Chapter 189: No One Will Have It Good

Chapter 189: Chapter 189: No One Will Have It Good

"My third brother is so brainless!"

Hu Ximei gritted her teeth. She was furious, but more than that, she was scared.

"By the time we got back, he’d already searched the entire village. Your eldest uncle’s family helped look, too. Actually, it wasn’t until your cousin came to my house looking for you that my third brother even found out..."

Hu Dacheng was a careless person. When he noticed Dabao was gone, he just assumed the boy had gone back to the courtyard to wait for him. He didn’t pay it any mind and kept playing for a while before heading back.

But Dabao was nowhere to be found in the Hu family’s courtyard!

He was pacing around anxiously when Ji Mingfang came to the door looking for Ji Huan. It was only then that he learned Dabao had been abducted by child traffickers.

Hu Dacheng was scared stiff.

Ji Huan already knew what happened next from Ji Mingfang.

She pressed her lips together, turned, and left the Hu family’s home, heading toward the west side of the village.

Hu Ximei wanted to follow, but with Xiao’an and Hua to look after, and Granny Xie now awake, she couldn’t get away. All she could do was pray that Dabao would be found.

The once-peaceful Dafeng Village was once again thrown into a commotion.

First, the main branch of the Ji family was searching all over the village, followed by Hu Dacheng. When Widow Xie and Hu Liang returned, they also joined the search.

With such a huge commotion, it was impossible not to attract everyone’s attention.

Led by Aunt Wang and Aunt Gao, the villagers who had recently grown closer to Ji Huan also joined the search.

Even those who didn’t normally have much to do with Ji Huan grew tense when they heard child traffickers had entered the village and taken a child. Fearing their own children might be next, they also began to keep an eye out.

Ji Huan headed west, ignoring the various gazes fixed upon her.

’Hu Ximei said Widow Xie was at the west end of the village. Could she have found him, or a clue?’

She quickened her pace. She didn’t need to ask for directions; she already knew exactly where Widow Xie was.

Because besides her, many other people were running in the same direction.

The sounds of a loud argument could be heard from the entrance of the Ji family’s home, even from a great distance.

"You, with the surname Xie! Stop your damn slandering! What’s it got to do with me that the little monster is missing? Instead of looking for him, you come here to cause trouble. What, are you trying to extort me?!"

"Pah!" Widow Xie spat in her face. "Don’t you play tough! Someone saw you at the village entrance talking to two strangers. If they weren’t child traffickers, were they your lovers?!"

Mrs. Zhu, her face red and neck bulging with rage, spat back.

"Who are you slandering?! Everyone knows every man in this village, young and old, has been with you! You’re dripping with filth yourself, yet you have the nerve to make up stories about me!"

Widow Xie had no time to bicker with her about that. "If you haven’t done anything wrong, why won’t you let us search your courtyard? What are you so guilty about?!"

Mrs. Zhu stammered, "Wh-who’s guilty?! You want to search just because you say so? What do you take the Ji family for?!"

Granny Kang also rushed out.

"Well, look who it is! So it’s you, you hussy! You want to search my Ji family’s home? Who do you think you are? Get lost! You widowed slattern, don’t you dare dirty my doorstep!"

It was two against one, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law against Widow Xie. If Widow Xie had the mind for a shouting match, she could have held her own. The problem was, she was so frantic with worry she felt like her heart was about to burst into flames.

"Aunt Kang! I’m calling you ’Aunt’ out of respect. A child is missing, and everyone’s worried. Just let us go in and take a look. We’ll leave after one glance."

Others chimed in. "Yeah, what’s the harm in looking? What if it’s true..."

Granny Kang planted her hands on her hips and unleashed a torrent of abuse at the crowd.

"I don’t care what’s missing, it has nothing to do with my family! Don’t you even think of pinning this on the Ji family! Go on, get lost! Scram! You plague-ridden bunch! That little monster... let alone missing, even if he’s dead, it’s—"

"Who did you say is dead?" A woman’s voice cut in out of nowhere.

"Wuan!"

Widow Xie turned her head. Seeing it was Ji Huan, her face filled with both agitation and guilt. "Dabao... Dabao, he..."

Ji Huan cut her off. "Aunt Xie, did you just say someone saw Mrs. Zhu talking with strange men at the village entrance?"

Widow Xie nodded. "Yes, men. Two of them. The timing is just too perfect, don’t you think? How could it be such a coincidence?"

Ji Huan walked toward Mrs. Zhu and Granny Kang.

When Granny Kang saw Ji Huan, her face fell, becoming longer than a donkey’s.

Mrs. Zhu, on the other hand, kept darting her eyes left and right, not daring to look at Ji Huan.

This reaction could be seen as guilt, or it could be that the slap Ji Huan had given her before had left a lasting trauma.

Ji Huan withdrew her gaze and walked past the two of them, heading for the entrance.

Granny Kang had a bellyful of curses ready, planning to use this opportunity to properly teach Ji Huan a lesson.

She never expected to be so thoroughly ignored.

She snorted and glared.

’That jinx! Does she have any respect for her elders at all?!’

Granny Kang opened her mouth to curse, but Ji Huan turned back and shot her an indifferent glance before her eyes settled on Mrs. Zhu. "I’m in a hurry. You shut up for a moment."

Granny Kang froze for a second, then began to tremble with rage.

’Search the surrounding villages for miles, and you’d never find a granddaughter who dared to speak to her own grandmother like that!’

But Ji Huan had ostensibly been speaking to Mrs. Zhu. Even though her gaze had flickered over Granny Kang, outsiders wouldn’t have noticed, leaving the old woman with no excuse to lash out.

After tossing out that line, Ji Huan turned her gaze to Ji Qingshan.

’She really was in a hurry. Arguing with those two was a complete waste of breath. If she was going to talk, she’d talk to the one who could actually make the decision.’

"Grandfather, I’m in a very bad mood right now."

Any discerning person could see she was in a bad mood, but ever since she had appeared, Ji Qingshan’s mood clearly wasn’t much better.

Ji Huan seemed not to notice how awful his expression was, and she spoke in an unhurried tone.

"If I can’t find Dabao, my mood will get even worse. And when I’m in a bad mood, the people who put me in that bad mood will certainly not have a good time either. Someone saw Third Aunt meeting with the child traffickers. It doesn’t matter if she denies it. Once we’re in court, the truth will come out."

Hearing the word "court," Mrs. Zhu subconsciously took half a step back.

Granny Kang shrieked, "You’d actually sue your own family! You little beast, do you have any humanity left? Aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning?!"

"If I can’t find Dabao, I’m not afraid of anything."

A half-smile played on Ji Huan’s lips, but if one listened closely, they would realize she spoke those words through gritted teeth.

"I hear Fourth Uncle’s college examination is coming up soon. If the family were to get caught up in a lawsuit at a time like this, I wonder if it might have a negative impact on him?"

Ji Qingshan’s old face immediately darkened.

"You family-ruining demon! How dare you try to harm my son! I’ll tear you to shreds—"

The moment Ji Liantang was mentioned, Granny Kang went berserk. Screaming vile curses, she lunged forward.

Halfway there, she was stopped by the combined efforts of Widow Xie, Aunt Wang, and a few others.

Ji Huan remained completely unfazed by this. She was waiting for Ji Qingshan’s answer.

After a long moment, Ji Qingshan spoke. "Go on in."

"My husband!" Granny Kang stomped her foot.

She couldn’t understand why Ji Qingshan would bow his head to this.

"I said let her go in and search! Are you deaf?!"

Ji Qingshan’s expression was terrifyingly dark, his words thick with rage.

However unwilling she was, Granny Kang could only watch helplessly as Ji Huan stormed through the Ji family’s courtyard gate.

After Ji Huan went in, Widow Xie led the others to follow. Once inside the courtyard, they split up and began a thorough search.

They checked every room, every cabinet, the vegetable garden, the firewood pile—they didn’t even spare the water vats or flour crocks.

In the end, they didn’t find so much as a scrap of clothing, let alone a living person.

Granny Kang and Mrs. Zhu watched them without blinking, afraid someone might take the opportunity to steal something.

Mrs. Zhu had been subdued at first, but when she saw they hadn’t found anything, her courage immediately returned.

"Serves you right for making baseless accusations! Did you find anything? He’s been missing for so long, maybe that little monster is already—"

CLANG! Ji Huan slammed the lid on the water vat, her hand reaching for the cleaver on the nearby cutting board. She whirled around and charged straight for Mrs. Zhu.

Seeing her coming with a cleaver, Mrs. Zhu thought she was about to be murdered. With a scream, she tried to run, but Ji Huan grabbed her by the collar and slammed her against the wall.

"I’m done with the nonsense. Talk. Where did you hide Dabao?"