Fu Lan waited in the cellar all night, and as dawn broke, Xing Zhaozhao still hadn't appeared. She was so frightened that she felt dizzy and her hands and feet turned cold.
What should we do? Sister Xing has really disappeared. How can she explain this to others, especially Hongyu and Hongfei?
Just then, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside.
Hongyu got up and searched the house inside and out, but couldn't find Xing Zhaozhao. His first thought was the cellar, so he ran over there.
Having learned his lesson here yesterday, he was extra cautious when he went down this time. Sure enough, he saw a woman's figure inside and immediately exclaimed happily, "Mom, I knew it! You must be here..."
Before he could finish speaking, the woman slowly turned around, and when Hongyu saw her face clearly, he was immediately startled: "Aunt Xiaolan? It's you? Where's Mom?"
Having already endured a day of fear and anxiety, and having stayed up all night worrying, Fu Lan finally couldn't hold back any longer when she saw Hong Yu. She burst into tears, crying out, "What should I do, Little Feather? Sister Xing has suddenly disappeared! I've been waiting here all night, but she hasn't come back..."
Before she could finish speaking, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
"Aunt Xiaolan..." Hongyu saw something was wrong and rushed over to try to support her, but she was too small and weak to support her. He could only watch as she slowly fell down, but thankfully she didn't fall.
Hongyu, being a child on her own, couldn't handle it at all, so she had to run to her older brother for help: "Brother, brother, something terrible has happened! Aunt Xiaolan has fainted..."
After an unknown amount of time, Fu Lan finally woke up and found herself still lying in the cellar. Hong Fei and Hong Yu were squatting beside her, with a basin of water next to them. They were struggling to wring out the water from a towel, but they couldn't. So they clumsily put the wet towel on her forehead, and water droplets dripped down her face, wetting half of her shoulder.
Fu Lan: "..." For a moment, she didn't know whether to thank her or not.
When they saw Fu Lan open her eyes, Hong Yu and Hong Fei were overjoyed: "Auntie Xiao Lan, you're finally awake! That's wonderful!"
Fu Lan removed the damp towel from her forehead: "...Thank you."
Hongyu and Hongfei looked at Fu Lan with concern: "Auntie Xiaolan, are you feeling any better?"
"Hmm, I'm fine now." Fu Lan touched her head, which seemed a little hot, but that wasn't the most important thing right now.
Her eyes were red and swollen as she looked at the two little ones in front of her, and tears streamed down her face. What should she do? They would be without a mother from now on.
Hongyu and Hongfei panicked when they saw Fu Lan crying so miserably: "What's wrong? Aunt Lan? Why are you suddenly crying?"
Fu Lan gripped Hongyu and Hongfei's hands tightly: "I'm sorry, Dafei, Xiaoyu, I didn't keep a close eye on Sister Xing. Last night, I saw her suddenly get up, and I didn't know what she wanted to do, so I followed her out of curiosity. I didn't expect her to disappear into the cellar and she hasn't shown up since..."
Hongyu: "..."
Hongfei: "..."
Hongyu and Hongfei looked at each other, their faces showing panic.
Brother, something terrible has happened! We've been found out! What do we do?
I don't know either.
The two of them looked towards the door: When will Mom come back?
Fu Lan noticed Hongfei and Hongyu's gazes, followed their line of sight, but saw nothing, and felt a chill run down her spine.
"What are you looking at?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Hongfei and Hongyu shook their heads in unison: "We didn't see anything."
Everything looked so neat and tidy; something seemed amiss. Fu Lan's face turned pale with fright, and she asked, "You...you're hiding something from me?"
The two little ones immediately fell silent.
When Fu Lan saw this, her already icy heart sank completely. There was definitely something wrong.
"What exactly are you hiding from me?" Fu Lan asked tremblingly.
Hongfei sighed helplessly and turned to look at his younger brother: "Now that Aunt Xiaolan has already found out, there's no need to keep it a secret any longer, right?"
Hongyu nodded seriously: "But Mom also said that we shouldn't tell other people about this."
Hongfei thought about it carefully: "Then let's wait until Mom comes back and tell Aunt Xiaolan herself."
Hongyu nodded in agreement: "Okay."
Hongfei looked at Fu Lan and said, "Don't worry, Aunt Lan, Mom hasn't disappeared. She's just gone somewhere else and will come back."
Fu Lan looked bewildered: "Went somewhere else? How did she get there? When will she be back?"
Hongfei went over and took Fu Lan's hand: "Let's go back and wait for a while. She'll be back soon, okay?"
Fu Lan was completely bewildered: "...Oh."
Hongfei led Fu Lan out of the cellar.
Fu Lan followed obediently.
Just as I stepped into the front yard, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door.
Fu Lan shuddered, snapping out of her daze, and instinctively asked warily, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Xiaolan," Grandma Qin called from outside.
"It's Grandma Qin!" Upon hearing Grandma Qin's voice, without Fu Lan even needing to speak, Hong Yu had already dashed over, opened the door, and then, looking at Grandma Qin standing outside, called out loudly, "Grandma Qin!"
"Oh, so good." Grandma Qin responded, then looked around anxiously and asked, "Where's Zhaozhao?"
Fu Lan looked at the two little ones, unsure how to answer for a moment. She stammered for a moment and said, "Uh... Sister Xing isn't here."
"Not here?" Old Mrs. Qin panicked upon hearing this. "How could she not be here? Where did she go? Could she have been arrested by the police? I didn't see her when I came. Did I come too late again and miss her? No, I have to go back and look for her." With that, she turned to leave.
Fu Lan realized something was wrong and quickly ran over to pull the person back, then closed the door: "No, Sister Xing wasn't arrested by the police."
Grandma Qin frowned, puzzled: "Didn't you say she wasn't here? Wasn't she arrested by the police? Did she go back into the mountains again?"
Fu Lan shook her head: "It's not like we went into the mountains."
"Where did they go?" Old Mrs. Qin asked.
“Uh…” Fu Lan didn’t know how to answer, so she looked to Hong Fei for help.
Hongfei's face tightened, and he remained silent. His mother had told him that this matter couldn't be told to just anyone, not even his godmother.
Grandma Qin glanced at Fu Lan, then at Hongfei, who looked utterly mysterious. She blinked, a sudden realization dawning on her. There was probably only one possibility that could make them so wary: "Oh, where did she go?"
Although she didn't say anything, everyone present instantly understood and turned to look at Old Madam Qin: "How did you know too?"
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