After descending the mountain, Jiang Wanqing asked Huanren to help mobilize official resources to search for her.
But in this small county town, they searched everywhere but couldn't find anyone.
"Sister-in-law, what if Brother Cheng hasn't come down the mountain at all, or maybe Sister is lying to us..."
Hung Hing used his hands to fan himself, and he was so tired that he frowned and wiped away sweat.
“She has no reason to lie to us. A-mei is not a bad person at heart. Let’s wait for the others who went up the mountain to look for her to come back.”
She forced herself to remain calm. According to A-mei, A-ye had climbed out of the room window and down the mountain at dawn, so he should have reached the bottom of the mountain by now.
There are only two possibilities: either he's still in the mountains, or something happened to him after he came down and he's hiding...
By nightfall, everyone who had gone into the mountains to search had returned, but Ah Ye was still nowhere to be found.
They even mobilized the villagers to search, but they couldn't even find a trace of A-Ye.
"Wanqing!"
Huanren ran over, panting heavily, and quickly told her.
"I asked everyone in the county, and some people saw a man lying on the roadside today, and someone picked him up. I wonder if it was Comrade Cheng Ran!"
When and where did you see it?
Given the size of this county, it shouldn't leave a deep impression on anyone who isn't a stranger. Jiang Wanqing had already decided in her heart that this was a very useful clue.
"Around one o'clock in the afternoon, the person who picked him up... I didn't see him clearly, I only remember that he was wearing a floral shirt, and I don't know anything else."
Jiang Wanqing took a deep breath. With such a big fuss about finding someone, if someone's family had picked up an outsider, they would definitely report it. Since they hadn't, then nine times out of ten, the person wasn't a decent person and didn't have any ulterior motives.
"Sister-in-law, what do we do now?"
"Keep searching! Also... write to the Beijing area and see if the army can give us a few men."
"clear!"
Even darkness couldn't stop Jiang Wanqing's urge to find the person as soon as possible, but Huanren and Hongxing quickly persuaded her to stop.
"Don't worry. If he's in the county, it's only a matter of time before we find him. It's so late, there's no point in you going out now. Comrade Cheng Ran has survived a great calamity, he's bound to have good fortune in the future, and he'll definitely turn bad luck into good."
Huanren said all the nice things, and Hongxing nodded in agreement.
"Yes, sister-in-law, maybe Brother Cheng is just having a casual meal at some fellow villager's house and will come to see us tomorrow."
They offered a whole host of comforting words, but Jiang Wanqing still felt uneasy. With so many twists and turns, would things really go smoothly?
However, she was finally spared from going out to search for A-Ye's whereabouts late at night, but she still didn't sleep well that night.
The next day, she got up and went out to look for people as soon as it was light. Her floral shirt was very conspicuous in the county. They had already joined forces with the local authorities to report any suspicious persons immediately.
In the courtyard with the gate tightly closed—
Qiangzi swallowed hard in fear, looking at Cheng Ran, who was tied to a chair and looked weak, and spoke to Brother Leopard beside him.
"Brother, they're frantically searching for him outside. We can't keep going like this. We need to either kill him to vent our frustration..."
Leopard squatted down, patted A-Ye's face with the back of his dagger, and snorted.
"Kid, you're worth something, huh? Open your dog eyes and take a good look. Do you remember me?"
Ah Ye should be thankful that the snake was only mildly venomous; he managed to survive thanks to his excellent physical condition, though the bite site did leave some ulceration...
"Who are you?"
He tried his best to open his eyes, looking again and again, and was certain that he did not recognize anyone in front of him.
"Brother Leopard, has this soldier lost his memory?"
"Hmph, I think he's just faking it. Two years ago, he almost dragged me down with him. How could he forget me?!" He slapped A-Ye's face a few more times.
"Brother Leopard, I think he really doesn't remember anything. Why don't we just kill him, dump the body, and run away? That way we can avoid all the trouble," Qiangzi suggested.
"You idiot! Believe me, if we dump the body today, we'll arrest us tomorrow!"
The two started arguing, and Ah Ye pieced together some key information from their conversation.
He used to be a soldier, and he almost died together with this guy called Brother Leopard.
Judging from their circumstances and identities at the time, he should have arrested these people...
Although his head was spinning, he was not confused at all. His mind was racing, and soon a brilliant idea struck him. He pretended to be dazed and asked a question.
"You...know me? Am I...one of yours? I have indeed lost my memory. If you know anything, please tell me."
He spoke haltingly, and it took him a while to utter two complete sentences. Leopard Brother and Qiangzi both looked over at him.
The two exchanged a glance, lowered their voices, and walked to the side.
“He really doesn’t remember, Brother Leopard. How about we play along and get him to get us some money so we can escape this hellhole and find another way out? What do you think?”
"Hiss... I must say, your idea... is quite interesting. There's a bounty on his head outside. If we just spread some word, we can get a large sum of money for free!"
"Yeah, Leopard, it's a sure-fire deal. Bring him along; he can even be a hostage!"
"Great idea! Let's do it this way!"
Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...
Whether it was due to another stimulation of his brain or something else, A-Ye felt dizzy and his head was throbbing, with many things uncontrollably flooding into his mind.
Training, missions, marriage... Jiang Wanqing...
Is this his memory?
Fragmented memories gradually became clear and coherent.
Two years ago, he led a team to arrest a transnational criminal gang.
Upon learning that they were hiding in the mountains, they led a group to surround and annihilate them. However, the enemy was well-equipped and used the terrain of the mountains to dodge and hide.
Cheng Ran, believing he could catch the ringleader first, was about to bring the person to justice when, at the crucial moment, he was pushed off a cliff...
"ah……"
His muffled groans of pain alerted Leopard and Qiangzi, who tentatively called out to him.
"You... I'm talking about you, so what?"
"I...I can't remember what we used to do. Are you two my brothers?"
"Hahaha... Yes! It's my brother!"
When Leopard saw Ah Ye's pained expression, he untied him and coaxed and tricked him.
“We used to be in business. You fell off a cliff and went missing while we were buying goods along the mountain path. I never thought we would find you, Ah Ye... I’m so happy!”
He held Aye in his arms while his eyes looked at the embroidered words on Aye's collar.
"You recognized me after all! I'm finally back!"
A dark glint flashed in A Ye's eyes as he regained his memories. Oh no, his name is Cheng Ran!
He patted Leopard Brother's back hard, his anger turning into strength, which gradually made his face and lips rosy.
"Hehe... Ah Ye, even though you just got back, we still consider you a brother. How about you do us a favor?" Qiangzi winked.
"We're brothers, so just say whether you want to help or not." Cheng Ran continued to pretend.
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