Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 115 - 112 Unforgettable First Watch of the Night

Chapter 115: 112 Unforgettable First Watch of the Night

Li Xianglu returned to her room before she realized her arm was hurting, a burning pain. She carefully took off her cotton-padded jacket and overshirt, rolled up the sleeves of her thermal shirt, and saw that the area around her upper arm joint had turned red. Touching it gingerly, she winced and sharply inhaled out of pain—it was ruthless.

She pulled out a spray can of Dian Nan Bai Medicine from her Storage Ring and sprayed it on her arm while looking in the mirror. A cooling sensation spread instantly, soothing the intense burning pain.

After swallowing a blood circulation pill, she barely managed to pull on her thermal shirt, then put on her cotton-padded jacket and went out.

Grandpa Li had already heard that his granddaughter had been hit with a stick. When he saw her come out, he hurriedly carried over a bowl of Sichuan Cangdang ginseng that he had prepared, urging her to drink it quickly to help with blood circulation and disperse clots, so she would heal faster.

Li Xianglu eyed the soup medicine, which was the same color as the muddy water of the river, and muttered with a bitter face, "Grandpa, are you sure this is drinkable?"

Mr. Li thought for a moment before responding, "It should be fine. These two herbs promote blood circulation. Although they are not mixed with others, the individual properties of them will do the job. Drinking it won’t be an issue, and it will help clear the bruise on your arm."

Li Xianglu smelled it, found the scent peculiar, but drank it anyway to reassure her grandfather.

With her arm injured, she could no longer wrap dumplings, but fortunately, the dumpling fillings were all prepared, and all the dough was mixed and ready; only the wrapping was left. Mr. Li could take care of it, but both were somewhat absent-minded, worried about how Qin Xi was doing.

Although they both knew that Qin Xi was a person who knew when to stop, what if she accidentally went too far and seriously injured someone?

Inside, Grandpa Li was continuously sorting through the various connections he had in the county and province, calculating how to protect this child even if Qin Xi made the worst out of the situation.

If Li Xianglu knew that Grandpa Li’s concern was not about what Qin Xi would do, but how to deal with the aftermath, she would probably jump up in shock.

Li Jianwen had never felt such despair in the icy water. He had done many bad things: stealing tasty treats from his little brother, lying, framing, sabotaging other students in class, and once, to get revenge, reported to the Hong Guards that a classmate’s family was hoarding silver coins. As a result, that family was ruined and the classmate ended up in some village cleaning out manure as punishment.

He never thought that one day someone would retaliate for his deeds.

’Wuu wuu wuu’, his head was dunked into the water again. Li Jianwen struggled desperately, but with his hands and feet bound, he couldn’t exert any strength. If it weren’t for the rope holding him from above, he truly felt he would die.

For the first time so close to death, he was terrified. He had only offended that girl, and now she treated him this way. It was unfair, why, why!

His body was dragged out of the water again, and he gasped for breath. The fear inside Li Jianwen was about to break him as he shivered, "You, aren’t you afraid I’ll report you!"

Qin Xi smiled, "Afraid? Go ahead and report. Next time it won’t be as simple as soaking in icy water. I could kill you without leaving a trace. Getting rid of someone like you is one less evil in the world; I would be contributing to society."

Right after finishing her words, Qin Xi violently threw the person who was still leaning on the ice back into the water.

Li Jianwen struggled, but his body was so chilled he couldn’t move in the icy water.

He felt like he was about to die. No, he didn’t want to die. Full of regret, he really regretted it. The Qin Family were all mad, all insane. That Qin Miao is crazy, and this Qin Xi is also crazy!

Qin Xi pulled him out of the water again and looked at him, then said to her happily playing younger brother, "Alright, that’s enough. Drag him and dump him at Erdaoliang."

It was getting dark by then, with people coming and going. Tossing him there, someone would discover him just in time. She wasn’t trying to kill him; in fact, ending this guy wouldn’t be a big deal, it was just not the right time.

Qin Zhen was having a blast playing around. Upon hearing his brother, he quickly pulled the person out of the water and began to make his way to the beam, dragging them by the hands.

Qin Xi, on the other hand, had neatly packed everything up before dragging the person away.

Li Xianglu, wearing a hat and anxiously holding an oil lamp, waited at the door. Mr. Li had called out several times but no one had come back, feeling somewhat helpless, he simply boiled a pot of ginger brown sugar water, predicting the duo would probably be freezing by the time they returned.

Li Xianglu watched eagerly outside, and finally saw shadows moving. She excitedly ran up, calling out, "Brother Qin!"

Qin Xi stretched out his long arm, pressing it against her forehead to prevent her from approaching, "Stay back, I’m cold."

Li Xianglu was persistent, "I won’t!"

Qin Xi, left with no choice, pulled her close and they walked back side by side.

Qin Zhen came hopping in cheerfully behind them, as jubilant as he always was returning from fishing trips.

Upon entering the house, Mr. Li’s sharp eyes spotted water stains on both of them and he frowned, "Go change your clothes first. Dumplings will be ready soon. Come eat."

Qin Xi was calm as he nodded in agreement, then took his brother to change clothes in the next courtyard.

Li Xianglu, somewhat anxious to speak, noticed Grandpa Li didn’t inquire further, so she didn’t ask either. She hurriedly washed her hands and began boiling the dumplings. Once a large pot of dumplings was ready, Li Xianglu felt the cotton pants on her legs getting roasted from the heat. Anticipating it would be even hotter while eating, she went back to change into a pair of trousers over her long johns before coming out again.

Qin Xi and his brother had returned too, already seated with washed hands. Li Xianglu sat down as well, eagerly watching as she put the second pot of dumplings to boil.

Qin Xi picked up a dumpling, dipped it in the perfect mix of chili and vinegar and ate it. The cabbage had absorbed the flavor of the fat pork, spreading a fresh aroma in his mouth.

Seeing someone staring, he said somewhat amused, "What are you looking at? Eat quickly, it won’t taste good cold."

Mr. Li served everyone a bowl of brown sugar and ginger water. Qin Zhen, also chilled to the bone, couldn’t care less about eating and drank half a bowl to warm up before he cheerfully said, "That Li Jianwen was so unlucky, Brother Qin really dealt with him, he even thought he was going to die, pleading for mercy, almost ready to call out ’Dad’!"

Suddenly realizing something was off, Li Jianwen was Li Erfu’s son—if he called his brother ’Dad,’ wouldn’t that make Brother Qin Li Xianglu’s father?

Thinking of this, Qin Zhen couldn’t help but burst into laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Li Xianglu, seeing him laugh inexplicably, asked, "What’s so funny?"

Qin Zhen had clearly forgotten about the Living Yama by his side and blurted out what he had just thought, still thinking he was a genius for coming to such a conclusion.

Qin Xi’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot, but Qin Zhen still hadn’t realized as he continued to laugh.

Li Xianglu, sipping her ginger brown sugar water, felt dizzy all over and suddenly fell backward.

Qin Xi, quick to react, supported her. Li Xianglu immediately felt something slipping out from her body, a warm flow gushing from below.

Qin Xi was helping her to sit back when suddenly he felt warmth in his palm. Looking down, he saw it was covered in bright red blood!