Chapter 41: Escape

Tian Miao nodded fiercely.

"We must race against time. My colleague, Li Shi, is still in the coal kiln, and his life could be in danger at any moment."

Without any nonsense, Li Qi hoisted Tian Miao onto his shoulders and set off again.

"I can walk by myself."

"You walk too slowly. It will waste our time."

Tian Miao fell silent. Carried over Li Qi's shoulder like a slab of pork, her nose filled with his scent, she unexpectedly found her heart gradually growing tranquil.

She could tell that Li Qi was not old, yet his style of action was seasoned and capable, and his speech was entirely free of hesitation or drag. It was hard to imagine that such an unremarkable little town could nurture such a remarkable youth.

*Gurgle.* Tian Miao's stomach emitted a sound.

From last night until now, she hadn't eaten a single bite.

Li Qi was hardly the type to cherish jade or pity fragrance. In order to buy time, he didn't stop, merely saying casually, "When the mountains and rivers seem to end and the path is blocked, if you're hungry, just gnaw on a big tree. Hold on a little longer."

Tian Miao was so embarrassed she closed her eyes, completely at a loss for how to respond. *Why don't you try saying that sentence again...*

Half an hour later, the two arrived at the spot where the bicycle was hidden.

Tian Miao was already too astonished by Li Qi's physical stamina to speak.

She wasn't particularly frail herself, weighing a full hundred pounds. Yet Li Qi had carried her galloping through the snow for half an hour, and his forehead was merely dampened with a light sheen of sweat, without even heavy panting.

You must know, when she had stealthily crawled through the snow to the edge of the Fourth Dragon's coal kiln earlier, she had been left utterly breathless.

Li Qi set her on the ground. Just as he propped the bicycle upright, a beam of a flashlight suddenly swept over them.

"Who's there? What are you doing?"

Startled, Tian Miao threw herself right into Li Qi's arms.

It wasn't that she was cowardly. Ever since becoming a reporter, she had exposed several outrageous social injustices at the very bottom of society, and Tian Miao considered herself someone who could withstand the test.

Yet the events of today were far too bizarre. Having been betrayed by the person whose identity she trusted most, and having teetered on the very edges of humiliation and death, a rare fracture had formed in her psyche.

And Li Qi, who happened to mend that fracture at this exact moment, secured an unshakeable, special place in her heart from then on.

Li Qi wrapped his arm around Tian Miao, pulling her close, and listened to the voice to identify it. Once he recognized it, a sense of certainty washed over him.

"Is that you, Big Brother Ma Xueyi? It's me, Li Qi—Li Hai's third younger brother. My girl and I were just taking a stroll, planning to hang out in the Bat Cave for a bit, but the snow blocked the road, and we only just managed to crawl out after struggling for ages."

Ma Xueyi was a classmate of Li Qi's second older brother, Li Hai, and had often played at Li Qi's house when they were kids.

Nowadays, he also earned a living in the mountain coal kilns, though not under the Fourth Dragon, but at another mine.

Recognizing Li Qi's voice and glancing at the two figures holding each other, Ma Xueyi had no reason to doubt them and chuckled vulgarly.

"You little rascal, you just wanted to sneak the young lady into the mountains to have some fun. Don't you care about freezing your backside? Hurry up and get home; it's easy to freeze to death once it gets dark."

"Yeah, yeah, Big Brother Ma, we're heading off. You be careful riding your bike too; the coal trucks have left the road full of ruts."

"Got it."

Ma Xueyi switched off his flashlight and rode away on his bicycle.

Li Qi placed the shaken Tian Miao onto the crossbar of the bicycle. After a moment of thought, he unbuttoned his military overcoat and wrapped her inside it.

"It's going to be very cold along the way. I'll try to ride slowly. If you can't endure it, let me know, and we'll take a break."

Tian Miao leaned entirely against Li Qi's embrace, feeling her face grow slightly warm.

Li Qi suddenly spoke up.

"On your right-hand side inside the coat, there's a plastic bag with steamed buns in it. If you're hungry, fish one out and eat it."

Tian Miao reached out and actually managed to fish out a large steamed bun. She bit into it; though a bit cold, it was at least swallowable.

Having starved all day, the sudden taste of the substantial bun made her feel an overwhelming wave of sweetness.

The sheer rush of bliss rushing to her head made her dizzy. *Who knew steamed buns could be such delicious food!*

Suddenly, she let out a sharp cry.

"Ah, my foot!"

As it turned out, while she was distracted by eating the bun, her foot had jammed right into the spokes of the front wheel...

Li Qi hurriedly braked and asked with a helpless sigh, "Have you never ridden a bicycle before?"

Tears of pain welling in her eyes, Tian Miao shook her head.

Li Qi sighed. "You're lucky you ran into me. When I was a kid and got my foot stuck in the spokes, the old man at home practically stood up on the pedals just to make sure I learned my lesson. Pull your foot back a bit, keep it away from the wheel. But don't pull it all the way back either—it'll get in the way of my pedaling."

Aggrieved, Tian Miao adjusted the posture of her feet, eventually realizing that the safest method was to hold them suspended in the air.

However, this posture required her to keep her knees elevated with constant muscle effort.

Having grown up in a military compound since childhood, when had she ever suffered such torment? It was simply absolute torture.

Taking backstreets, Li Qi brought her out of the Niuxin Town area. Once they reached the next town, he let her sit on the back rack.

"Make sure you don't stick your foot into the rear wheel, okay? When I was a kid, a neighbor of mine stuck his foot in during the summer, and his dad pushed hard and ripped all the skin right off."

This frightened Tian Miao into a shiver, rendering her entire body rigid.

Seeing her pitiful appearance, Li Qi thought she was rather cute.

Unbeknownst to him, a children's rhyme popped into his head:
*Little white rabbit, white and pure, two long ears standing upright, slice the artery, slice the vein, completely motionless, so cute...*

Two hours later, the two entered Taihe City. In those years, the main streets in the city already featured sporadic streetlights, and automobiles occasionally passed by.

Li Qi took a deep breath. "The post office must be closed by now. There's nowhere to make a phone call."

"This matter cannot be delayed. Once the person you knocked out wakes up and notifies the owner of the black coal kiln, they might hide the miners. By then, rescuing my colleague and the other miners will become extremely difficult."

Holding the bicycle steady, Li Qi furrowed his brow. "Do you know anyone at any work unit in Taihe City?"

Tian Miao shook her head frantically, then gave a bitter laugh. "In the past, I would have gone straight to the Municipal Bureau, but now..."

Hearing Tian Miao mention the Municipal Bureau, Li Qi's eyes suddenly lit up.

Ah, right—he was holding Zhou Guodong's business card in his possession.

He began to meticulously scan the memories in his brain, recalling various past-life reports related to illegal black miners.

He ultimately confirmed that none of the reports ever mentioned Zhou Guodong.

Therefore, there was a high probability that he had nothing to do with this affair.

Of course, it was also possible that he was simply deeply hidden, but as long as Tian Miao managed to make a phone call, the other party at least wouldn't dare to openly touch her.

At this critical juncture, they had to take a calculated risk.

He clenched his teeth. "We're going to the Municipal Bureau anyway. I know their political commissar, Zhou Guodong. I believe he has no direct connection to the black coal kiln in Niuxin Town, and he should be trustworthy. But when we get there, don't talk to him about the case first; ask directly to use the phone."

"What is your relationship with Zhou Guodong?"

"We met yesterday..."

Tian Miao shook her head with a bitter smile. "You just happened to see him from afar when he came to Niuxin Town on official business? That's useless. At this hour, you won't even be able to get through the gates of the Municipal Bureau; the guards will stop you."

"Let's try."

Carrying Tian Miao on the bike, Li Qi finally encountered a passerby and inquired about the location of the Municipal Bureau, which was situated in the small plaza opposite the railway station.

Arriving at the front gates of the Municipal Bureau, Li Qi parked the bicycle and pulled out Zhou Guodong's business card.

Tian Miao was dumbfounded.

"How do you have the political commissar's business card? Just who on earth are you?"

Li Qi raised his head proudly. "No need to ask my name; please just call me the Red Scarf."

"What the heck..."

Tian Miao dropped a rare curse word. The mysterious traits surrounding the young man who had rescued her were multiplying.

Right now, she only knew his name was Li Qi, which he had spoken himself while dealing with Ma Xueyi earlier.

As expected, business cards were remarkably useful in this era. Upon seeing the political commissar's card, the guard immediately contacted the commissar's secretary. Ten minutes later, Li Qi and Tian Miao were already seated inside an office at the Municipal Bureau.

Huang Guohua, Zhou Guodong's secretary, poured tea for the two of them with a professional smile on his face.

"I am Political Commissar Zhou's secretary, Huang Guohua. The commissar is still in a meeting and is expected to be free in about an hour. If you have any business, you can tell me first."

Tian Miao glanced at Li Qi and shook her head.

Li Qi understood her hesitation. The illegal miner case involved an unknown number of people, and she was afraid of leaks.

Therefore, he said politely, "I will report the matter to Political Commissar Zhou after his meeting concludes. For now, could we borrow the telephone first?"