80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 409 - 407: Fussy

Li Xiangyang cut a bundle of vines and, with Lin Lan, wove them into a rope. Walking to the edge of the pit, he threw the rope down to Wan Jiao and said, "Grab the rope. I’ll pull you up."

"Okay!" Wan Jiao grabbed the rope. Li Xiangyang started pulling her up. Just as they were about to grab her hand, Lin Lan also reached out to help. But Wan Jiao suddenly screamed, her grip loosened, and she tumbled back down.

"Oh my god! WAAAH... WAAAH..." Wan Jiao burst into tears. "It hurts so much! My leg is broken! WAAAH... WAAAH..."

Watching her fall in a heap at the bottom of the pit, Lin Lan and the others felt their own rears ache in sympathy.

Wu Shufen quickly comforted her, telling her not to cry.

Lin Lan looked at her, thought for a moment, and then said, "Tie the rope under your armpits. We’ll pull you up."

"Mhm!" Wan Jiao nodded through her sobs, pulled up the rope, and tied it tightly under her armpits. "I’m ready."

Lin Lan said, "Hold on to the rope with your hands, just in case the knot isn’t secure and you fall again."

"Okay!" Wan Jiao gripped the rope tightly.

This time, Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang pulled on the vine rope together, hauling her up. When she was near the edge, they grabbed her arms and lifted her out.

She was covered in damp earth, and her face was a mess of tears and snot.

As soon as she sat down, Wan Jiao clutched her right leg and looked pitifully at the group. "Aunt Wu, Little Lan, thank you. My leg’s broken."

’After Yanhong left, I was scared to death all alone down there. Thank goodness Little Jun brought Aunt Wu and the others...’

"Let me see." Wu Shufen squatted down and pulled up her pant leg. She saw that Wan Jiao’s ankle was swollen and went to feel it. But before her hand even touched Wan Jiao’s skin, Wan Jiao started screaming bloody murder. "AHHH—It hurts, it hurts..."

Lin Jun and the other kids pursed their lips in disgust. "So dramatic!"

Wu Shufen awkwardly pulled her hand back and looked up at Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang. "What do you two think? Is it sprained, or broken?"

Lin Lan glanced at it. "I can’t tell."

Li Xiangyang shook his head. "I can’t tell either. We’ll have to find a bonesetter to take a look."

Wu Shufen nodded and looked at Wan Jiao. "How long were you down there? How long ago did Yanhong leave?"

Wan Jiao sniffled. "I was down there for a while. Yanhong wanted to pull me up but couldn’t find anything to use, so she said she’d go back and get my parents."

As she spoke, she glanced up at Li Xiangyang and Lin Lan, then self-consciously tugged at her clothes.

Lin Lan thought for a moment and said to Li Xiangyang, "A round trip from here to the foot of the mountain takes over four hours at the fastest, and we don’t know how long Yanhong has been gone. Waiting here for hours isn’t an option. I think we should cut two poles and make a stretcher to carry her back."

"Okay." Li Xiangyang picked up the machete and cut down a few logs as thick as a child’s arm, stripping them of their branches.

Lin Lan pulled over the remaining vines and, with Wu Shufen, tied them to the logs to make a simple stretcher. They placed it next to Wan Jiao, and Lin Lan said to her, "We’ll lift you onto this and carry you back."

Wan Jiao nodded shyly. "Okay! Thank you, Aunt Wu. Thank you, Little Lan. Thank you, brother-in-law."

Lin Lan smiled and said to Little Douzi, "Mommy and Uncle Xiangyang are going to carry Auntie. You walk with Grandma, okay?"

"Mhm!" Little Douzi agreed and took Wu Shufen’s hand.

Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang lifted Wan Jiao onto the stretcher. Each took an end, and they started down the mountain path.

Wu Shufen led Little Douzi and the other children, including Lin Jun, back the way they came. The plan to gather mourning dove leaves and cypress branches to make mourning dove jelly was now ruined.

The children had lost their earlier cheerfulness and walked listlessly.

After walking for a bit, Lin Jun clutched his stomach and said to Wu Shufen, "Grandma, I’m hungry."

Lin Hong and the others nodded. "We’re hungry too."

"Good thing your aunt brought snacks." Wu Shufen took out some peanut nougat and pastries from her back basket and divided them among the kids, then led them on, following behind Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang.

Wan Jiao lay listlessly on the stretcher. She had probably exhausted herself from all the crying and shouting in the pit. Before long, she fell asleep.

The pair carried Wan Jiao for about an hour. Lin Lan felt her legs growing heavier and heavier, her arms and hands began to ache, and her breathing became more labored.

Walking in front, Li Xiangyang heard her panting, stopped, and looked back at her. "Want to stop and rest for a bit?"

Lin Lan nodded. "Okay!"

They found a flat spot and set Wan Jiao down. Lin Lan found a relatively dry patch of ground and plopped right down.

Wan Jiao looked at the two of them apologetically. "Little Lan, I’m sorry to trouble you both."

Lin Lan shook her head. Li Xiangyang sat down beside her and handed her a water canteen. "Drink some water. We’ll rest a bit before we go."

She took the canteen and, GULP, GULP, took a few big swallows, then said to Li Xiangyang, "If we wait a little longer, Captain Wan and the others should be here."

Li Xiangyang nodded and looked around. "Are there any other paths up the mountain? Could we have missed them?"

Lin Lan shook her head. "There are no other paths. Everyone uses the same mountain trail we took to get here."

Just then, Wu Shufen caught up with the children. "You two walk so fast! We couldn’t keep up."

"It’s fine if you walk slower." Lin Lan gestured toward Wan Jiao. "Mom, give her some water."

Wu Shufen nodded, took out a bamboo tube to give Wan Jiao a drink, and then gave her a piece of candy.

Little Douzi sat down next to Lin Lan. "Mommy, my legs are so sore!"

"Let Mommy rub them for you!" Lin Lan smiled at him. "Just a little farther and we’ll be out of the woods."

"Mhm!" Little Douzi took two pieces of candy from his pocket and handed one to Lin Lan and the other to Li Xiangyang.

The group rested for a while, then Lin Lan shouldered her end of the stretcher, and she and Li Xiangyang continued on their way carrying Wan Jiao.

They walked for another hour or so and finally emerged from the woods, reaching the mountain path they had taken on their way up.

Li Xiangyang saw an older man about Lin Changyou’s age, along with two other men and a girl of seventeen or eighteen, walking quickly toward them. "Little Lan, I think they’re here."

"That’s good." Lin Lan breathed a sigh of relief. ’If they hadn’t come soon,’ she thought, ’I wouldn’t have been able to take another step.’

Captain Wan also saw Li Xiangyang and Lin Lan carrying the stretcher, and his group quickly moved to the side of the path.

"Dad, I’m here!" Wan Jiao cried out, tears starting to fall again.

Only then did Captain Wan realize that the person on the stretcher was his daughter. He rushed forward in surprise and relief. "Jiaojiao, you’re here!"

"Uncle Wan, could you please take the stretcher? I can hardly hold it up anymore," Lin Lan said with an exhausted smile.

Captain Wan finally snapped out of it and said with a laugh, "Wan Qiang, Wan Yong, quickly, take over for Little Lan and him." Then he thanked the two of them profusely. "Thank you, thank you so much."

Lin Lan smiled politely. "Uncle Wan, you’re too kind. We’re all from the same brigade. Of course we’d help someone we found in trouble."

The Wan brothers thanked Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang, then went forward to take the stretcher, carrying the whimpering Wan Jiao down the mountain.

Captain Wan cupped his hands in gratitude toward the two of them. "Little Lan, we’ll head down first. I’ll come by your house later to talk to your father."

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. "Okay, Uncle Wan. Feel free to stop by."