After I Gave Up/Let Things Slide, I Became Famous Across The Entire Internet - Chapter 33

The phone line went silent, as if even the sound of breathing had vanished.

Looking at the pitch-black sky outside, Zhang Zeyang felt a sudden, inexplicable panic, like the calm before a storm. It reminded him of that night many years ago, when the rain also poured down.

Xu Yujing was abroad, competing for an award. Xu Yuanqing was hospitalized with a serious illness, and no one in the family notified her. When she returned with the award, wanting to show it to her brother, she discovered Xu Yuanqing had passed away several days earlier, and the funeral was already over. On that very day, Xu Yujing flew back to China in a frenzy, rushed to the old family estate, overturned the dining table where the family was eating, smashed all the honors and trophies she had won over the years, had a huge fight with Mr. Xu, and then locked herself in a room for a solid seven days…

Zhang Zeyang waited for a while it felt like a long time, or maybe just less than a minute. He then heard a cold, utterly emotionless command from the other end of the line, “Book me a flight to C City, immediately.” The last two words were almost lost in a slight tremor.

Zhang Zeyang’s lips quivered. “Yes, Miss.”

His Miss had truly fallen, and she had fallen for a female celebrity.

At the same time, Xie Jinzhi also heard her assistant’s frantic, tear-laced phone call. The assistant was young and had never experienced such a serious disaster. He regretted making a jinx earlier and was terrified something terrible might happen to Tang Shuxia. He was worried he would be held accountable for not taking good care of her, feeling both fear and anxiety.

When Xie Jinzhi learned that Tang Shuxia had chosen to go up the mountain in bad weather and was now unaccounted for, she instantly jumped out of bed, intending to get up, but was forcibly held down by the patrolling nurse and the attending physician. She tried to appeal to them, saying her closest relative was caught in a landslide and hadn’t been found. The nurse was almost moved, but the doctor dismissed her, saying, ‘Going there won’t help. You’ll only cause trouble. It’s better to leave it to the professionals.’

Furious, Xie Jinzhi cursed and immediately remembered to call the company for help, but the company boss’s line was constantly busy. She called several times without success.

She then decided to call the C City Rescue Team and learned that rescue personnel had already set off half an hour after the landslide occurred, having heard that people were on the mountain.

However, the rescue was not going smoothly. The landslide blocked the road up the mountain, and the downpour continued to create obstacles in that small area. The dark night and the unfavorable weather conditions forced the rescue team to temporarily halt and wait for the rain to stop. But the rain poured relentlessly from evening until morning.

By this time, Zhang Zeyang had already picked up Xu Yujing.

Xu Yujing’s eyes were shadowed with fatigue, and she ignored the fact that a large part of her shoulder was soaked. She quickly issued instructions to Zhang Zeyang, and finally posed a question that had been bothering her all the way: “Why did Tang Tang choose this kind of weather to go up the mountain?”

Zhang Zeyang hesitated. “It seems to be for a certain type of herb.”

Xu Yujing suspected her brain was running slow from a sleepless night. “What!?”

Zhang Zeyang wasn’t fully aware of Tang Shuxia’s recent activities. Since arriving at Zhao Family Village, and since other artists rarely had assistants with them, Zhang Zeyang and Tang Shuxia’s assistant had automatically kept a low profile. He had thought that the village was simple and honest, the artists were living under the camera, and the atmosphere of this reality show was harmonious, so there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Yet, a major problem had occurred right under his nose. He deeply regretted it. He had felt unsettled that day, and if he had just offered a few more words of caution, the outcome might have been different.

Zhang Zeyang considered. “Miss Tang has been looking through that ancient medical book these past few days. She seems to be searching for something.”

Xu Yujing rubbed her brow. “Never mind that. You go arrange everything first. Finding Tang Tang is what matters.”

Zhang Zeyang nodded and immediately went to organize people. The number of rescuers kept increasing, and the teams were divided into several groups, expanding the search area. Everyone ventured up the mountain, braving the rain and mud. Communication on the mountain was extremely poor. The intermittent signals reached Xu Yujing’s ears. She constantly spun her wheelchair, making a rattling sound on the tile floor. She watched the gloomy sky outside, her fingers trembling uncontrollably, and her face growing paler.

Meanwhile, the media immediately began extensive coverage of the landslide in C City’s Zhao Family Village, especially after it was discovered that a female celebrity was trapped on the mountain… The show’s crew and the artists who had safely left Zhao Family Village earlier were stunned. After checking in with each other in the group chat to confirm their safety, they realized one person was still missing. They all clicked into the interface with her dark avatar, sent messages, and waited and waited, but never received a reply.

[Phoenix Tree]: I think I heard Teacher Tang was going to stay a couple more days in Zhao Family Village when I left. It can’t be such a coincidence, can it?

[A Little Feather]: Quick, who has Teacher Tang’s contact information? Call her and ask what’s going on.

[Reaching the Summit]: Stop asking. The media is saying the trapped female celebrity is Teacher Tang. I just confirmed with the director that only Teacher Tang stayed behind in Zhao Family Village. We don’t know why she suddenly went up the mountain with someone. Anyway, may God bless her. Good people deserve peace.

Everyone: “…”

What kind of bad luck charm is this? Tang Shuxia’s luck is too terrible. First, her family went bankrupt, and now she’s in a landslide accident. No one knows her current condition. This year has been a complete nightmare.

[My Little Fatso]: Teacher Tang will definitely turn danger into safety. [Praying emoji]

[Phoenix Tree]: Teacher Tang will definitely turn danger into safety. [Praying emoji]

A string of prayers followed.

You Yixuan held her phone, conflicted. “What’s wrong with Tang Shuxia? Why stay in that dreadful place after filming? The food is bad, and the sleep is terrible.” Could it be that she was upset about her father’s hospitalization after the family’s bankruptcy, and decided to stay there to clear her head?

Impossible.

Tang Shuxia looked like she couldn’t wait for her father to die sooner. Why would she be worried about this?

You Yixuan grew more conflicted about whether to post in the group chat. Not posting made her seem unsociable, but if she did, she felt her relationship with Tang Shuxia wasn’t that good. After much internal debate, she simply closed her eyes and copied a message. The essence of humanity is imitation, she figured. Who cares?

Tang Shuxia, the subject of all the worry, let out two loud sneezes. The old man beside her grinned, giggling. Water was still dripping from his hair, and his lips, which had been somewhat ruddy, were now turning blue perhaps from the cold. “You don’t listen to old people, and now you suffer the consequences. I told you to wring the water out of your clothes, but you wouldn’t listen. You look so delicate, little girl, but you’re quite stubborn.”

While the old man gloated, Tang Shuxia sneezed again. “If it weren’t for a certain person trying to show off, would we be trapped on this mountain?”

The old man was so angry his eyes bulged. “You ungrateful little girl! I was trying to help you find that blasted herb! If you had just said you didn’t want it, I would have gone down the mountain ages ago.”

Tang Shuxia sneered, “For a man your age, is that leg of yours still usable?”

The old man’s right leg had two splints of uneven length, haphazardly tied with tree vines. His beard bristled with anger. He tried to move his injured leg, and the pain made his face turn pale again. “Hmph, young people these days truly don’t know how to respect their elders.”

Considering his injury, she should have shown him some consideration, instead of just making him angry.

The two stopped arguing after a moment, and the only sound in the cramped space was the drumming of the rain outside.

Tang Shuxia was too tired to deal with the old man.

She didn’t know if the old man was truly confused or just pretending. They had headed straight for their destination, but the old man claimed he remembered the wrong spot and that the vine had “run away.” In short, they had wasted a lot of time wandering around the mountain. They finally found it in a crevice, but by the time she heard the noise and sensed danger, a section of the mountain had collapsed, blocking their path down.

The old man, rushing, had fallen and twisted his leg. Tang Shuxia found two bamboo slats and improvised a splint for his broken leg. She then helped the limping old man find a place to shelter from the rain.

They were hiding inside a narrow cave. The water was up to their shins, and their bodies were soaked. Every movement sloshed water around.

They had been hiding there all night.

The daytime mountain breeze in summer was refreshing, but at night, the biting cold seeped into their bones. Both of them were completely drenched, and the wind made goosebumps rise all over their bodies. After mocking Tang Shuxia, the old man also sneezed several times. After that, he looked defeated. “I’m old. I’m not as useful anymore. When I was young, I could have spent three days and three nights in a rain like this and still get up to beat those nasty scoundrels.”

Tang Shuxia leaned against the wet stone wall, silently listening to the old man ramble. Old folks loved to talk about their glorious achievements from their youth their peak and highlight moments, worth revisiting repeatedly to find value in their existence from past memories.

As Tang Shuxia listened, she suddenly turned her head. The old man’s face was flushed crimson. His bright, piercing eyes were now tightly shut. He was indistinctly muttering a name and some incomprehensible words, like he was talking in his sleep.

“Hey, Old Man.”

“Hey, Old Man.”

Tang Shuxia called out twice, but the old man’s murmuring grew weaker, eventually turning into groans, like a child whining. She reached out and patted his old face. With one pat, she realized his face was burning hot, as if on fire. She touched him again, confirming that the old man was seriously ill—he had a fever at a time like this.

Tang Shuxia looked at the rain outside, which showed no sign of stopping. “Tsk, what a hassle.”

“Not here either.”

“Nothing found here.”

“We found something in the northwest corner!!! We found an injured person, conscious. He accidentally slipped down from above.”

Xu Yujing’s heart clenched. More precise news quickly arrived: “Male, a local villager. He seems to have been gathering mushrooms…” Her racing heart settled back down, but as time passed, she became even more anxious.

Zhang Zeyang kept his eyes on the damp tile floor, observing Xu Yujing’s wheelchair rolling back and forth aimlessly.

Then, Zhang Zeyang saw Xu Yujing start to look for rain gear. “Miss, what are you doing!”

Xu Yujing: “Going up the mountain. I’ll search myself.”

Zhang Zeyang ultimately didn’t stop her. Blocking her now would only add fuel to the fire, and his Miss would definitely not listen. He racked his brain. “Miss, what if you go up, and Miss Tang comes down a different route?”

Xu Yujing paused while putting on her raincoat.

Seeing a possible chance, Zhang Zeyang pressed his concern. “What if Miss Tang is just coming down, and you go up? If you miss each other, won’t she have to go back into the mountains to look for you? The mountain is slippery. She finally”

Xu Yujing interrupted him. “Xiao Zhang, I understand.”

Zhang Zeyang secretly sighed in relief when Xu Yujing gave up. “Miss, let’s wait a little longer. It’s almost over. The rain is lighter than before, and the search team is expanding their search area. They’ll definitely find her soon.”

Xu Yujing gripped the armrests of her wheelchair tightly.

Zhang Zeyang stood with her at the doorway for a while, and then he saw a small figure moving toward them in the distance. As the figure got closer, he realized it was Tang Shuxia’s assistant. The assistant had been staying nearby with his rain gear, helping any villager who needed it, and constantly watching the mountain entrance to give live updates to Xie Jinzhi at the hospital. Now, he was sprinting toward them, his face covered in rain it was impossible to tell if he was crying.

The assistant was waving his arms, happily gesticulating.

“Brother Zhang, they’re coming down!”

“Sister Xia is safe!”

Hearing this, Xu Yujing lunged forward, but the wheel of her chair got stuck in a crack. She struggled free and, without hesitation, propelled her wheelchair into the rain.

Zhang Zeyang wanted to throw a raincoat over her, but seeing she was already in the rain, he hurried after her. “Miss, be careful.”

The muddy country roads were easy to get stuck in. Except for a few well off families who had concrete poured, most doorsteps were just muddy paths, with few stone slabs. A wheel could easily get stuck in a pit, impossible to pull out. Zhang Zeyang pushed hard while looking for solid ground.

In the distance, he saw Tang Shuxia, who looked like she had rolled in mud twice. She was hunched over, carrying an old man, gripping the old man’s arm with one hand, and protecting something in her arms with the other. She walked with great difficulty. Villagers were already running out to quickly help the old man off her back, and one of them almost didn’t recognize Tang Shuxia.

Water was dripping from Tang Shuxia’s hair, and her clothes clung tightly to her body, highlighting her slender figure. The raincoat she had worn up the mountain was wrapped around the old man. She was almost entirely covered in mud, but her eyes were remarkably bright.

“Old Man Zhang, wake up.”

“Teacher Tang, what’s wrong with Old Man Zhang?”

“This old man broke his leg and needs to be sent to the hospital.” She paused. “For resuscitation.”

Tang Shuxia speculated that people of this era were very fragile. Her own father, Tang Mingcheng, was younger than this old man and constantly needed hospital visits, so she emphasized the word ‘resuscitation.’ This scared the villagers, who immediately carried the man on their backs and rushed towards the village exit.

No sooner had she finished her instructions than she turned around and saw a figure in a wheelchair rushing towards her. Through her rain-blurred eyes, she could vaguely see a face that looked about to cry. She quickly wiped her own face, and her other hand was grabbed by a warm one. “Xu Yujing?”

Xu Yujing’s hands weren’t exactly warm, but compared to Tang Shuxia’s freezing hands, the difference was stark. The touch made her heart tremble. Her body temperature was simply too low. Xu Yujing quickly turned to Zhang Zeyang. “Hurry, get all the medical staff stationed at the village entrance to come in.”

Tang Shuxia wiped her eyes and saw Xu Yujing pursing her lips, looking displeased. Sure enough, she had misread the expression. She knew Xu Yujing wouldn’t cry, but her eyes did seem a little red?

“Why are you here?”

“I was worried about you.”

Tang Shuxia stopped walking. She saw Xu Yujing’s overflowing concern in her eyes, looking at her without any disguise. A very strange feeling suddenly began to grow intensely in Tang Shuxia’s heart, and the doubts she had suppressed earlier came flooding back.

Xu Yujing stubbornly tried to grab her hands again, holding them together to warm Tang Shuxia’s icy hands, even lightly breathing on them with her lips. Still, they didn’t warm up, and Xu Yujing’s own hands became cold. She nervously watched Tang Shuxia’s expression.