Wen Wan smiled noncommittally and said, "I'm not sure about that."
After hearing her say that, the others didn't dare to ask anything. After chatting for a few more sentences, they saw that it was getting late, so they all went back home to prepare dinner.
Wen Wan looked at the time and felt that it was indeed time to cook, so she called out Da Wa and Er Niu from the house and asked them to help watch the fire for smoking the sausages.
Please note that the smoked sausages rely entirely on the smoke from the cypress branches, and there must be no open flames, otherwise the sausages will burn.
Liang Jinheng went to town early this morning. The postman brought him a letter yesterday. After reading it, his expression became a little serious. Then he said he had to go to town to do something, so he left early this morning and has not returned yet.
So if he was at home, there would be no need to ask the two children to help him look at the cypress branches.
"If the fire starts later, remember to call mom, okay?" Wen Wan reminded the two children, and Da Wa and Er Niu also nodded vigorously.
"Mom, I got it. Go and cook!" The eldest child kept urging Wen Wan to leave quickly, his little face full of eagerness to try.
At his age, he is curious about new things. Although he is young, he also wants to help adults. Therefore, when he receives a task assigned by Wen Wan, he will of course be eager to carry it out and make sure to complete it perfectly.
Wen Wan repeatedly reminded the two children not to get too close to the cypress trees, then turned and went to the kitchen.
These days, the cadres of the brigade have been working in the brick house, and the main door of the main house just faces the yard. The cadres inside can see clearly what happens in the yard, so Wen Wan is not worried about the two children being taken away.
After all, the Liang family is now one of the safest places in the entire team. No petty thief would dare to come.
Da Wa and Er Niu stayed in the yard like this. After Wen Wan went in, they were the only two children left in the yard.
Erniu listened to her mother very much and sat obediently on a stool some distance away from the cypress tree, looking at the cypress branches below.
At first, the eldest boy was very serious and stared at the cypress branches without blinking, but after looking for a while, he suddenly felt bored.
It looked like this cypress branch wouldn't catch fire even if you didn't even look at it.
The task was too easy, which made him feel unfulfilled.
So the eldest boy thought about it and decided to go into the house to get some things to play with while watching the cypress branches.
He said to Erniu, "Sister, you watch here first, I'll go get the toys out!"
The toys that Da Wa mentioned were made for him by Liang Jinheng during the few days he was at home. Liang Jinheng knew some simple carpentry skills and said that he learned it from a teammate in the army. He made two small wooden guns for Da Wa and a wooden doll that could barely be seen as a human figure for Er Niu. The two children treasured these wooden products very much.
Erniu nodded vigorously, her face stern and serious, indicating that she would look at the cypress branches very seriously. But when Da Wa stood up, she reminded her brother, "Brother, there is still my little man!"
"good!"
Big Baby turned around and ran into the house.
They played with their toys so much yesterday that they forgot to put them away. This morning, their mother Wenwan saw them leaving them everywhere, so she lectured them and put the toys in the cupboard as punishment.
The older child is not tall enough, so he has to use a stool to take out the small toys.
Fortunately, he finally succeeded in getting the toy. The eldest child breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that if his mother asked him about it later, he would say that they were too bored and his father said that they should combine work and rest.
They help with the work, but they also get to play a bit!
Big Baby thought his reply was quite clever and couldn't help but feel proud.
He held his little wooden gun in one hand and his sister's little wooden figure in the other, happily calling his sister's name. But when he came to the yard, he found that his sister, who was supposed to be sitting on the small bench, was gone.
The eldest child didn't think much about it and thought that Erniu didn't insist on completing the task of "protecting the cypress branches" and went to play somewhere else.
He called Erniu's name several times in the yard, but no one answered, so he went to the main house to look for his uncles and aunts inside.
It happened that Liang Dashan was on duty today. Although Liang Dashan had a fierce face and looked bad-tempered, he could always smile so hard that his teeth were showing when he was with children, especially Erniu.
To put it in his own words, none of the boys in my family are as obedient as Erniu or a little kid. How nice it would be if I had a daughter.
Because he wanted a daughter but was not lucky enough to have one, Liang Dashan really loved Erniu.
Every time he saw Erniu, he would bring her a candy or some snacks from home. Erniu also liked Grandpa Liang Dashan very much.
Da Wa thought Er Niu came in to play with Grandpa Liang Dashan again.
But he didn't expect that when he entered the main room, Liang Dashan was snoring, and Erniu was not in the room.
"Strange, where did Erniu go?"
Big Baby scratched his head.
Liang Dashan woke up after hearing the sound, rubbed his eyes, and saw Da Wa appear in front of him. He asked him, "What's wrong, Da Wa? Where's your sister?"
Erniu, who usually follows Da Wa like a little tail, is not with Da Wa anymore. Liang Dashan feels a little regretful that he cannot see the lovely Erniu.
Da Wa frowned and said, "I don't know where Er Niu went. I'm looking for her."
Liang Dashan became much more sober after hearing this, but he didn't think about it in other directions at first. After all, with him around, some people in the team would not be brave enough to go to the Liang family to cause trouble.
He thought that maybe Erniu was hiding somewhere and couldn't get out, or maybe she was stuck somewhere, which was quite dangerous.
He quickly stood up and asked seriously, "What about the other rooms? Have you looked for them?"
Da Wa shook his head, then his eyes lit up: "Er Niu might have gone to find her mother. I'll go ask her!"
As he said that, he ran to the kitchen again, but when he looked, he saw that Wen Wan was the only one in the kitchen making a fire.
Seeing Da Wa coming in, Wen Wan laughed and said, "What's wrong? Didn't you promise to complete the task?"
She thought that Da Wa was bored of looking at the cypress branches, so he came in to find her.
But when the eldest child opened his mouth, he asked directly: "Mom, is Erniu in?"
Wen Wan was stunned for a moment, then shook her head: "My sister didn't come."
After getting this answer, Big Baby stood there dumbfounded, and then finally started to panic.
He said, "Mom, where is Erniu? She's not in the yard, and she's not at Grandpa Dashan's place either. I can't find her..."
At the end of the speech, there was a clear tremor and cry in Da Wa's voice.
Wenwan's brows gradually furrowed.
Erniu is very well behaved. She will definitely not run out just to play. She will sit on the stool obediently when you tell her to.
So when Wen Wan heard Da Wa say that he couldn't find his sister, he began to panic.
However, she managed to calm herself down first, comforting the eldest child while also comforting herself.
"It's okay. Erniu is so well behaved, she won't run away. She's probably playing hide-and-seek with us in some corner."
As she said that, Wen Wan quickly put out the fire in the stove, took Da Wa's hand and hurried out.
She had just come out of the kitchen with Da Wa, and Liang Dashan had already searched another empty brick house, but couldn't find Er Niu.
But he still said calmly: "Go into the Heng family, don't worry, I'll go outside to take a look, Erniu is small and can't walk far."
Wen Wan thanked him, then took Da Wa to look for Er Niu in the small courtyard, even searching the corners behind the door.
But they searched the entire courtyard, and except for Liang Jinbu's house, which was closed and they couldn't get in, they couldn't find Erniu anywhere. They even kept calling her name but got no response.
Later, she even knocked on Liang Jinbu's door and went in to take a look.
As a result, only Liang Jinbu and Old Man Liang were in the house, and Erniu did not appear in their house.
At this time, Wen Wan finally couldn't hold it in anymore. Her body was shaking slightly, but because the eldest child next to her was also crying, she could only grit her teeth and hold it in.
She raised the corners of her mouth and said to Da Wa, "It's okay. Erniu might have gone out to play. Let's go find her together."
No matter how brave Da Wa usually behaves, he is only a four-year-old child. Besides, he and his sister are inseparable. In the past, whenever he called her sister, she would appear in front of him. He has never encountered a situation where his throat was sore from calling her but his sister Erniu still did not appear.
Da Wa grabbed Wen Wan's hand and asked crying, "Mom, Er Niu will be back soon, right?"
Wen Wan nodded heavily and said firmly: "I will definitely come back, my sister will be back soon!"
When Old Man Liang learned that Erniu was missing, even though he didn't necessarily like this granddaughter, she was still a child of their Liang family after all. He hurriedly tried to persuade Wen Wan: "It's no big deal. Let's look for her again. I'll go with you!"
Even as he lowered his head to put on his shoes, he said to Liang Jinbu who was standing by the window, "Jinbu, come with me and help your sister-in-law find Erniu."
This concerns Erniu's safety, so Old Man Liang can't think of anything else at the moment. Human life is at stake.
However, Liang Jinbu just glanced at him calmly and said, "I just came back from outside. I'm exhausted and have no strength left. You can go by yourself."
Wen Wan, who was standing at the door, gave Liang Jinbu a cold look. She knew that Liang Jinbu must still be holding a grudge against the family division.
She didn't beg him, but walked out with her eldest son. Just as they reached the door, Liang Jinheng finally came back.
He was holding a package in his hand. Seeing Wen Wan's anxious expression and Da Wa still crying and sobbing, he was stunned and asked quickly, "What's going on?"
When Wen Wan saw him coming back, she quickly told him that Erniu was missing.
Even though she tried her best to restrain herself, her eyes still turned red. Liang Jinheng could see her inner panic. He walked over and held Wen Wan's hand tightly, only to find that her palm was ice-cold.
But at this moment he had no time to comfort Wen Wan.
He didn't even bother to put the package in his hand back, and said to Wen Wan in a deep voice: "I'll go look over here, you go over there, let's act separately!"
Although there has never been a case of a child being abducted in the village, Erniu is so well-behaved that it is absolutely impossible for her to run away on her own.
Therefore, the most likely possibility is that he was taken away by someone.
Liang Jinheng's eyes turned fierce. If he knew who took Erniu away, he would never let that person go!
Wen Wan nodded, hesitated for a moment, and finally left the eldest child at Aunt Wang Qin's house next door.
The second of the two children is missing, and Wen Wan is worried, but at the same time she is also afraid that something might happen to the eldest. She really wants to keep the eldest in her sight to feel at ease, but under the current circumstances it is difficult for her to find someone with the eldest child.
When Aunt Wang Qin heard that Erniu was missing, she also became anxious.
She picked up Da Wa and comforted him while saying to Wen Wan, "Wen Wan, be careful. I will definitely help you keep an eye on Da Wa!"
Wen Wan told Da Wa to listen to Grandma Wang and she would be back soon, then she hurried to find Er Niu.
At this time, Liang Dashan, who had just gone out, had also searched the area nearby, but did not find Erniu. Gradually realizing the seriousness of the matter, he quickly notified the rest of the team to help look for her.
Suddenly, the entire Xishui Brigade knew that the second daughter of Liang Jinheng's family was missing, and they all started to help look for her.
"Erniu, Erniu."
"Erniu, where are you? I heard a word."
"Erniu, Erniu, come out quickly, your parents are looking for you!"
Everyone helped to look for places where Erniu might go or be, but unfortunately, they searched almost the entire village but couldn't find any trace of Erniu.
At first they thought that Erniu had gone out to play by herself, but now that they had called for such a long time and still couldn't find her, they had already prepared for the worst.
Or maybe Erniu was kidnapped.
or......
Someone couldn't help but sigh: "Why don't we go to the river and take a look?"
People have drowned in the village before. Even Wen Wan fell into the river not long ago. But she was lucky and was rescued.
But if a child fell in, even though the river was not rushing, it would still...
Hearing this, the expressions of everyone present became solemn. Some people even thought of the terrible consequences and looked at Wen Wan and Liang Jinheng with eyes full of compassion.
Wen Wan gritted her teeth and denied, "Impossible! Erniu is very obedient and would never go to the river alone!"
Liang Jinheng stood aside, thinking about something as if he didn't hear what the people around him were saying.
Then, he suddenly asked Liang Dashan: "Uncle Dashan, are all the members of our team here?"
Liang Dashan was stunned. Although he didn't understand why he asked this, he looked around carefully and said, "There are a few people who are not here. Your mother, your sister, your second brother, and a few people who are dividing the pork over there. The rest are all here."
The people distributing the pork were busy, and there were pig butchers who came from other brigades, so Liang Dashan didn't go there to ask them for help.
Apart from these few, all the others, no matter male or female, old or young, even those who could not help at all and just wanted to watch the fun, gathered here. Even Aunt Wang Qin was standing not far away holding the eldest baby in her arms.
Liang Dashan saw that Liang Jinheng's expression seemed to become uglier as he spoke, and his eyes became colder as ice, so he couldn't help asking.
"Jinheng, what's wrong?"
Liang Jinheng's eyes flashed, and he swept his gaze through the crowd one by one, then said in a deep voice.
"I suspect that Erniu was taken away by someone."
"Besides, he's an acquaintance."
He had just asked Wen Wan and Dawa, and they didn't hear any struggle or crying from Erniu, which meant that the whole process of Erniu's disappearance was very quiet.
This proves that either Erniu was taken away with her mouth covered, or she followed that person obediently.
But no one would have the courage to come to the yard where the brigade headquarters was located in broad daylight to rob someone. Moreover, if that person had robbed Erniu and wanted to take her away, he would probably escape in a hurry and then run into Liang Jinheng who was returning on the way out of the brigade.
Because there is only one way for them to leave the team.
However, Liang Jinheng did not see any strangers when he came back, so the possibility of this speculation is very low.
On the contrary, if the crime was committed by someone acquaintance, then everything seems to make sense.
"You, what do you mean?" Liang Dashan reacted quickly and looked surprised.
He looked around in confusion, but still couldn't see those people. However, when he thought about the grudge between Liang Jinheng and those people, he began to feel uneasy.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! Let's go ask now!"
At this time, Old Man Liang, who was helping to look for Erniu in the crowd, came to his senses and looked at Liang Jinheng in shock.
"Boss, this is impossible, you must be mistaken!"
Even though he knew that Miao Chunhong didn't like Erniu, he also knew that she would never dare to do such a thing!
Liang Jinheng glanced at him and said nothing.
"It's impossible that your mother did this. She's not that brave!" Old Man Liang was still explaining anxiously.
Liang Dashan waved his hand, indicating to Old Man Liang that they could talk about these things later and that they had to go and inquire about the situation first.
Then the group rushed to the Liang family again, and everyone's expression was extremely complicated and wonderful.
And on the way back to the Liang family, Wen Wan didn't say a word the whole time.
From the moment she heard Liang Jinheng say that, she fell into unprecedented anger.
But she used her remaining sanity to tell herself that she had to stay calm until she was really sure whether it was Miao Chunhong and her group who did it.
Even though she wanted to pick up a kitchen knife and go to the Liang family to take Liang Jinbu and Liang Hongling out, she had to endure it until she got any news about Erniu!
A group of people came to the Liang family in a mighty manner.
At this time, Liang Jinbu was the only one at home in the Liang family.
After Old Man Liang hurried out to help find Erniu, he still suppressed his disgust and went to bed, ready to have a good sleep.
When he said he was tired, he was not lying; he was really tired.
As for the voice calling "Erniu" coming from far away outside, Liang Jinbu just thought it was hypnosis.
However, just as I was feeling sleepy and about to fall into a dream, the door was suddenly pushed open.
The force was so great that the door made a heavy thud when it hit the earthen wall.
Liang Jinbu was disturbed by the sound and opened his eyes irritably.
As a result, when he looked up, he saw his eldest brother Liang Jinheng standing at the door with a sullen face. His expression at this moment was as gloomy as the King of Hell who was looking for someone to take his life.
Liang Jinbu was slightly panicked, but fortunately he quickly calmed down and looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Brother, is there something wrong? And could you please be a little gentler when you open the door? This house has mud walls, not bricks. If you kick the door a couple more times, the house will collapse and my parents and I will have to sleep in the open air!"
Liang Jinbu looked at him with dissatisfaction.
Liang Jinheng walked in quickly and asked him coldly, "Where is Erniu?"
Liang Jinbu frowned and looked at Wen Wan at the door with an unhappy tone.
"Didn't I tell you, Erniu isn't in my room! If you don't believe me, search again. I'll open the closet and show you, okay?"
Liang Dashan looked at Liang Jinbu's expression and felt that he really didn't know where Erniu was.
Just as he was about to persuade Liang Jinheng that they must have made a mistake, he saw Liang Jinheng quickly reach out, suddenly grab Liang Jinbu's collar, and lift him up from the position where he was sitting on the edge of the bed.
He bent down, his facial features moving directly towards Liang Jinbu.
That sharp gaze met Liang Jinbu's, and there was a terrifying cold light and oppression in his eyes. Even though Liang Jinbu repeatedly comforted himself that Liang Jinheng didn't dare to attack him, he still panicked.
“You, what are you doing!”
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