If you don't consummate the marriage for three years and then marry a successful educated youth

More than an hour later, the two opened their eyes with anticipation. But when they saw the familiar stones and the familiar marks on the trees, they froze in place.

Ding Rui's gaze darkened: "Damn it, we're back to where we started. How is that possible? We're clearly not being deceived by our eyes. This damn place."

Wang Hansheng glanced around. It was very quiet, as if he were in another world, deathly still. There were no birdsong and no prey in sight.

"Don't you feel that there are no living things in this place anymore?"

"No...living creatures?"

"Well, normally there should be birds in the forest, like pheasants and rabbits, but there aren't any here. Plus, there are so many skeletons in the cave, I think most of them died of illness."

"But food shortages were also a major cause of their deaths, and being trapped in this godforsaken place, it would be strange if they didn't go crazy."

Ding Rui let out a breath, somewhat irritated: "So what do we do now?"

Wang Hansheng calmly said, "Wait, wait until it gets dark, wait for those phosphorescent lights to reappear, then follow those ghostly things. They can lead us to the real way out."

"Damn it, this is the only way."

"Yes, that should be the case. If there were other ways, even if these people were infected, they would definitely try to go down the mountain to find someone to save themselves. It's instinct, but they didn't."

"Would the Japanese be merciful to the villagers down the mountain? Obviously not. There's only one reason: it's not that they didn't want to go down the mountain to find someone to save them, it's that they couldn't get out or down to the foot of the mountain."

Ding Rui thought about it for a moment and agreed that what he said made sense. He took a deep breath and said, "Alright, let's do it your way. Let's leave the cave and find a high place to eat something and rest."

"Let's see how things go after dark. Hopefully, those phosphorescent lights will lead us out and nothing else goes wrong."

Sometimes, the things you least want to happen are the things that will happen.

That night, the two hid in a cave, looking at the torrential rain outside, their faces looking rather pale: "The rain is too heavy, we'll get wet and sick if we go out like this."

Ding Rui leaned against the mountain wall: "Let's wait, let's wait until it stops raining. How many days will the food we brought last?"

"At most three days. After we run out of food, there will be no prey around here. We'll either have to rely on wild fruits to fill our stomachs or wait to die."

"...!!"

They waited until dawn, but the two still hadn't seen any phosphorescence. They looked at each other, their faces grim, and they were panicked, afraid that they would be trapped and die in this godforsaken place.

"How is it? Is there no phosphorescence? Could it be related to the rainy weather? If there's no phosphorescence at all when it rains, we'll be in trouble."

The next two days were still rainy, so the two of them didn't see the phosphorescence. Even though they were careful with their food, it was almost gone. On the fourth night, when they were at their most desperate, a turning point came.

The familiar phosphorescent lights appeared, like clusters of light. To the two of them, they were a sign of hope. They breathed softly and followed the phosphorescent lights in the opposite direction.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Ding Rui saw the red ribbon tied to the tree. He rubbed his eyes and looked again; it was still there. He pointed at it in a hoarse voice and said, "We're out! We're really out!"

Wang Hansheng followed his gaze and saw the fluttering red ribbon. He became excited: "I know the pattern to entering the cave now!"

"If it's not raining, a clear night is best. Phosphorescent lights only appear after midnight. Just follow them and you'll find the cave where the guns and ammunition are stored."

"If you want to get out, you also need to follow the phosphorescent light in the opposite direction. Only in this way can you get out."

Ding Rui grunted, "Finally out. It's good that you know how to get in and out. We should hurry down the mountain to find our boss."

"Okay, let's go."

The two dared not stop. They arrived at the cave where they were hiding at the foot of the mountain, and under the cover of night, they passed through the village and went directly to the town. They then took a car back to find their boss.

Lin Qingqing also came to the foot of the mountain to look for them, but there was no news at all. She thought the two of them had died on the mountain. After all, Niujiao Mountain was very dangerous, and the villagers kept it a secret.

Zhang Jing's voice came from not far away: "Qingqing, where are you? We should go back."

"Okay, I'm coming, wait for me."

Carrying a basket, she emerged from the bushes and jogged after me.

"Let's go back."

Zhang Jing looked at her curiously: "Where did you go? I called you earlier but no one answered. I thought something had happened to you. There are a lot of snakes and venomous insects around lately because of the hot weather."

Lin Qingqing hummed in agreement: "I know, we just went to dig for wild vegetables. The purslane over there is quite plump, and it's delicious for making vegetable dumplings."

"Yeah, yours is a bit fatter than mine. I'm already craving some meat. Why isn't Jiang Lie going hunting in the mountains yet? If he did, we could have some meat too."

"Meat is too expensive in town, I can't bear to eat it. I've only had meat twice this month, I'm so craving it."

When Wen Yao was in the educated youth compound, she could still eat some snacks to satisfy her cravings, but now that she has nothing, she can't bear to spend money to buy them.

Lin Qingqing smiled and said, "It's no big deal. It's just eating meat. We'll have someone bring back a pound of meat from town, and we'll chip in to make vegetable dumplings."

"Don't let anyone else know. This is enough for us to eat for two days. We don't need to make too much, or it will be hard to keep it all."

Zhang Jing's eyes lit up: "Really? That's great! We'll just buy a pound of meat, enough to make dozens of vegetable dumplings. It'll be delicious with this purslane too!"

"Okay, let's do it then. Without some meat, we really won't have the strength to work. If we miss out on work points, we won't get much food in the winter, and the feeling of hunger is unbearable."

"That's right, let's hurry back and find someone to bring us a pound of meat."

*

In the other courtyard

Jiang Lie looked at his wife, who was as busy as a bee, and couldn't suppress the smile on his face: "Wife, we're going up the mountain to hunt and gather herbs, not to move to the mountain."

"Isn't this preparation a bit excessive? Too much stuff is hard to carry."

Wen Yao glanced at the medicine box. The two baskets seemed... well, a bit too much. She smiled apologetically and started making some cuts.

"Okay, that should be enough. It's actually my first time going into the mountains, so I just wanted to prepare more. This should be enough."

Jiang Lie nodded: "That's enough, but you only need to bring one basket to put things in and carry it. You don't need to bring the other one, which is empty. I can weave one for you anytime we get on the mountain."

"The mountain road is difficult to walk on, and it's very heavy to carry an empty basket. What do you think, little wife?"

"Okay, you have experience going up the mountain, I'll definitely listen to you."

Wen Yao readily put down the empty basket and looked at him with a smile: "Is this alright?"