"Okay, let's do it this way. Little friend, we'll take you home. Think carefully about which direction you came from."
Yu Jiu poked his little face and urged him to go back quickly.
"Oh, but I don't want to go back yet. I want to play with the other kids."
The little boy looked longingly at the alley entrance; his friend had just lived in that alley.
"Stop playing! They've all gone home for dinner. Look, there's no one on the street. Your family must be looking for you. Listen to me, you can play another time if you want."
Yu Jiu urged him to drink more wine.
"Alright then."
The little boy had no choice but to agree. However, he had just wandered over from home and walked a very long way, which he couldn't remember. He stood at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, looking to the left and then to the right. He racked his brains for a long time before finally turning left.
"I guess this is how I get home."
He walked ahead, muttering to himself, while Yu Jiu and Xu Zi followed slowly behind, escorting him. After walking for about five or six minutes, the little boy suddenly realized that this was not the right path.
"It doesn't seem to have come from here."
"Then let's go back to the supply and marketing cooperative and take another route."
Yu Jiu and Xu Zi led him back to the supply and marketing cooperative, this time taking the right-hand route. If the child couldn't find his way, they didn't know if the police station would be open today, or if they could find a police officer to take him home.
Fortunately, this time I was on the right and the road to the right was correct. I made a few turns and kept going straight for about half an hour and still hadn't arrived.
"Aren't we there yet? Do these roads look familiar? Could we have gotten lost again?"
Yu Jiu couldn't help but ask him.
"No, my house is just ahead."
The little boy was very determined.
Well then, since he said so, Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang had no choice but to believe him and continue following him. They walked and walked, and after another half hour they still hadn't arrived. Yu Jiu couldn't help but ask again.
"Are you sure we haven't gone the wrong way? How much longer do we have to walk?"
"Almost there, almost there, Auntie, are you tired from walking? Then I can go home by myself."
The little boy was so reckless that he even wanted Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang to go home first, saying he could find his way. He was only five years old and not even as tall as Xu Zijiang's knee. He was incredibly audacious.
Yu Jiu had never been to this area before; she wasn't familiar with it and didn't know if there were any tenement buildings here. However, Xu Zijiang had been here once before, and he remembered it.
"He must have gone to the right place. This area seems to be a dormitory building for a textile factory. His family probably works at the textile factory."
Xu Zijiang thought for a moment and said, "Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, a young couple rushed over crying and shouting, picked up the little boy, and started spanking him repeatedly."
"Where have you been, you brat? It's Chinese New Year! Are you trying to scare your dad and me to death?! We've been looking for you for ages! Where have you been? Didn't we tell you not to wander off?!"
"Ouch, that hurts! Mom, Mom, please don't hit me anymore. I know I was wrong."
Under his mother's beating, the little boy finally realized his mistake. He covered his head and tried to run away, but his father grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him back.
"Still trying to run around? I think you need a good beating, you've got too thick-skinned, haven't you!"
His father was also very angry and slapped him several times. However, the clothes were thick, and the slaps were on his bottom, so it didn't hurt much. The little boy just whimpered a few times without shedding a tear. After the two of them finished disciplining the child, they finally had time to look at Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang. Yu Jiu took the initiative to explain.
“We met him at the supply and marketing cooperative on the east side. He was playing with the children and fell to the ground. I went to help him up. I thought he lived nearby, but he said no. I was afraid he would get lost, so I let him find his way and we followed him back.”
"Thank you so much. We never expected that kid would run off over there, so far away. We've been looking for him for half an hour, searching the whole area. He usually doesn't run this far. We're scared out of our wits. We almost thought he'd been kidnapped by human traffickers. If we can't find him soon, we'll have to ask our relatives and friends for help. It's really not good to go through all this trouble during the New Year."
"That kid needs a good beating!"
His father gritted his teeth again as he spoke, "Really, can't I even have a good New Year? My heart almost stopped from being scared."
Because Xu Zi was holding a cute little baby, the boy's parents didn't think the two women were bad people and easily believed what they said.
"It's good that the child is alright. He actually knows the way, but he didn't remember the direction at first. Later, he chose the right direction and kept walking back. However, he did run quite far. It took us an hour to get here. I thought he had taken the wrong way."
Yu Jiu also thought that this kid was really bold and thick-skinned, actually walking so far by himself and not getting tired.
“Boys are so naughty and hard to raise. Is that a little girl you’re holding? Daughters are so much cuter and more obedient. I haven’t found this boy cute since he learned to walk. If it weren’t for you guys today, I wouldn’t know what to do. Why don’t you come up and sit down and have some food? We’ve just finished preparing our New Year’s Eve dinner and were about to eat. We’ve been looking for this boy for half an hour, and the food is getting cold.”
The boy's parents kept complaining, which shows just how much trouble and anxiety this kid had caused them.
"No need, no need, we've already eaten. You guys go back and eat, we need to go back too."
Yu Jiu smiled and declined, saying it was just a small favor to do.
"Then we'll head back now. Do you remember the way? Would you like us to give you a ride?"
"No need, we made sure to remember the way when we came."
Since that was the case, they decided not to see them off. They thanked Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang repeatedly before carrying the little boy home, grumbling and muttering. The little boy even turned back to wink at Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang, quite lively. You could say that taking care of a child is really troublesome, but when children are cute, they are truly adorable.
"Let's go back too."
The round trip took more than two hours, which should have been enough for them to kill time. They didn't need to visit the supply and marketing cooperative or the department store; they could go straight home.
"Okay, An'an is sleepy again. Look at her, her eyelids are drooping."
Xu Zi chuckled and handed An'an over to Yu Jiu to look after her. Little An'an was sleepy, her eyelids were almost closed, but she seemed reluctant to leave the scenery outside. As soon as her eyelids drooped, she tried hard to open them again, revealing a pair of sleepy big eyes, half-asleep.
"It seems our An'an really enjoys being outside. Once the weather gets warmer, we can take her out for walks more often."
Yu Jiu laughed heartily. She leaned over and kissed her daughter's rosy cheeks, then took Xu Zijiang's hand, and the two of them took An'an home. Anyway, there weren't many people on the road now, so it wouldn't matter if they just held hands.
After walking so much, the food they ate at noon had been mostly digested. The two of them played at home for a while, then ate again. After eating and resting for a bit, they took a shower and went to bed. They put the child to sleep early and began their own happy time together.
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