Song Wei looked at them and said, “You two may have grown tall, but where’s your brain? Don’t count on me—I can’t be there to watch over you all the time. Use your own heads and remember what I told you.”
She took the chance to give all four of them a crash course in safety basics.
Beyond just avoiding rescuing strange women in the water or not being so stupid as to go to someone else’s house alone, she also shared examples of how people use kindness to trap others.
“And if anyone falsely accuses you and there’s no proof, don’t waste time trying to defend yourself. Instead, flip it around and ask them to prove their claim.”
Gao Le perked up, “Like how you handled the Lin family that day?”
Song Wei nodded, “Something like that.”
Finally she asked, “Did you remember everything I said?”
The four of them wanted to take out their little notebooks to write it down.
“You two aren’t in as much danger,” she added, “but for female comrades, it can be a lot more complicated. It’s not just about being cautious—you need to be able to defend yourself too.”
Li Juan looked at Song Wei with wide eyes.
“Starting tomorrow morning, I’ll train you,” Song Wei offered. “Just follow along with my routine.”
Gao Le and Zhao Su chimed in eagerly, “We want to join too!”
“Fine,” Song Wei said, “as long as you don’t mind the hard work.”
Even Heidan clenched his little fists, determined to train with his sister.
Back in the survival camp, Song Wei had gone through some of the most extreme training methods. The base trained all those with special abilities as tough as soldiers, fighting against mutated animals and plants, which demanded both powers and strength.
She thought over different approaches and came up with a simple training plan, planning to start it with the group the next morning.
This part of the river was more dangerous because of the rocky terrain, so parents warned their kids to stay away. But based on her last experience, Song Wei had found that this stretch of river had more fish than the one near the village.
She set a basket in a narrow spot downstream, then used a long pole to stir the water upstream.
Within a few minutes, she’d caught two fish in the basket. They weren’t huge, but big enough.
Seeing that her trick worked, the others got excited, grabbing sticks to help stir up more fish.
Song Wei turned to Heidan. “You stay here, okay? And remember, unless I’m with you, never come to the river alone. You can look around here for any wild berries or mushrooms instead.”
Heidan nodded and set off, searching nearby bushes.
After about ten minutes, they had caught eight fish in total—plenty for a good meal.
With the fish scared off, it didn’t seem worth continuing.
“Hey, where’s Song Wei?”
They’d been so busy with the fish that they hadn’t noticed she’d disappeared.
Meanwhile, Song Wei had followed a small branch of the river to a little pond.
It was quiet and undisturbed, likely because so little water flowed in. To her surprise, she saw traces of lotus plants. Although the season had passed, the presence of lotus roots was enough to make her happy.
Even better, she spotted wild crayfish in the water!
The pond, overgrown with plants, didn’t seem to get much human attention. The crayfish must have been left alone simply because no one else valued them.
Since the pond’s bottom was soft mud, stepping in would cloud the water, so she decided to fish for the crayfish instead.
Tying a worm onto a string, she dangled it in the water, and within moments, she’d caught two crayfish.
Her eyes lit up as she pulled them out.
By the time Li Juan and the others found her, she’d already caught dozens of crayfish, which she kept in a makeshift pen she’d created with sticks. Any that tried to escape were poked back in with a stick.
Li Juan looked at her curiously. “Song Wei, why are you catching these red crayfish? They hardly have any meat and taste awful.”
Heidan nodded, his little face scrunched up. “I’ve tried eating them. They taste bad.”
When he’d been desperate, he’d roasted some, only to find them fishy, tough, and hardly worth the effort.
Song Wei waved for them to bring the bucket over.
“Just wait, you’ll see. These are a real treat.”
While she hadn’t cooked them before, she’d devoured enough recipe books in her past life that she knew plenty about preparing food. She could practically make garlic butter crayfish in her sleep. She’d have Li Juan make it once they got back.
Although they didn’t quite understand, the others helped her fish out plenty of crayfish. Soon, they had a full bucket.
As they returned to the dormitory, Xu Laidi, with her face heavily made up, appeared in front of them.
Seeing her Gao Le and Zhao Su immediately hid behind Song Wei as if they had seen something terrible.
Xu Laidi’s eyes lit up when she spotted them, but seeing them hide, her gaze fell on Song Wei, her expression turning hostile.
“Song Wei, what’s going on here? What’s your relationship with Gao and Zhao?”
Her loud voice drew curious and amused looks from others.
Song Wei: ………
She glared at Xu Laidi. “We’re just friends. But you—what’s with the clownish makeup?”
“Clownish?” Xu Laidi looked confused.
Song Wei replied sweetly, “You weren’t a beauty to begin with, and all that makeup only makes you look worse.”
Xu Zhiying’s eyes widened. “You…!”
“Move. You’re blocking the way.”
Song Wei pushed her hand aside and turned to the two guys behind her.
“Can you two act like grown men? You’re taller than she is, and you’re hiding from her? Stand up straight!”
Gao Le and Zhao Su hesitated, but then tried to hold their ground, standing up a bit straighter.
Xu laidi’s expression changed instantly. She went from hostile to flirty, adopting a dainty, awkward manner, even holding her fingers in an exaggerated pose.
“Zhao… Zhao Su~~”
Imagine someone who normally had a loud, rough voice, with a weathered face like an old farmer, suddenly speaking in a high-pitched, girlish tone, trying to be coy. Not to mention that Zhao Su was almost frightened to death, others were also stunned.
“Zhao Su, do you notice anything different about me today?”
Despite Song Wei’s earlier comment, Xu Laidi figured Song Wei was just jealous. Her look was inspired by what was popular with city girls, and her new tone and mannerisms were based on Bai Yunjiao’s style.
Though she thought Bai Yun Jiao was a flirt, she couldn’t deny that the girl attracted attention.
But Zhao Su’s reaction was less than flattering. After a moment of shock, he yelped, jumped back, and hid behind Song Wei again.
“I’m so scared, woooo…”
Look how scared the child is! He’s crying.
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