Pei Jingzhou turned his head and saw Jiang Yue. "Jiang Yue, you're here. Is something wrong with Xiao Xi? Why haven't we heard from her for so long?"

Lin Yiwan was finally certain that Pei Jingzhou was Wen Xi's second brother. Jiang Yue and Wen Xi had such a good relationship that she must have met Wen Xi's second brother.

"Second Brother, Xiaoxi is alright now. You'll know if you go home and check on her." Although she tried her best to restrain herself, Jiang Yue's expression was still somewhat unpleasant.

"Nothing's wrong? Then something's wrong? What happened to Xiaoxi? Was she set up? Was she set up by those peasants?" Pei Jingzhou was anxious.

He knew the countryside was a den of iniquity; how could Wenrou have signed Wenxi up for the rural service program? She was only sixteen at the time—it was so dangerous!

"Second Brother Pei, don't be in such a hurry. You'll know when we get there," Lin Yiwan advised from the side. "Aren't you looking for Wenxi? Don't you want to see her sooner? It's still more than an hour's walk from here to the main group. Let's set off quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Jingzhou decided not to waste any more time and hurriedly walked forward. Lin Yiwan and Jiang Yue quickly followed. Pei Jingzhou didn't know the way, and if he wandered off and got lost, wouldn't that waste even more time?

The three of them hurriedly made their way to the team, and surprisingly, they arrived at the village entrance in just one hour and ten minutes, a time much shorter than before.

Now the villagers are quite wary of strangers, fearing that foreign lackeys might infiltrate and ruin the harvest brigade and everyone's lives.

Some people, however, are after the reward.

So as soon as they saw Pei Jingzhou, everyone swarmed around him, chattering and asking questions. Lin Yiwan said, "This is Wenxi's second brother, not a stranger. I'll take him to the brigade leader to report to him first."

Upon seeing that it was Wenxi's second brother, not a stranger, everyone lost interest and withdrew. Lin Yiwan and Jiang Yue took Pei Jingzhou to the brigade headquarters to find Captain Qian and report the matter.

It's not that the team is strict about controlling outsiders, but the last incident was really too big and almost caused a disaster. Moreover, those people are really ubiquitous and have even infiltrated the educated youth. Who knows where else they can infiltrate?

Upon arriving at the courtyard gate, Jiang Yue saw that it was unlocked and pushed it open to go inside. "Second brother, this is where we live. When we went to the countryside, Xiaoxi bought this house with her money. We have never stayed at the educated youth settlement for a single day."

Shen Jiaojiao was preparing soup in the kitchen when she heard the noise. She ran out to check and was very excited to see Pei Jingzhou. "Second brother, what brings you here? Why didn't you tell us you were coming? We could have picked you up at the station and saved you from looking for us."

Pei Jingzhou glanced at Lin Yiwan and said, "I just ran into Comrade Lin Yiwan when I got off the bus, so I asked her to bring me here. I didn't expect to run into Jiang Yue later."

Wenxi found it strange when she heard the voice; how could she faintly hear her second brother's voice?

Am I hallucinating?

Wen Xi hurriedly put down her book and came out of her room. As soon as she entered the main room, she saw Pei Jingzhou in the courtyard and was shocked. "Second brother, what are you doing here?"

When Pei Jingzhou saw Wen Xi, he was both surprised and distressed. "Xiao Xi, you've lost so much weight! Your face is pale. What happened?"

"Second Brother, I'm fine." Wen Xi walked over and took Pei Jingzhou's arm. "Second Brother, you must be tired from such a long journey. Come home and rest!"

"Xiaoxi, now that you've brought Brother Pei here, my mission is complete. I'll head back now." Lin Yiwan glanced at Pei Jingzhou.

"Yiwan, thank you so much for today. If it weren't for you, my second brother would have disappeared somewhere. Once he's settled, we'll treat you to a meal." Wen Xi waved to Lin Yiwan.

She had even considered introducing Lin Yiwan to her second brother, since Lin Yiwan would also be developing her career in Beijing in the future. She just didn't expect that the two of them would meet so sooner than expected.

I don't know what the future holds, but she won't interfere.

Wen Xi led Pei Jingzhou to her room. "Second brother, this is my room. You can rest in my room first. I can stay with Jiaojiao or Xiaoyue tonight."

Afterwards, Wenxi went out and poured a glass of water, which she then handed to Pei Jingzhou.

Pei Jingzhou glanced at the cot that had been put away in the corner of the room and was somewhat surprised, but he didn't ask too many questions. After all, he had only just arrived and there was plenty of time later; he would figure things out gradually.

"I'm going to the restroom." Pei Jingzhou finished his tea, put down the teacup, and left.

The yard was only so big, so he could naturally find the toilet. However, he didn't have a toilet, so he went to the kitchen where Shen Jiaojiao had just come out. He saw Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue talking quietly to each other, and Pei Jingzhou coughed.

Upon hearing the cough, Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue's expressions changed, and they avoided looking at Pei Jingzhou.

"Jiaojiao, tell me the truth, what exactly happened to Xiaoxi? Why has she lost so much weight in just a few months?" Pei Jingzhou said in a deep voice.

Shen Jiaojiao thought that there were so many people in the village, even if she didn't say anything, the villagers would tell Pei Jingzhou. Rather than letting him hear unrealistic stories from others, she thought it was better for her to tell him herself!

So Shen Jiaojiao told Pei Jingzhou about what Wenxi had gone through, but she didn't mention that Qin Mi had taken care of Wenxi without taking off her clothes. Qin Mi would come over after get off work, so there was no need for her to say anything more.

When Pei Jingzhou learned of what had happened to Wen Xi, he clenched his fists in anger. It was truly damned that someone would dare to harm Wen Xi. It was a pity that the person had already been taken away and was severely punished by law, otherwise he would have definitely beaten that murderer to a pulp. It was too easy for them to be punished so easily.

Moreover, this made him feel that he was completely useless as the older brother. He couldn't find Wenxi before, and now that Wenxi had encountered such a thing, he couldn't help Wenxi avenge her.

Back in the room, Pei Jingzhou reached out and hugged Wenxi, his body trembling with lingering fear. What was he going back there for after the New Year? He should have just signed up to go to the countryside and stayed with Wenxi.

With him by her side, the other party definitely wouldn't dare to treat Wenxi like that.

Wenxi knew that her second brother must have found out what had happened to her, so she patted him on the back and said, "Second brother, I'm fine. I'm all better now, so don't worry about me."

Pei Jingzhou didn't speak, he just held Wenxi in his arms. His throat was sore, and his eyes and nose were sore. He couldn't believe that such a thing had happened and that he, as her older brother, wasn't there for her. She didn't even have a single family member by her side. When she needed her most, no one was there for her.