Chapter 4: Hero Saves Beauty

  "What a pair of unlucky stars!" Luo Er muttered to herself, suddenly, the laundry detergent in her arms seemed to be slipping down, she quickly grabbed the bag with one hand, but she loosened her grip on the money in her other hand, and it was quickly swept away by the water of the Hongxing Canal, disappearing without a trace.

  Luo'er couldn't help but lower his head to gaze into the water. Losing money was one thing, but unfortunately, the heavens were not being kind, and a loud thunderclap from Leigong frightened everyone. Suddenly, someone behind him let out a startled cry, and the wooden board began to shake violently.

  Luo'er wanted to run over quickly, but the shoelace of her sandals happened to get caught on a protruding nail on the wooden board.

  A warm body tightly hugged her from behind, and when she felt the warmth of his breath on her earlobe, her body and heart suddenly trembled together.

  She didn't think twice, exerting her strength to shake off his arm and slid directly into the icy and bone-piercing Red Star Canal.

  The child struggled weakly in the icy ditch water, suddenly she stopped struggling, her limbs drooping.

  Perhaps she felt her soul was about to leave her body, so she quietly closed her eyes and let herself drift away... gently, quietly, with the flow of water. She didn't know where she would end up! She felt an unprecedented sense of calmness and relaxation.

  Only that shoe was still hanging on the wooden board, swaying with the flow of water.

  Lu Xuan Sheng jumped into the water at the same moment that Luo Er fell in. The turbulent water made him feel like he was using all his strength and yet it was still biting cold. Just as he was about to grab onto Luo Er's arm, a whirlpool came over and pulled them further apart, again and again.

  He finally felt the chill of the Tian Shan snow water and thought that the unremarkable three to five meter wide canal was more exhausting to swim in than a shallow sea.

  Xuan Sheng was dragging the wooden board in the water, sliding down for about 40 or 50 meters before he finally grabbed the hem of Luo Er's skirt. He held the board tightly with one hand and tried to secure Luo Er with the other, but the water kept flowing downstream, its force too strong...

  He gritted his teeth, boldly stretched out one leg, and with great effort, he straddled Luo Er's body. He swiftly hooked his foot back and then quickly wrapped the hand that had been grasping Luo Er's skirt around her waist... He let out a long sigh, looking at Luo Er who was as still as a dead person, his heart aching secretly.

  "Zhiquan, what are you still doing there, do you want me to freeze to death with this girl in the water?!"

  "Oh no! What can I do?" This guy just started running this way.

  "You! Hurry up and pull her up, please, or else another wave will come and we'll both end up back in our hometown... Ugh, that hometown is probably just a stone's throw from the ancestral tomb."

  Chen Zhiquan suddenly came to his senses and quickly ran to Xuan Sheng's side, grabbing a nearby jujube tree by the riverbank. He slowly lifted Li Lu'er out of the water and laid her on relatively dry land. Turning back to look at the river, he shouted, "Ah, Xuan Sheng! Oh no! Won't we be washed away?! I'm dizzy... Lu Xuan Sheng... Lu Xuan Sheng... Where are you?! Don't scare me! I..."

  Xuan Sheng slapped a heavy palm on his shoulder from behind, "What's with the yelling? If you have time to shout for me, don't you have time to see how this girl is doing?"

  Chen Zhiquan was startled, "Where did you come from? Do you want to scare me to death? I'm telling you Lu Xiansheng, if you don't want to live anymore, write your will first, don't scare people to death like just now... If you suddenly disappear without a word, what can I do? Like just now, if you were really washed away by the water, I would also have no choice but to die, take a direct train, go jump into the Ta Li Mu River, and see if we can meet in the same underworld..."

  Xuan Sheng coldly smiled, "Is your courage that small? Is my fate that tragic? Ah? You little brat, say a few less depressing words."

  "I don't know what's wrong with you, I only know that I've grown a single gallbladder and my head is slightly bigger than a ghost! So if you want to play something exciting, just say so, don't keep stimulating my heart!"

  Xuan Sheng pulled La Luo's hand and slightly lifted her upper body. "Hey, Zhi Quan, will she be okay?"

  Chen Zhiquan shook his head, "How would I know? Anyway, she must have drunk a lot of water, don't know if she'll just say goodbye to this world like that! Many people on TV ended up like that!"

  "Can't you say something auspicious? Damn it. Why isn't she waking up? This... this... her body seems to have no temperature at all? Should we send her to the hospital now?"

  "Umm... which hospital should I send her to? Actually, this kind of thing doesn't need to be sent to a hospital. And we've been wasting too much time talking nonsense. Who knows, if we delay any further, she might really..."

  "What's the point of talking nonsense? Tell me, how can we wake her up now?"

  "Come on! You'd better put her down first, otherwise it's your fault if something happens to her... The water has all gone into her belly, and she'll be done for!"

  "Oh? And then?" Lu Xuan Sheng carefully followed Zhi Quan's words.

  "It's nothing then, and after that you can just find a way to get the water out of her belly." He said it very lightly.

  "What's going on? Don't tell me I have to give him CPR?" Lu Xiangsheng was also extremely frustrated.

  "Right! Anyway, you're the one who saved him, of course you did it! It's none of my business!" Zhi Quan unconsciously took a few steps back, staring foolishly at Lu Xian Sheng with a silly smile.

  "Artificial respiration? I won't do it! I didn't study nursing! You know that!"

  "Mouth-to-mouth? Will it work?" Chen Zhiquan said with a loud guffaw, his laughter still unpleasant to hear.

  "No way, I'm Lu Xiansheng..."

  "Don't think about it anymore, or this girl will really die at your hands. At that time, both the hero and the murderer will be you."

  Lu Xuan Sheng shook his head gloomily, "I... then I..."

  Zhi Quan burst out laughing, his facial muscles twitching together, and his teeth still chattering, "Let me go, I'm going to be late!"

  Lu Xiansheng wrinkled his brow in frustration, staring with wide eyes as he brought his mouth closer and closer to Luo Er's face... He took a deep breath, pinched Luo Er's nose shut, and carefully blew air into her body without leaking any out. He repeated this several times, but there was still no reaction. He really regretted not paying attention in health class, wondering if he had done something wrong.

  He boldly flipped Xiaoyu over, turned her sideways, and slapped her back and buttocks several times. Miraculously, Xiaoyu suddenly started moving around in her belly, pushing the water she had just swallowed upwards, and finally spat out a lot of water.

  And just then... it sprayed right onto Lu Xiansheng's face. Lu Xiansheng furiously brushed his hair, while Chen Zhiquan laughed so hard he was almost out of breath.

  "Am I still alive?" Lí Luòér shook her head, looking at Xuàn Shèng and Zhì Quán, these two complete strangers.

  "Hmm, you're lucky! Frustrating!" Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but fiddle with his hair.

  "Beautiful girl, your life was saved by our comrade Lu Xiansheng, how can you come back to life without even saying thank you?" Zhiquan said jokingly.

  Luo Er looked up and down at Lu Xuan Sheng, gazing at his wet clothes, and softly said, "Thank you!"

  "Haha, no need to!" Lu Xiangsheng surprisingly still managed to laugh it off!

  Luo'er slowly stood up with Xuan Sheng's support, and then awkwardly shook off Xuan Sheng's hand. Chen Zhiquan panted heavily and asked her in a sullen tone, "Hey, what did you just drop into the water?"

  Luo Er's face suddenly turned red all the way to his neck, "No, no, nothing!"

  "What's the matter? Tell me! Is it important or not? If it is, I'll find a way to help you get it back! If we can't find it, then we'll just buy another one for you." Lu Xiangsheng was very concerned about Luo Er.

  "It's really nothing!"

  "Aren't you ashamed to say that? Then I'll jump in and find it!" Lu Xiangsheng said, making a motion as if he was going to jump into the water, an action that was quite frightening, feeling a bit like... drowning oneself!

  "How much is it?!" La'er bit her lip and finally spoke up!

  "Uh..." Xuan Sheng and Zhi Quan almost fainted.

  "It's just a few bucks, isn't it? You almost got both of you to see the Buddha in the Western Heaven." Chen Zhiquan looked puzzled and shook his head, "It's depressing, Shengsheng, how does it feel to play with your life?"

  Lu Xiansheng remained silent, quietly observing the girl in front of him. Suddenly, he discovered that although this girl's life experiences might not be many, her stories must be numerous. She would get herself into a predicament over just a few dollars, and even more so when she said "a few dollars", her eyes filled with desolation...

  The girl hung her head and kept biting her lower lip, because of Chen Zhiquan's words, she was already ashamed to death, tears wanted to flow out, but were stopped by herself.

  She tilted her head slightly to one side, and only then did she vaguely see the water swirl not far away, as well as the bag of laundry detergent spinning around.

  She pulled her legs forward and ran, "My laundry detergent! Money is gone ~ Laundry detergent is also gone ~ I really didn't use it......" Luo Er secretly blamed herself while constantly running forward, hoping to find a way to retrieve the newly bought laundry detergent. Perhaps Luo Er only now understood why the character for "bad luck" had rain on its head, because of the heavy rain earlier, the dirt road had turned into mud, and she ultimately failed to catch up with the bag of laundry detergent that was not far from her, because she slipped again on the muddy road softened by the rainwater.

  Lu Xuan Sheng and Chen Zhi Quan followed closely behind, "What is that thing?" Lu Xuan Sheng asked her.

  "It's just laundry detergent! Isn't it ridiculous?" Luo Er's hostile gaze left Xuan Sheng speechless for a moment!

  Luo Er looked at Xuan Sheng and Zhi Quan who were standing there stupidly, got up, closed his eyes tightly and walked home.

  "You're just going to go home like this?" Lu Xiangsheng pulled her back.

  "Yes!"

  "Look at your own feet, can you still walk?"

  Luo'er only then discovered that his ankle had been cut open at some point, with blood and mud mixed together, and one foot was bare...