Chapter 162 The Bride and Xia Qianqian Have Both Disappeared
Xia Qianqian suddenly realized, recalling Xia Wenwen's feigned virtuousness earlier, and couldn't help but shake her head: "If Xia Wenwen knew that the wealth she had been hoping for was only worth a few bags of brown rice and a broken thermos, she would probably faint from anger."
Lu Zheng chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Why should I care about her?" He squeezed her hand. "Are you hungry? I'll make you some brown sugar eggs when we get home."
Xia Qianqian playfully slapped his hand away: "I just ate brown sugar steamed buns this morning, and my stomach is still full. Do you really think I'm an insatiable little pig?"
Looking at her plump face, which was fair and rosy like a peach, Lu Zheng couldn't help but pinch it: "That's the prettiest little pig."
"You're asking for it!" Xia Qianqian angrily tiptoed to pull his ear. Lu Zheng was afraid that she would have a miscarriage, so he deliberately bent down and got close to her, letting her knead and rub his face like dough, even the stray hairs at his temples were messed up.
The two girls entered the courtyard laughing and joking. Da Ya and Er Ya had already returned and were lying on the kang table counting the candy wrappers they had stolen that day.
As they entered, Er Ya held up a large White Rabbit candy wrapper and shouted, "Daddy! Mommy! We collected twenty candy wrappers today!"
Lu Zheng ruffled Er Ya's hair: "The team leader just came by and said he's going to organize people to build greenhouses in the river bend so we can have fresh vegetables in the winter. I'll go to work after I eat."
Daya immediately raised her hand: "We're going to work in a little while too. Today the team sent the kids to the peanut field to 'harvest peanuts'."
Xia Qianqian also knew about this. The captain specifically mentioned it in a meeting last night. The country is currently facing a food shortage, and not a single grain of food can be wasted.
Xia Qianqian smiled and nodded: "You all go about your business. I'll go to the sanitation team later. Sister Li sprained her ankle yesterday, and I'll go see how she's recovering."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng took out a thick coat from the closet and draped it over her shoulders: "It's windy outside, don't get cold."
Xia Qianqian obediently put her arms into her sleeves, feeling warm inside.
The hot tea warmed their stomachs, and everyone went about their tasks. Xia Qianqian, carrying her medicine kit, headed to the medical team's office.
As the sun climbed high overhead, Daya returned from the fields with a basket slung over her shoulder to prepare lunch. The iron pot on the stove sizzled, and the aroma of scallion pancakes filled the yard, but Xia Qianqian still hadn't returned by the time the food was on the table.
Da Ya wasn't too worried—when Xia Qianqian was learning medicine from the village's barefoot doctor, she often got so engrossed in her studies that she forgot the time.
Lu Zheng had specially prepared biscuits for her at the medical team's office, so she could have something to eat when she got hungry. She quickly packed the food into a bamboo lunchbox, ready to deliver it to Er Ya, who was still harvesting peanuts in the peanut field.
In the field, the children bent over and hunched over to gather peanuts; although it was labor, it was more like playing a "treasure hunt".
Whoever finds the peanuts hidden in the soil first wins cheers from their companions. Their trousers are covered in mud, but they don't complain of being tired. Only when the setting sun casts long shadows do they line up, clutching their bulging cloth bags, to pour their day's harvest into the production team's scale.
"Er Ya, thirteen jin!" As soon as the work recorder finished speaking, Er Ya grabbed two handfuls of peanuts and stuffed them into her pocket. This was also a perk given to the children by the production team leader.
After handing over the peanuts, the children, like a flock of swallows returning to their nest, chattered and laughed as they hurried home.
Wang Meihua, wearing an apron, poked her head out of the kitchen, her eyes and brows beaming with laughter: "Look at you two, you're covered in mud like mud monkeys!"
She playfully poked the ash off Er Ya's nose: "Go wash your face, there's pumpkin soup simmering on the stove."
"Okay—" Daya pulled Erya and ran towards the well. After washing their faces until they were bright red, one of the sisters went to pick vegetables, while the other squatted in front of the stove to add firewood.
As dusk settled into the courtyard, Lu Zheng returned carrying a hoe, a thin layer of dust on his shoulders and beads of sweat on his forehead.
He threw the hoe against the wall and shouted, "Qianqian, I'm back!"
The courtyard was quiet, with only the whirring of the bellows in the kitchen. He raised his voice and called out again, but still no one answered.
Lu Zheng wiped his sweat as he entered the kitchen. Wang Meihua was cooking. He asked, "Mom, has Qianqian not returned yet?"
"Go and bring her back." Wang Meihua didn't even look up, sprinkling chopped green onions into the pot. "This child must have forgotten the time again while learning at the medical team."
Wang Meihua felt both proud and heartbroken when she talked about her daughter-in-law.
Ever since Qianqian learned medicine from the barefoot doctor, the family members, young and old, no longer have to run to the commune clinic in the dark for minor ailments.
Even when she went to chat at the village entrance, she was often surrounded by the aunties who asked her all sorts of questions, and at the end they would always praise her, saying, "Your Qianqian is really capable."
But it's also true that I feel sorry for her.
Wang Meihua frowned slightly: "She's seven months pregnant now, her belly is as round as a watermelon, and she'll give birth in three months, yet she goes to the medical team every day, either reading or learning about medicinal herbs from the old doctor. How can her small body withstand such exertion?"
Lu Zheng grunted in agreement, picked up the military overcoat from the wall, and headed outside.
As night deepened, when Lu Zheng arrived at the medical team's office, the windows were pitch black and the lights were already off.
His heart sank. He circled the house twice. The door was locked tight, and the medicine basket under the eaves was still hanging in the same old place, but Xia Qianqian was nowhere to be seen.
"Did I take the wrong road?" he muttered to himself, quickening his pace and almost jogging home.
"Mom! Has Qianqian come back yet?" Before she even entered the courtyard, her voice rushed in, carrying a panic she herself didn't even realize.
Wang Meihua's face turned pale: "No...you didn't catch her?"
Wang Meihua smothered the fire in the stove, not even bothering to untie her apron, her voice trembling: "The village is so small, let's split up and search! Daya goes to the east end, Erya comes with me to the west end, Lu Zheng, you go check the back mountain!"
Before they could finish speaking, the group had already rushed out.
A cold wind howled along the dark mountain path. Lu Zheng stumbled along, his voice hoarse from shouting, "Qianqian! Xia Qianqian—"
Only the mountain wind howled in response to him.
When he ran home, the lanterns at the gate of the courtyard were swaying in the wind, making him feel uneasy.
Wang Meihua and her two maids had already returned.
"Couldn't find it..." Wang Meihua looked at Lu Zheng's back with a lost expression.
"Wah—" Er Ya suddenly threw herself into Wang Meihua's arms and burst into tears, "Mommy is gone! I want my mommy!"
Lu Zheng felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He slid down to the floor, leaning against the doorframe, staring at the dark night sky, his heart feeling as if it were being squeezed tightly by a hand.
Qianqian, where are you?
Just then, a commotion broke out in the village, and Lu Zheng almost sprang to his feet: "Could it be that they've found Qianqian?"
He rushed out before he could finish speaking, not even taking the coat Wang Meihua offered him, and dashed out in his shoes.
When he rushed to the Xia family's door following the sound, he realized that the commotion wasn't about looking for Qianqian at all.
The gate of the Xia family compound was wide open, and a lantern hung crookedly on the lintel. Several villagers were gathered around, discussing the matter.
Lu Zheng's heart sank; his newly ignited hope was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head. He grabbed a man who was watching the commotion and pressed him for answers. The man told him, "Xia Wenwen is missing!"
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