Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Child Was Stolen
As soon as he got back inside, Qin Haifeng couldn't help but glance out the window and asked in a low voice, "How come you're suddenly so familiar with the educated youth? You even brought them home for dinner..."
As Lin Baozhu helped him adjust to a more comfortable position, she explained, "Today, over at the Ninth Greenhouse, I heard someone shouting for help..." She briefly recounted what had happened, and casually mentioned that she wanted to use the knowledge of the educated youth to change the lives of the villagers...
Qin Haifeng frowned slightly upon hearing this: "There are capable people among the educated youth. But those past troubles in the village have already created a rift between them. Now they only want to keep a low profile and stay safe. Breaking the ice... will be difficult."
"There's plenty of time. If there weren't so much scheming between the two, the atmosphere in the whole village would be much better."
She did this not only for the sake of the educated youth, but also for her own sake.
"Then let's work together."
"good."
For dinner, Lin's mother brought out the large round table in the house. In the middle of the table was a griddle, and on top of the griddle was a burning brazier. On the brazier was a large pot, and the meat and vegetables inside were bobbing up and down, with a rich, sour aroma constantly wafting into the air.
Spicy chili peppers, fermented bean curd, scallions, and cilantro are served in a rich broth. After stirring it well, the tender pork knuckle is dipped in the sauce, and with one bite, the rich, salty flavor explodes in your mouth. Lin Baozhu couldn't help but squint her eyes. Besides loving money and women, she also loves to eat all kinds of delicious food.
This pickled cabbage and pig's trotter dish is one of her favorites.
"Oh my god, this soup is delicious, and how did they make the meat so springy and tender?"
Lin Sanlang picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, dipped it in water, and said, "That's a real hassle. First, you have to remove the hair from the pork hock, then boil it, and after boiling, you have to coat the surface with honey and strong liquor, then fry it until golden brown on all sides. Finally, you put the fried hock in a pot and boil it for two hours, then take it out, slice it, add chili flakes, and stir-fry it evenly... [Recipe for Yunnan Fuyuan Sauerkraut Pork Trotters]"
Yu Jiangli's hand trembled as she picked up the meat. Oh my god! Just hearing about it made me realize how troublesome it was.
It was also because Lin's mother loved Lin Baozhu so much; who in an ordinary family would be willing to eat like that?
Putting aside how rare meat is, honey is not something ordinary families can have.
After the meal, everyone was full.
After dinner, Shi Hanqiao and Yu Jiangli helped Lin's mother clean up before saying goodbye and leaving...
After returning to the house, Lin Baozhu flashed into her spatial dimension and looked at the watermelons and strawberries in the field, feeling a headache coming on!
Who would have thought that she only planted ten vines, but the watermelon vines spread everywhere, and the watermelons were so big and sweet that she couldn't possibly finish them all.
Thankfully, the space has a preservation function, otherwise most of it would have been wasted.
But watermelons can't be sold in large quantities, but if they're not sold, there are too many of them to eat!
Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. She knew of a watermelon sauce made by marinating fermented soybeans with Sichuan peppercorns and star anise powder for a few days, then stir-frying it with chili peppers and scallions. It tasted quite good.
She has soybeans in her space, but she really doesn't know how to ferment soybeans. She'll ask Lin's mother tomorrow, and it would be best if she could see how she does it. Then she can pickle watermelon sauce in her space and sell it on the black market along with other things.
After harvesting the watermelons, I splurge on a bath in the spiritual spring, then pour all the bathwater onto the crops in my spatial storage before heading to the large bed in the mall and falling into a deep sleep…
After a sleepless night, Lin Baozhu was awakened early the next morning by a sharp scream before she even got up, followed by a series of footsteps coming from all directions...
Lin Baozhu groggily got up from the space, dressed herself, and went out of the room. She saw that her mother and Lin Sanlang were already up.
"Mother, what happened?"
"I don't know, but the voice sounds like your Aunt Guihua. You sleep a little longer, and I'll go with your third brother to take a look."
After saying that, she quickly walked towards the front door. Lin Baozhu had been woken up and was no longer sleepy, so she simply picked up her leg and chased after her mother...
As soon as they reached the road, they saw Widow Wang walking and talking with Lin's mother.
"Guihua's grandson went missing today, and she's crying and wailing right now."
"Gone? When did it disappear?"
"I don't know, quite a few children have gone missing in the area lately, do you think it's possible..."
"Stop talking nonsense, let's go and take a look first."
At this moment, a crowd had gathered at the gate of Guihua's house. The brigade leader's voice rang out from the crowd: "Think carefully, did your grandson come home last night?"
“I went home and was putting him to bed around 9 p.m., but when I woke up in the morning I found he wasn’t there. I thought he had gone to the outhouse, so I didn’t think much of it. But I waited and waited and waited and he didn’t come back… He’s my only son. How can I face my son without him?”
Qiao Guihua was sobbing uncontrollably, and everyone's expressions turned grim, considering the recent spate of missing children in the neighborhood.
Lin Baozhu stood outside the crowd, her brows furrowed. Last night, the child woke up to find him missing, meaning the child was stolen while he was asleep!
"Aunt Guihua, when was the last time you saw your grandson?"
"I fell asleep while I was putting him to sleep, so..."
"In other words, at least nine hours have passed since last night. Captain, first send someone to call the police. Also, seal off Aunt Guihua's house and wait for the police to come and investigate. Send people to search the mountain and the town's bus station as well. Regardless of whether it's a boy or a girl, stop anyone who looks about the same age as the child and examine them carefully. In order to successfully take the child out, they may disguise him as a girl."
Lin Baozhu gave clear and logical instructions to everyone present.
"Lin Baozhu, you've said so much, but will you be able to find the child? What if we all searched so hard only to find it was all for nothing?"
Jiang Meng, standing in the crowd, spoke up to question him.
She just couldn't stand Lin Baozhu's incompetence and pretentiousness, so today she'd expose her true colors and let everyone see what kind of trash she really was.
Lin Baozhu stared coldly at Jiang Meng, who was standing in the crowd!
"If that's what you're saying, then everyone should just wait in the village for the children to come back on their own?"
"That's not what I meant. I meant we could look around the neighborhood first; maybe the child went out to play."
"Nonsense. If the village were just playing around, they would have come back long ago with such a big search. Brigade leader, you should send someone to the station to look for them. The bus to the city doesn't leave until 8 o'clock. There's still time now, otherwise it will be too late. Also, find some strong men to search the mountains. To avoid being searched, the traffickers are likely to take mountain paths."
Qin Haifeng slowly walked to the crowd, glanced at everyone, and said, "I agree with Baozhu's suggestion to divide the people into three groups. It would be even better if we could combine the search with people from other villages..."
“My family is from Wanghuzhai. The whole village is full of hunters. They can go into the mountains…”
"Everyone, please help us catch the human traffickers and beat them up badly. Just leave them alive and hand them over to the police."
"Okay... now I'll divide the teams..."
Lin Baozhu did not interfere with the team division matters, but instead focused her attention on the large footprints under the courtyard wall of Aunt Guihua's house. Some of the footprints were entering Aunt Guihua's house, and some were coming out of her house.
As far as she knew, Aunt Guihua lived alone with her grandson, and no one had visited her home since the child was abandoned...
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