Chapter 4: Saving Someone (1)

Old Madam Tong did not agree, and Tong Anqi did not say anything further. Before Old Madam Tong could go off to busy herself with other things, she felt someone tugging at her clothes.

Looking down, it was actually Tong Annian standing beside her, pulling on the corner of her shirt.

"My little darling, what is it?" Old Madam Tong crouched down in front of Tong Annian, looking at her small face.

"Grandma, can Nianbao'er... go to the river... with Big Brother and the others? Nianbao'er... also wants to... watch them catch fish." Tong Annian spoke with a hint of caution.

"But your health..."

"Grandma, Big Brother... will carry Nianbao'er... there. Nianbao'er... will stand on the bank... and won't run around." Tong Annian looked at Old Madam Tong earnestly. Seeing the longing in her eyes, Old Madam Tong couldn't help but agree.

However, she still instructed Tong Anqi to protect Tong Annian the whole way, not to let her get too tired, and not to let her go near the water.

Tong Anqi agreed while picking up Tong Annian, and Tong Anxin and the others hurriedly grabbed fish baskets and other tools to follow along.

When they arrived at the river, there were already many children of all sizes in the water, swimming back and forth completely naked. Tong Anqi told Tong Anxin and the other younger ones to stay on the bank to keep Tong Annian company, while he took the two older boys into the water.

Tong Annian stood obediently beside Tong Anxin, her small hand clutching his sleeve, watching quietly.

"System, check if there are any fish in the river." Tong Annian notified the system with her thoughts.

"Yes, Master... There are no fish nearby. There is a soft-shelled turtle under a rock one hundred meters away from you." The system's words made Tong Annian widen her eyes as she searched for the rock the system mentioned.

A soft-shelled turtle was even more nourishing than fish!

However, there were too many rocks, and she couldn't tell which one it was.

"Fourth Brother, I saw... over there... under the rock... something... swam past." Tong Annian tugged at Tong Anxin's sleeve and looked up at him.

"What kind of thing?"

"I don't know, I didn't... see clearly." Tong Annian couldn't very well say it was a turtle, could she? She could only shake her head.

Tong Anxin ran down directly, and Tong Annian guided him toward the spot based on the system's directions.

He carefully moved the rock aside and saw a large turtle nestled underneath. He was startled at first, then hurriedly reached out to grab the turtle and hold it in his arms.

"Big Brother, look, look what I caught!" Tong Anxin shouted to Tong Anqi and the others. When they saw what was in Tong Anxin's arms, they were all overjoyed.

"Master, someone has fallen into the water." Just as Tong Annian was watching her brothers' excitement, the system spoke again.

Tong Annian turned her head to look. In the middle of the river, she could indeed see a figure bobbing up and down, struggling with decreasing intensity.

"Big Brother, Big Brother, someone... has fallen into the water." Tong Annian shouted, and the others also noticed the figure in the middle of the river.

Tong Anqi did not hesitate and swam straight toward the person. By the time the other children who were good swimmers followed, Tong Anqi had already gathered the person in his arms and started swimming toward the bank.

"It's Chunsheng's Shitou! Shitou's mother, your son is drowning!"

"Shitou! Shitou, wake up! What's happened to you?" Upon hearing that her son had fallen into the water, Shitou's mother dropped the clothes she was half-finished washing and rushed over.

"He's not moving at all, he wouldn't be drowned, would he?"

"Look, his face is purple. He's definitely done for."

"My child!" Shitou's mother threw herself over Tong Shitou and wailed.

"System, can he still be saved?" Looking at the child, who was about the same age as her, lying there as if he had lost all life, Tong Annian thought of Ning Qingqiu, and she couldn't bear it.

"Yes."

Hearing the system say he could still be saved, Tong Annian breathed a sigh of relief. She carefully squeezed to the front and tugged on Tong Anqi's hand.

She knew that when saving a drowning person, you couldn't keep their head facing upward. If that child were to be bundled up, she feared he wouldn't be saved even if they wanted to.