Chapter Sixteen: Almost Lost His Life

  Standing by the river, I was a bit stunned. The vast and wide river surface, with that hanging son, although there's some impression in my memory, but that came from a TV documentary of past life. As for actual operation, it's just a good wish. This sudden arrival at the scene, not to mention guiding everyone, even choosing a place to stop is quite suitable, can't say anything about it. It's absolutely a rookie! Not to mention having water and having fish, I'm at a loss. Oh God, give me wisdom! Burn, my little universe! Nothing works!

  This is getting colder and trembling, the hotter the more sweating! Afraid of what comes what, everyone stopped in their tracks, eyes staring at me, that means, arrived, old big, leader, captain, idol-level character, you take a chapter, this day is not early, brothers good start work? Look at me what? If I knew how to do it, would I need you to look? Calm, absolutely calm! "That, like this, play a democratic role, everyone says, where is the best place to hang?" What can I say, genius or not, I was inspired by the urgency of the situation and came up with a brilliant idea, decentralization of power, concentrating the wisdom of the masses? This is called trusting the masses, relying on the masses, how does it sound like an excuse?!

  "Let's take a break here, I'll go check the river," At this critical moment, Autumn Brother spoke up, really saving me from embarrassment. "Alright then, let's have Autumn Brother go, does anyone object?" Regaining control of the situation, this leader is indeed a leader, good at seizing opportunities. "No objections, if Autumn Brother doesn't go, who will? Among us, Autumn Brother is the old master, every year when the adults go ice fishing, Autumn Brother's skills are unmatched." Everyone chimed in, unanimously agreeing with my suggestion, crisis averted! "Autumn Brother, let's go together, if something happens, we can take care of each other," At this time, the leader should take the lead, but I actually wanted to follow Autumn Brother and learn from him how to choose the right fishing spot. However, this couldn't be said out loud, as the so-called "King of the Village" and idol-like figure, who grew up in these woods and by the river, wouldn't know how to do this, it would be embarrassing and damaging to my reputation. "Alright then, Little Autumn and I will go together," Let's go!

  "Everyone stay put and don't move around, don't fall into the ice cave," I reminded everyone again. "Go ahead, go ahead," without your order, we won't go anywhere, finally felt at ease. I sneaked a peek at Ling sister, wanting to observe her reaction. This girl is not simple, she has a lot on her mind, just a typical example of being beautiful and clever. Others can't tell what's going on, but I'm not sure if she's thinking deeply about it. Besides, isn't she still interested in me? That makes it even more necessary to observe carefully! Alas, being noticed by someone, especially a woman, and a beautiful one at that, is it good luck or trouble? It's too complicated!

  She happened to look at me too, and in her eyes, there were questions, doubts, and a little confusion. Her beautiful big eyes blinked, and her head was slightly tilted, which proved that she was thinking deeply. I guessed it was because "something's not right, this kid usually isn't one to back down, always trying to get the upper hand, never letting others win, but today he's different, not like before." I gave Ling a charming smile and winked at her with my left eye, trying to interrupt her thoughts and disturb her mind. If not, the more she thought about it, the more doubts she'd have, which wouldn't do. The meaning was, "Don't think about it anymore, bro... no, I mean, little brother." Wasn't this a sign of maturity? Considering things from all angles, knowing to ask for everyone's opinions, not like that impulsive young man he used to be. Good thing!

  After finishing the action, I turned around with a flourish and waved my hand at Autumn Brother: Let's go! I floated away with a swish, leaving Ling Sister behind. I can imagine her expression, it must be very rich, her small face flushed red, that's for sure, because I had never treated her like that before, absolutely the first time, the first time in my memory, enough to make her heart skip a beat.

  I and Autumn Brother walked onto the river surface, not knowing how it was before. Don't think that the river surface is as smooth as a mirror, like an ice rink at home. Nonsense! The river surface freezes, but it's not like stagnant water, which can freeze overnight. This river surface freezes layer by layer: the ice frozen last night didn't melt completely today, and new flowing water came again, leaving a thin layer of ice on this icy surface. It goes on like this, freezing towards the middle of the river, until the clear water is no longer visible - that's what we call "river sealing". However, it's still not possible to walk on it now, as the ice surface is too thin; one step and you'll fall through. When it freezes to over a foot thick, walking on it will be fine. If it freezes two feet or more, big trucks can even drive on the river surface.

  As I walked, I would occasionally see ice cracks, like big black holes, that the thick snow couldn't cover. The further we went towards the center of the river, the more ice cracks there were. I was a bit startled by this, thinking that if I fell in, I'd be done for! Autumn Brother reminded me to avoid the crevices underfoot and said, "These big ice cracks aren't scary, you can see them with one glance. What's hard to guard against are the small ice cracks, which are covered up by snow and look just like the ordinary river surface. But when you step on one, your body loses balance and you fall forward, and you could easily twist an ankle. The old bosses who drive carts in the winter fear these kinds of ice cracks the most - if they're not careful, they'll break a horse's leg. So, when walking on the river in the winter, you can't be impatient. You have to tread carefully, like I am. See?" Indeed, under Autumn Brother's guidance, we safely passed by several traps without incident. It's really true that there's always something new to learn!

  As we were about to cross the river, I casually asked, "Brother Qiusheng, can we set up the fishing net now?" Brother Qiusheng smiled and shook his head, "This isn't a good spot, let's keep moving." As we walked, he told me the basics of setting up a winter fishing net, about how to stabilize it in flowing water, how to position it diagonally across the river, and so on. I was impressed by his practical experience and listened intently, learning a new skill. It's true that you can learn something new everywhere you go.

  Eyes fixed on the opposite shore, Autumn Brother still didn't show any signs of stopping, I got a bit anxious. Moreover, walking on the river surface, my heart was indeed a bit uneasy. Hurrying to reach the shore, only then could my heart feel at ease. Thinking this, I quickened my pace, overtaking Autumn Brother. No wonder they say, the earth is mother. Standing on land, it's more reassuring than being on the Dragon King's territory.

  About three to five meters away from the shore, I felt a slight "creaking" sound under my feet. I didn't pay attention to it. At this time, I heard Autumn Brother shouting loudly: "Little Autumn, get down quickly! Get down!!" What's going on? Why should I get down? It's not like there's an air raid or anything, and I haven't seen any Japanese planes either. Besides, I didn't dig up his ancestral grave or seduce his sister, so why would they send a whole plane to drop bombs just for me? Autumn Brother is really good at joking around! People can't be judged by their appearance! I'm not falling for it! Just as I was thinking this, I felt the ground beneath me sink, and a feeling of falling. What's going on?!

  At this moment, Autumn Brother had already pounced on me, and with one pull, he pulled me down onto my back. My hat flew off to the side at that instant. He also fell onto the ice, following his momentum. I hadn't even figured out what was happening yet. "Little Autumn, don't move around, don't get up! Turn over, follow the path we came from, and crawl back! Crawl!" Autumn Brother's tone of voice was shaking somewhat, filled with urgency and panic, as well as a crying tone that he normally didn't have. His words were not to be doubted. What's going on? I turned my head to look at the place where we had just walked: Oh no! How is there still water?! A large ice pit, black and deep, seemed to be emitting a faint mist of hot air! Where did this water come from in this freezing cold weather? I was getting dizzy, but listening to advice, I started crawling back along the footprints in the snow that we had made on our way here.

  I crawled about two meters, just two big steps away. Behind me, I heard Autumn's voice: "Okay, get up slowly." Although his voice still trembled slightly, it was clearly more relaxed than before. I didn't stand up, but instead sat down in the snow, and found that Autumn was crawling right behind me. Looking again, my shoes were already covered with frost, fortunately, no water had seeped in, or else I would have been utterly humiliated.

  Qiu Sheng Ge crawled beside me, turned over and leaned against me on the snowy ground, took off his hat, stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat beads on his head, let out a long sigh, his face was a bit pale, and his eyes had a frightened look. It was obvious that he was scared. Before I could speak, "Xiao Qiu, you almost scared me to death, do you know? Just now you almost lost your life!" Looking at my confused eyes, innocent expression, and baby-like purity, Qiu Sheng Ge swallowed hard, opened his mouth, scratched his head, and looked like he was about to go crazy!

  "What's going on? You don't know, just now that was a warm current, one foot down and you'll sink to the bottom immediately. The rapid flow will roll you over, and at that time, you'll drill into the ice cave, is there still a way to survive?" Autumn brother shouted loudly, what's this thing? Looking at my confused expression, "Little Autumn, it doesn't seem right, you should know what a warm current is, since childhood, we've been playing by the river and in the forest, how could you not know this?" Seeing me like this, Autumn brother's tone became softer, but he asked me with an even more puzzled tone. Big brother, good brother, I really don't know, otherwise, why would I look like this? "Little Autumn, since you woke up from your injury, it seems like you've become a different person? You know more things than us, and your words are all on point, but some things that happened right in front of you, you don't know as much as we do. This is not like you used to be."

  Can it be the same? The person is still the same, but the CPU has changed. Can the performance be the same? How can this be? Honestly speaking? No way, and don't even mention if anyone believes it, this is simply impossible for anyone to believe! Oh, you! You've crossed over from tens of thousands of miles away, several decades ago, and you're still under 30 years old, and a special forces soldier too?! "Whoosh" just like that, you arrived at our village, and attached yourself to Xiaoyu's body. Are you crazy? Do you have a high fever of 80 degrees? Have you been bewitched by the yellow-skinned people? It can't be said, but for now, Autumn Brother has passed this test!

  Got it, plagiarizing the copyright, although I hate that melodramatic soap opera's idea, this is currently the only reasonable explanation. Let's just say I took the wrong medicine last night. "Cough cough, Ah, Autumn Brother, it's like this... I'm not sure how to put it, but it seems like my head got knocked or something, and when I woke up, I felt a bit influenced. I understood many things that I didn't know before, but sometimes the things in front of me are a bit unclear. I don't know what's going on? It doesn't seem to have much impact, so I didn't pay attention to it. If you hadn't brought it up now, I would have forgotten about this whole thing." I explained to Autumn Brother with a sincere and calm expression, but lying is really an exhausting task!

  Looking at Autumn Sheng's relieved expression, yeah! This performance was a success. Forgive me, kind brother, don't say that I intentionally deceived you, if I told the truth, you wouldn't believe it anyway. This well-intentioned lie is something even Buddha would forgive, isn't this just self-consolation?

  "Oh, no wonder! I had a feeling something was off early on. Several times I wanted to ask you, but didn't dare open my mouth, afraid you'd be embarrassed. Besides, with your personality, being so strong and outstanding, it's not easy for me to ask about this. This matter, I've discussed it with Xiaoling in private a couple of times, she was also confused and worried, but didn't dare ask either, afraid you wouldn't take it well. But I can see that girl has feelings for you! And you, you have feelings for her too! Others may not notice, but between the two of you, there are small actions that I've caught on to. Xiaoling is a good girl, the best in the village, if not... otherwise, I'll quietly tell her about this later, so she can stop daydreaming." Haha, looks like Autumn Uncle is quite perceptive after all!

  "This, brother, wait a moment, I'll talk to her myself," my face turned a bit red. "Look at you, aren't you ashamed? This is serious business, we must hurry up, or else that village will snatch the opportunity away and you'll regret it?" Autumn-born brother said seriously to me.

  "Brother, I'm not young anymore, I just turned 16 during the New Year,"

  "What's young about that? In our place, there are many who become fathers at 15 or 16," Yeah, that's right! In this era, early marriage is in fashion, age isn't a problem, haha!

  The sky in the liberated zone is a bright and sunny sky, Tang Qiuli loves it today!!

  I raised my head and saw that big ice cave, my body shuddered, how could I have almost forgotten this thing that nearly took my life? If I don't figure it out now, if I encounter something like this again when I'm acting on my own, I won't be as lucky as I was today!

  "Autumn brother, what's going on with this warm water? Can it take lives?" Seeing me ask about this matter, Autumn brother's face turned serious. "Little Autumn, if you don't mention it, I have to say something too. You were so close to death today! If anything happens to you, how can I be accountable to your uncle and aunt?! This lifetime, I'll regret it to death!"

  Let's move over there, find a place with a good windbreak, anyway we're not going back, and the others can't do anything either, let them wait first, this is a common thing, finding a fish nest isn't that easy, I'll tell you in detail so next time you encounter something like this you'll know what to do. Autumn Brother and I moved over to a place with a good windbreak and sat down on the snowy ground, Autumn Brother said "This warm thing, is like this..."

  （）