Lu Chuanbai, who was leading a search and rescue team on the mountain, received a call from Xu Qingqing. He was so excited that his hands trembled. He entered his phone password three times before finally answering the call.
"Qingqing, is that you!" Lu Chuanbai asked impatiently.
"Yes, it's me!"
Hearing Lu Chuanbai's voice, Xu Qingqing's nose twitched slightly, and she inexplicably felt like crying.
"Lu Chuanbai, Lu Fenglin and I are trapped in a cave and can't get out. Can you find someone to rescue us?"
On the other end of the phone, Lu Chuanbai clearly heard Xu Qingqing's voice. He felt his numb heart start to beat again.
His nose twitched, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Lu Chuanbai tried hard to calm his nerves and make himself more composed, but his emotions seemed to be against him. The ecstasy of having something lost and then regained was beyond his control.
Hearing that Lu Chuanbai didn't respond for a long time, Xu Qingqing moved the phone away from her ear and saw that the call was still ongoing.
"There's still signal... Why is there no sound? Lu Chuanbai, can you hear me?" Xu Qingqing tried shouting loudly again.
Lu Chuanbai replied hoarsely, "I can hear you. I'll come and rescue you right away."
Xu Qingqing felt relieved and tried to send her location to Lu Chuanbai. This would help the rescue team shorten the search time and allow them to get out sooner.
"Is that Lu Chuanbai?" Lu Fenglin, who was lying on the ground, frowned and asked.
He was a bit annoyed in his heart. He couldn't believe that he was going to be rescued by Lu Chuanbai. It was so embarrassing!
"Yes, it's your elder brother."
Xu Qingqing squatted on the stone platform and didn't dare to go down. She was also worried that Lu Chuanbai would call again.
"Why do you hate your elder brother so much? He's been nice to you. He never bothered about your schemes against him." Xu Qingqing asked, swinging her legs.
"Nice to me?"
As if hearing the biggest joke in the world, Lu Fenglin sneered and couldn't help complaining to Xu Qingqing.
"I was the first one to take a fancy to the land on Weishan Island. If it weren't for him interfering, it would already be in my hands."
"But no matter who bought this land, it would still be in your Lu family, right? Lu Chuanbai is your own brother, not your enemy." Xu Qingqing still didn't understand.
Xu Qingqing had always taught Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an to help and support each other since they were young. Family affection was the most important thing.
That's why the atmosphere in their family was so harmonious. Although Xu An'an had a bit of a temper, Xu Yiyi would tolerate her and patiently guide her.
Xu An'an would also understand her brother's hardships, so the siblings rarely quarreled, let alone fought over things like Lu Fenglin and Lu Chuanbai did.
Hearing Xu Qingqing's words, a flicker of disappointment flashed across Lu Fenglin's eyes.
"That's his Lu family, not mine."
There was a hint of melancholy in Lu Fenglin's voice. He looked up at the blue sky outside the cave entrance and suddenly wished he could turn into a bird, free and carefree.
"What?" Xu Qingqing was confused by this sudden remark.
She had never heard that the two brothers had split the family.
Lu Fenglin explained, "My father... has never liked me, even hated me, since I was a child."
"After Lu Chuanbai graduated, he could directly enter the Lu Group to work, while I had to start from doing odd jobs."
"As soon as Lu Chuanbai entered the company, he took the position of president, while I got my position as the general manager of the Lu Group entirely through my own efforts."
"Lu Chuanbai can do whatever he wants, while I still have to report my daily schedule to my father every day. In my father's heart, my elder brother is the best, and I'm not important."
"I see..."
Xu Qingqing blinked her eyes. As someone who had been doted on by her parents since childhood, she couldn't fully empathize with Lu Fenglin's experiences, but she felt sorry for him when she heard his story.
"Maybe Uncle Lu thought that you have your mother, while Lu Chuanbai's mother has passed away, so he favored Lu Chuanbai a bit more." Xu Qingqing comforted him.
Lu Fenglin sneered and scoffed at this statement, "If he misses the deceased so much, then why did he marry my mother and have me?"
There was full of hatred and resentment in Lu Fenglin's words.
Xu Qingqing bit her lips and felt that Lu Fenglin was right.
"Calm down. Getting too emotional is not good for your health."
Xu Qingqing didn't know what else to say to comfort him for a moment. She could only pray in her heart that Lu Chuanbai would come soon and let the two brothers sort out their own problems.
Lu Chuanbai received the message from Xu Qingqing and rushed over quickly. But they searched around the cave Xu Qingqing mentioned and couldn't find an entrance.
Finally, they climbed up the mountain and saw the entrance on top of the cave from above.
The stone walls around the cave formed a natural barrier. The rescue team leader thought for a moment.
"There's only one way, which is to lower a rope from the entrance, tie the people to the rope, and then pull them out."
The rescue team took out a safety rope as thick as a wrist and prepared to lower it from the entrance.
Lu Chuanbai stood at the entrance and shouted down, "Qingqing!"
"Qingqing!"
Lu Chuanbai's voice echoed several times at the entrance before reaching Xu Qingqing's ears.
Xu Qingqing looked up and saw Lu Chuanbai. She waved to him excitedly.
"Lu Chuanbai, you've finally come!"
Great, they were going to be rescued!
"Qingqing, I'll throw the rope down. Tie it around your body, and we'll pull you up."
After Lu Chuanbai said that, he was about to throw the rope to Xu Qingqing.
Xu Qingqing quickly shouted to him, "Don't rescue me first! Rescue Lu Fenglin. His condition is not good. He needs to go to the hospital quickly!"
After saying that, Xu Qingqing pointed to Lu Fenglin who was lying on the ground.
Hearing Xu Qingqing ask others to rescue him first, Lu Fenglin felt warm in his heart. But in order not to show his emotions, Lu Fenglin deliberately showed a malicious smile on his face.
Lu Fenglin waved to Lu Chuanbai who was looking down from the entrance, "Hello, my dear elder brother."
Seeing Lu Fenglin's annoying smile, Lu Chuanbai really didn't want to rescue him. But since Xu Qingqing had said so, Lu Chuanbai still asked the rescue team leader to lower the rope to Lu Fenglin's side first.
Lu Fenglin tied the rope around his waist and then wrapped it around his wrists five times. He shouted to the people above, "I'm ready!"
The rescue team started to pull the rope up. But the height was too high, and Lu Fenglin was a grown man, so it was very strenuous to pull.
The rescue team leader asked Lu Chuanbai, who was just standing there watching, for help, "Mr. Lu, could you please give us a hand?"
"Okay."
Lu Chuanbai, who originally didn't plan to help, had to reluctantly help pull the rope.
With Lu Chuanbai's help, Lu Fenglin was quickly pulled up.
After coming up, Lu Fenglin didn't know how to thank Lu Chuanbai, so he chose to be sarcastic like he used to be to Lu Chuanbai.
"While pulling the rope, did you ever think about letting go and letting me fall to my death?"
Lu Chuanbai, who was already very annoyed, said coldly, "Shut up. If you say another word, I'll kick you down!"
"Okay, I won't say anything."
Since Lu Fenglin had no strength, the rescue team members carried him onto a stretcher and were going to carry him down the mountain later.