Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

Uncle Ding, however, was less optimistic: "Wanqing is a doctor herself. If something really happened, she would definitely rush back immediately. No matter how serious the injury, she can handle it. The fact that we still haven't heard from her means either she's trapped somewhere, or that Qin Xiao simply didn't contact the right person."

Liu Shuqing nodded: "You're right. But the hail is so big right now, and our group doesn't have any big trucks, so we can't leave the area at all."

He walked to the window and looked out at the vast expanse of white.

"I've already gathered a group of people, ready to pull ice sleds out to search once the hail subsides a bit. I also told Commander Qin last night that if we can't find him in the county town, we should go to my master. They'll start searching from that side, and we'll search from this side, attacking from both ends—we're bound to find him!"

Uncle Ding gripped his hand tightly, his eyes reddening, "Okay, okay..."

Liu Shuqing's heart was pounding: A whole night has passed; he just hoped the person hadn't frozen solid. Dr. Su, you have to hang in there!

……

In the county town, Li Aiguo, who was all smiles just a moment ago, couldn't smile anymore the next second.

The good news is, the blizzard is really coming! Thanks to Xiao Su's advance planning, Leader Jiang is sure to save many lives this time, and his position will definitely be promoted.

The bad news is that Xiao Su has disappeared.

Li Aiguo took a deep breath, looked at Qin Xiao, whose eyes were bloodshot and who hadn't slept all night, and asked again:

"You said that the tractor Xiao Su and Zhou Yanshen drove yesterday didn't return to the regiment? You searched all the way here but didn't see a single person? People in the county town saw the tractor heading back; did they just disappear like that?"

Qin Xiao nodded wearily, his voice hoarse and unlike his own:

"There's not a single trace on either side of the road. If it overturned, there should be some traces, right? I asked people in the county town, and they did see the tractors from the 65th Regiment heading back when it snowed. But there's no news of them in the county town, and they haven't been found on the road... Something must have happened."

Li Aiguo made a quick decision: "There's only one main road from the county town to the 65th Regiment, but there are two forks—one to the 66th Regiment and the other to the 63rd Regiment. It's possible they took the wrong turn because of the heavy snow. So, I'll organize three large trucks now and continue searching along these three routes. Every minute we find them sooner increases our chances."

He paused, his voice turning somber, "But... it's been a whole night, you need to be prepared."

Qin Xiao clenched his fist, his nails almost digging into his flesh: "Fine. Whether they're dead or alive, we must find them."

The blizzard and hail froze the whole world into a block of ice.

Tractors and small vehicles can't be driven at all; only large trucks can barely crawl along, like sliding on an iceberg, slipping with every step.

Soon, three large trucks set off from the county town.

Qin Xiao chose the route to the 66th Regiment, a total of 24 kilometers. If he couldn't find anyone by the time he reached the 66th Regiment, it meant that person wasn't on this route.

The truck drove on a thick layer of hail, its wheels constantly slipping. If it weren't for the extreme cold and the frozen road surface, the truck probably wouldn't have been able to move at all. The hot air from the exhaust pipe sprayed onto the ice, melting it slightly only to freeze again immediately.

Once the car stops, it might never be able to start again.

The speed is only slightly faster than walking.

Qin Xiao held up his flashlight and scanned both sides of the road inch by inch. He was afraid that the tractor would be buried under the hail, so whenever he saw a snowdrift that was even slightly raised, he would stop the vehicle, climb over, and dig it up to check.

Every time I checked, my heart was in my throat. I prayed it wasn't a tractor that had overturned, and that it wasn't the bodies of my brothers and sisters-in-law.

……

The news had spread like wildfire in the 65th Regiment.

"What did you say? The tractor that went to the county town yesterday didn't come back? All the people on board are gone?"

"Oh? Dr. Su is in the car too? My goodness, she's such a kind person, and she's pregnant..."

"He hasn't come back all night. In this freezing weather, his body must be stiff by now."

"Is Secretary Liu calling people to collect their bodies? I'm going! Dr. Su dug a well, treated patients, and saved lives for us; we've never had a chance to repay him. This time, we absolutely have to go!"

Zhao Shupi huddled in a corner of the crowd, his face ashen, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

He just wanted the tractor to overturn, to cause that bitch Su Wanqing to miscarry, and if she was unlucky enough to die, so be it. But the others would at most get injured, so how... how come everyone on the tractor is gone?

He never intended to kill so many people.

My heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat trickled down my back. What if someone found out he was the one who did it…

He gritted his teeth, then consoled himself: Fine... they're all dead anyway, no one can prove it. As long as no one knows he did it... this has nothing to do with him.

the other side.

Chen Xiuer had just finished working at the cultivation site and was so tired that she could barely straighten her back. A blizzard had arrived, and the temperature at the cultivation site had to be maintained to prevent the oyster mushrooms from freezing to death. She, along with Aunt Wang and Guo Mingyuan, had been busy all day, adding stoves and covering the mushroom sheds with straw mats, and only breathed a sigh of relief after all the mushroom sheds were in order.

The news was heard at the planting site:

"Have you heard? The tractor that went to the county town yesterday didn't come back! Everyone on board is gone!"

"Oh? Dr. Su is in the car too?"

"He didn't come back all night. In this freezing weather, his body would probably be stiff by now..."

Chen Xiuer's vision went black, and she fell straight backward.

"Xiuer! Xiuer!" Aunt Wang, holding the little girl, was terrified and quickly squatted down to pinch her philtrum. After pinching for a while, Chen Xiuer slowly woke up, tears streaming down her face, her lips trembling as she couldn't speak.

Aunt Wang's eyes also reddened, and she shoved the child into her arms: "You lie down and take good care of Nannan. Mom is going to see Dr. Su off on his final journey."

She stood up, put on her thickest cotton-padded coat, and tied the collar tightly. "Dr. Su got cold outside, Mom has to bring her back. Poor thing, she's pregnant... God is so blind!"

……

Cuihua had just finished cleaning up the paralyzed man on the kang (a heated brick bed) and was sitting by the stove, panting. She had to torment this man every day, otherwise she had nowhere to vent her pent-up anger.

The sounds of conversation from next door drifted over.

Dr. Su... is dead?

She stood there stunned for a long while, a series of scenes flashing through her mind: Dr. Su would visit her and her child every few days, always bringing some food. She had almost done something drastic before, and it was Dr. Su who comforted her and helped her climb out of that pit of despair…

Cuihua sighed, stood up, and called into the house, "Heidan, Goudan, Niudan, Yangdan, keep an eye on your father. I'm going out for a bit."

The four boys nodded in unison.

Cuihua put on her thick cotton-padded coat and strode outside. Dr. Su had helped her, and now all he could do was see her off on her final journey.

……

Liu Shuqing originally only planned to gather a few dozen volunteers and set off to search for people once the hail subsided a bit. But he never expected that after the news spread, hundreds of people would arrive in droves!