Chapter 98 Separation
Three days later, in the afternoon, the boat arrived at Jingchuan. When they arrived, Fan Xiaoxiao, who had recovered considerably, was still teaching the two children how to fish. It was only when Fan called out that they realized they had arrived.
Fan Xiaoxiao stood up slightly and looked towards the dock not far away. This dock seemed to be larger than the one in Guqu Town, but she didn't see any signs of activity on it.
Just as she was feeling a little strange, the ship docked.
"Oh my god..."
The first woman to disembark, Ms. Fan, gasped in surprise at the sight before her. Following behind her, Fan Xiaoxiao peeked out, equally astonished and speechless.
No wonder there are so few people at this dock! Jingchuan County is actually located at a lower elevation than the river! You have to walk down more than ten steps from the dock to reach the town's streets.
Looking around, the town was full of traces of flood erosion, with many houses collapsed and destroyed. Only a few people could be seen repairing their houses.
"How...how could this happen..."
Aunt Wang walked up to Fan Xiaoxiao at some point, her whole body trembling slightly, as if she could hardly believe what she was seeing.
"Brother..." Aunt Wang murmured about her relative as if in a daze, looking somewhat lost at Uncle Wang standing behind her.
"Old man..."
Uncle Wang was also a little confused by the scene before him. He frowned and subconsciously looked at Madam Ye and the others standing behind him.
"leaf……"
"Wife!!!" A series of hurried footsteps rang out from the other side of the dock, interrupting Uncle Wang's words.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a rather unremarkable young man. Xiao Miao frowned when she saw him approaching: "Why are you in such a hurry! What kind of behavior is that!"
The young man ignored Xiao Miao, his brow furrowed in distress, and whispered a few words in Ye Niangzi's ear. Xiao Miao, being close by, seemed to have heard what the young man said. Almost instantly, Xiao Miao's expression changed drastically.
"What did you say! Someone's missing!!? Why don't you just lose yourself!?"
"We've already sent people to look for him. You know how elusive that guy is, he's impossible for us to keep an eye on!" The young man seemed to be having a real headache, his brows furrowed so deeply they looked like they could squeeze water out of them.
"Alright, let's go look for them now. You go and settle Mr. Lu and his granddaughter in, I'll be back in a bit."
After saying this, Madam Ye left the dock. Xiao Miao glanced at Fan Xiaoxiao, whispered a few words in the young man's ear, and then hurriedly followed Madam Ye's retreating figure, leaving the people on the dock looking at each other in bewilderment.
Fan Xiaoxiao coughed, drawing everyone's attention back.
"Ahem, young hero, since Madam Ye just said that you should settle Mr. Lu and Xiaoyu first, then we will take our leave."
The young man smiled, a glint of light in his eyes: "Please make yourself at home, my lady."
The man's smile seemed familiar. Fan Xiaoxiao frowned, feeling as if she had seen this face somewhere before. But before she could think about it, Granny Wang over there seemed to have seen something, and she grabbed her skirt and ran down to the dock.
"Hey! Li Niang!" Uncle Wang exclaimed in surprise and quickly followed. Fan Xiaoxiao was also taken aback by their actions and hurriedly tugged at Fan Shi's sleeve: "Sister, let's follow! Don't lose Aunt and Uncle!"
After saying this, Fan Xiaoxiao nodded slightly to the young man and Uncle Lu as a farewell. Then, carrying her package, she hurriedly followed behind Aunt Wang and the others. However, Aunt Wang was too fast. She disappeared in a flash, leaving Fan Xiaoxiao and the others to run and search for her.
...
Half an hour later, Fan Xiaoxiao and her group finally found Aunt Wang and Uncle Wang in front of a collapsed house. One was sitting and the other was standing, both looking somewhat dejected. Aunt Wang, in particular, seemed lost and listless, staring blankly at the house in front of her.
Fan Xiaoxiao and Madam Fan exchanged a glance and quietly walked over.
Xiao Bao let go of Fan Shi's hand, ran to Wang Da Niang's side, and gently patted Wang Da Niang's shoulder.
"Grandma, have you found your relatives?" Children's words are always so direct. Fan Xiaoxiao and Madam Fan were both taken aback by Xiaobao's words and quickly tried to cover his mouth.
Grandma Wang waved gently to the two of them, indicating that she was alright. Then, she picked up on Xiao Bao's words, sighed softly, and looked at the houses in front of her with a somewhat distant gaze, saying, "Grandma, we couldn't find them..."
"Xiao Bao will go with you to look for them!" Xiao Bao couldn't bear to see adults looking so sad, so the little boy rolled up his sleeves and really got ready to go look for them.
Aunt Wang shook her head, sighed again, and then fell silent. Uncle Wang, seeing her like this, knew that she still cared about her family.
"Li Niang, it's getting late. Let's search again tomorrow. This place is so big, there's no way we can't find anyone."
“Yes, Auntie, when we came down here today, there weren’t many people in the town, which means they must not be here anymore. Moreover, this place has just suffered from flooding, and the terrain here is low-lying, so it’s possible that everyone has fled and hasn’t returned yet.” Fan Xiaoxiao spoke up her guess, and her words rekindled a glimmer of hope in Aunt Wang’s eyes.
"That's right... the girl is right, maybe the second brother and the others just went to avoid disaster!" Thinking of this, Aunt Wang's tense nerves relaxed a little.
Uncle Wang gave Fan Xiaoxiao an approving look, then walked over to Aunt Wang and helped her up.
"Alright, let's find a place to stay first, it's getting dark."
Fearing that the houses that had been flooded might collapse, the group found a relatively intact thatched hut nearby, tidied it up simply, and managed to spend the night there.
However, Aunt Wang still seemed listless, and Fan Xiaoxiao sighed softly.
"Auntie, please sit here. My sister and I will go and see if there's anything to eat." Their food had almost run out in the past three days, and now they needed to find something to eat.
"There's hardly anyone around here, where are you going to find food?" Uncle Wang said to Fan Xiaoxiao with some concern. He still vividly remembered how Fan Xiaoxiao had been taken away a few days ago, and now he absolutely refused to let them go looking for food on their own.
Left with no other option, the group searched around the house. Luckily, they found a Sichuan pepper tree in the front yard – a rare find! Even more coincidentally, Fan Xiaoxiao also found two surviving konjac pods in the kitchen.
After digging them out, Fan Xiaoxiao realized that the two konjac jelly tubers were actually quite large. She was delighted and carefully put them away, returning to the thatched shed in the front yard.
"Our dinner is sorted!"
(End of this chapter)
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