“Your daughter looks pretty cute,” Brother San continued. “It’s just that she had a big temper. Her looks took after her mom, but her personality is just like yours.”


  “Really?” Chu Lui thought of his daughter, and her personality was indeed like his; she was as stubborn, as determined, and as indignant as him. However, she was still a girl and was a prideful one.

  “How is she?” Brother San ate a bite of the biscuit and talked to Chu Lui casually.

  Chu Lui knew who the ‘she’ was. It was Rainy, her daughter.

  “Not bad.” He closed his eyes and did not have much of an appetite. Actually, they did not leave for long, and he missed the kid already. He wondered if she was sleeping or eating and if she missed this father.

  Brother San laughed uncontrollably, and he must have thought of the child, too. “When your daughter was at my place, she didn’t even torture me. Now that I think about it, it’s good to have a daughter. No wonder everyone said that daughters are the angels to fathers.”


  “Thank you.” Chu Lui opened his eyes. He should have said this a long time ago.

  “No need.” Brother San leaned against the wall behind him. “Ruoxin is Xiao Wei’s friend so she is my friend. Besides, she saved Xiao Wei this time so perhaps I should be the one to say ‘thank you’ instead.”


  The both of them went silent again, and each took their own spot while eating their own biscuit. Actually, they could not even taste much.

  At that time, it was already late at night; and the wind that blew over was harsh and cold.

  Xia Ruoxin bit her lower lip. Indeed, it was colder than she had expected. The temperature in the day was around twenty-degree Celsius, but at night or in the morning, it was below zero. Even though the river was not frozen, it was chilling to the bone.

  She did not dare go down to the water for a very long time as if she did, their legs would probably be frozen and just break off. The number of people here was decreasing as a few died and others were sick. However, there were quite a few new people. At first, she thought there would not be men here; but there were a few now. At first, she was still worried that there would be troubles with the men, but now, she realized that she was overthinking and over-worrying.

  Everyone said that when one was warm, one’s sexual desires would be released. However, they were immersed in the cold water all day long so none of them would have the mood for it.

  While she was hesitating, someone pushed her from behind. She directly fell into the water, and her clothes were drenched.

  She climbed out of the river and started shivering from head to toe. Once Shen Wei went down and her feet touched the water, chills were sent all over her body.

  “Why are you so careless?” Towards Xia Ruoxin’s drenched body, Shen Wei did not know if she was frozen or she was too angry; but her teeth were chattering.

  “I didn’t pay attention, and this happened.” Xia Ruoxin wiped the water off her face and half of her arm had already swelled up because of the cold. Her sense of touch and her nerves were still here, but they were getting slower and slower by the minute.

  Her entire hand and legs had cold sores. If this continued, the next person to be dragged out would be her.

  A few people died again a few days ago. The lives here were really worthless, and there was no bit of respect for them. They were living in an area that was not governed; their country could not find them, their relatives could not find them, and they might not even exist internationally.

  If it was not for someone who would intentionally come and find them, perhaps the day they leave the place would be the day they died.

  “Shen Wei, why do I feel that it’s getting harder for us to get out?”


  “Perhaps the next one they carried out would be me.”


  Xia Ruoxin used her hands to pick out the sand in the net, and her hands quite trembling. She was clearly really cold, but sometimes, she could not even feel her own hands.

  Shen Wei’s pale lips moved up and down. “Do you believe someone will come all the way here to save you?”


  Xia Ruoxin’s fingers on the next paused slightly. “I don’t know, but if there’s someone that would come save me and not give up on me, I believe it will only be him.”


  “Chu Lui?” Shen Wei answered her.

  “Yes.” Xia Ruoxin sighed lightly. In the past, she did not believe the man and did not trust whatever he said; but when Shen Wei asked her the question, the first person that popped up in her mind was only that man.

  Just that, would he come to save her? Would he really come?

  “Shen Wei, what about you?” She asked Shen Wei again. Actually, she could not answer this question. After all, no matter if they escaped themselves or someone came to rescue them, it all seemed like a dream. Perhaps they could only wait for their deaths here as they waited a day, they had to last for a day and survive another.

  “I……” Shen Wei could still smile at this point, but on her thin face, her beautiful smile was no longer visible. Actually, Xia Ruoxin looked about the same—half-person, half-ghost.

  Shen Wei lowered her head. “I haven’t thought of it. Actually, I really haven’t found someone who would not give up on me until now and would still look for me.”


  “What about Brother San?”


  Xia Ruoxin brought up Brother San even though she did not know the relationship between Shen Wei and Brother San.

  “Brother San……” Shen Wei smiled.

  “I have never given him anything. Do you think there will be a man that is this silly?”


  “Perhaps there is.” Xia Ruoxin was uncertain. She lowered her head and allowed the wind to blow her face while the river water ruined her feet. At this point, she suddenly heard Shen Wei’s mutters.

  “If Brother San really comes and finds me, then I’ll marry him.”


  Xia Ruoxin bit her numb lip lightly. “If Chu Lui really comes to find me, then I’ll not talk about the past anymore. Perhaps I’ll even marry him, although he has married three times already.”


  Just that when she thought about this, she felt as if she was daydreaming. Indeed, all these were ‘what ifs’. Perhaps until the very end, what was waiting for them would be their death bell and nothing else.

  It was better when they first came.

  At that time, it was not that cold; if not, they would have already frozen to death just like the previous batch. During the nights, she heard people cry; and actually, she wanted to cry, too.

  Just that, what was the use of crying?

  There were only two paths one could choose from here: live or not to live. In their last breath, one less day was a day; one more day’s food would be considered as one more day of suffering. Only when one died, one could leave this place forever and—of course—leave the world the same way.