After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

The armed forces personnel left after about half a cup of tea's time, and no one spoke.

When Qin Lie came out of the inner room, he had changed into a neat outfit.

He walked to the octagonal table and tapped his knuckles twice on the surface.

The sound wasn't loud, but the men in the room, each with their own thoughts, immediately looked up.

"Pack your things." Qin Lie said succinctly, his gaze sweeping over his brothers who had followed him for several years. "Second brother, go and take those crowbars and sledgehammers from the blacksmith's shed. Third brother, organize the first-aid kit, take as many tourniquets and anti-inflammatory drugs as you can. Fifth brother, you stay here and watch the house."

Jiang He was peeling off a piece of paint from the corner of the table when he heard this and paused: "Big brother, what are you going to do?"

"Go to the southwest." Qin Lie took out a cigarette case from his pocket, shook out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. "There was an earthquake there, and they're short-handed. I'll go and finish what Tiger didn't finish."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Li Dongye leaned against the doorframe, still clutching the piece of animal hide that had revealed his past. Hearing this, he suddenly sat up straight, stuffing the hide into his coat: "I'm going too. I have a vehicle; I can transport people and goods. That's a disaster area; what they lack are wheels."

"You can't do it."

Qin Lie refused decisively, not even giving Li Dongye a chance to object. He took the cigarette out of his mouth, held it between his fingers, and stared at Li Dongye with his dark eyes.

"Go back to J City."

"Well... I won't go to J City for now. Your business is important, I have to go to the southwest with you."

"Nonsense."

Qin Lie didn't even look up, his two words delivered with a firm, unyielding tone.

"That was an earthquake, not a fight." Qin Lie tucked the envelope into his coat, looked up at Li Dongye, whose usually unfathomable eyes were now bloodshot, yet unusually calm. "This is the root of your search for over a decade. Now the clue is right in your face, aren't you going?"

"I'm worried about you guys." Li Dongye's gaze swept over his brothers. "That's a disaster area, the aftershocks haven't stopped yet, what if..."

"There's no 'what if'."

Gu Qiangying stood up. "I'm a doctor. Those places are short of medical supplies, so I'm the most suitable person to go. The second brother is strong and can carry heavy loads; the rescue team is short-handed. As for the eldest brother…"

He paused, adjusted his glasses, and said, "If my brother wants to go, I'll go with him no matter how much he can do, as long as he needs me."

"What about me?" Jiang He jumped out from the corner. "I want to go too! I'm strong, and I can save people!"

Qin Lie glanced at the boisterous little wolf cub, "You stay put and guard the house, you and Qingqing..."

"I don't!"

Jiang He slammed his hand on the table and shouted angrily, "Why do you treat me like a child? We're family, we go together, we die together..."

"Don't say anything unlucky," Lin Qingqing suddenly said.

The sound wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the several grown men in the room.

Qin Lie looked at Jiang He, whose eyes were red and tears were about to fall, and felt a pang of sadness.

Jiang He was raised by the brothers together. Even though he was usually a troublemaker, he had never slammed his fist on the table and challenged them like this.

Xiao Wu is the youngest and the most attached to home. But when we say he's attached to home, we really only care about his family members.

It's absolutely infuriating that a bunch of grown men are babbling on and on like this.

"Here's what we'll do," Qin Lie took a deep breath, walked over, and reached out to straighten Li Dongye's collar, his movements rough yet carrying a hint of brotherly intimacy, "Take Qingqing to find your biological parents. It's a big city, the security is good, and with your cheapskate father protecting her, no one will dare to bully her."

"Big brother..." Li Dongye was still somewhat hesitant. He wanted to find his relatives, but he couldn't let his brothers go out and risk their lives at a time like this. He couldn't bring himself to shamelessly acknowledge a high-ranking official as his father.

But thinking of Lin Qingqing, he felt a little more at ease.

At least someone needs to look after Lin Qingqing, otherwise the whole family will feel uneasy.

Seeing that his brothers no longer objected, Qin Lie made his final decision:

"Xiao Wu is going to the Southwest too. Don't think this is a trip for fun. Once you get there, you'll be following orders. If you dare to run around, I'll break your legs."

Jiang He was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up with wild joy, but he quickly glanced at Lin Qingqing, somewhat annoyed, "Then sister..."

"You all go and do your important business, don't worry about me. I'll go with Fourth Brother, and we'll have someone to look after us." Lin Qingqing smiled at him, "When you stay with Eldest Brother and the others, don't bring shame to the family."

With the division of labor settled, the atmosphere in the room actually relaxed a bit. Since we were going to split up, we needed to prepare things.

Lin Qingqing didn't linger in the main room and turned to go into the inner room. A moment later, she came out carrying a small, locked wooden box. It was Qin Lie's "family heirloom" that he had entrusted to her for safekeeping. It was usually kept very secret, and even Jiang He wasn't allowed to touch it.

With a "click," the lock opened.

Lin Qingqing dumped the box onto the octagonal table.

The box, which had been packed tightly, was now overturned, and the scattered banknotes covered half the table.

There were smoothed-out large unity bills, crumpled small bills, a few silver dollars of average quality, and even a few nationally valid grain coupons. This was all the hard-earned money these men had saved penny by penny.

"Take it."

Lin Qingqing roughly divided the pile of money and pushed one stack in front of Li Dongye, saying, "This is for you."

Li Dongye looked at the pile of money, then pulled his hand back. "I don't want it. I have money. Besides what I saved for my family, I've also made a lot from driving cars over the years..."

"What can you do with that little bit of secret savings?"

Xiao Yong, who hadn't said a word, walked over, glared at him, and grabbed the money, stuffing it into his arms.

"A poor family can afford to travel well. J City is a big city, it's where the leaders live, the threshold is high. If you go there, everything from food and clothing to lodging will cost money. Although we come from the countryside, we can't show our weakness."

Li Dongye pursed his thin lips, and Lin Qingqing counted out some more from that pile and handed them to Qin Lie:

"Brother, this is your travel money. You'll definitely be short of money in the disaster area, but you'll need it for food and fuel along the way. Keep the rest for emergencies."

Qin Lie put the money in his pocket, then turned to look at Li Dongye.

"Listen to Qingqing. If that family accepts you, that's a good thing. If they don't, or they give you a hard time..."

Qin Lie paused for a moment, a ruthless glint flashing across his face. "Then just think of it as going out for some fun, and then coming back. The house may be shabby, but this is your home."

Li Dongye gritted his teeth, and a hard lump of flesh bulged out of his cheek.

He wanted to laugh and say something witty to get through this pretentious scene, but his throat felt like it was blocked with cotton, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Finally, he could only nod hard, stuff the pile of money into his pocket, and press it against his heart, where it burned.