As soon as she entered, Tan Peishi noticed something amiss and glanced at them sideways, saying, "Oh, judging from this situation, the circumstances back then must have been quite intense."
Ling Ruoke blushed furiously, wishing she could pounce on her and shut her up. Fortunately, Tan Peishi only said that one thing and didn't keep teasing her incessantly.
This date with Huo Qingfeng eased Ling Ruoke's uneasy feeling considerably. Furthermore, life had indeed become more peaceful, and with Pei Shi's family here, she wasn't afraid anyone could harm them.
The lives of three children and four women were filled with bickering and commotion, a mix of annoyance and happiness amidst the trivialities. Every day was filled with the same mundane routines and arguments, yet each day seemed different.
Summer is here, and the weather is getting hot.
And some things are beginning to surface little by little, but everyone is unaware of them.
That day, Mrs. Tan was preparing lunch in the kitchen. The three women sat in a row on the sofa, joking with each other, talking about men and children—basically, they were just chatting about trivial things.
The children were having a great time playing on the carpet, especially little Ping An. After running around and getting sweaty, he came running over to his mother, tilted his head back and called out, "Mommy, wipe me off!"
Ling Ruoke took a towel and wiped him dry. He gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and then ran off to play.
"Looking at all the families, your little Ping An is still the most clever and mischievous," Li Jun said with a smile.
Tan Peishi leaned lazily against the sofa armrest and said, "Like father, like son. Their husbands are our husbands' superiors, so it's normal for their son to be a bit more clever than ours. Otherwise, the captain would be suspicious and want to do a DNA test!"
"Tan Peishi, you foul-mouthed woman, I'm going to settle things with you today!" Ling Ruoke shouted, stood up and pounced on her, scratching her!
Li Jun had already stood up and moved away from the scene. These two women were terrifying when they went crazy; it was best she didn't get involved. Just as she was secretly laughing to herself, she suddenly heard Xiao Ping'an call, "Beibei peed!" Turning around, she saw a puddle of water under her daughter. Because of the hot weather, diapers could easily cause prickly heat, so she was only wearing open-crotch pants, resulting in this scene.
After glancing at the two women arguing, Li Jun picked up her child and went home to change her pants. Since the two families lived close by, she rarely brought her clothes with her; it was only a short walk to and from home anyway.
Tan Peishi and Ling Ruoke finally finished their antics. Both were a little out of breath, and when they looked at each other, their clothes and hair were a mess, making them look like madmen. They couldn't help but burst into laughter again, clutching their stomachs.
"Oh dear, where is Li Jun? He's nowhere to be found." Tan Peishi was being tortured just now, so she had no idea where Li Jun was.
"He Beibei wet her pants. Go home and change her diaper." Ling Ruoke rubbed her belly, which had softened from laughing, and felt that life was really good.
Tan Peishi suddenly exclaimed, "You know, the three of us were once beautiful young women, how did we end up as housewives? And we seem to be quite happy about it, isn't that too pathetic? Back then, we had such lofty ambitions, and now we've fallen to this state, it's really unacceptable!"
He was talking while shaking his head, looking quite comical.
Ling Ruoke just smiled and said, "It's okay. Ling Yun is at your house now, so you don't need to have lofty ambitions. Being a housekeeper isn't so bad. If you're still unwilling, you can consider taking charge of Pei Huo and expanding its scale ten or a hundred times. Being a strong woman is also an option."
"That's what I think too. But the thought of going to get off work and serving customers gives me a headache. It's true that women can't be housewives; if they stay at it for too long, they'll just live a mediocre life. Alas, what a pity!"
Ling Ruoke pinched her waist hard. "You're so boring."
"You two are both so boring." It was Mrs. Tan who was bringing the dishes to the table. As she put the dishes down, she glanced at the two women and shook her head helplessly.
Ling Ruoke and Tan Peishi exchanged a glance, stuck out their tongues, and stood up. "Time to eat! Huo Feiyang, Fu Lingyun, come wash your hands and eat!"
After sitting down at the table, Ling Ruoke realized that Li Jun hadn't arrived yet. She stood up and said, "Aunt Tan, you all eat first. I'll go see what she's busy with."
Ling Ruoke arrived at Li Jun's house and saw He Beibei playing on the floor. Li Jun was sitting on the sofa, lost in thought. She walked over and patted Li Jun's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Li Jun was startled, but after taking a closer look, he forced a smile. "It's nothing. I just received a message from home saying that my younger brother is missing. He hasn't been to school for several days. At first, the teacher thought he was just skipping class, but he hasn't been seen at all."
Ling Ruoke was somewhat surprised, but not as anxious as when Fu Lingyun disappeared. After all, Tan Peishi was her good friend, but Li Jun wasn't that close to her, so Gu Tianze probably wouldn't target her. "Did something unpleasant happen recently, and you ran away from home?"
Li Jun's younger brother is more than ten years younger than her, a high school sophomore who will be a senior next semester. From what she's heard, he's a very well-behaved boy. Ling Ruo has seen his picture; he's a clean-cut, very refined boy, and you can tell at a glance that he's very obedient and well-behaved.
Li Jun shook his head and sighed. "I don't know either. But it shouldn't be. My brother is very obedient; he wouldn't do such a thing. Besides, he's never traveled far from home; he has nowhere to go. It's been several days already, and I'm really worried that he might have run into bad people."
Ling Ruoke was also worried about her, but she didn't say much, fearing it would only make her feel worse. "Don't think like that. Maybe he was really under too much pressure, so he went out for a walk. He has money for food, right? Even if he finds a place in the city to stay for a few days, no one will be able to find him. He might not have gone somewhere else."
"I hope so." There are only two siblings in their family, and the younger brother is their parents' lifeblood. If something were to happen to him, their parents really wouldn't be able to go on living. The more Li Jun thought about it, the more heartbroken she became.
Ling Ruoke gently patted her shoulder and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "He must be safe. Maybe he'll be back at school tomorrow. Aunt Tan has prepared the food. Let's go eat."
Li Jun shook his head and forced a smile. "I really don't have an appetite, and besides, I ate quite a lot this morning, so I won't eat. Sister Ruo, you should go back and eat. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Ling Ruoke tried to persuade Li Jun for a while, but Li Jun refused to go for dinner no matter what, so she had no choice but to go back by herself. Her mood was not as good as when she arrived; it was terribly heavy.
"Hey, why are you all alone?" Tan Peishi looked behind her and asked when she didn't see anyone.
Ling Ruoke sighed. "The teacher called and said that his younger brother has been missing for several days. He hasn't been home either, and they're very worried."
Upon hearing this, Tan Peishi put down her chopsticks and frowned. "Why is it always like this? I feel like there's never any good news lately, just one bad thing after another!"
When Ling Ruoke heard what she said, she realized that it made sense, and her mood immediately worsened.
Mrs. Tan glared at Pei Shi helplessly and said, "It's such a small thing, why are you drawing such a conclusion? Besides, everyone is fine, so it's not a bad thing."
Mrs. Tan has weathered many storms, so this little disturbance is nothing to her. If anything, it's a trivial matter.
Ling Ruoke and Tan Peishi agreed with her reasoning. However, since the person had indeed disappeared, it was impossible for them to remain completely unaffected.
Tan Peishi was alright; she was just genuinely worried about Li Jun.
Ling Ruoke hadn't initially considered Gu Tianze's involvement, but Tan Peishi's words had given her a hint. Gu Tianze, like Gu Zheng, was unpredictable. Back then, Gu Zheng had planted a bomb in public and used complete strangers to threaten her and Qingfeng. So, as Gu Zheng's brother, Gu Tianze could easily use anyone to pressure them!
What Ling Ruoke least wanted was to implicate others because of herself. So the thought that Li Jun's younger brother, Li Chen, might have been captured by Gu Tianze made her mind a mess.
The food that Aunt Tan cooked was incredibly delicious, but Ling Ruoke couldn't taste it, only managing to force down a bowl of rice. She barely spoke, her mind filled with all sorts of possibilities.
In the afternoon, Tan Peishi went to chat with Li Jun and comfort her.
Ling Ruoke then retreated to her room and began writing her novel. Her mind was in turmoil, but her train of thought was clear, and she wrote quite quickly. However, when she finished, she realized it was completely off-topic. She deleted and rewrote repeatedly, but in the end, it was still just those few lines.
Later, I simply stopped writing and just leaned against the window, looking out. My mind was a jumbled mess, and I didn't even know what I was thinking. I just stood there blankly until my husband came home.
Huo Qingfeng didn't see his wife when he entered the room. He'd heard she'd spent the entire afternoon writing in her room and hadn't left. Knowing her as he did, he knew she was definitely preoccupied. So he rushed back to the bedroom, opened the door, and there she was, staring blankly out the window. He'd pushed the door open quite loudly, but she didn't seem to hear him.
He sighed helplessly, wondering what had happened again. He walked over and hugged her from behind. "Honey, what's wrong?"
Ling Ruoke then came to her senses, recognizing her husband, and turned around to nestle in his arms. "It's nothing. Did you know that Li Jun's younger brother is missing?"
"I've heard about it. It's common for middle school students to be rebellious and run away from home when they're unhappy, so don't worry too much. Besides, we've already sent a lot of people to look for them, so I believe we'll have news soon."
Ling Ruoke hummed in agreement and quietly nestled against his chest.
That night, Ling Ruoke tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Later, Huo Qingfeng simply entangled her in a passionate embrace, leaving her exhausted and limp, before she finally fell asleep.
As the saying goes, one wave subsides only for another to rise, which perfectly describes the current situation.
Not long after getting up, Xia Mo called, saying he needed one of them to return to the company to oversee things. He needed to take leave because his wife had gone missing.
Upon hearing the words "disappeared," Ling Ruoke's already taut nerves nearly snapped. If Li Chen's disappearance could prevent her from thinking about Gu Tianze, then the disappearance of Xia Mo's wife was clearly telling her that it was all related to her.
After hanging up the phone, she slumped into the sofa, her legs feeling weak. Her heart pounded in her chest, as if it were about to burst free. Despite it being summer, a chill ran down her spine; her teeth chattered, and her throat tightened.
Tan Peishi knew nothing about Gu Tianze's situation, so she was puzzled by Ruoke's reaction. "Ruoke, what's wrong with you? Even if Xia Mo's wife really disappeared, it's not your fault. Why... why do you act like it's all your fault?"
Ling Ruoke looked at her, shook her head with a wry smile, unsure how to answer. After a moment of silence, she suddenly grabbed Peishi's hand and asked, "Peishi, if one day you or your loved ones are hurt because of me, will you resent me for the rest of your life?"
Tan Peishi didn't understand why she asked that, but she still shook her head. "No. Ruoke, you are the kindest person. Anyone who can become your enemy is definitely not a good person. It's not surprising that such a person would do things to hurt others. If such harm were to fall on me or my family, it would be a fateful calamity that I couldn't escape. Even if I couldn't understand it at the time, I would understand it later, so don't overthink it."
Ling Ruoke smiled gratefully and leaned against her shoulder. Before things happen, we always feel that many things are forgivable. But once they do happen, things might not be so simple. This has nothing to do with being kind or forgiving!
When Huo Qingfeng returned at noon, Ling Ruoke told him what had happened. Huo Qingfeng didn't want her or Tan Peishi to stay at the company, saying he would have Xuan Yuanqi send someone to keep an eye on things, as he had plenty of capable people under him. Then he left in a hurry, seemingly to meet someone.
Ling Ruoke had never intended to go to the company, nor had she intended for Peishi to go. At this juncture, it was best for them to stay here and not go anywhere else.
Tan Peishi went out to watch the two children with her mother, while Ling Ruoke stayed in her room by herself.
After waiting quietly for a while, she picked up the phone and dialed a number she rarely used. It was said that very few people knew this number; including her, there were probably no more than ten. Besides her, the other nine were all trusted confidants of the Sky Wolf Gang.
"Baby, you missed me." It was still that familiar voice, that familiar tone, so real despite the distance. Just by hearing his voice, you could picture the expression on his face—a side that few people ever see.
Ling Ruoke opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She knew she was being selfish, so she didn't know how to bring it up.
"Baby, what's wrong? Is there something you can't tell me?" Wild Wolf's voice was no longer as roguish as before; it changed instantly. But when he spoke to her, there was always a hint of doting in his tone, like an older brother facing his most beloved younger sister.
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