She had underestimated the situation; the burden on Sister Mei's family was far heavier than she had imagined.
At the same time, she overlooked the harsh views of the villagers towards a widow remarrying in that era, as well as the suffocating gossip.
Deng Cuixiang looked worried and asked in a low voice:
"So... what do we do now? We're stuck in this limbo. Going out isn't a good idea, and staying in isn't a good idea either."
Zhou Qiqi bit her lip, thought for a moment, and shook her head.
"It's okay, let's just pretend we just arrived and didn't hear anything. When we go out later, we'll say we're stopping by to see her. As for the specifics... we'll figure it out together later."
Deng Cuixiang nodded quickly.
Zhou Qiqi took a deep breath and was about to bite the bullet and go out to say hello when suddenly a "crack" sound came from not far away, as if a dry tree branch had been broken by someone's foot!
The two instinctively looked in the direction of the sound and saw a blurry figure flash behind the withered trees and stagger away.
Almost simultaneously, Zhao Damei also heard the noise. She hurriedly stopped crying, wiped her face with her sleeve, and looked up warily, asking, "Who? Who's there?"
She turned her head and saw Zhou Qiqi and Deng Cuixiang standing not far away.
"Qiqi? Cuixiang? You... what brings you here?"
A hint of panic and embarrassment flashed across Zhao Damei's face.
Zhou Qiqi's face also turned pale, and she quickly waved her hand:
"Sister Mei, we didn't make the noise! I think we just saw someone dressed all in white running past over there!"
"All in white?!"
Zhao Damei's face turned pale instantly, and she immediately looked around.
The children were picking things up from a distance, but the father-in-law, who was supposed to be watching over them, was nowhere to be seen!
She hurriedly called the children over and asked urgently,
"Where's Grandpa? Where did your grandpa go?"
The eldest child answered timidly, "Grandpa...Grandpa said he was worried about you, and told us to stay here while he came to check on you..."
Zhao Damei's vision went black, and she stamped her foot, exclaiming, "Oh no!"
She grabbed Zhou Qiqi's arm suddenly, so anxious she didn't care about anything else.
"Qiqi, when did you get here? Did you see anyone here when you arrived?"
Zhou Qiqi's heart skipped a beat, and her expression turned grave.
“We…we arrived before you spoke, and after that, we haven’t seen anyone come over or heard any other noise. Grandpa was probably nearby before that.”
This means that the old lady heard everything Zhao Damei said!
Zhao Damei's face instantly turned pale, and her lips trembled.
She was flustered and didn't care about being embarrassed anymore; her voice was trembling with tears.
"We have to go find him quickly. His brain... who knows what he might do after hearing all this? It's almost dark, and it's so cold. I hope nothing bad happens to him!"
The three panicked and, disregarding everything else, quickly split into three groups to search for the person.
The children were also frightened and shouted "Grandpa!" Their tender voices echoed in the valley, adding to their anxiety.
This was Zhou Qiqi's first time in a mountainous area. She was completely unfamiliar with the roads and had a poor sense of direction.
Based on her memory, she could only grope her way up the hillside in the general direction where the figure had disappeared.
As she pushed aside the withered bushes, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Grandpa Liang! Grandpa Liang! Where are you?"
She was anxious and her eyes were only focused on searching for people around her, completely ignoring her surroundings.
When she stopped catching her breath and looked around, her heart sank.
Before she knew it, she was surrounded by a dark, withered forest.
Just moments ago, one could faintly hear the shouts of Zhao Damei, Deng Cuixiang, and the children from down the mountain, but now there was nothing to hear except the howling of the wind through the bare branches, which sounded particularly eerie.
She tried calling out in the direction she had come from, "Sister Da Mei! Sister Cui Xiang!", but only an empty echo answered her.
Zhou Qiqi felt a chill run down her spine, and her palms broke out in a cold sweat.
She forced herself to calm down and stood on tiptoe to try and see.
Fortunately, in the distance at the foot of the mountain, in the direction of the village, one or two faint lights could still be seen flickering, like fireflies guiding the way.
She thought that since she could still see her feet clearly with the little light, she should hurry down the mountain first.
If we end up getting stuck halfway up the mountain after failing to find the person, that would really cause a huge mess.
She composed herself and prepared to turn around and walk downstairs.
But in a casual glance before turning around, her gaze fell upon a cliff higher up.
On the flattened, crooked old tree branch, there seems to be... a small white thing floating?
It looked like a fragment of clothing, swaying slightly in the dim light and cold wind!
Zhou Qiqi's heart leaped into her throat, and she shouted desperately in that direction:
"Grandpa Liang! Are you up there? Grandpa Liang!"
The shouts were carried away by the mountain wind, and there was no response.
That cliff looks quite steep, so the path must be even more difficult to traverse.
If she climbs up, it will be completely dark, and it's hard to say whether the few lights at the foot of the mountain will be able to guide her back.
Zhou Qiqi was torn between two conflicting decisions: go up or not?
Finally, she gritted her teeth, used all her strength to break off a relatively sturdy branch from a dead shrub nearby, stripped off the thin twigs, and held it tightly in her hand as a walking stick.
We can't hesitate any longer!
What if... what if Grandpa Liang really was up there? Even a minute's delay could lead to disaster!
She gripped her rough, branch-shaped walking stick, took a deep breath of the cold air, and stopped looking at the faint light below. Resolutely, she began to climb step by step, with great difficulty, toward the steeper cliff where white cloth strips were fluttering.
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