Bai An nodded. She also knew that her parents had understood the importance of this matter.

It doesn’t matter whether you have learned any knowledge in school. What’s important is that you have to do what others are doing. Trying to be special is not beneficial to yourself.

But Lu Jinan shook his head and said, "At my age, it doesn't matter whether I go or not. If Bai An wants to go, then let Bai An go."

Lu Demin thought about it and agreed. Lu Jinan was old and there was no school for students of his age in the village.

"But Jin'an, even if your sister goes to school, you still have to tutor her when she comes back." Lu Demin patted Lu Jin'an's arm and said.

Bai An glanced at Lu Jinan, only to see Lu Jinan nodded with his eyes lowered. He couldn't see his expression, nor could he figure out what he was thinking.

"Bai An."

Suddenly hearing Lu Jinan calling her name, Bai An was so startled that she immediately raised her head and replied, "Yes."

Lu Demin looked at her suddenly frightened expression and smiled, "You are still so afraid of your brother now."

Wanqing also laughed.

...

...

Lu Jinan's eyebrows were wrinkled into a ball. He looked at Bai An and asked, "Are you afraid of me?"

"No." Bai An hurriedly shook his head. "I was just thinking about something and was suddenly called by someone. I got scared."

After listening to Bai An's explanation, Lu Jinan's brows still did not relax. This expression made him feel cold all over.

"I will pick you up from school every afternoon."

Bai An nodded and looked at him seriously, waiting for him to say the next sentence. However, after waiting for a long time, he still didn't speak.

“No more.”

Lu Jinan raised his head and looked at her again, looking straight into her eyes, with a hint of smile in his eyes and the corners of his mouth slightly raised, "Do you want to hear anything else from me?"

"No." Seeing Lu Jinan's smile, Bai An couldn't help but curl up his hot palms.

"Knock, knock, knock." There was an urgent knock on the door.

"Dad Bai An, are you home?" An obviously panicked voice came from outside the door.

Bai An felt that the voice was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it.

Wait until Lu Demin opened the gate of the yard, with the faint moonlight at night.

Bai An saw clearly several figures at the door.

Aren’t those Aster’s parents that we saw this morning?

Bai An stood up and looked towards the door, meeting an aggressive gaze.

Lin Zhixia.

The growing boy was a little thin, leaning against the door, the light and shadow on his face flickering.

He was still staring at Bai An, but his eyes were a little gloomy and struggling.

"Bai An." Lu Demin didn't know what he talked about with Cui Ju's parents. He just frowned and waved Bai An to come over. His tone was unprecedentedly serious.

When everyone saw Bai An coming, they all spoke to her.

"Bai An, have you seen Aster since you came back?"

"Didn't Aster go out with you today?"

"What time did you come back today?"

"Where was the last place you saw her?"

A long list of questions appeared in front of Bai An one after another, but by connecting them one by one, he got a message.

Aster is gone.

"Bai An, speak." Lu Demin's face was a little serious now. He said to Bai An, "Answer their questions."

Bai An calmed himself down and was about to say something when he noticed the current appearance of the large group of people standing at the door.

They stood in front of their doorsteps in large numbers, some holding torches, some holding sickles, and some holding brooms.

Only then did Bai An understand what the light and shadow on Lin Zhixia's face were.

Lu Jinan looked at the scene outside the door, his expression became a little serious, and he reminded: "Bai An, speak."

"We went to a thatched hut halfway up the mountain to play today, and came back when it was getting dark." Bai An spoke in a lower and lower voice.

Chrysanthemum's mother cried and asked, "Where was the last time you saw Chrysanthemum?"

"We separated at the village gate. Da Zhuang walked with me, while Cui Ju walked home by herself."

The more Cui Ju's mother listened, the more excited she became. There was a hint of weirdness in her excitement. She pulled Bai An's collar and shouted at him, "Why did Cui Ju go alone, and you and Da Zhuang went together? Did you do this on purpose?"

When Lu Jinan saw her grabbing Bai An's collar and yelling at him, his face darkened and he reached out to pull her away.

Lin Zhixia, who was standing by, saw this and came over to pull her mother away, comforting her: "This has nothing to do with Bai An's family. The most important thing now is to find Cui Ju."

Bai An, who was suddenly frightened by Cui Ju's mother, hid behind Lu Jin'an and explained: "At that time, it was because Cui Ju's family and Da Zhuang's family were not in the same direction, so we went separately."

At this time, Lu Demin's face also turned bad. He pulled Bai An and Lu Jinan behind him and said in a deep voice: "Don't scare the children."

At this time Wanqing also came over and held Bai An in her arms.

Lu Jinan walked forward and followed his father to block his mother and Bai An behind them.

The village chief came up and said, "They suggested that they check your house. Are you willing?"

Check the house.

Bai An was startled and quickly pulled Lu Jinan's clothes. When Lu Jinan looked over, he shook his head at him.

Lu Jinan knew what Bai An was afraid of.

"No." Lu Jinan said, "Why are you checking our house?"

Lu Demin stood in front of the door. He looked a little angry even though he had always been wearing glasses. "Why do you want to investigate? Just because Bai An went to play with Cui Ju today and Cui Ju disappeared later, are you going to blame my family for this?"

"Besides, if you want to check, have you checked Dazhuang's house?"

Da Zhuang's parents were standing behind the village chief, and they narrowed their eyes when they heard this.

"Are you feeling guilty? Did you hide Cui Ju?" Cui Ju's mother said as she was about to rush into the yard, but was stopped by Lin Zhixia.

The village chief looked at Cui Ju's mother with a troubled expression. He bent over and said, "Da Zhuang's family has been in the village for decades. Everyone trusts him, so no one checked. If there is nothing wrong with your family, it shouldn't be a big deal to check."

When Bai An heard the village chief's words, he couldn't help but want to look up to see what the village chief looked like. Is this really something a normal person would say?

The more Lu Demin listened, the uglier his expression became. After a long while, he finally managed to say a few words, "So just because we are outsiders, we should be suspected?"

"We don't have any reason to tie up Cuihua."

Cuihua's mother said in a broken voice, "Everyone knows that your life has been getting better and better since you found Bai An. Maybe you want another daughter to improve your luck."

What the hell is this.

Lu Demin looked at Cui Ju's mother's distorted face. He, who had always been polite to others, wanted to say something bad. "Do we need another daughter when we already have Bai An? When you say this, you should consider whether your daughter is worthy of Bai An."

Bai An and Wan Qing looked at Lu Demin in surprise when they heard this.

Lu Jinan, standing beside him, gave him an approving look.