Chapter 76: Chapter 76: When She Says Good Things Will Happen, They Do

Shen Ningning and her classmates ran out of the mountain villa, heading straight for the road they had come on.

"Don’t go over there!" Lu Shaoyuan grabbed her wrist.

The little one’s bright black eyes looked ahead, filled with astonishment.

The wooden bridge they had crossed was snapped in two. The teacher and many of the villa’s servants were inspecting it.

A glance down revealed a chasm thousands of feet deep.

Lu Shaoyuan frowned. "It’s been so hot the mountain itself has started to crack. The weight of so many of us crossing must have made it worse, and that’s why it collapsed."

Shen Ningning had already recovered from her initial shock.

She saw the people around her, drenched in sweat, their faces etched with worry.

Some of the more timid ones were so scared they started crying.

"Does this mean we can’t go home? WAHHH..." This was the only road down the mountain, and now it was broken.

Shen Ningning soothed everyone in her sweet, soft voice, "Don’t be scared, everyone! Grandpa County Magistrate will definitely send people to rescue us!"

After returning to the mountain villa, Shen Ningning followed behind Mr. Huang, intending to hand over all the food she had brought so he could distribute it to everyone.

She had brought the most red fruits this time; there should be enough for everyone to get one.

It wasn’t much, but Shen Ningning wanted to do what she could to help.

But Mr. Huang was preoccupied with his worries and only focused on walking ahead, not noticing the little one behind him at all.

He found the villa’s housekeeper and asked about their supply situation.

"Our people can’t get out now either. If we have to wait for the County Magistrate to realize we’re trapped on the mountain, it will be at least three or four days. Is there enough food in the villa?"

The housekeeper sighed again and again. "There are some vegetables stored in the cellar. Not a lot, but it’s enough to last four days without a problem."

"It’s just..." He looked troubled.

"Just what? Is there no water?" Mr. Huang asked eagerly.

The housekeeper nodded heavily. "We didn’t prepare much fresh water. With so many students using it, it will last two days at most."

They could endure a day or two without food.

But without water, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Mr. Huang let out a long sigh. He looked up, his bloodshot eyes staring at the glaring, fierce sun.

"The heavens are cruel, dragging the children into this suffering..."

After speaking, he said to the housekeeper, "The water delivered to the other teachers—reduce it from three barrels to one. If we use less, we can save a little more."

The housekeeper looked as if he wanted to say something but held back, finally nodding in agreement.

The amount they saved was just a drop in the bucket.

Just then, a sweet, soft voice came from behind Mr. Huang.

"Teacher, I don’t need my water either! Let everyone else use it!"

Mr. Huang and the housekeeper turned around.

They saw Shen Ningning in her little pale green dress, with two small buns on top of her head.

On her round little face, her dark, limpid eyes were like a clear mountain spring in summer, glimmering with hope and vitality.

Moved, Mr. Huang squatted down and patted her head.

"Shen Xuezhi, I know your intentions are good, but you don’t need to save your water. We will get through this difficult time together."

Shen Ningning nodded, her voice soft and sweet, carrying a touch of innocent cheer.

"Don’t worry, Teacher! Something good will definitely happen!"

The moment she finished speaking, a servant from the mountain villa came running from a distance. "Housekeeper! Great news! Our carrier pigeons are about to return."

The housekeeper’s face lit up with joy. "Really?!"

He explained to Mr. Huang, "Our master keeps two carrier pigeons at the villa. They were just released this morning. If those two pigeons can fly back, we can inform the outside world that we’re trapped ahead of schedule!"

They would be rescued soon!

Mr. Huang was also overjoyed.

Carrier pigeons usually returned within a day.

Even if they flew far, they could make it back by the next morning.

Mr. Huang said excitedly to Shen Ningning, "Shen Xuezhi, you were absolutely right! This is our good news!"

He told the little one to hurry back to her room and not get overheated.

Then, Mr. Huang went with the housekeeper to distribute the food for the next two days.

The recent despair turned into hope.

Shen Ningning felt happy too.

She had just returned to her own courtyard when she saw three or four little girls with Qin Fangmei, standing in the shade.

Every one of them looked dejected, whispering complaints—

"It would have been better if we hadn’t come. If my mom finds out, she’ll definitely be too worried to sleep."

"What if the villa runs out of food and water? I don’t want to starve or die of thirst."

Qin Fangmei said meaningfully, "You shouldn’t think that way. It was only out of consideration for Ningning that the County Magistrate was willing to let us come play at Jingshan."

"Normally, who could get into this Jingshan villa? This is a blessing Ningning brought us. It’s just that no one expected the bridge to collapse."

Influenced by her, the other classmates grew even more dejected—

"How can you call this a blessing? If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have come." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Shen Xuezhi is a nice person, but because of her, we’re all trapped here."

"Forget it, you can’t say that. We had the choice not to come."

Thinking of Shen Ningning’s usual generosity, the girls didn’t end up blaming her.

Qin Fangmei’s expression changed, and she smiled with false sincerity. "Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not blaming Ningning at all."

The moment she finished speaking, a food box was placed down in front of the group.

The little girls looked up in surprise.

"Shen... Shen Xuezhi, what are you doing here?" Their faces showed a mix of guilt and awkwardness.

Qin Fangmei, however, narrowed her eyes slightly, watching Shen Ningning’s actions.

The little one had brought them her leftover food.

"No one wanted to be trapped on the mountain. If food is limited, you can have mine," Shen Ningning said in her soft, sweet voice.

Her fair, round little face was full of calm fearlessness.

In contrast, it made Qin Fangmei seem like she was sowing discord.

The other little girls came to their senses and quickly explained, "Shen Xuezhi, that’s not what we meant."

"Yeah, no one could have predicted the bridge would collapse. Take your food back. If you give it all to us, what will you eat?"

Shen Ningning shook her head. "Mr. Huang will arrange all the meals. Besides, the food I brought will spoil by tomorrow if we don’t eat it today."

"It’s all for you," she said, waving her small hand generously.

The little girls were thin-skinned. They had just been on the verge of blaming Shen Ningning, and now they felt terribly guilty.

So none of them reached out to take it.

But then Qin Fangmei smiled. "Really? Ningning, then I won’t be polite."

But Shen Ningning stretched out a small hand to block her.

She lifted her chin. "I’m giving it to them, not to you."

Qin Fangmei was taken aback. "You... Ningning, are you still mad at me?"

"I’m not mad at you. I just remember all the times you bullied me."

Back when the Qin Family didn’t have enough to eat.

Aunt Qin would only give Shen Ningning eggshells and rotten vegetable roots to eat.

Sometimes, when they finally managed to buy a fish, Qin Fangmei would force Shen Ningning to flatter her just to get a single bite of the fish’s tail.

The other little girls had all heard that Qin Fangmei and Shen Ningning didn’t get along.

They quickly picked up the food box, thanked Shen Ningning repeatedly, and then hurried away.

The little one didn’t linger either, turning to go back into her courtyard without giving Qin Fangmei so much as another glance.

This made Qin Fangmei fume with rage.

"That little orphan dares to challenge me like this?"