Chapter 188: Can’t Afford to Panic

Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Can’t Afford to Panic

"That... uh, Cousin Ji, Dabao isn’t missing. He’s at the Hu family’s place."

Ji Huan wanted to snap him out of it.

Seeing that she didn’t believe him, Ji Mingfang grew anxious.

"It’s true. About four hours ago, I was coming down the mountain with Daya and Erya, heading home along this road, when we ran into two strange men dragging and carrying a child toward the village entrance. The kid was struggling the whole time, but his mouth was covered. I felt something was wrong, so I shouted..."

The two men already looked like they had a guilty conscience, and Ji Mingfang’s shout distracted them.

The child in their arms saw his chance. He bit down hard on the fleshy part of the hand covering his mouth. As the man yelped in pain and let go, the child broke free and ran back.

Ji Mingfang had seen Dabao once before, and Daya and Erya knew him too.

The last time they met on the mountain, Ji Xuelan had even told the two girls that he was their aunt’s younger brother.

"Little uncle..." Erya said, pointing at Dabao, who had already run past.

The two men snapped out of it and turned back to give chase.

Ji Mingfang told Daya and Erya to hurry home and get help, while he dragged his leg into the middle of the road to try and block the men.

At first, the two men were a little wary. But when they noticed his leg wasn’t very mobile, they lost all hesitation. After a bit of shoving, they knocked him straight to the ground and ran past him to chase Dabao.

Ji Mingfang was knocked down pretty hard. Luckily, they weren’t far from his home, so Ji Liansong and Ji Xuelan arrived quickly.

Hearing that someone had come to the village to kidnap a child—and that it was Dabao, no less—the father and daughter didn’t dare delay. They told Ji Mingfang to stay home and chased off in the direction he pointed.

But in the end, there was no sign of anyone.

"We searched for a long time but didn’t find Dabao or the kidnappers..."

Ji Huan instinctively refused to believe Ji Mingfang’s words.

’Kidnappers snatching a child from the village in broad daylight? That’s too absurd.’

But it seemed Ji Mingfang had no reason to lie to her.

His eyes and his anxiety were all telling her he was not lying.

The expression on Ji Huan’s face slowly vanished.

She said nothing, dropped the pastries in her hand, and bolted toward the Hu family’s home.

"Dabao! Dabao!"

With a CRASH, she shoved open the courtyard gate and rushed into the west room of the main house.

’How could Dabao be missing? When I left this morning, he was sleeping soundly on the kang. It can’t be Dabao who’s missing.’

She lifted the door curtain to the west room. The kang was empty.

She ran to the east room; only Granny Xie was there, fast asleep.

The main hall—empty.

The kitchen—empty.

The courtyard—empty too.

There was no one there.

Dabao, the Hu family—everyone was gone.

’Them all being gone is a good thing.’

’Maybe they all went out to play together, or maybe...’

Ji Huan tried to find a rational excuse to comfort herself, but the frantic, sinking feeling in her chest exposed her self-deception.

"Sister Ji Huan!" Hu Ximei cried out, running in from outside with Xiao’an and Hua in tow. Her voice was thick with tears.

Ji Huan walked toward her, looking past her. "Where’s Dabao? Where did you all go to play?"

Her steps came to an abrupt halt.

Behind Hu Ximei, outside the main gate, there was nothing.

No Dabao.

Hu Ximei burst out crying with a WAAH.

"Sister Ji Huan, Dabao... Dabao... he’s missing!"

A buzzing sound filled Ji Huan’s head. Without asking for details, she pushed past Hu Ximei and ran out the Hu family’s gate.

"Sister Ji Huan, where are you going! My mother and the others went west of the village..."

Ji Huan ran straight back to her own home.

When she took out her key to unlock the door, her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t fit it into the keyhole. It took several tries before she got the door open.

She called Dabao’s name, searching the front yard, the backyard, the main hall, the side rooms—every single place a person could hide.

Still nothing.

Standing in the middle of the empty courtyard, Ji Huan’s mind went numb.

She stared blankly at the key in her hand, suddenly realizing how foolish she was being.

’Dabao doesn’t have a key. How could he have run home by himself?’

’Ji Huan, calm down. Don’t panic. You absolutely cannot panic right now.’

Ji Huan repeated this to herself over and over in her mind, forcing down all her anxiety and fear until she could finally let out a heavy breath.

She locked the door and returned to the Hu family’s home.

Hu Ximei was standing at the doorway, crying anxiously.

Before she could speak, Ji Huan asked, "What exactly happened?"

Her face was taut, her expression more serious than Hu Ximei had ever seen.

Hu Ximei was a little scared, but she was also influenced by this composure. She recounted the whole story, though not very coherently.

"Not long after you left with that Boss Fang, Yunyun’s older brother came over. He got into a fight with someone at the construction site and injured them. He had to pay compensation, but he didn’t have the money, so he brought the person to our family’s stall..."

Hu Ximei’s face was filled with obvious displeasure.

Even though their two families were about to be related by marriage, Cao Fugui was just so irritating. He’d drag them into his troubles without any concern for how it might affect their business, acting as if the Hu family was obligated to clean up his messes.

The person he’d injured was no pushover either.

He didn’t look seriously hurt, but he lay on a bamboo frame and refused to get up, just groaning "Ouch, ouch" and shouting about the pain. He kept clamoring to be taken to a clinic, threatening to report it to the county government otherwise.

Cao Fugui brought the person over and then washed his hands of the matter. Cao Yunyun couldn’t stop crying, so Hu Liang had no choice but to take the man to see a doctor.

Even after the doctor said it was nothing serious, the man still insisted on being hospitalized.

In the end, Hu Liang saw through his scheme and had to pay several taels of silver in compensation on Cao Fugui’s behalf to settle the matter.

But Cao Fugui didn’t even say thank you, nor did he mention when he would pay it back. It was as if the Hu family’s money was his to spend, a matter of course.

After all the commotion, it was well past noon.

Cao Fugui even offered to treat them to a meal.

He didn’t even have any money, so what was he going to treat them with?

Besides, Widow Xie was worried about the children at home, so she didn’t agree.

Hu Liang didn’t walk Cao Yunyun back either. Since she was leaving with Cao Fugui, Hu Liang didn’t see the need to escort her.

However, Cao Yunyun seemed a little unhappy about it.

By the time they returned to the village, the sun was already starting to set in the west. Before they even reached their gate, they saw Hu Dacheng running toward them in a panic, like a headless fly.

He was clearly terrified. His face was pale, and his words came out in a stutter.

Widow Xie had to ask him several times before she could understand what had happened.

With Hu Dacheng’s personality, staying put quietly in the courtyard for half the day was already his limit.

When noon came and no one had returned, he whipped up something to eat. After the few of them had made do with the meal, he started getting restless.

Just then, a few of his friends came looking for him to play.

Seeing that Granny Xie, Xiao’an, and Hua were all asleep, Hu Dacheng’s mind started to wander.

Dabao was the tricky one.

He wasn’t napping. He was sitting primly on a small stool by the main hall’s entrance, clearly waiting for Ji Huan.

Hu Dacheng wanted to take him along, but no matter how he tried to persuade him, Dabao refused to leave the Hu family’s courtyard.

Hu Dacheng scratched his head in frustration, then suddenly had an idea.

He coaxed Dabao, telling him he was going to the village entrance to wait for Ji Huan and asking if he wanted to come.

Dabao hesitated, then, under Hu Dacheng’s eager gaze, he slowly nodded.

Overjoyed, Hu Dacheng led Dabao out of the courtyard.

But he was afraid of getting scolded, so he didn’t dare go too far. He stayed right next to the house, playing games like horse stance and high jump with a group of boys his age.

He told Dabao to stand to the side and wait, saying he’d take him to the village entrance in a little while.

At that age, boys are obsessed with playing. Once Hu Dacheng got started, how could he remember what he’d promised? He didn’t even notice Dabao’s small face gradually growing tense, or the way he kept looking toward the village entrance.

If he had paid even the slightest bit of attention, he would have realized that Dabao’s mood was starting to sour.

By the time he finally remembered and turned to call for Dabao, Dabao was already gone...