Su Bai was so anxious that her forehead was covered in sweat. She didn't care about what Su Dalang and his little rascals were saying. Instead, she pinched her palm hard and quickly told them the whole story.

Finally, he looked expectantly at Su Dahu and asked, "Didn't you hold some kind of banquet at the Qin Family Manor earlier?"

This time, Hua'er is giving Linqin to Yu Cheng, so she's probably going to a banquet with them again.

It's getting dark; let's hurry and get in the carriage to bring Hua'er back.

As he was speaking, he had already started climbing onto the carriage.

"Mother, please calm down." Su Dahu's brows furrowed, and he grabbed Su Baishi. "At this hour, the gates of Qingshui County are already closed. We can't even get through the gates now."

When they left the city, the soldiers guarding it were already preparing to close the gates. The journey back would take about half an hour, so going to Qingshui County at this time would definitely mean being turned away.

Moreover, given Qin Yucheng's track record, if he really wanted to invite Hua'er to go sightseeing, he would definitely send someone to inform them. It's impossible for him to take her away without saying a word.

Su Baishi paused, "The city gates are already closed? What are we going to do! Are we just going to wait here until the city gates open tomorrow...?"

She immediately shook her head as she said this, "No, absolutely not. Hua'er is terrified of the dark and has trouble sleeping in her own bed. She can't sleep at all when she's not at home."

I need to hurry to Qingshui County to see if there's any way to get into the city. Didn't they say there are cat holes and dog holes along the city wall?

If I can't get through the city gate, I'll climb through the dog hole.

Su Dahu frowned even more deeply. "Mother, what if Hua'er isn't in Qingshui County right now?"

"What do you mean by this!" The woman glanced at her eldest son, her palms already sticky with sweat. "Hua'er isn't in Qingshui County, so where is she?"

Su Dahu pursed his lips: "Think about it, how much time would it take to deliver the crabapples to the Qin residence and then buy fruit tree seedlings at the market?"

Hua'er set off from Shanghe Village at noon and should have arrived in Qingshui County around 1:00 PM. She knew that the three of us brothers were at the restaurant and that she would definitely come back with us after buying the saplings.

Moreover, Hua'er is always very sensible; if she were to go out with Yu Cheng and his sister, she would definitely let us know beforehand.

The man's words, each one like a block of ice, struck Su Baishi with a chill that ran from head to toe, making her teeth chatter. "What do you mean by these words? You mean Hua'er is in trouble?!"

"That's impossible! Hua'er is incredibly lucky, born with a noble destiny, how could anything happen to her? Absolutely impossible..."

"Mother!" When Zhao saw Su Bai's body slump backward, she quickly helped her up and gave her husband a wink.

Everyone knows that Hua'er is the apple of her mother-in-law's eye. If something really happens to Hua'er, her mother-in-law will probably follow her in death.

Su Dahu squatted down and saw that Su Bai's eyes were red. He couldn't help but squeeze her hand tightly. "Mother, that's not what I meant. Hua'er has always been lucky and has always been able to turn bad luck into good. Perhaps something happened on the way that delayed her."

It's also possible that they bought the apples a long time ago and they're in Zaozhuang now. My second and third brothers and I will go find them right now.

Don't overthink it, or Hua'er will worry when she sees you like this when she comes back!

“You’re right!” Su Baishi wiped away her tears and calmed down a bit. “We need to look for them not only in Zaozhuang, but also in the village, Fuhu Mountain behind it, and on the way to the county town.”

Upon hearing this, Su Erhu and the others immediately nodded in response.

"Don't worry, Mother, we'll go look for it right now! I'll go to Zaozhuang right now."

"My brother and I will search along the road and bring Hua'er back unharmed."

"Yes, we also want to go find our aunt, to go to the village."

"And there's Da Niu, we can have her carry us to Fuhu Mountain, maybe Xiao Gu is there..."

The three little ones, Da Niu, Da Bai, and Xiao Hei, who had been waiting in the yard, responded immediately with a shout.

Their owner has gone missing, and they must hurry to find him!

Seeing that everyone was starting to move, Su Baishi reached out and scooped up the useless Da Bai into the rabbit pen. Her slanted eyes sharpened. "There's no time to lose. Let's split up and go find people."

The eldest brother will ride a horse to Zaozhuang to see if Hua'er is there. The third brother and the eldest sister will go to Fuhu Mountain. The second brother and I will take Xiao Hei and search in the village. As for the eldest brother's wife, you stay home with the three younger ones and wait for news, so that Hua'er won't be unable to find you when she comes back.

If you can't find anyone in Zaozhuang, the mountains, or the villages, head towards the county town.

But you all remember this: Hua'er's disappearance must never be known to outsiders.

If anyone asks on the street, just say your cat is lost, and you're looking for it, understand?

Her Hua'er's reputation was already ruined a little over a month ago because of the schemes of those shameless people from the Feng family. If she were to go looking for them in a big way, and some people with ill intentions found out, who knows what kind of rumors would spread!

The three Su brothers were not stupid, and they immediately understood what she meant.

The three little Su brothers didn't quite understand, but they knew that what their grandmother said was always right, and they just had to listen to her.

Big White, whose backsides were completely covered by the eight little rabbits' bottoms, had a lot of questions in his azure tiger eyes.

Its nose is smaller than Little Blackie's, and its body is smaller than Big Girl's.

Shouldn't it be the one leading the way?

Qian huddled at the back of the crowd, her eyes darting around for a long time.

Her sister-in-law is usually very bold and strong. Maybe she's found some great place to have fun in the county and is reluctant to come back. What's there to worry about?

Who knows, it might come back by itself tomorrow morning. Searching for it now is just a waste of time.

Hearing that Madam Su Bai had made arrangements for everyone in the family, including even those little beasts like Xiao Hei, but had not mentioned her, she felt a little uneasy.

In the main room, Su Sui was half-lying on the bed embroidering a handkerchief when she was suddenly shocked to hear that her younger sister was missing. She sat up in shock, but since she was not fully recovered, she could only support herself on the edge of the bed and slowly move towards the door.

When they reached the doorway, they only saw Qian Shi making tofu puffs in the yard. "Second sister-in-law, where are Mother and the others? I want to go find Hua'er too..."

Before she could finish speaking, Madam Qian wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth. "Oh dear, my dear sister-in-law, the house is already a mess enough. You can barely walk properly, so don't make things worse. Go back to your room and sit down, or I'll have to spend extra time taking care of you..."

As the sun dipped westward and gradually sank below the mountaintop, a pale moon quietly climbed into the night sky.

At the entrance of Shanghe Village, a horse-drawn carriage drove up under the crooked sycamore tree.

Yu Feng gently knocked on the car door and lifted the curtain. "Master, we've arrived."