Chapter 26
"You lost yourself?!" Tang Qingqing was incredible. "What about the sheep? Are they all lost too?"
When Zhao Dahua heard this, he immediately became unhappy.
"Your brother is missing, how come you only care about sheep?"
"I'm asking about the specific situation. You're still blaming me. Your son is missing and you still remember to scold me. I don't think you're that worried."
Zhao Dahua was already extremely anxious, and he almost exploded when he heard this. He pointed at Tang Qingqing's nose and started to scold her again.
Tang Qiaoqiao quickly stepped in between and separated the two people.
"Auntie, my second cousin's matter is urgent. If we delay for too long, it will be harder to find him."
"Yes, yes, yes, I'm so angry. Tang Qingqing, aren't you the best at finding people? Hurry up and find your eldest brother back."
Zhao Dahua was about to pull over with his big hand again, and Tang Qingqing quickly dodged to the side.
"Why are you so anxious? You haven't asked anything clearly. How can I find him? Didn't he go to herd sheep with Wang Erxi? Is Wang Erxi missing too?"
"Wang Erxi wasn't lost. He came back with his sheep. That's why we knew Xingwang was missing."
Tang Qingqing quickly turned around and ran away.
Zhao Dahua was stunned for a moment, then slapped her thigh in anxiety and anger and cursed:
"You damn girl, you are going to die. You don't even care about your brother's life. What's the point of me raising you to this age? The Public Security Bureau is still praising little heroes. How can there be such an inhuman hero?"
Tang Qiaoqiao grew up following Tang Qingqing, and as soon as she saw Tang Qingqing's attitude, she knew what she wanted to do.
"Auntie, please stop scolding me. Sister Qingqing is going to look for Brother Erxi."
Zhao Dahua immediately fell silent. He stopped so suddenly that he even burped.
"real?"
"Really? Didn't you see that this direction is Erxi's home? Only after I found Erxi did I know how my second cousin got lost. Otherwise, even if I were Sun Wukong, I wouldn't have anywhere to look for him."
Tang Qiaoqiao has now finished reading the entire "Journey to the West". Although she only looked at the pictures, she has a general idea of the story.
Her favorite is Sun Wukong, and now she likes to mention Sun Wukong from time to time.
After hearing this, Zhao Dahua wiped away her tears and hurried over.
"Erxi is also a bastard. He came back on his own when Xingwang got lost. Why didn't he follow to look for him? I said at the beginning that Erxi was unreliable. How could he be a partner with Xingwang to herd sheep?
If anything happens to Xingwang, I will definitely not let Wang Erxi's family have an easy time, what the hell! "
Zhao Dahua was crying and swearing, and Tang Qiaoqiao had short legs and could only jog after her. She did not comment on what Zhao Dahua said.
When Tang Qiaoqiao ran to Wang Erxi's house, there were already many people gathered near his house.
"If anything happens to my prosperous family, I will not live anymore. I will hang myself at your doorstep!"
"My Xingwang, my poor Xingwang, how did you end up in such trouble? Someone is deliberately trying to harm you!"
As soon as Tang Qingqing got closer, she heard Old Lady Wu crying. If you didn't know, you would have thought that Tang Xingwang was dead.
"Qingqing, you are finally here."
As soon as Tang Qingqing approached, someone noticed her and called out to her.
The crowd watching the excitement suddenly made way for them tacitly, as if they were following some instructions.
Tang Qingqing saw that in the room, Old Lady Wu was sitting on the ground, slapping her thighs and swearing, while Tang Jianjun was stiff-necked and glaring at Wang Erxi's family.
The team leader and several team officials also arrived and comforted the two families respectively.
When Old Lady Wu saw Tang Qingqing, she immediately became excited.
"Qingqing, my precious granddaughter, your eldest brother is missing. The younger brother who will support you when you get married is missing!"
Old Mrs. Wu started howling again. She was really sad, otherwise she would not dare to sit on the ground in the middle of winter.
This was the first time that Old Lady Wu called Tang Qingqing affectionately. If it wasn't for the wrong occasion, she would have been covered in goosebumps.
Tang Jianjun still looked serious when he saw her coming.
"You don't know how to find anything, hurry up and find your brother."
Tang Qingqing couldn't help but frown. Who was being commanded in this tone?
The captain came over quickly and said, "Qingqing, you have to take action in this matter. Not only is Tang Xingwang missing, but two sheep are also missing."
With the reward from the Public Security Bureau, no one doubts Tang Qingqing's ability anymore.
"The sheep is lost too? What's going on?"
Old Lady Wu howled, "It was this bastard who made our Xingwang go looking for sheep. He wanted to kill our Xingwang!"
Tang Jianjun: "You are also responsible for this matter. You insisted on forcing them to learn coding. If it weren't for you..."
Tang Qingqing glared and immediately became unhappy:
"Wait, what do you mean I asked Tang Xingwang to learn the code? Didn't you ask me to teach them? Can you blame me for this? Besides, they didn't even learn it."
Seeing that this family was about to start a quarrel, the captain felt a headache and shouted loudly:
"You guys think you have too many mouths! Others have nothing to say! You guys have so much free time, get off the ground now!"
The team leader has been a cadre for so many years and has great prestige in the team. Normally, everyone has a close relationship with each other, but when something really happens, he is like Yan Luo and his words are very effective.
The scene suddenly became quiet, and Old Lady Wu could only sob.
The captain glared at Tang Jianjun and said, "Why don't you pull your mother up quickly? You are so old and still sitting on the ground. Aren't you afraid that your mother will freeze to death?"
Tang Jianjun quickly helped Mrs. Wu up. The captain hadn't lost his temper just now, so Mrs. Wu dared to yell like that. But now that she was really angry, she behaved herself.
Besides, the ground was really cold and she couldn't sit still any longer.
The other officers pulled the two of them aside, and the noisy room finally quieted down and no longer caused headaches from the noise.
The captain pulled Wang Erxi to Tang Qingqing and said, "I'll let Erxi explain it to you in detail."
On the other hand, he did not forget to remind Wang Erxi: "You kid, explain the matter clearly, don't miss anything and cause delays."
Wang Erxi nodded repeatedly and said:
"Today, Tang Xingwang didn't come over for a long time, so I was very angry and gave him a few lectures. He then started to get angry with me and ignored me the whole way."
"You know there are fewer things in winter, so after walking through a place, we have to move to another place to continue looking for food. We arrived at a date field, and the sheep used their mouths to dig out the unwanted small dates and grass stems that had fallen from the snow. After a while, I thought it was enough and wanted to chase the sheep away. But Tang Xingwang insisted that he would not leave because there was still some on the ground."
"There was no more on the ground. It was obvious that he was too lazy to walk and felt that it was too far to walk and his feet would hurt. We had been arguing from the beginning, and it got even more intense at this point. In the end, he said, 'You can leave if you want, but I'm not leaving anyway.'
I had no choice at the time. I couldn't let the sheep go hungry, so I drove them away. But two sheep were still unwilling to move and kept digging in the ground to look for dates. I asked Tang Xingwang to watch those sheep and catch up when they ran out of food.
But I never met Tang Xingwang again when I came back, and I didn't know where he had chased the two sheep away."
When Old Lady Wu heard this, she started crying again: "How dare you leave Xingwang alone in the mountains? You wanted to kill him. How can you be so mean at such a young age? How did you teach your child?"
Wang Erxi couldn't bear it any longer after being scolded: "Why don't you say that he was lazy and didn't work hard, and left me in the mountains? He was twelve years old, and I was only ten. Who wants whose life? It's a pity to team up with him. Every time, I was the one who did the hard work, and he just stood there like a young master and did nothing.
I won't say any more about these. You guys are blaming me for the loss of my life. What does this have to do with me? "
Wang Erxi felt extremely aggrieved. This had nothing to do with him. Was he just going to stay there and let the sheep go hungry just to please Tang Xingwang?
Or should he carry Tang Xingwang, who is even bigger than him, on his back and move forward together? He had the will but not the energy.
In winter, sheep herders have to walk a long way to ensure that the sheep are well fed. Now he is tired and hungry, and he is also being scolded.
The family members also said that the Tang family was sad about the loss of their child and it was okay for them to say a few words, which was why he had remained silent just now.
But this doesn't mean they are soft persimmons that can be squeezed however you want.
When Mrs. Wu heard this, she became even more angry: "What's wrong with asking you to take care of him? My uncle Xingwang is the factory director, and my sister has joined the art troupe. They are all with big leaders, and they will be able to eat commercial grain in the future. You actually lost him!"
The captain frowned upon hearing this and shouted at Tang Jianjun:
"Look at what your mother said. Does she want to make a mistake? What? She still looks down on us farmers and thinks we farmers have to give in to him, the future leader?"
Tang Jianjun didn't think that what Old Lady Wu said was wrong, but seeing the captain's gloomy face, he also knew that a good man would not suffer a loss in front of him.
"Mom, please stop talking. What's the point of saying all this now? People can't fly back."
Tang Qingqing looked at the farce in front of her and felt very bored.
She said directly to the captain: "We have to start from where Wang Erxi and Tang Xingwang separated to see if there are any clues there."
"Okay, I'll just wait for you to speak."
Zhao Dahua also rushed over at this time, and when he heard this, he shouted:
"Then what are you still doing here? Go find someone!"
Tang Qingqing was too lazy to pay attention to her. "Captain, it's getting dark now. We need to prepare torches and flashlights. It's better to have flashlights. It's windy at night now. The light from the torches will flicker easily, which will affect my ability to see the footprints on the ground."
"Okay, I'll go find some flashlights," the captain said. "If you need anything else, just let me know."
Tang Qingqing shook her head: "No, let's go as soon as possible. The longer we delay, the harder it will be to find people."
Old Lady Wu and Zhao Dahua were both yelling, "Hurry up and don't delay any longer. If you delay for so long, it will be all over if something happens."
Tang Qingqing was too lazy to pay attention to them and was stopped by Wang Erxi's mother before she even walked out the door.
Wang Erxi's mother hurried over and stuffed an oilcloth bag into her hand.
"Qingqing, you haven't eaten yet, right? Take some cakes with you to eat on the way, don't let yourself get hungry."
Tang Qingqing's arms were stuffed full and she could feel the warmth of the package.
"Auntie, thank you."
Zhao Dahua snorted coldly: "This is what they deserve."
Tang Qingqing was too lazy to pay attention to her and rubbed Wang Erxi's head: "Don't worry, I will find the people and sheep back."
Although Wang Erxi cannot be blamed for this, since he has been arranged to form a team, he has the responsibility and obligation to return with his companions and the sheep.
The little boy actually felt very upset, but he couldn't help but explain a few words because he was scolded so harshly.
Not only was he scolded, but his whole family was scolded as well, and he felt very unhappy.
Wang Erxi's eyes turned red and he lowered his head.
"You should also get ready. It's cold outside at night. Don't get frozen."
Wang Erxi knew the place, so he had to go with them.
The captain quickly arranged the personnel and prepared to set out to look for someone.
Tang Qingqing couldn't do it alone to find the lost child and sheep. It would take the strong forces of the entire team to work together to find them as soon as possible.
Tang Qingqing, Wang Erxi and their group left first, and the people behind them gathered and then acted separately.
When Tang Qingqing was about to leave the village, someone called his name from behind.
I turned around and saw my aunt running towards me.
"Aunt, why are you here?"
The aunt put the clothes in her hand into Tang Qingqing's hand and said, "This is your uncle's tunic. It's thicker than yours. You won't get cold if you put it on."
Not only does my uncle have a disabled leg, but his body is also weaker than that of an average person, so his clothes are thicker, otherwise he wouldn't be able to bear the weight.
"How can I do that? If I put it on my uncle, he will freeze to death."
Tang Qingqing wanted to push it back, but his aunt forced it on him.
"He's just on the kang, he won't go anywhere, he won't get frozen. It's different outside, you need to wear thicker clothes. Come on, don't dawdle, everyone is waiting."
After saying this, the aunt ran away, not giving Tang Qingqing a chance to refuse.
Tang Qingqing grabbed her coat, feeling mixed emotions.
She did feel uncomfortable before. Her aunt married into the family later and might not have known about it. But her uncle was at home the whole time. Didn't he notice that she was replaced?
But now I feel that sometimes there is no need to think too clearly about things, and some things are not that important.
My uncle has never had much of a presence in this family. If my aunt hadn’t married into the family and brought him up, perhaps few people would have remembered him even after he died.
He is a disabled person who has a hard time supporting himself and is seen as a burden to the family. How can he enforce justice? No one cares about his opinion.
Tang Qingqing put on the cotton jacket and her body immediately felt much warmer.
And when she reached into her pocket, she found two warm eggs hidden inside.
Because of his disability, the uncle was not very tall, so even though Tang Qingqing's clothes were a little too big, it did not affect her movements.
The snow began to fall again, and the weight was getting heavier, which made everyone frown.
Captain: "Qingqing, will the snow affect your ability to find someone by looking for footprints?"
Tang Qingqing said honestly: "If the snow is too heavy, it will definitely affect the search for people. However, if the snow is cleared, the footprints can still be seen, but the speed will be much slower."
The captain frowned and said, "I hope that kid is smart and will hold the sheep if he gets cold, instead of freezing himself."
Tang Qingqing was not cold because she was wearing thick clothes, but her walking speed also slowed down. The captain saw that she was having difficulty walking, so he half-lifted her forward.
After walking for a while, I saw two figures standing there.
"Why are you two standing here?" The captain was very surprised when he saw the two people.
These two people are Wang Heizi and Zhai Hongyi.
Wang Heizi smiled playfully: "Master, such a big thing cannot be done without the Three Swordsmen."
"What the hell? What are these three bastards? And some people call themselves bastards?"
"Grandpa, it's fine if you scold me, but why did you scold Tang Qingqing and Zhai Zhiqing as well?"
Zhai Hongyi: "Captain, we all heard that a child was missing from the team, so we came over to look for him."
After hearing this, the captain had a better impression of Zhai Hongyi. At first, he thought he was a troublemaker who would be difficult to manage in the future.
In fact, he was indeed very disorganized and undisciplined. Relying on his good family background and the fact that his family often sent him food, he had no need to worry about starving for food, and was particularly unenthusiastic in his work.
He only works for half a day each time, and for the other half he ignores me no matter how I call him.
Later it was discovered that although he only watched for half a day, he did more work than other educated youth did in a whole day.
He just doesn't like working himself to death, but the work points he earns are still pretty good.
Moreover, he was not like other educated youth who liked to make trouble. Every time he heard that there were places in the university for workers, peasants and soldiers or places to return to the city, all kinds of thoughts would come to his mind. However, he didn't care at all and just did what he had to do.
Now that Zhai Hongyi knows that a child is lost in the team, he still runs over to help in the middle of the night on a snowy day. He is progressive in his thinking. We were wrong to blame him before.
The captain nodded affirmatively: "Good job."
As they walked, Zhai Hongyi and Wang Heizi unknowingly began to replace the captain and carry Tang Qingqing forward.
Tang Qingqing was very happy, "Why are you here?"
Wang Heizi: "We agreed that the three of us are a team, so we have to work together on something this big. We have some experience and can do a lot. Cao'er wanted to come too, but I stopped her."
Zhai Hongyi: "I'm free anyway."
After walking for a while, Zhai Hongyi took out a military water bottle and handed it to Tang Qingqing: "Drink some water."
Tang Qingqing: "I'm not thirsty."
"What nonsense are you talking about." Zhai Hongyi looked impatient.
Tang Qingqing had no choice but to pick up the kettle and take a sip. Fortunately, she didn't drink too much, otherwise she would have been scalded.
Zhai Hongyi was annoyed: "Oh, I almost forgot, this water was just boiled before being poured in. Are you okay?"
Tang Qingqing shook her head. It was cold so she didn't feel too hot, but she didn't expect it to be brown sugar ginger tea.
Not only is it sweet, but it also warms your body after drinking it.
Although Tang Qingqing was dressed warmly, her shoes were thin and she was stepping on the snow, so her feet were still cold.
Now we have hot brown sugar ginger tea, which contains a lot of ginger and makes you feel warm all over.
"Did you just make it?"
Wang Heizi chuckled and said, "Why else would it take us so long to show up? We went to your master's place to make food. It's a pity we don't have charcoal, otherwise we could have gotten you a charcoal basket and your hands would have been warm."
Tang Qingqing was very moved: "Thank you."
Wang Heizi shuddered. "You are so polite all of a sudden. I feel uncomfortable listening to you. If you want to thank someone, you should thank Brother Yi. I didn't even know I had to prepare all these things."
Tang Qingqing was very surprised. She never expected Zhai Hongyi to be so thoughtful.
Zhai Hongyi said calmly: "Girls can't be frozen."
Tang Qingqing smiled with her eyebrows curved, "Brother Yi, my sister-in-law will definitely be very happy in the future."
Zhai Hongyi's ears turned red, which was rare.
When the group arrived at the place Wang Erxi mentioned, it was already completely dark. The snow was still falling, covering all the footprints on the ground.
The captain walked up to Tang Qingqing and said, "Qingqing, how do we clean this up? Just sweep it up?"
Tang Qingqing called Wang Erxi over and asked, "Do you remember where Tang Xingwang was standing when you last saw him?"
Wang Erxi nodded: "It's right under that jujube tree."
Tang Qingqing walked over, and before she could say anything, Zhai Hongyi started sweeping the ground with a broom made of branches.
Upon seeing this, the captain couldn't help but sigh in his heart that city people are more discerning than country people.
After a while, shallow footprints appeared.
Tang Qingqing walked forward to check, but did not take out a ruler. Instead, she gestured a few times with her hands.
"These are Tang Xingwang's footprints. Continue cleaning nearby, but remember not to use too much force."
The captain immediately gave orders, asking everyone to follow Zhai Hongyi's example and find branches nearby to make temporary brooms.
Tang Qingqing also wanted to help, but was stopped by Wang Heizi.
"Just use your brain. Don't get involved in this kind of physical work. You won't have the energy to find someone else later."
Tang Qingqing didn't insist and kept watching everyone's actions.
The snow on the hillside was not that heavy, so it didn't take much effort to expose a large area.
Tang Qingqing used a branch to "circle" Tang Xingwang's footprints bit by bit, studying them.
Others were so angry that they didn't dare to disturb her, for fear that they would get lost if they started arguing.
Tang Qingqing walked out step by step. There were some places without footprints, but she still used the stick to circle a place.
Wang Heizi was a very curious person. When Tang Qingqing stood up and stretched her body, he asked:
"There are places without footprints, why are you drawing circles?"
Tang Qingqing: "It's not that there are no footprints in those places, but they are not clear. I circled them all to figure out where people went and in which direction they are expected to move."
Many times, footprints are not found all along the path. In some places where the ground is harder and there is no dust, the footprints disappear.
At this time, you need to be sensitive to observe and speculate, and track down where the target is going.
Whether it is a human or a sheep, their walking patterns are regular. By grasping the patterns, we can find the 'lost footprints'.
As Tang Qingqing moved, everyone found that Tang Xingwang neither followed the road to look for Wang Erxi nor chased the sheep back to the team, but walked towards a small path.
The captain said: "Why is this kid taking this road? There is nothing to eat there, and the mountain road is difficult to walk on."
Tang Qingqing: "It was those two sheep that ran that way. They must have run out of food at the time, so they wanted to follow the main group. Tang Xingwang didn't want to run so far, so he wanted to pull the two sheep back, but the two sheep got angry and ran away. They chased each other and went to that fork in the road.
Those two sheep have the worst tempers and are usually the most disobedient. If there is a leader, it's fine, but without a leader, and the shepherd can't control them, they get mad easily. "
Sheep, like humans, have their own tempers.
Tang Qingqing has been herding sheep for such a long time that she is very familiar with and understands all the sheep.
As soon as she saw the sheep's hoof prints, she knew which two sheep were missing. Looking at the chaotic footprints on the ground, what happened at that time played out in her mind like a movie.
"When we find them, the first thing we will do is take them to the commune and sell them!" the captain said viciously.
Tang Qingqing continued walking along the fork in the road. The road was narrow and difficult to walk on, and from time to time she could hear the sound of stones falling.
The captain was anxious, trying not to let anyone fall, as that would be troublesome.
Fortunately, Tang Qingqing kept walking forward without stopping, which made the captain feel much more at ease.
But after a while, his heart was lifted again.
In the distance, there are the sounds of wolves howling.
"Captain, the wolves won't come down the mountain, right? Don't let Tang Xingwang run into them!"
A militiaman who was looking for someone along with them said so.
Winter is the most unsafe time to be in the wild. At other times, there is food in the mountains and it is difficult for wild animals to come down the mountains.
But if there is nothing to eat in the mountains in the middle of winter, that may not be the case.
Before winter, wolves appeared in other brigades. Fortunately, they were discovered in time and prevented from taking the children away.
But none of us caught the wolf, and wolves live in groups, so no one knew how many were hiding in the mountains.
The captain looked unhappy. "Everyone, be alert. Hold your guns steady. Don't shoot the wrong person impulsively."
The militiamen who came out were all carrying guns. These days are quite chaotic, so you have to be careful to protect yourself when you go out.
"Qing girl, didn't you see any wolf footprints?"
Tang Qingqing shook her head: "No, this area is clean."
The group of people continued to walk forward against the wind and snow. After walking about seven or eight miles, Tang Qingqing stopped again. She frowned and looked serious.
Zhai Hongyi: "What's wrong?"
"Tang Xingwang got separated from the two sheep here."
"What?" The captain felt something was wrong when he heard this. "Why did you go off topic?"
In such a cold day, if you can stay with the sheep, you won’t be afraid of being frozen. But if you are separated, adults may know the seriousness of the situation, but if children lie on the ground due to exhaustion, they will be dead the next day.
Tang Xingwang is a spoiled child with a bad temper. Don't let things turn out as he guessed or else you'll get into trouble.
"It seems that he couldn't keep up with the two sheep and got lost."
Although the captain felt distressed, he gave the order without hesitation: "Find the people first, and then come back to find the sheep."
If the sheep have been lost for a long time, there is basically no hope for them. Their team had just lost tens of thousands of kilograms of food, and now they have lost two more sheep. It is like adding insult to injury. However, no matter how expensive two sheep are, they are not as important as human life.
Tang Qingqing used a stone to mark the direction where the sheep was lost, and then continued to follow the footprints to find Tang Xingwang.
The heavy snow severely hampered the search speed. Tang Qingqing often went back and forth in one place before she could find a clue.
The occasional cries of wild animals made everyone feel even more depressed.
On the way, Tang Qingqing also found the wolf's footprints.
After hearing what Tang Qingqing said, everyone became even more worried.
"Captain, Tang Xingwang wouldn't be taken away by a wolf, right?" said a militiaman.
Tang Qingqing denied it, "They didn't collide with each other. Although the time interval was not very long, Tang Xingwang is still safe at the moment."
There was no blood nearby, and the wolf's footprints were all the same depth going back and forth, which meant it wasn't carrying anything.
Although everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they still felt it was very dangerous.
The captain felt that this search was too slow as there were too many people in their team, so he split the team into two and asked the others to carry torches to search nearby for people.
The rest of the team was now also looking for people with torches, and sometimes they would bump into each other.
Knowing that neither party had found any clues, they were all very anxious.
"Where did this kid go? Why didn't he come back quickly when he couldn't find the sheep? Could he have lost his way?" the captain worriedly asked.
Tang Qingqing also thought so at first. He was indeed going back and forth in one place, which caused her to make no progress.
But soon, Tang Qingqing discovered that Tang Xingwang seemed to have discovered something and walked in one direction very firmly.
"Captain, which brigade does this road lead to?"
It was difficult to distinguish late at night, but the captain was very familiar with the area and could tell it after a few glances.
"Go a mile further and you'll see a road that leads to the Pingtang Brigade."
"Pingtang Brigade?"
"right."
"Captain, how did you recognize him so late at night?"
The captain pointed to a hilltop. In the moonlight, one could vaguely see a tree standing on the top of the hill.
"You see that tree? It's pointed like a pine tree, and there's a big rock next to it. You can recognize it right away."
Tang Qingqing walked over to take a look and found that it was indeed very obvious, like a landmark.
"Captain, I have a rough idea of where Tang Xingwang is now."
"where?"
"Pingtang Brigade is my grandmother's hometown. He used to go to Pingtang Brigade with my grandmother. I guess he found this tree and stone, so he just went to Pingtang Brigade."
When the captain heard this, he immediately perked up: "Let's go, hurry up!"
With a target in mind, the group sped up.
Tang Qingqing did not give up tracking and still paid attention to the footprints.
After getting onto the main road, Tang Qingqing became more certain of her guess and stopped squatting to look at the footprints.
The group tracked down to Pingtang Brigade, and Tang Qingqing found Tang Xingwang's footprints at the entrance of the village, and she was completely relieved.
Soon, they found the Wu family.
By this time the Wu family had already gone to sleep, and as soon as they approached they heard a dog barking.
The captain asked Tang Qingqing and others to stand back, and he started yelling at the door.
"Is anyone home? Please open the door."
After a while, the lights in the house came on.
"Who is it? Why are you knocking on the door so late at night?"
"We are from the Rongshan Brigade. Is Tang Xingwang here?"
Upon hearing this, the door was immediately opened and a man in a coat walked out.
Tang Qingqing recognized the man as her great uncle Wu Dazhui. She walked up to him and said, "Uncle, I'm Qingqing. Is Xingwang at your house?"
Wu Dazhu was very surprised when he saw Tang Qingqing, especially when he saw several people holding torches and flashlights following him.
"Yes, I'm sleeping in my room. Why are you looking for me in the middle of the night? Is there something wrong at home?"
Tang Qingqing felt that this was not right, and the others also felt it.
Team leader: "When did Tang Xingwang join your team?"
"It was around 2 or 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon. He said he wanted to come to my house to check on me. What happened?"
A gust of wind blew over, Wu Dazhun felt cold, and quickly asked everyone to come in quickly.
"Let's go inside first. It's cold outside. Don't get frozen."
The group of people were freezing cold. They shook off the snow on their bodies and walked into the house one after another.
At this time, the other members of the Wu family heard the noise and got up, but the children were sleeping soundly and were not woken up.
Wu Dazhu: “What’s going on?”
The captain did not answer, but just asked: "What did he tell you?"
"He just said he missed us. He had nothing to do at home in the winter, so he came to play with his brothers. I asked his grandmother how could she be at ease letting him come here alone, and he said he was grown up now and could go out on his own."
Children in the country are all raised in the wild, and they can indeed do a lot of things at the age of twelve.
It is not uncommon to go on a long journey alone.
Tang Xingwang often came over with Grandma Wu and had a great time playing with the kids at home, which was something both families liked to see.
When the Wu family heard him say this, they did not doubt anything.
The people from the Rongshan Brigade didn't know what to say. They were looking for someone everywhere, but Tang Xingwang just came over and had a great time.
He was lying peacefully in bed, and they were nearly frozen to death and exhausted.
Although I knew that a child of this age would be afraid of taking responsibility, after all, he had lost two sheep, so I didn't dare to tell the truth.
Although it is understandable, it is still reasonable to be angry.
If he had confessed earlier, the Wu family would have sent someone back to tell them, and they wouldn't have had to send the entire team out in the wind and snow to look for him in the middle of the night.
The captain told the Wu family the whole story, and they had not expected the matter to become so serious.
"Oh, this kid is really something. I thought he looked fine, so I didn't think too much about it. Who would have thought! I'll wake him up right now! He made such a big fuss, he deserves a beating!"
The captain waved his hands and said, "Forget it. There's no point in making a fuss now. Let's talk about it later. Don't bother making a fuss so late at night. Sorry for disturbing you tonight. You all should go to sleep."
The Wu family wanted to arrange accommodation for the group, but the captain refused.
"We have to go back and inform the others to stop looking for him. I'll ask you to bring him back tomorrow."
The captain looked at Tang Qingqing again and said, "Don't bother yourself anymore. Stay and rest. You will go back with Tang Xingwang tomorrow."
Tang Qingqing looked at Wang Heizi and Zhai Hongyi, and also hoped that they would stay.
However, both of them expressed a refusal attitude, and she wanted to follow them.
Zhai Hongyi shook his head at her: "Think about your body."
"But what about the sheep of the brigade? Maybe we can find them if we go look for them now."
The captain said: "Don't bother yourself. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
It’s not that he doesn’t feel sorry for the two sheep, but the weather is just too cold.
Tang Qingqing's face turned pale, and he also had to take care of the little girl's health.
Tang Qingqing finally chose to stay and slept on the kang with several girls from her uncle's family. She was so tired that she fell asleep soon after she got on the bed.
When she woke up the next day, she saw some children looking at her curiously, not understanding how she appeared.
There was no one there when I went to bed last night, but I saw her when I woke up in the morning.
When Tang Xingwang woke up, he saw that the people in his great uncle's family all had strange expressions on their faces, and he felt inexplicably scared.
It was not until he walked into the main room and saw Tang Qingqing that his expression suddenly turned ugly.
"Why are you here?"
"Why am I here?"
Tang Xingwang was startled and shouted quickly: "Uncle, get her out! Get her out quickly!"
Wu Dazhui slapped him on the back and said, "What are you yelling about? You didn't say a word about such a big thing! If the people from Rongshan Brigade hadn't come looking for us, we wouldn't have known that you hadn't even told your family!
Your grandma loves you so much, she would be so worried if you were gone!"
Tang Xingwang burst into tears when he heard this: "Uncle, don't listen to her nonsense. I didn't sneak out. She just can't stand seeing me doing well."
Wu Dazhui's brows furrowed even more when he heard this, and he yelled, "Tang Xingwang! Are you still a master? You are not afraid of doing something wrong, but you refuse to repent after doing something wrong, and you think you can get away with it by hiding it. You are a coward!"
Tang Xingwang shivered when he was yelled at. He never knew that the usually cheerful Wu Dachuen could be so scary when he got angry.
"Uncle, it's really her..."
"Don't call me uncle, pack your things quickly, I'll take you home now!"
Tang Xingwang wanted to cry again, but Wu Dachu glared at him and scolded him:
"What is a man thinking when he cries like that! You are the eldest son and grandson of the Tang family. You will be responsible for the future. Your grandma is counting on you, but what can you do in your current state?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
