"Mother, Mother, what's wrong? Why are you staring at me blankly?"
Xiao Yunying snapped out of her daze, put the small cake on her plate, and tried to keep her voice relaxed.
"I'm relieved that the greedy little pig has learned to share its food."
Luo Xin burst into laughter: "Third brother is a little pig."
Luo Li blushed as she was laughed at: "I just wanted to let Mother have a taste since she hadn't eaten a single bite."
He muttered to himself, "Why does my mother's expression feel so strange? There's something off about it that I can't quite put my finger on."
Xiao Yunying took a bite of the biscuit, and only after swallowing the food in her mouth did she say:
"It's really delicious, but you can't eat too much, especially Luo Li. Just two more is enough. You ate the most snacks at the market. If you keep eating, you'll get as fat as Yuan Xuan."
She paused for a moment, then picked up another small pancake and put the side dishes on it, trying to hide her emotions.
Luo Li dismissed his earlier doubts. His mother was the same as usual, nothing was wrong. Of his brothers and sisters, she only specifically told him not to be greedy.
Although he does occasionally overeat...
"If Yuanxuan hears me say that, he'll start yelling that he'll lose weight in the future. I've been saying it for so long, but I haven't seen him actually lose weight."
Xiao Yunying didn't want to mention Chen Yuanxuan and Luo Yang in front of the children, so she casually hummed in agreement.
If she's so worried, Yuan Xuan, being Yuan Cheng's younger brother, would only be even more worried than her.
Thinking about the Chen brothers, her mind was in a mess. She groggily got up and put the rolled pancake in her hand onto Chen Yuancheng's plate.
The people eating at the table all stopped what they were doing and stared at Xiao Yunying, who hadn't yet reacted.
Luo Xin spoke up naively: "Mother, you gave it to the wrong person."
"ah?"
Xiao Yunying, who was rolling up a small pancake, looked up at the empty plates in front of the three children, and finally realized that the pancake she had rolled was on Chen Yuancheng's plate.
"Sorry, sorry, I was daydreaming."
As he spoke, he tried to take it back with his hand.
He reached halfway out but then felt it was impolite, so he withdrew his hand and used serving chopsticks to pick up the food.
Chen Yuancheng spoke up: "It's already on my plate, so don't take it back. You can roll some new ones for the children."
After saying that, he picked it up with his chopsticks and took a bite.
"……All right."
He didn't mind, and I didn't mind either; besides, I'd already eaten.
After finishing her meal absentmindedly, Xiao Yunying sat in the private room for a while before asking Dai Jincai to take the children back to the village, while she stayed behind to wait for news.
While the children weren't paying attention, she discussed with Chen Yuancheng about having Ling Qi take them home.
I don't trust Dai Jincai, who is the only one driving the carriage.
Chen Yuancheng instructed Ling Qi: "You ride your horse to escort them back, and watch them enter their homes before returning."
Xiao Yunying gave the children a few instructions: "Luo Yang is eager to learn and might pester Yuan Cheng's father for help until very late. In that case, we'll stay in the city for the night."
"Luo Chen, if I don't go home tonight, tell my mother you're staying at her place. Don't bring your younger siblings home alone, understand?"
Luo Chen responded briefly, and after the two children got into the carriage, he pulled her a few steps back.
"Mother, what happened to my second brother?"
Xiao Yunying lowered her eyes. She knew that Luo Chen was sensitive and suspicious, and she couldn't hide anything from him.
"Mother, say something!"
"Keep your voice down."
Xiao Yunying glanced back at the carriage to make sure the two children hadn't heard, then turned to him and said, "Luo Yang and Yuan Xuan went missing on their way to the bookstore."
"How could that be! Weren't they accompanied by a servant who knew martial arts?"
Xiao Yunying whispered, "The pastry shop not far from the bookstore has some new pastries, and Luo Yang wants to buy some for me to try."
Because of the long queue, Yuanxuan had his servant queue up while the two of them went to the bookstore themselves, thinking it would save some time.
Unexpectedly, when the servant went to the bookstore to inquire after buying the pastries, the clerk said he hadn't seen the two children come to buy books alone.
Seeing his face grow increasingly somber, Xiao Yunying felt a pang of guilt: "I'm sorry, it was my oversight. I should have gone with him."
"Mother, don't blame yourself too much. This was an accident. No one would have thought that my second brother and Yuanxuan could disappear on a busy street."
Xiao Yunying was somewhat surprised: "You're not angry with me?"
"This is not Mother's fault at all; the blame lies with those hateful kidnappers."
Xiao Yunying patted Luo Chen's head: "You've grown up, you're starting to look like an older brother."
Luo Chen felt a little awkward. He knew he used to be easily angered and impulsive, so he pursed his lips sheepishly and asked, "Did Mother report it to the authorities?"
"The authorities were notified immediately upon discovering that the person was missing. Inspections at all city gates were strengthened, and more soldiers were deployed to patrol the streets. Even the servants of the Chen family, who could come out to search for the person, were all sent out."
Luo Li leaned out of the carriage window: "Mother, what secrets are you and my brother talking about?"
Xiao Yunying coaxed him, "I'll ask your eldest brother if he needs any books, and we can borrow a few when your second brother comes back. Do you want some too?"
"No need for that, I haven't finished reading the books at home yet."
Luo Li quickly lowered the curtain and retreated into the carriage.
She said to Luo Chen, "I kept this from you because I didn't want you to be scared and worried. I will stay in the city and wait for news. I need you to take good care of my younger brother and sister. Can you do that?"
Luo Chen knew that his abilities were negligible at this moment, and there was no point in him staying. He nodded firmly and said, "Don't worry, Mother, I'll take care of things at home."
"Okay, get in the car quickly."
"Mother, you must take good care of yourself too."
Luo Chen boarded the carriage, which slowly moved forward, with Ling Qi mounting his horse and following behind.
"Yun Ying, go inside and wait. Someone will come to report if there is any news."
"good."
The two sat in the private room for a while, and then someone came back to inform them of the current situation.
"Young master, there is a stall across the corner from the pastry shop to the bookstore. The stall owner provided useful information, saying that he had seen two children who resembled the young master and the young master of the Luo family pass by there."
There were customers at the stall at that time. He glanced at them and went to reply to them. After saying a few words, he looked up again and saw a carriage passing by, blocking his view. After the carriage passed, the two children disappeared.
The stall owner assumed the two children had gone into the outermost general store and, without thinking much of it, went back to attending to other customers.
Chen Yuancheng asked, "What kind of carriage?"
"The stall owner didn't look closely, but said he thought he saw an old red cloth tied above the right door frame of the carriage."
Xiao Yunying stood up: "Wearing red cloth? Doesn't that carriage look rather unremarkable, even a bit dilapidated?"
Chen Yuancheng walked up to her and said, "Yun Ying, do you know something?"
Xiao Yunying said, "A few days ago, two children went missing in our village. An old woman who lives at the village entrance said she saw a strange carriage drive out of the village."
When we asked her more details, she said the carriage looked a bit old and there was nothing special about it, except for a faded red cloth tied to the door frame, which left a deep impression on her.
"Yuan Cheng, they must have been kidnapped. Otherwise, it's too much of a coincidence that this carriage appeared in both instances of children going missing."
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