Aisen happened to overhear this and was so angered he almost exploded. "You little brat, I'm sticking up for you, and you're defending others?"
He was furious, grabbing Aiqi's shoulders.
"Do you know what you're doing?!"
"I always do!" Aiqi's shoulders hurt from his grip. She flicked his hand away, her voice soft yet firm, "I know what I'm doing, just leave me alone."
"What are you going to do?"
Aisen was worried she might do something rash.
Aiqi sighed, "Stop worrying about me. The most important thing now is to find a way to store food. Also... when can we get out of here? Daddy and Mommy must be worried sick."
Aisen was indeed distracted. He sighed, but still reassured his sister, "Don't worry, we'll get out of here safe and sound."
"Yes, yes, I believe you, brother!"
By the afternoon, Mr. Z had assembled a team to go to the river to see if it was a suitable place for them to survive.
If the environment was favorable, he wanted to lead the people there. There was water, and according to those who returned, they had also encountered fruit trees on the way.
As a group was about to set off, Fu Jingshu also stood up.
"You're not allowed to go."
Shen Qingqing stood in front of him, blocking him completely.
Fu Jingshu said gently, "I'll just go and have a look. Besides, I've been there twice, and I know the way. After the rain, we go south. What if we get lost again..."
Shen Qingqing disagreed, "No, you're not well yet, how can you be so reckless?"
"Qingqing..."
"Either you don't go, or I go with you."
Shen Qingqing gave him two choices, but Fu Jingshu was conflicted; he didn't want to choose either.
Seeing his silence, she remained still, confronting him wordlessly.
Of course, Fu Jingshu eventually relented, "Fine, then you come with me."
"That's more like it."
Shen Qingqing linked her arm through his, of course, holding the uninjured one. Seeing them, the crowd naturally made way, letting the two walk ahead.
Shen Qingqing suddenly thought of something and scanned the crowd before looking at Aisen.
Aisen was stunned by her gaze, then realized, "You're asking about Aiqi, aren't you? She said she wouldn't be joining us this time."
"Why?"
"I don't know, maybe she's tired?"
Aisen had asked her at the time, but Aiqi refused to answer. Everyone was in a hurry to leave and kept urging them on, so Aisen didn't ask further in his haste.
"You should go and ask her," Pei Ji said upon hearing this. He was more perceptive than Aisen.
Aisen scratched his head and turned back. After a while, he returned, "She said she's feeling a bit unwell and won't be going today, so you should set off."
Shen Qingqing asked, "Is she okay?"
"She's fine, just a bit of a cold, it seems." Aisen recalled his sister speaking with her back to him earlier, and she seemed to have a bit of a stuffy nose.
Considering she had fallen into the river and gotten wet, a cold wasn't unusual.
And so, a large group set off.
Zhao Qian did not follow the group this time. After watching everyone disappear into the distance, he turned and walked towards where Aiqi was.
"Are you alright?"
Aiqi sat with her knees hugged to her chest, her back to him. "I'm fine."
Zhao Qian didn't say anything else. He turned, picked up a bottle of water, and handed it to her. "There's no milk tea or cola now, so you'll have to make do with water."
But in their current situation, even mineral water was a luxury.
Aiqi held the bottle but wasn't thirsty at all. "Thank you, but I don't want to drink it..."
Zhao Qian sat down on the ground beside her. "It's fine, if you don't want to drink it, don't. I'm just a bit curious, you always seem so carefree, but today you seem... a bit down?"
"If you don't understand, don't speculate. I'm not down."
Aiqi denied it.
Zhao Qian chuckled softly. "Perhaps. I haven't interacted much with girls, but I do know that girls' concerns usually revolve around a few things."
Appearance, figure, relationships.
"Which category do you fall into?"
Aiqi pursed her lips and lowered her head, remaining silent.
"If I said, it's the latter."
Zhao Qian paused slightly but wasn't surprised. "I would guess it's also about relationships."
Aiqi suddenly looked up. "You understand so much, is it because you're also troubled by love?"
Also.
It was an interesting word.
Zhao Qian smiled faintly, his voice low. "Let's not talk about that for now. In any case, we're comrades now, as I understand how you feel."
Initially, Aiqi had detested Zhao Qian.
Because he had spoken her mind, like a mirror, reflecting back at her a side of herself she didn't want to see, a side that didn't belong to her.
She wished she could shatter that mirror.
But now...
She suddenly felt that perhaps it was precisely because of this that he could understand her thoughts, and could allow her to confide in him in their current situation.
...
The group walked for over two hours and finally reached the river.
The river water was clear to the bottom, the pebbles in the water were clearly visible, and even schools of small fish were happily swimming, their tails wagging.
Shen Qingqing squatted by the river and observed carefully, concluding, "It's not poisonous."
The crowd, who had been watching eagerly but afraid to reach out, then rolled up their sleeves and pants, preparing to go into the river to catch some fish to satisfy their cravings.
But as soon as someone took off their shoes, Shen Qingqing's voice rang out.
"I advise you not to go in."
"Why?"
Though puzzled, everyone instinctively stopped their actions.
Shen Qingqing looked at the clear river water, her eyes narrowing slightly. "This river looks clean, but we don't know if there are any poisonous insects in it. Don't forget how leeches came about."
Thinking of those fat, wriggling worms...
Everyone shivered involuntarily.
So they could only gaze at the fish in the river, but dared not reach out to catch them, fearing they might encounter some unknown poisonous insect and get bitten again.
Shen Qingqing squatted by the river and watched for a while. She didn't find any insects in the river, but she did find a few poisonous insects in the soil by the riverbank.
This was strange.
"What are you looking at?" Fu Jingshu squatted beside her and looked into the river. The water was clear and limpid, with no apparent abnormalities.
"It's very strange, look."
Shen Qingqing dug out a few poisonous insects from the soil by the river and tried putting them into the water. The poisonous insects immediately struggled and crawled towards the bank.
It was as if there was something in the water that they greatly feared.
"Could the water be poisonous?" But that shouldn't be the case. Fu Jingshu had fallen into the river with Aiqi before and was fine afterward.
In their panic, swallowing a few mouthfuls of water was normal.
Shen Qingqing scooped up a handful of water and looked at it for a long time. The water was clear, and the taste was normal. If the problem wasn't with the water...
Then there must be another reason.
The water flowed gently, and green specks moved with the current at the bottom.
"This is... poison-repelling grass."