Chapter 288 - 286: What She Cares About Most (Second Update)

Chapter 288: Chapter 286: What She Cares About Most (Second Update)

Xu Jing’s eyes flickered slightly and she said, "I didn’t want to meddle in Doctor Yan’s private affairs before. Is there something troubling Doctor Yan? Is there anything I can help with?"

Wei Muqing sighed lightly and said, "I can’t casually talk about my master’s private matters, and besides, it’s something that ordinary people can’t help with. My master... can’t do much either; we can only leave it to fate..."

Just as they were talking, a commotion suddenly came from outside. Both of them were startled, and in the next moment, the door of Xu Jing’s house was knocked on forcefully.

The sound of knocking was unsettling. Xu Jing immediately stood up and went outside, just in time to see Cheng Xiao opening the door.

Standing outside the door were two villagers holding torches. As soon as the door opened, one of them urgently asked, "Have you seen Little Dongzi from Yan Si’s house?"

Xu Jing had gotten to know some people in the village by now. She remembered that Little Dongzi from Yan Si’s house was a boy around seven or eight years old. Although young, he was very sensible and often helped out with household chores, running around the village. People who knew him would call him Little Dongzi when they saw him; it was hard for Xu Jing not to remember him.

Xu Jing asked, "What happened to Little Dongzi?"

Lately, because Wei Muqing often came to her house, the villagers no longer saw her as a suspicious person, and their attitude towards her had improved a lot.

The villager looked anxious and said, "Little Dongzi is missing. Yan Si’s wife said that during dinner tonight, Little Dongzi had a quarrel with them and ran out in anger. Yan Si and his wife have been looking for him for a long time but couldn’t find him, so they asked us for help."

In this late-night cold weather, almost December, how could a child endure being outside for long?

Wei Muqing, who had more affection for the village than Xu Jing, was naturally more anxious and quickly asked, "How long has Little Dongzi been missing? Do you need our help?"

"Not sure, but probably more than an hour."

The villager said, "We’ve already gathered the men from the village to help search. The weather is too cold tonight; Doctor Wei, you better not run around too much and catch a cold."

Saying this, he turned and rushed off.

Wei Muqing kept her brows furrowed, clearly uneasy, so Xu Jing tried to comfort her by saying, "With so many people looking, Little Dongzi is sure to be found soon. Don’t worry."

Wei Muqing sighed and said, "I hope so too. That poor child, his real mother ran off with another man when he was two, leaving him and his dad to depend on each other. Later, his dad remarried; it’s Sister-in-law Wang, you might remember her. As a stepmother, she hasn’t been too bad to Little Dongzi, at least not in terms of food and clothing, but he’s not her own child, so she’s not as affectionate, especially after she had her own son four years ago, she’s become more neglectful of Little Dongzi.

Last winter, Little Dongzi caught a cold and never fully recovered. Sister-in-law Wang still had him doing chores, running errands, and chopping firewood. Little Dongzi couldn’t endure it and collapsed, and eventually, it was the villagers who sent him to us, and we cured his cold."

It turned out that Little Dongzi was once Wei Muqing’s patient, which explained her concern for him.

Xu Jing suggested, "If you’re really worried, we can go out and take a look."

Wei Muqing was taken aback but couldn’t help but smile, "Okay, I knew Jing was a good person."

The two of them put on their coats and went out, only to see the dark village filled with men holding torches, shouting "Little Dongzi" as they searched.

The elders, women, and children who didn’t go out to help couldn’t resist coming to the door, looking concerned.

There weren’t that many people in the village; they were all familiar faces. No matter how much discord or conflict there was on a regular day, in times of trouble, everyone was quite united.

As Xu Jing and Wei Muqing were about to approach a villager to ask about the situation, they suddenly heard a little girl squatting at her doorstep ask her mother, "Mom, where did Little Dongzi go? Could it be that the scary uncle from the mountain took him away?"

The woman beside her quickly said, "Don’t talk nonsense. That Jiang Da wouldn’t have the guts..."

However, an old woman slowly stepping out from behind her said, "It’s hard to say. That Jiang Da looks so strange, stays in the mountains all the time, rarely comes out, and doesn’t communicate with the villagers. The men in the village secretly say he’s terrifying, capable of killing a wild beast with his bare hands. Maybe he’s a fugitive from somewhere. If we don’t drive him away, sooner or later, something’s going to happen!

If Little Dongzi really is in his hands, I wouldn’t be surprised at all."

The woman’s face changed slightly, "It couldn’t be..."

Xu Jing couldn’t help but glance at them a few more times.

During this time, she’d also come to know that Jiang Da was quite a special presence in White Poplar Village. He had suddenly shown up in the village three years ago, and given his tall and fierce appearance and strange demeanor, the village children were afraid of him, and the adults were also wary, often instructing their children not to contact Jiang Da casually. The villagers only knew he was called Jiang Da, but nothing else about him.

Apart from occasionally coming down the mountain to exchange for food and daily necessities, Jiang Da mostly stayed away. It’s said that when he first arrived three years ago, the villagers wanted to drive him away by reporting him to the authorities due to his unknown background. The authorities did come, but after some investigation, they said Jiang Da’s identity was legitimate and left.

The villagers had no choice but to continue living alongside him for three years as if he didn’t exist.

The attitude of the authorities was what Xu Jing found most intriguing in the information gathered by Cheng Xiao and the others.

The household registration system in Great Chu was very strict. Every year, officials would check the household registration of people under their jurisdiction. If they encountered any strange outsiders who couldn’t prove their identity, they’d be immediately treated as suspicious.

Anyone wanting to settle in a place had to find a way to register locally, or they’d be sent back to their original location even if they could prove their identity.

The authorities saying Jiang Da’s identity was legitimate and allowing him to live in White Poplar Village could mean two things: Jiang Da originally was from White Poplar Village, or he was later added to the local household register.

Judging by the villagers’ attitudes, Jiang Da clearly wasn’t a native of White Poplar Village, which meant he was later registered here.

So, where did he come from, and why did he get registered in White Poplar Village?

The old woman suggested he might be a fugitive, but Xu Jing didn’t think so. If he were, he wouldn’t have passed the registration process.

While Xu Jing was deep in thought, she suddenly heard a man’s voice not far off, "Yan Si, did you check over by the Wangzi River?"

It was Little Dongzi’s father, Yan Si.

Yan Si, a tall, thin man with narrow eyes and thin lips, furrowed his brows and responded, "I checked everywhere, couldn’t find him. Where on earth could that rascal have gone!"

Saying this, he seemed irritated and kicked a nearby stone hard.

The man who had asked said immediately, "Yan Si, no matter what happened tonight with Little Dongzi, when you find him, don’t show him this face. Coax him back first, then educate him slowly. Little Dongzi isn’t the unreasonable type. To be honest, we’re all surprised that he’d run out like that tonight."

Yan Si, looking annoyed, said, "I know, I know..."

The man said, "Let’s go check by the Wangzi River again. If we still can’t find him, we’ll have to go into the forest."

Yan Si frowned slightly, "But I just checked there."

"Just in case, let’s check again. We’ve covered almost the entire village."

The group of men spoke and then turned to head towards the Wangzi River.

Wei Muqing immediately said, "Jing, I want to follow them and take a look. Do you want to come too?"

Recalling the old woman’s words earlier, Xu Jing nodded and said, "I’ll go take a look too."