"this……"
Jiang Jianguo pulled Xue He aside and shook his head.
“I’ve had a feeling something’s been off these past few years. Today is the first day we’re sending our daughter to school. Could this be a bad omen? Let’s not meddle in other people’s business.”
He was cautious when he was young, and he is even more so now. Moreover, he was harmed by his own family when he was young, so how could he possibly place all his trust in strangers now?
"I think so too..."
Xue He was about to agree with Jiang Jianguo and simply take Nannan to school first, but the child innocently tugged at their clothes.
"Grandpa and Grandma, you and my parents taught me that we should always help others. Now that Grandpa is in trouble, shouldn't we help him?"
Parents should lead by example and be role models for their children. This is what Nannan has learned from attending school for so long.
The two adults blushed a little at what they were being told. If they just left like that, they were afraid it would foster a cold personality in their child, and they were caught in a dilemma.
Just then, the old man cried out and rolled on the ground, wailing in pain.
"Please, please help this old man. We're all human, and who can guarantee they won't encounter difficulties outside?"
Jiang Jianguo and Xue He are both getting on in years, and these words really resonated with them. Helping others is helping yourself, and it would be too selfish not to lend a hand, especially in front of children.
“Let’s go, lend a hand. At worst, we can explain to the teacher at school why the child was late. I’m sure they’ll understand. It’s not a bad thing.” Xue He nudged Jiang Jianguo’s arm.
He nodded: "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you."
The two elders smiled at the little girl, and Jiang Jianguo instructed, "Little girl, follow your grandparents, we're taking Grandpa to the hospital."
"good!"
The child's face brightened, perhaps because he felt that the values he had accepted had finally been validated; children's sense of satisfaction is so easily obtained.
Xue He and Jiang Jianguo helped the old man walk ahead, with Nannan following closely behind. The hospital was less than 800 meters away, and they wanted to get him back as soon as possible.
As they reached the entrance of a small alley, the old man suddenly cried out in pain and stopped.
"I can't go on anymore, kind comrades, please rest for a while, my legs are really not very strong..."
"All right."
They had already helped the old man, so it was no big deal for him to rest for a while. The old man asked them to help him to the wall at the entrance of the alley to lean against for a while, and the two of them did as they were told.
Nannan even took out some water from her little backpack to offer to the elderly.
Just as they got close to the wall, two blows came down from behind, and Jiang Jianguo and Xue He instantly lost consciousness...
"Grandpa! Grandma!"
The cup in Nannan's hand fell to the ground as the two elderly people collapsed, splashing water all over the floor.
The old man, who had just been half-dead, suddenly became energetic, and two thugs carrying sticks and brown burlap sacks appeared behind him.
"If we tie up this little girl, we can make a fortune!"
"Hehe... Little sister, don't shout, or we'll kill these two old geezers!"
Nannan was still young, and she was so frightened by the thug's words that she couldn't open her mouth. The next second, a burlap sack was put over her head, the thug hoisted her onto his shoulder, covered her mouth, and ran away...
As the sun rose higher and higher in the east, Jiang Jianguo and Xue He were woken up by passersby.
Those two blows knocked them unconscious for nearly two hours.
"Wake up, Comrade..."
"Comrade, wake up!"
Xue He woke up a little earlier than Jiang Jianguo. When she opened her eyes and saw so many people around her, she was stunned.
"What...what's going on?"
She hurriedly reached out to look for Nannan and Jiang Jianguo, but when she turned around, she only saw her husband and not her granddaughter.
"Jianguo, Jianguo, wake up!"
"Ouch...it hurts so much..."
Jiang Jianguo woke up rubbing the back of his neck, his head still spinning, and he was even more confused than Xue He when he opened his eyes.
Where is Nannan?
“Yes, where’s Nannan…” Xue He staggered to her feet, grabbed a passerby, and gestured to indicate the height. “Have you seen my granddaughter? She’s so pretty, with two little braids, so beautiful, big eyes and a small mouth…”
Passersby were startled by her appearance, pushed her hand away, took two steps back, and shook their heads.
"No, we only saw the two of you lying here..."
"Yeah, what little girl? I didn't see her."
"No?!"
Xue He cried out and hurriedly grabbed Jiang Jianguo's hand, her eyes red.
"Nannan...where is she...it must be that old man, there's definitely something wrong with him!"
Even Jiang Jianguo, who was usually slow-witted, finally realized that he and Xue He had been tricked. The so-called old man who needed help was just bait to lure them to a secluded place so that he could kidnap Nannan.
"Don't panic, I'll go call the police right now! The child will be alright!"
Jiang Jianguo was also anxious, but he could only force himself not to lose his composure.
"You search the neighborhood now, I'll go... I'll go call the police..."
"Comrade, you've gone the wrong way! The police station is this way!"
Someone in the crowd reminded the staggering Jiang Jianguo that he was completely disoriented. On the other side, Xue He couldn't hold back her tears and shouted loudly.
"My little one! Where are you! My little one... Grandma begs you... Please come out..."
"Ah...ah...Darling...Grandma is so sorry...so sorry..."
Xue He looked so pitiful that the onlookers sympathized with her while shaking their heads and sighing with regret.
"They've lost a child... Oh, how pitiful..."
"I don't know how these parents could be so careless as to lose their child. What's the use of crying now?"
"You can't say that, maybe it was done by human traffickers..."
"Let's help look for him. If any comrades have seen that child, please let us know. Let's help this poor man."
...
Everyone was fine, but after searching all morning, they still couldn't find Nannan. At noon, Jiang Wanqing, seeing that her parents hadn't returned, also went out to look for them. When she arrived near the school, she saw many people, including police officers.
A bad feeling welled up inside her, and she quickly stepped forward.
"What's going on here?" she asked a member of the crowd.
"Oh dear, someone has lost a child, it's so tragic..."
"A lost child?"
Jiang Wanqing's legs went weak. Without thinking twice, she immediately pushed her way forward and saw her parents sitting on the ground, their hair disheveled, their faces pale and haggard, muttering to themselves.
"Nannan...Nannan is missing..."
"Wanqing will be heartbroken if she knows. The child...where is he/she? Who is he/she...?"
The police officers exchanged glances, and the captain raised his hand.
"Let's take him back to the station for investigation first."
"etc!"
Jiang Wanqing rushed forward and pulled her parents up with each of her hands.
"Mom and Dad, what happened?"
“Wan…Wanqing…”
Upon seeing her daughter, Xue He completely broke down in tears, sobbing as if she wanted to cry out her heart and soul.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
