Lin Ying looked anxiously at the village chief, who was also furious: "Where is that old woman? Where is Xing's mother-in-law? Where did she hide the child?"

Lin Ying's face turned pale: "What does this mean?"

The village chief said, "We met Xing's mother-in-law on the road, but she didn't have any children with her. We thought maybe the child hadn't been sold yet, so we went to Xiaxi Village. But when we got there, Xing said that her mother-in-law had already taken the child away."

Hearing this, Lin Ying became worried. She grabbed Xing's mother-in-law by the neck and asked, "Where is my child?"

Lin Ying was very strong; with just one blow, Xing's mother-in-law's face turned ashen. Li Yue'e, who was standing nearby, quickly grabbed Lin Ying, saying, "Sister, you can't! It's not worth committing a crime for someone like that!"

Gao Chunhua chimed in, "That's right, sister. If you strangle her to death, how are you going to find out where her child is?"

Lin Ying then released her hand: "Where is my son?"

Grandma Xing still retorted, "How would I know about your child? I threw away my grandson, what's it to you?"

At those words, Lin Ying almost collapsed to the ground, her legs giving way: "You, you abandoned my son? Where did you abandon him?"

Just then, everyone heard a tiger's roar. Lin Ying recognized it as her daughter Niu Niu's voice and rushed over. Now, perhaps they could find their child.

What happened next brought tears to Lin Ying's eyes.

Lin Ying never expected that when she pushed through the crowd and walked to Aunt Chun's door, she would see Er Ya sitting on Niu Niu's back, with Hu Zi holding a swaddled baby in his mouth.

Although the swaddling clothes had been replaced with coarse cloth, Lin Ying knew in her heart that it must be her child inside.

Lin Ying never expected that Niu Niu would actually know to call Hu Zi and the others to find the child.

She ran over and saw that the child was completely unharmed, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Holding the child in one arm, she used the other to lift Er Ya off Niu Niu's back.

He gave Er Ya a big kiss: "My Er Ya is amazing, she actually managed to find her little brother. She's better than your aunt."

Er Ya smiled very happily, even though she didn't really like her younger brother. She felt he would try to steal her aunt from her.

But even though she didn't like him, he was still her brother, and she couldn't let others bully him.

The villagers watching from the sidelines were all dumbfounded.

In an instant, the crowd erupted in chaos.

"My goodness, these tigers are truly amazing! I heard these two are the offspring of Uncle Long's son. Now they seem to be even more intelligent than Uncle Long's son!" Grandpa Wang's eyes widened, his mouth gaped open, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen with surprise. He almost dropped his pipe, and it took him a while to remember to put it in his mouth.

"That's right! This beast even understands human nature!" Aunt Li exclaimed, slapping her thigh. Her floral headscarf was askew with her excitement, and her eyes were full of disbelief. "When have we ever seen anything like this in our village? A tiger helping to find someone! If word got out, it would shock everyone!"

"That little girl Er Ya is quite something!" Uncle Zhang stroked his beard, nodding repeatedly, his eyes full of admiration. "I heard she's only two years old, yet she's so resourceful and can even command a tiger. Impressive, truly impressive!"

Several young men also gathered around, chattering amongst themselves.

"Lin Ying has finally found happiness after all her suffering. Luckily, the child is alright. If you ask me, that Granny Xing deserves to be struck by lightning!" Da Zhu Zi stomped his feet in anger, his face turned red, and the veins on his neck bulged. He waved his fist in the air, as if he wanted to settle accounts with that heartless old woman.

"Exactly, that's too cruel. They're willing to throw away their own grandson. How will he live in the village after this?" Erniu chimed in, his face full of disdain, and spat on the ground.

"It's not just Granny Xing, Aunt Chun seems like a good person too. How could she do something like this? Isn't she afraid of being struck by lightning!"

The village chief walked over at this moment, letting out a long sigh of relief. His anger hadn't completely subsided, but a hint of relief lingered on his face: "Today's incident was all thanks to Er Ya and those two tiger cubs; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Lin Ying, you'd better keep a close eye on the children from now on." He then turned to the crowd, "Our village has always been about mutual help; we can't let this kind of terrible thing happen again. Everyone, be vigilant!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and several aunties had already gathered around Lin Ying, offering their concern and words of advice.

"Ying, come check on the child, is he alright?"

"You must be exhausted from the journey. Go back inside and rest. Just let me know if you need anything!"

Holding her child, tears welled in her eyes as Lin Ying thanked everyone one by one.

Li Yue'e said, "Don't worry, this matter will definitely not be left like this. I can't let you and the child suffer like this for no reason!"

Gao Chunhua added, "That's right, don't worry, sister. None of them will escape. Those who need to be criticized will be criticized, and those who need to go to the police station will go to the police station!"

Lin Ying nodded: "Then I'll have to trouble you sisters-in-law to help me."

Li Yue'e said, "That's easy to say. You should go back now. What's the big deal?"

Back home, Li Yue'e and Gao Chunlan helped Lin Ying into bed: "Oh dear, why didn't you put up a kang (heated brick bed) here? It would be so warm and cozy with a kang!"

Lin Ying smiled and said, "We have underfloor heating at home. And my sister-in-law knows I don't like to light a fire at home. So it's not cold and it's clean too."

This was also the first time Li Yue'e and Gao Chunlan had come; they were busy with work. They had come because Lin Ying's due date was approaching, and they had taken time off to come.

Who knew that something like that would happen?

Looking at the house, with its neatly painted white walls, clear glass, and smooth floor, the two thought it was indeed quite clean.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!