The child was found, and Aunt Wei and Old Han finally breathed a sigh of relief. Old Han was furious, cursing, "What was such a small child doing running off to outside the village? Besides, Wei An rarely went far. Someone must have been behind this. To not even spare such a young child, it's utterly depraved!" Old Du silently pondered the whole story. When Song Yan returned, he asked Song Yan if they should report it to the police.

There's no need to hesitate; Song Yan will definitely report it to the police.

This was no small matter. Captain Wu and Cheng Yousuo said they would keep an eye on it. Song Yan also stopped interfering; Wei An was greatly frightened. When the police came to question him, he couldn't explain what had happened. Song Yan guessed that the child had been covered and carried away. Wei An was heading towards a house in the north of the village, quite far from the ditch. With his mouth gagged, Wei An couldn't scream for help.

The police then inquired about the Wei family's relationship with their neighbors and began visiting each house. Song Yan recognized the officer who came – it was Officer Fan. Seeing his serious and proactive attitude, Song Yan waited patiently for the results.

Night had fallen over Qingshan Brigade. But today wasn't as peaceful as usual. Every household was talking about Wei An. It was unbelievable. Nobody was stupid. Could anyone believe a child would fall into a ditch outside the village on their own? Nobody saw anyone from other villages today; it had to be someone from their own village. A five-year-old orphan, whom they saw every day, was just thrown into a ditch—how cruel! Having someone like that in the village made everyone uneasy, and they all warned their children to stay home.

By this time, Officer Fan and his team hadn't gained anything useful. The captain arranged accommodation for them, and they stayed at the Qingshan Brigade.

Since Xiaoxiao moved in, the two children have been living with Song Yan. Seeing Wei An, even though he was asleep, with his little brows furrowed in fear and anxiety, Song Yan's heart ached.

Xiaoxiao was supposed to stay in Song Yan's room when she moved in. Wei An objected, saying that when his second uncle was home, he was the one who kept his aunt company. Since he wasn't home, he and Wei Ping should be the ones keeping their aunt company. The two children didn't even ask the adults and simply moved their small belongings onto Song Yan's kang (heated brick bed). Aunt Wei laughed and scolded the two children for being heartless and abandoning her.

Wei Ping thought about it and agreed. What about Grandma? So they decided to each stay with one of them – one would stay with Grandma today, and the other with Aunt Wei. They'd switch back tomorrow. In the end, Xiao Xiao solved the problem. They both stayed with Aunt Wei, while she stayed with Aunt Wei…

A smile unconsciously appeared on Song Yan's face.

This arrangement is the most convenient. The child sleeps like a log at night, and I can go into the space with peace of mind…

Wei An, still shaken and chilled for so long, developed a fever in the middle of the night. Song Yan first tried to lower Wei An's temperature physically. His temperature went down, but it soon returned. Just in case, Song Yan had gotten some fever-reducing medication from the clinic beforehand. Having no other choice, they gave the child one tablet.

Song Yan was truly worried! There was a severe shortage of medical care and medicine. The clinic barely had any medicine, just some gauze and disinfectant. The health worker was just a villager who had only received a few months of training in the town.

By morning, Wei An's fever had completely subsided. Song Yan then took Wei An to see Old Han. The child had been frightened and caught a cold. Besides ginger, there were no other herbs at home to dispel the cold, so they boiled a bowl of ginger soup and forced it down the child's throat. Wei An's eyes watered from the spiciness. Song Yan cursed the murderer a thousand times in his heart.

Wei An seemed fine during the day, but his fever returned at night. This time, even after taking antipyretics and trying physical cooling methods, it didn't help.

As soon as it was light, Song Yan asked the brigade leader for a horse-drawn cart. She needed to take her child to the commune hospital. When Sister-in-law Cheng heard about this, she packed a few clothes and came along; she wanted to accompany her to the commune.

"Thank you, Sister-in-law Cheng!"

"What are you saying? If anyone should be thanking you, it's your sister-in-law who should be thanking you for the rest of her life. Let's not talk about this, let's go see a doctor for the child."

When they arrived at the commune, the doctor listened to the child's breathing with a stethoscope and said it was a bit rough, indicating a cold. He prescribed some medicine for the child to take home. Song Yan glanced at it and saw it was just some fever reducer and oxytetracycline. Oxytetracycline was completely unsuitable for children, with serious side effects. "This medicine won't work?" "No, there's always sulfamethoxazole."

Song Yan could name a whole bunch of medicines for children, but none of them were available. He wanted to get some traditional Chinese medicine for his child, but the commune hospital didn't have a TCM department. Where would he get the medicine?

Having no other choice, Song Yan took the medicine and returned to the village.

None of them told Song Yan about the case, probably because there hadn't been any progress. Song Yan was only concerned about Wei An at the moment. Whether it was fever reducers or physical cooling methods, the child's temperature would drop for a short while, but it wouldn't last long. The temperature would rise again. They didn't have a thermometer, so they could only estimate the exact temperature.

It burned all night again. No, I have to go to the commune. If all else fails, I'll go to the county.