Chapter 157: Chapter 155: A Blessing in Disguise

The iodine-tipped cotton swab in Su Tang’s hand paused over the wound on Lu Xiao’s elbow.

She sniffled, holding back her tears and swallowing the rest of her words. Her touch on his arm became even more gentle.

It was as if the slightest pressure would hurt the man before her, who had just been snatched from the jaws of death.

Lu Xiao watched her trembling eyelashes, then suddenly reached out with his uninjured hand and gently cupped her chin.

The rough calluses of his palm tickled her skin, but Su Tang didn’t pull away. She let him wipe the tear stains from her cheeks with his thumb.

“Don’t let those little pearls drop.”

His voice was hoarse from his near-death experience, but it held a playful note, as if he was trying to cheer Su Tang up.

“Every tear you cry makes this wound hurt three times as much.”

His teasing made Su Tang laugh out loud. She batted his hand away. “Enough with the sweet talk. Do you want this wound to heal or not?”

Despite her words, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but lift into a smile.

She lowered her head to wrap the wound with sterile gauze and suddenly noticed a fresh scratch on the inside of his wrist. He must have gotten it from a wood splinter while rescuing someone.

“This needs to be treated, too.”

She took his wrist, but just as the cotton swab touched his skin, a cheer erupted from outside.

Wang Xinxin came in holding a registration book, raindrops dripping from the ends of her hair. “Su Tang, the meteorology team says it’ll be sunny for the next three days! The floodwaters should recede by half.”

Land was one thing they had plenty of here. Three days would be enough for the ground to absorb all the water.

As long as it didn’t rain, half the battle was already won.

Su Tang looked up and out the window. Sure enough, the curtain of rain had thinned considerably, and she could even make out the faint glow of moonlight behind the clouds.

Lu Xiao followed her gaze and suddenly squeezed her hand. “Look,” he said. “The sky is clearing.”

「In the days that followed, the situation in the quarantine zone improved day by day.」

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, spilling onto the canvas roofs of the shelters and warming everyone beneath.

Su Tang supervised the nurses as they conducted follow-up examinations on the recovered patients.

Whenever she looked up, she could see Lu Xiao and the other soldiers in the distance, leveling the ground to build sturdier temporary housing.

One afternoon, just as Su Tang finished changing the dressing for the severely injured patient with Rh-negative blood, she saw Lu Xiao walk past the shelter, a wooden beam slung over his shoulder.

He was in his training fatigues, beads of sweat on his temples glittering in the sun. When he saw her, he deliberately slowed his pace and broke into a wide grin.

Su Tang couldn’t help but wave back. Suddenly, she felt a faint stir in her lower abdomen—the baby, as if responding to its father’s smile.

She instinctively covered her belly, but she also let out a sigh of relief.

In that moment, all the exhaustion of the past several days melted away, replaced by a warm current spreading through her.

Wang Xinxin, passing by with a stack of clean, folded bedsheets, saw her expression and leaned in to ask softly, “Su Tang, are you tired?”

“No.”

Su Tang shook her head, her gaze drifting toward Lu Xiao’s busy figure in the distance.

“It’s just… I feel like we’ve really made it through.”

Wang Xinxin smiled. “Still, this massive rainfall turned out to be a good thing. It completely soaked all that dry, cracked earth we had before.”

“There’s always a rainbow after the storm, right?”

「At dusk, Lu Xiao returned with a bucket of fresh vegetables.」

He was busy at the makeshift stove, and Su Tang went over to help.

Lu Xiao turned and pulled her into his arms, shielding her as if afraid the heat from the stove would burn her.

“It’s smokey here.”

“I missed you.”

Su Tang looked up at him. The golden glow of the sunset fell on his face, tracing his features in an exceptionally gentle light.

Lu Xiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He suddenly bent down, scooped her into his arms bridal style, and strode toward their small tent.

“I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

He set her down on the wooden plank bed, which was covered with a thick mattress, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Outside the tent, the sounds of his comrades’ laughter and chatter mingled with Wang Xinxin humming an off-key folk song.

Su Tang stroked her belly. As the aroma of cooking food wafted in from outside, she suddenly thought that this kind of life was truly wonderful.

’The scars left by the disaster might take a long time to fade.’

’But as long as this man was by her side, along with these companions who had fought alongside them, they could overcome any obstacle together, no matter how difficult.’

「Late that night, Lu Xiao held Su Tang as they lay in the tent, listening to the occasional chirp of insects outside.」

“Once everything is settled here, I’ll take you to pick desert dates.”

He gently stroked her hair, his voice soft.

“We’ll go to that grove I told you about. The desert dates there grow big and sweet.”

Su Tang nodded in his embrace, nuzzling against him.

She murmured drowsily, her eyelids growing heavy.

Lu Xiao let out a low chuckle, tightened his arms, and whispered in her ear, “Alright. Whatever you want.”

In the distance, a few lights were still on in the medical tent, where the on-duty medical staff were organizing supplies.

But most of the other tents had fallen silent, and the people, who had worked hard all day, could finally get a peaceful night’s sleep.

Su Tang gradually fell fast asleep in Lu Xiao’s arms.

The great storm had brought much suffering, but just as Wang Xinxin had said, the rain had also thoroughly soaked the parched earth.

Wang Xinxin no longer stayed to help in the quarantine zone. Instead, she returned to the commune to survey the available farmland.

After the surplus farmland was reported to the higher-ups, it was redistributed back to the people.

Meanwhile, back at the quarantine zone, the floodwaters had completely receded, and the true work of reconstruction began.

The sunlight grew scorching, dispelling the gloom and drying the muddy earth.

The low-lying, muddy areas were filled in and compacted.

Su Tang found some time to return to the site of the former quarantine zone and saw the bustling scene from a distance.

Lu Xiao was standing on an earthen wall about half a man’s height, directing a few others as they installed a main beam.

His sleeves were rolled up, revealing bulging arm muscles. His movements were nimble and powerful.

Su Tang didn’t want to disturb him. She was about to grab what she’d come for and leave when she heard Wang Xinxin’s voice.

“Well, if it isn’t Su Tang, back to inspect our work!”

Wang Xinxin came over carrying a large basin of cooled boiled water. Her face was smudged with dirt, but her smile was radiant.

She was now the “little supervisor” of logistics, in charge of bringing everyone food and water and coordinating supplies.

“Look, isn’t my cousin amazing? It’s only been a few days, and the frame of the house is already up!”

“Yes, he’s amazing.”

Su Tang smiled as she took the bowl of water from her. She took a large gulp; it was clean, sweet, and thirst-quenching.

“Everyone is amazing.”

“Of course! Many hands make light work!”

Wang Xinxin lifted her chin proudly.

“The Party Secretary said our new houses have solid foundations and strong beams—much sturdier than the old adobe homes! He guarantees that once the roof is on and the walls are plastered, they’ll be draft-free in the winter and leak-proof in the summer!”

Just as she finished speaking, Lu Xiao’s group seemed to have reached a stopping point.

He leaped nimbly down from the low wall, dusted off his hands, and walked straight toward Su Tang.

“Honey, you’re back? Are you tired?”

He came closer and naturally brushed the back of his relatively clean hand against Su Tang’s cheek, his gaze then falling to her belly.

“Has our little girl been behaving today? She didn’t give you any trouble, did she?”

“I’m not tired, and the baby’s been very good.”

His stare made Su Tang a little shy, and she gently batted his hand away.

“Look at you, all covered in sweat and mud. Go get washed up.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep