glad I could help you."

She was composed and did not lose her bearings despite everyone’s enthusiasm. Her speech was clear and polite, and she was also so fair and pretty that in just a couple of sentences, the male educated youths who went to thank her blushed.

Wow, who said there were no pretty girls in the countryside? Here’s one!

He Chen is really lucky. Although he’s from the village, he managed to marry such a beautiful girl. Her looks and conversation skills even surpass those of city girls.

The three male educated youths generously shared the food they brought with He Chen and Ye Manman, while the two female youths stood shyly beside them.

Though they didn’t say much, their small glances kept sneaking toward He Chen.

They had seen He Chen in the village before and even worked together in the fields, and at one time, they had feelings for him.

Back then, the village said He Chen was supporting a family of freeloaders. He had no money, and they said he listened to his aunt in everything. His aunt also claimed that even if He Chen married, he would still have to listen to her.

From that time, they all gave up hope, thinking that no matter how capable He Chen was at working, it was useless. Moreover, with the college entrance exams being reinstated, everyone had new dreams and no one considered any possibility with him.

Who would have thought that now He Chen not only got rid of that family of freeloaders but also seemed to be doing so well? The villagers said He Chen often brought things back from town for his wife; he didn’t lack money at all...

The two female youths’ thoughts began to stir again, but no one there paid any attention

The team leader curiously looked at the large bags they brought and asked.

"Did you bring any fever medicine? Someone from Ye Manman’s family just got a fever; it looks quite serious."

He was just asking casually and didn’t expect one of the paler male youths to actually pull out a cold medicine pill.

"I figured with this heavy rain, it’s easy to catch a cold out here, so I brought a pill."

He smiled a little shyly, handed the medicine to the team leader, and then looked at Ye Manman, who was still sitting in He Chen’s arms.

"Mr. Ye, do you need anything else? We brought quite a lot."