Mu Lianrong couldn't bear to scold her too much, so she softened her tone: "You must be exhausted these past two days. Don't cook dinner tonight, I'll have your older brother bring it to you."
Xiao Yunying smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you, sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, to cook, and I'll also trouble you, brother, to make the trip."
She still experiences a sharp pain in her thighs when walking. She walked so hard on the mountain road yesterday, and her whole body aches. She really wants to take a break.
"By the way, Mother, how did you know that Luo Yang was abducted, and how did you know that I was back today?"
She clearly told Luo Chen to keep it a secret.
Mu Lianrong said disdainfully, "Your eldest son is not good at lying. He even said that Luo Yang was kept behind by Young Master Chen's father for two days to be taught."
If it were truly the case that Young Master Chen's father kept him behind for two days to teach him, while only his younger brother was kept behind, you could say the child felt envious, jealous, or sad. Yet, he seemed restless, as if he were constantly worried about something.
Xiao Shanhai continued, "Your mother sensed something was wrong, but she held back and didn't press the matter. The next day, before you returned, she sent me with your eldest and second brothers to the city to gather information."
The Chen family, along with the government, searched everywhere for the missing child, which became common knowledge. Rumors circulated that the young master of the Chen family had been abducted along with another child.
"You're close to the Chen family's young master, and given Luo Yang's absence and Luo Chen's current state, it's easy to guess that the other missing child is likely Luo Yang."
Xiao Yunying thought to herself that although Luo Chen was intelligent, he was still young, inexperienced, and not mature enough.
In this respect, he is slightly inferior to Luo Yang.
Since his younger sister returned safe and sound, Xiao Yunbai relaxed completely and sat beside her, cracking sunflower seeds, saying:
"Little sister, you don't know how worried my family has been these past two days. I wanted to go to the Chen residence to find out what was going on, but Father wouldn't let me, saying that he didn't want us to cause trouble. So we can only stay at home and worry anxiously."
We couldn't sit still any longer, and Dad wouldn't let us go to the city to look for you, so we could only wait for news at the village entrance every day.
Xiao Shanhai said disdainfully, "It's enough that Young Master Chen and the yamen are helping to find people. You won't be of any help anyway. Your little sister will have to answer your stupid questions. What else would you be but a hindrance?"
Xiao Yunbai wanted to defend himself a bit, since he was still somewhat useful, but before he could say anything, his wife stopped him with a water glass.
Mu Lianrong said, "Some people in the village went to the city and heard about this. They came back and told the Lin family. Lin Shi then went to the yamen gate every day to wait for news."
This morning, I heard from the people at the yamen that they found the abducted children in the bandits' den last night. But after searching everywhere, they couldn't find the two children from our village. After inquiring, they learned that the Chen family and you had taken one of the children, so they rushed back to wait for you at the village entrance. Who knew… how heartbroken those two families must be.”
Mu Lianrong asked about what had happened in the past two days. Xiao Yunying did not mention that she had gone to the bandit's den alone to rescue people. She only said that she was waiting at the foot of the mountain, and that troops from above had been sent to take down the stronghold and rescue the children.
Looking at her daughter's changed clothes, Mu Lianrong asked with a skeptical attitude, "You really didn't go to the bandits' den?"
Perhaps the clothes were changed because they were stained with someone's blood.
Xiao Yunying widened her eyes and said sincerely, "Of course it's true. Bandit dens are so dangerous, I'm scared too."
Mu Lianrong stared at her daughter for a long time, making Xiao Yunying feel guilty and want to admit that she had lied.
But suddenly her expression relaxed, and she said earnestly, "Yunyun, I know you are worried about Luo Yang's safety and that you would do dangerous things to save him. You should also know that I worry about you just as much as you worry about Luo Yang."
If something like this happens again, please remember that your mother, your father, your brothers and sisters-in-law are also worried about you. Don't put yourself in danger. While trying to save others, make sure you stay safe as well.
The sudden emotional outburst left Xiao Yunying speechless for a moment, before she solemnly said, "Mother, don't worry, I've remembered."
Mu Lianrong patted her hand: "Alright, you and Luo Yang get some rest, we're leaving now."
Xiao Yunying saw her family out the door. When she opened the front door, she saw Liu Ge, his face bruised and battered, staring at her front door with a gloomy expression from around the corner.
Seeing that she had opened the door, he immediately turned and left.
Xiao Yunbai, who was behind her, also saw it: "Hey, this Liu Xiucai still dares to come to my sister's house. He's lucky he left quickly, otherwise I would have caught him and given him another beating."
Xiao Yunying asked curiously, "Was the injury on his face inflicted by my second brother? Why did my second brother hit him?"
Second sister-in-law Wang explained, "That old woman Liu probably heard some news when she went to town yesterday morning. When she came back, she met the water-carrying sister-in-law and asked if you were home. The sister-in-law was too lazy to talk to her and just said no and left."
Who knew what had gotten into this old woman Liu? She started spouting nonsense all over the village, saying that you and Luo Yang had been kidnapped together, that you looked like a vixen... and were sold... cough, anyway, all sorts of unpleasant things.
When your second brother heard about it, he went to the Liu family, intending to scare Granny Liu into shutting up. However, he overheard Liu Ge and his mother talking about using this opportunity to ruin your reputation, which angered your second brother so much that he went in and beat him up.
Xiao Yunying frowned and said, "This person is disgusting."
Xiao Yunsong said, "Little sister, don't be afraid. If he comes looking for trouble again, I guarantee I'll beat him so badly that even his own mother won't recognize him."
"I'm not afraid, but I'm annoyed. Brother, just ignore them. Don't let them try to extort money from us later."
After seeing off her family, Xiao Yunying wondered if she should take this opportunity to send Luo Xin away and talk to Luo Yang about what happened on the mountain.
Unfortunately, she wasn't good at psychological counseling and was afraid that talking about those things would upset Luo Yang.
"Mother, is there something you want to say?"
Xiao Yunying didn't know how to start the conversation, so she ultimately didn't bring it up: "You must be tired. Go back to your room and get some sleep. I'll call you for dinner tonight."
"Yes, Mother, you should go back to your room and get some sleep too. I don't think you've had a good rest these past two days."
After exchanging a few awkward pleasantries, Xiao Yunying felt for the first time that she had nothing to say to Luo Yang, and led Luo Xin back to her room.
She hadn't been lying on the kang (heated brick bed) for long when Aunt Yang, Fang Rou, Duan Yingying and her daughter, along with their farmhands, heard the news and came to see her one after another.
After everyone had left, it was already dark.
Thinking that Luo Chen and Luo Li should be back soon, I went to the kitchen, boiled some water, and waited for the two brothers to return.
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