Chapter 230

“There are a lot of people in the village, so I don’t know whether she’ll come back. But as long as you’re prepared,” Song Nianchu said, her voice softening slightly when she saw how furious Mu Deyi looked.

Mu’s mother was already in the hospital. They couldn’t afford to have Mu Deyi worked into an illness as well.

“I know. As long as she dares to come back, I’ll restrain her first,” Mu Deyi said darkly.

“Don’t push yourself. Your own safety comes first,” Song Nianchu reminded him.

In any case, they had already informed the organization. The organization would handle everything that followed.

“All right. Take Yongnian and Haoxuan home first. Don’t tell them about this yet. They’re still young and can’t keep secrets,” Mu Deyi said gently.

“Okay,” Song Nianchu replied.

She reminded Mu Deyi a few more times to take good care of himself before leaving with the two boys.

On the way home, Mu Haoxuan chattered nonstop, as he always did, while Mu Yongnian, walking beside him, barely said a word. His eyes were lowered, and no one knew what he was thinking.

When they got home, Song Nianchu went to prepare dinner while Mu Yongnian and Mu Haoxuan started the fire and cooked the rice.

After the three of them had eaten and bathed, Song Nianchu sent the boys to bed.

However, after Song Nianchu turned off the lamp and left, Mu Yongnian, who had originally closed his eyes, slowly opened them again.

He kept thinking about the words he had accidentally overheard earlier. His Second Sister was actually still alive.

It was truly shocking.

But his sister-in-law and his father were both worried that his Second Sister might come back to cause trouble for them. He had to be careful too. He absolutely couldn’t cause trouble for his sister-in-law and the family at a time like this.

“…”

The next few days passed peacefully in Qinghe Fishing Village, and there was nothing unusual on Mu Deyi’s side either.

That day, Song Nianchu was going to pick up Mu’s mother from the hospital. After breakfast, she reminded Mu Haoxuan and Mu Yongnian, “I don’t know whether I’ll be able to make it back by noon. When the time comes, go home and eat. Don’t try to cook by yourselves.”

“Okay.” Mu Yongnian nodded.

“And remember, don’t wander off, and don’t go anywhere with strangers.”

“Got it!”

Seeing how obedient they were, Song Nianchu ruffled their hair before turning around and leaving.

The moment Song Nianchu was gone, Mu Haoxuan immediately started running around and playing, while Mu Yongnian looked unusually serious.

He kept a close watch on his surroundings, afraid that Mu Jingmei might suddenly appear from somewhere.

Fortunately, nothing happened throughout the morning. Then the whistle signaling the end of work sounded, and the children all got up and went home.

Mu Yongnian relaxed slightly and prepared to gather the labels he had hung out to dry earlier.

“Haoxuan, let’s clean up. Then we can go eat at Dad’s place,” Mu Yongnian said as he finished collecting the labels and stood up.

But ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‍after he said this, he waited for a long time without receiving an answer. When he turned around, he found no one behind him.

“Haoxuan?”

Mu Yongnian immediately panicked.

He searched every corner of the house, but he couldn’t find Mu Haoxuan anywhere.

A terrible feeling surged through him. He dropped the labels in his hands and dashed out of the house.

He shouted Mu Haoxuan’s name the entire way, but he searched the whole village without finding him.

Mu Yongnian was sweating heavily from worry. Then he suddenly thought of something, turned around, and ran back toward home.

When Mu Yongnian reached the Mu family’s house, he found the gate wide open. Voices seemed to be coming from inside.

“Dad!” Mu Yongnian shouted as soon as he entered the courtyard.

Mu Deyi didn’t come out, so Mu Yongnian had no choice but to enter the house. There, he found Mu Shi’an and Song Nianchu, along with the others. Mu Deyi was helping Mu’s mother lie down on the bed.

Everyone was surprised to see Mu Yongnian rushing in.

“Why are you covered in sweat?” Song Nianchu was the first to notice that something was wrong. She stepped forward to ask him, then glanced behind him.

Mu Haoxuan was nowhere to be seen, and an inexplicable sense of unease filled her heart.

The two brothers were usually inseparable.

“Sister-in-law, Haoxuan is missing,” Mu Yongnian said, just as she feared.

“What do you mean, he’s missing?” Song Nianchu’s brows drew tightly together.

“Yongnian, tell us exactly what happened.” The others also hurriedly turned to him, while Mu’s mother began coughing anxiously.

“The whistle just blew, and I was cleaning up the labels. I thought I’d take Haoxuan to Dad’s place to eat after I finished, but as soon as I stood up, Haoxuan was gone. I clearly told him not to wander off, but I…” Mu Yongnian couldn’t continue. His eyes were filled with tears.

“All right, don’t panic. Haoxuan may have gone to play at another child’s house in the village,” Song Nianchu quickly comforted him.

Mu Haoxuan had often gone out to play during the short break after work.

“But I already searched the village. None of them had seen Haoxuan.” Mu Yongnian sobbed uncontrollably.

Song Nianchu’s expression changed when she heard this. She looked up at Mu Shi’an, whose face had also turned grim.

They both knew they had reached the same conclusion, but with Mu Yongnian there, neither of them could say anything openly.

“Sister-in-law, did Second Sister come back and take Haoxuan?” Mu Yongnian suddenly asked just as Song Nianchu was thinking of finding an excuse to send him away.

“How do you know? Did you see something?” Song Nianchu immediately pressed him.

“I didn’t see anything. I just… accidentally overheard you telling Dad before that Second Sister wasn’t dead.” Mu Yongnian’s voice dropped, full of remorse. “I should have kept a closer eye on Haoxuan. This is all my fault.”

Hearing this, Song Nianchu quickly said, “This has nothing to do with you. You’ve already done very well. Don’t blame yourself.”

“But what about Haoxuan? If Second Sister really took him, will he be in danger?” Mu Yongnian asked, his eyes brimming with tears.

“He’ll be fine. If Second Sister really did take Haoxuan, she probably only wants to use him to demand money from us. Go home first and don’t go anywhere. We’ll search for him,” Song Nianchu instructed.

“…Okay.”

Mu Yongnian had wanted to say that he wanted to help search too, but after glancing at Song Nianchu, he swallowed the words.

Mu Haoxuan was already missing. He couldn’t cause them any more trouble.

“Be good. Don’t worry. We’ll definitely bring Haoxuan back safely,” Song Nianchu said, looking at Mu Yongnian with complete seriousness.

“Okay!” Mu Yongnian nodded firmly and obediently returned to his room.

The moment he left, Mu’s mother could no longer hold back.

“What are we going to do now? Was it really Jingmei who took Haoxuan?”

“That’s only a guess. I’m going to search the village first,” Song Nianchu replied. She couldn’t be completely certain.

“I’ll go too…” Mu’s mother said as she prepared to get out of bed.

However, her body was still weak. Before she could even get down, she nearly fell, but Mu Deyi quickly caught her.

“You’re not going. You’re still weak, and we’d only have to worry about you if you came along,” Mu Deyi said with a frown.

“Exactly. Stay home and rest. Mu Jingmei might come back, too,” Song Nianchu added.

Mu’s mother moved her lips but did not insist. She only looked at Song Nianchu pleadingly.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you.”