Chapter 14: Breaking the Ice

Li Cuilian gazed at her daughter's stubborn back, as if she would not turn back until hitting the south wall; tears she could no longer hold back streamed down her face.

Tears traced her face, etched with the marks of years and sorrow, without a sound.

She instinctively wanted to step forward to pull and persuade, but the old man beside her, Lin Huainian, seized her wrist with such force it hurt.

"Let her go!"

Lin Huainian's voice was hoarse, like two rough stones rubbing together; his gaze, complex as a tangled knot, fixed tightly on the direction where his daughter vanished into the wind and snow.

"She chose this path herself; even if she has to crawl, she must crawl to the end!"

Lin Yueqiang curled his lip and tossed out coldly: "Hmph, I know she'll eventually regret and beg for mercy; when that happens, don't come crying back to us!"

Lu Qingshan turned a deaf ear.

At this moment, any argument is meaningless.

He knew that saying anything now would be pointless; only future actions could serve as the best proof and shut these people's mouths.

He gently placed the bundle of roe deer meat, wrapped in oil paper, on the earthen wall of the vegetable garden in the Lin family courtyard.

Then, facing the two figures at the door, he bowed deeply again.

Without a word.

He rose, turned his head, and gave Lin Yue'e's thin yet stubborn back a glance filled with an indescribably complex emotion.

That back seemed so tiny in the wind and snow, yet it held a power that made his heart tremble.

He quickened his steps to follow.

He walked to her side, bent down, and carefully lifted their daughter Xiao Xue from the ground.

Xiao Xue's small body still trembled slightly; her hands instinctively clutched his collar, tight as if grasping a lifeline.

"Xiao Xue, don't be afraid, Daddy's here."

He rubbed his chin against her icy little cheek, his voice extremely low and soft, trembling with a quiver he himself did not notice.

Xiao Xue buried her face in his relatively warm embrace, muffled a nod, said nothing, and only gripped his clothes tighter.

He looked at Lin Yue'e, his lips moved as if to speak, but in the end he merely reached out, awkwardly and tentatively, to lightly grasp her icy hand.

Lin Yue'e's fingers stiffened for a moment, but she did not pull away.

Her hand was very cold, her fingertips even feeling piercingly cold.

Lu Qingshan's heart, however, felt as if it had been scalded by that icy hand.

He tightened his grip.

Holding her, cradling their daughter, he strode into the vast wind and snow without looking back.

The biting wind carried snow particles that scraped the face like countless tiny knives, causing pain.

Lu Qingshan held Xiao Xue, trying to shield her from the wind and snow, feeling his cheeks as if frozen stiff.

The threshold of his father-in-law's home was the first iceberg looming before him.

Today, he merely chiseled a tiny crack in that iceberg.

The daughter in his arms and the wife by his side are the very force that drives him to chip away at this iceberg, and even to surmount greater mountains.

He held Xiao Xue's soft little body, feeling her faint tremors and the small hand that clung tightly to him.

He knew he must become stronger, strong enough to shield mother and daughter from wind and rain.

The mountain path was harder to traverse than on the way here.

The snow lay deeper; each step sank unevenly, producing a creaking "creak-creak" sound.

Lu Qingshan lifted Xiao Xue with one arm, holding her tighter, using his body to block most of the wind and snow for her.

Lin Yue'e followed silently at his side, occasionally raising a hand to brush off the ice frost that had gathered on his eyebrows, beard, and hair.

They walked a long time, and no one spoke.

Silence lay between them like a thick layer of snow.

Only when the outline of Shanwan village came into view did Lin Yue'e finally speak softly, her voice hinting at a barely perceptible hesitation and probing.

"Qing Shan… does your forehead hurt?"

She referred to the spot where he had grazed his forehead, now covered with a dark-red scab.

Lu Qingshan's steps faltered; he raised a hand to touch his forehead, grinned, tried to laugh, but the movement tugged at the wound and caused some pain.

"It's fine, just a superficial wound; a man like me doesn't consider this a big deal."

Lin Yue'e said nothing more, merely gave him a complex look and continued walking forward in silence.

"Qing Shan…" she spoke again, her voice lower, strained with difficulty, "You… in the future… really…"

She didn't finish, but Lu Qingshan understood what she meant.

He stopped, turned to face her, and looked at her solemnly.

The wind and snow blurred his vision, but the resolve in his eyes shone as clear as a red-hot branding iron.

"Yue'e."

Lin Yue'e instinctively lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"I, Lu Qingshan, swear before heaven."

He spoke each word slowly and clearly, every syllable seeming to be hammered out from his chest.

"From now on, if I ever touch that thing again, may I be struck dead by lightning upon leaving home, and after death fall into the eighteen layers of hell, never to be reborn!"

This oath was harsh, resolute, and carried an undeniable brutality.

Lin Yue'e's body trembled slightly, and her eye rims instantly reddened.

She looked at the man before her, the man she had loved, hated, and despaired over.

His face was flushed red by the wind and snow, his forehead still bore the scab, yet his eyes shone astonishingly bright, like two flames stubbornly burning in the darkness.

She bit her lower lip, nodded faintly, her voice barely a mosquito's buzz, yet tinged with the tremor of relief: "... I trust you."

Lu Qingshan looked at her reddened eye sockets, and his heart felt as if something had struck it hard, both sour and swollen.

He reached out, gently wiping away the tears Handcrafted Flower at the corner of her eye, and gave a simple, good‑natured smile.

He said nothing else, just tightened his grip on her hand, pulling it into his broad palm, slipping it into his coat pocket, trying to warm her with his body heat.

Then he turned, embracing his daughter, holding his wife, and walked steadfastly toward that dilapidated yet now incredibly warm home, step by step.

After walking a while longer, Xiao Xue suddenly shifted in his arms and whispered, "Dad, I'm cold…"

Lu Qingshan quickly tightened his hold on her arm and said softly, "Hold on a bit longer, we'll be home soon; once we're home, it'll be fine."

Lin Yue'e heard this, stopped, unbuttoned the old cotton coat she wore, intending to drape it over Xiao Xue.

Lu Qingshan hurriedly stopped her: "No, you put it on. You're frail, don't let yourself freeze."

As he spoke, he pulled Xiao Xue even tighter into his embrace.

At that moment, Xiao Xue suddenly pointed ahead and shouted excitedly, "Dad, Mom, look, it's home!"

Lu Qingshan and Lin Yue'e followed Xiao Xue's pointing direction and saw, amid the curling village smoke, a low mud‑brick house standing quietly there.

That was their home.

Though shabby and simple, it was their warm harbor, the starting point of their happiness.

In Lu Qingshan's heart, an indescribable surge of excitement and joy rose, and he broke into a short jog.

"We're home, let's cook Roe Deer meat!"

Ignoring the numbness in his arms, he lifted Xiao Xue half‑way as he walked, whispering excitedly.

Xiao Xue widened her eyes and laughed excitedly, "Ha ha."

Lu Qingshan quickened his pace, racing toward home.

Lin Yue'e followed tightly behind him, her face radiating a happy smile.

The wind still blew.

The road was still long.

But this time, Lu Qingshan was no longer alone.

He has a wife, a daughter, brothers, and hope.

He believes that as long as he works hard and persists, he can give them a warm home and a happy future.

He will make those who look down on him open their eyes and take a good look!

He, Lu Qingshan, will surely live up to his own proper image!