Halfway through, Gu Mengmeng was blindfolded by a piece of cloth thrown in by Mazavi from outside. She knew that was the rule, so she obeyed him without any argument.
While Mazavi was covering the cloth, he took advantage of the close proximity of his limbs and roughly lifted up Gu Mengmeng's clothes with his fingers and touched her breasts.
Gu Mengmeng shuddered and subconsciously blocked it, and Mazavi's hairy hand fell on her swollen belly.
He was startled by the touch of his hand.
Then he said angrily: "What a reckless woman. She dares to come to the base even though she has a big belly."
Gu Mengmeng huddled into the end of the carriage. Her eyes were dark. She didn't dare to reach out to untie the strip of cloth, so she could only pick up the vegetables at her feet to defend herself.
Mazavi lost interest and reached out to touch his hard crotch before cursing and going to the cab.
Later, a young child from the base got on the bus. He and she stayed in the airtight and smelly car. They didn't speak at first. Later, when the child saw that she was uncomfortable and made her want to vomit, he stepped forward to help her.
At the back of the carriage, let her stick her head in to vomit.
Her eyes were still covered with cloth, and based on the hot mountain wind blowing on her face, she guessed that they had entered the mountain.
After vomiting up the acidic water in her stomach, she was led by the little boy and went back to sit down.
"Thank you." Gu Mengmeng thanked him in Kurdish.
The little boy was very shy. He mumbled something under his breath and stopped talking.
After a long time, Gu Mengmeng felt the sweet aroma coming from the tip of her nose, which not only took away the suffocation in her chest, but also dissipated the pain in her abdomen that had started since she got in the car.
She grabbed the leaf on her nose and said gratefully to the little boy: "What is this?"
This time she heard clearly, and the little boy said: "The green leaves my mother taught me to relieve vomiting are the leaves of cauliflower."
A warm current surged through Gu Mengmeng's heart. She put the leaves between her nose and smelled them, and asked the little boy: "What is your name? Is your mother also at the base?"
The little boy didn't speak for a while.
Later, when Gu Mengmeng couldn't wait for the sound and became a little anxious, he said: "My name is Karim, and my mother is dead."
"I'm sorry." Gu Mengmeng felt sad. She didn't mean to touch Karim's bottom line.
Karim walked over silently and took off the cloth from Gu Mengmeng's eyes.
When he saw Gu Mengmeng's eyes, he looked stunned for a moment and said, "Are you not from Iraq?"
Gu Mengmeng nodded.
"Why didn't Uncle Mazavi see it?"
"I may have been talking to him with my head down, and he didn't notice."
The pure melancholy in Karim's eyes caught Gu Mengmeng's attention. He looked like a really beautiful boy.
Gu Mengmeng took his hand and said, "Karim, you believe me, right?"
Karim nodded.
From his actions of taking care of her, treating her illness, and untying her, it can be seen that this young child likes him.
Gu Mengmeng took off her hijab to let Karim see her face, and then put it back on under his shocked gaze.
"I am a Chinese, here to rescue my husband. He is in your base, with your leader's daughter."
Karim was even more surprised.
"Miss Saina?!"
"Yes. Sayna. My husband is at her place. I want you to help me find him."
There was a hint of panic in Karim's expression. He looked at Gu Mengmeng and remained silent for a while.
The car suddenly stopped.
Karim and Gu Mengmeng were both shocked.
She tied the cloth strips herself and sat back in her previous position, while Karim leaned in the center of the carriage and watched Mazawi climb over the guardrail from the outside.
"I said, don't make any noise for a while, do you hear me?"
He gave harsh instructions because he was afraid that members of the organization on duty would find her.
"I know, I won't cause you any trouble." Gu Mengmeng promised.
Karim intervened at this time.
"Uncle Mazavi, once we get inside, I will take her to my place to wait for my brother, and you can go and do your work."
Mazavi asked for it. He smiled with split lips, touched Karim's head and returned to the cab.
This time, the car arrived at the entrance of the base without going much further.
The member on duty briefly checked the carriage and let them pass.
The car turned a corner and seemed to have entered a mountain. The air became cooler and there was a faint sound of water in the distance.
Mazavi first sent them to the area where Karim lived. In an inconspicuous corner, the two jumped out of the car.
Mazavi winked at Karim and drove away quickly. Karim took Gu Mengmeng and hid in the bushes, and took off the blindfold.
"Don't be afraid, just follow me." Karim pulled her through the bushes, bypassed several patrol posts, and finally entered a row of wooden houses.
Karim lowered his voice, pointed to a three-story roof in the center of the group of houses, and said, "Look, that's Miss Saina's residence."
Gu Mengmeng's hand tightened, and her heart began to beat in pain.
She followed Karim to the cabin where he and another base member lived.
"Yunkan is not here, he went to Baghdad last week. I live here by myself now, don't worry." Karim asked her to sit down and rest, and poured her a glass of water from a funnel-like container in the corner of the room.
Gu Mengmeng looked at him, not knowing what to say to express her gratitude to him.
"Karim. Whatever you say you want, as long as my husband and I can get out safely, we will definitely do it for you."
Karim still looks pure.
He bit his finger, looked at Gu Mengmeng with a hint of shyness in his eyes, and said, "Can you ----- hug me?"
Gu Mengmeng was stunned.
Still, she opened her heart to him.
Holding his thin and weak body, she felt like Karim was his child.
"Mom...you smell like mother..." Karim murmured in her arms.