Feeling hopeless, the old woman began to wail again: "God, what terrible things have we done...?"
He kept repeating the same thing over and over until the wound on Chen Jin's hand stopped bleeding. Then he wiped his snot and tears from his face and yelled, "Go get me a towel. You're such a clueless jerk."
Chen Jin remained seated on the ground for a long while before looking up at the old lady, slowly nodding, and saying, "Okay."
Then, he slowly propped himself up with his palms, moved his feet to the corner of the wall, picked up the towel from the basin, turned around, walked to the bedside, and handed it to the old lady.
What seemed like an extremely simple instruction to the average person took Chen Jin at least five minutes to complete.
The old woman grabbed a towel and rubbed her face haphazardly. The icy shards on the towel stung her skin. She threw the towel on the ground and shouted, "Go clean up!"
As if oblivious to the other person's bad temper, Chen Jin slowly picked up the towel, then slowly turned around, went out, rubbed it in the snow, and brought it back to put it in the basin.
The old lady watched her movements the whole time, wanting to say something, but feeling that this simpleton couldn't understand at all.
He cursed "idiot" and then went to bed.
Neither of them took Xiao Xiaobao seriously. The old lady thought it wasn't the first time they'd chased someone away like this, and the little brat would come back on his own in a while. As for Chen Jin, she had absolutely no concept of children.
And so, the two of them stayed quietly at home. It wasn't until dusk that Xiao's father returned with Xiao Fei.
When he returned, he found only the two women in the house. The old man searched everywhere but couldn't find the little boy, so he woke the old woman and asked, "Where's Xiaobao?"
"Isn't it over there?" the old lady said, pointing to a corner without even looking up, somewhat displeased.
"No, it's just the two of you at home!" Old Xiao said, frowning.
The old lady jolted awake, propped herself up on her arms and sat up, carefully looking around the small apartment of less than twenty square meters, and found that there was indeed no one there.
"I shouted 'Get out' around noon, and that brat hasn't come back yet?" the old lady said without any attempt to hide her true feelings.
A vein throbbed on Mr. Xiao's forehead. He thought to himself, even if he didn't like his grandson, he shouldn't have spoken like that. What would others think of them if they heard this?
However, now was not the time to investigate. He carefully inquired about when the child had gone out, whether he had returned in between, and where he usually went.
But there were two people in the family: one was bedridden and unable to move, and the other was mentally challenged and could barely speak. He felt a deep sense of malice from fate.
Old Man Xiao waved his hand weakly, his body instantly slumping. Old Mrs. Xiao felt a pang of panic; she regretted sending the little brat out.
"Alright, don't worry about it. I'll go out and look for it," said Mr. Xiao.
The old lady hesitated for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately she didn't speak.
Old Man Xiao took Xiao Fei out and searched the neighborhood, but they couldn't find any trace of his grandson.
There were many residents nearby, and the commotion quickly attracted everyone's attention. Since they had all come to Haishi together, although everyone was annoyed by the old lady, they all felt sorry for the family and helped look for her.
At that time, Zeng Yiming went to find Ding Xunye, so he didn't join the search team. But Zeng's parents went to help.
Old Man Xiao was extremely grateful and kept thanking him.
The group searched the entire D area but couldn't find the person. Later, a passing guard learned of their search and suggested they expand the search area while also sending someone back to request backup.
The sky grew darker and colder. Only a few points of light remained in Zone D. Everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts, but no one gave up.
Xiao's father was already sobbing uncontrollably, but Xiao Fei remained expressionless.
The security guards who came to help were confused and accused the father of being heartless. It was only after the residents of Sector D explained that the guards understood the family's dire situation. That made it even more important not to abandon the little one.
"Let's go, search again." Liang Huaxin waved his hand, and the guards dispersed. They started searching again from Zone D.
Half an hour later, a guard shouted, "Captain, we found it! It's here!"
His voice was very penetrating, directly waking up those who had just fallen asleep in the quiet snowy night.
Liang Huaxin got excited and shouted, "Where? Where?" and ran towards the source of the sound.
Xiao's father and the others heard it too, and they rushed over in a swarm.
I thought it was good news, but when it arrived, I realized it was a bolt from the blue.
The child had long since passed away. His face was flushed, and he had a strange smile on his face, which startled everyone who came forward to check on him.
"What's going on? Did he die with his eyes open in disbelief?"
"But this child is mentally challenged, what could he possibly understand!"
Seeing the conversation veer off-topic, Liang Huaxin quickly explained, "This is because of hypothermia syndrome..."
He gave a brief explanation, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, I see! The guards really know a lot."
At this moment, Mr. Xiao also came over. When he saw his grandson lying motionless in the snow, he broke down. He went forward, hugged the little boy into his arms, and cried uncontrollably, a scene that brought tears to the eyes of anyone who heard it.
After a long silence, Xiao's father finally asked, "Captain Liang, did my grandson die of his own accord, or was he murdered?"
Liang Huaxin crouched down and carefully examined the child. Finally, pointing to the ankle, he said, "Look, there's a sprain mark here. I guess the child probably fell accidentally and couldn't get up. Nobody noticed, and then..."
He was too embarrassed to say the words "frozen to death".
But Mr. Xiao understood. He nodded and said, "As long as he wasn't harmed by someone, that's good. This child has suffered so much. He's seven or eight years old, but he's still like a five or six-year-old, so small. He can't speak, so even if he's injured, he can't call for help. It's our fault for not taking good care of the child."
Everyone in District D knows the situation of the Xiao family, so no one criticizes the old man who bears the heavy responsibility of supporting the family.
They all stepped forward to comfort him: "The dead cannot be brought back to life, you still need to take good care of yourself. You may lose your grandson, but you still have your son. Don't be too sad, if you collapse, who will take care of the old lady and the young couple?"
The old man was not comforted at all; he stared at the falling snowflakes and felt utterly hopeless.
Xiao Fei seemed to only then realize the situation before him, and he cried out, "Ah!" Even though he didn't have much affection for that child, it was still his own child.
The sudden crying startled the guards, who, caught off guard, instinctively took several steps back.
The person in Section D explained softly, "It's nothing, this young man is just a little slow to react."
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