"Dad, what's wrong with you? Why are you sighing all of a sudden? Did Goudan and Daya make Dad angry again?"

Qiuxi put down her chopsticks, and after saying that, she was about to get up and go to the inner room to settle the score with Daya and Goudan.

The village chief shook his head and said sullenly, "The two children are very well behaved. I am angry that I am incompetent and cannot send them to school. The children in the village can only stay at home and help with the housework when they reach school age."

Taohua Village is located in a remote area and most of the roads are mountainous, so it is not easy to go out. Except for going to the town to buy things, the villagers stay in the village most of the time.

Taohua Village originally had a school, but the old teacher who taught there later died of illness. Without a teacher, the children had no way to continue their studies and learning to read and write, so over time the school was abandoned.

If the children want to go to school, they can only go to Dahe Village, which is ten miles away from Taohua Village. Dahe Village is too far away, and the villagers are worried about the children walking up the mountain road to school by themselves. They also don’t have time to go to Dahe Village every day to pick up and drop off the children, so the matter of sending the children to school has been put on hold.

The children in the village have been working in the fields with their parents since they were young. They help their parents to earn work points at a very young age. Although they can grow up slowly, if they are illiterate, they will probably be confined to the remote and backward village for the rest of their lives.

As the head of the village, the village chief wants all the children in Taohua Village to be able to read and write. He does not expect them to be very successful, but only hopes that if they have the opportunity in the future they can go out and see the big world.

But there was no teacher in the village, and his own cultural level was limited. He could only teach some simple addition and subtraction, but he was unable to teach anything else.

Now that he sees that the two children are so eager to learn, the village chief can only worry and blame himself for not having enough cultural level to teach the children in the village more knowledge.

After hearing what the village chief said, Daqing and his friends knew that he was worried about the children's schooling again.

"His father, don't think about it all the time. Come over and have dinner. We will think of other ways to help the children learn to read and write."

Aunt Wang waved to the village chief and said a few words of comfort.

The village chief walked towards the dining table with a serious face, and just as he sat down, he heard an anxious voice.

"Village chief, is the village chief here?"

"Who is it? There's no dog at home. Come in."

Daqing, who was sitting next to the door, turned his head and responded, then stood up and lifted the door curtain.

Jiang Li rushed in after hearing this. Da Qing was a little surprised when he saw her: "Comrade Xiao Jiang? Why are you here?"

"Comrade Xiao Liu just left the Youth Institute in a huff. Now we can't find him. Please ask the village chief to find a few people to help look for him."

Jiang Li ran up to Daqing without even taking a breath, and quickly explained her purpose.

"Someone is missing? What happened?"

After hearing this, the village chief in the main room stood up suddenly and walked quickly to the door.

"He went out just now when it was dark, and hasn't come back yet. Other comrades have already gone to look for him. We are new here and don't know the place well. Can the village chief ask a few people to help look for him?"

"Dad, I'll call Shang Chaoli and the others to go find that person together!"

As Daqing said this, he stuffed the steamed bread in his hand into his mouth, took big strides and ran out.

"Excuse me, Village Chief. Please continue eating. I'm going to look for someone first!"

After Jiang Li finished speaking, she quickly chased after him.

"It's dark in the mountains and the roads are hard to travel on. Be careful!"

The village chief shouted behind him, but the yard was empty and Jiang Li and Daqing had already run away.

Aunt Wang and Qiuxi also came out after hearing the noise.

"Dad, what's going on? Who's missing?"

"A female comrade from the Youth Institute asked, "What is this kid doing out here at this late hour instead of staying here? I'm going to go look for him!"

The village chief stamped his feet in a hurry, didn't even bother to eat, and walked out quickly.

Qiu Xi exclaimed, and hurried back to the house to pick up the cane that the village chief usually used: "Mom, you eat with the two children first, I will follow Dad!"

Qiu Xi ran out immediately after she finished speaking. Aunt Wang slapped her thigh anxiously and shouted at Qiu Xi's back: "You all be careful!"

——

Daqing, the first one to run away, came to Lu Chaoli's house, which was closest to their home.

"Chao Li, is Chao Li at home? Something happened!"

Lu Chaoli, who was eating, quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks and ran out: "Brother Daqing? What happened?"

"A female educated youth from the educated youth institute is missing. Come out and help find her. I'll go call a few more people!"

After Daqing finished speaking, he turned around and ran out. Lu Chaoli hurried back to the house to get a flashlight, and ran out without even having time to explain to Lu's father and mother.

As soon as he went out, he met Jiang Li, who had just run out of the village chief's house. Lu Chaoli ran to Jiang Li in a few big strides.

"Comrade Xiao Jiang? Why are you here?"

"I came to ask the village chief for help in finding someone. Liu Jiayi, Liu Jiayi is missing!"

Jiang Li covered her stomach which was causing her to get out of breath and explained to Lu Chaoli.

"Comrade Xiao Jiang, don't worry, I'll go find someone right away!"

"Let's go, together!"

After Jiang Li finished speaking, she walked quickly forward. Lu Chaoli followed her in step with her and looked for someone together.

"Comrade Xiao Liu, Comrade Xiao Liu!"

"Liu Jiayi, Liu Jiayi, where are you?"

After going to Lu Chaoli's house, Daqing ran to Huzi and Tiezhu's houses and knocked on the door. When the young and strong men in the village heard it, they came out with flashlights to help look for people. For a while, shouts of people could be heard from all over Taohua Village.

"Comrade Xiao Liu, Comrade Xiao Liu, where are you?"

"Comrade Xiao Liu, it's getting dark and it's dangerous on the mountain. Come back soon!"

Everyone started searching all over Taohua Village, and the light from their flashlights illuminated the entire forest.

However, they searched every corner of the village but couldn't find any trace of Liu Jiayi, so they had to set their sights on the mountain road leading out of Taohua Village, and they all walked towards that mountain road with flashlights in hand.

"Comrade Xiao Liu, Comrade Xiao Liu, where are you?"

"Comrade Xiao Liu, come back soon!"

The group shouted as they walked, and on the mountain road they met Xu Yuanyuan and others who were also looking for Liu Jiayi.

It was dark and the mountain road was difficult to walk on. In addition, the few people had just come out in a hurry and forgot to bring flashlights, so they were walking on the mountain road with extra caution and slowed down their pace.

"Jiayi, Jiayi, where are you? Can you please come out soon? I'm not angry with you anymore, please come back soon!"

Li Zhixiu's voice choked with sobs, and he blamed himself for Liu Jiayi's running away.

"Zhixiu, stop crying. It's not your fault. She can't walk far by herself. Let's go ahead and look for her!"

The voices of Xu Yuanyuan and Li Zhixiu came from the front. After hearing it, Jiang Li hurriedly ran towards them.