"Girl Mo, I'm your third aunt, Tao Xiaoxi, Beibei's mother. We're here to take you home." Tao Xiaoxi squatted on the ground, her tone gentle and her voice soft.
Mo Yatou held the doll in her arms, shrank into the corner and shook her head.
"Don't you want to go home with us?" Tao Xiaoxi restrained herself, but her voice still trembled.
Mo Yatou shook her head.
The eldest sister-in-law finally couldn't help it, rushed forward and hugged her daughter. It was no longer clear what she said, only her hysterical wails could be heard.
Mo Yatou looked indifferent, as if the person holding her had nothing to do with her, as if her sister-in-law was holding someone else.
The eldest sister-in-law's cries were particularly pathetic in this remote valley. It had been sunny when they arrived, but now it had begun to rain. The autumn rain was chilly, and each layer of rain only added to the chill. By evening, it was already freezing. Tao Xiaoxi and the others hadn't dressed enough. Looking at Mo Yatou's family, their only way to stay warm was to huddle together, trying to keep each other warm.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Mo Yatou still refused to go with them, so Liang Hengsheng asked someone to call the village chief.
The village chief was dressed in rags and was leaning on a crutch. At first glance, he didn't look like a village chief, but more like a land god, a defeated land god.
Seeing such a respectable person, the village chief completely forgot that he was still the village chief and was about to kneel down to pay homage. The rescue team leader stopped him and asked him if he knew that Li Mo was abducted.
"It's unfair, sir," the village chief exclaimed, giving goosebumps to everyone present, who all thought they had traveled through time.
"Speak properly." The rescue team leader cleared his throat and said sternly.
The village chief finally stood up straight, but still didn't dare to raise his head. He said respectfully, "I don't know. We all thought she was the lame man's wife. She never spoke, and she never ran away."
"Girl Mo, have you ever thought about leaving here?" Tao Xiaoxi asked, her heart aching. She actually accepted such an arrangement without any resistance?
Miss Mo didn't answer her, but just coaxed the baby to sleep. Maybe the baby was not full, so he kept humming and half asleep.
"Where is the lame man now?" Liang Hengsheng asked.
"He should have been back by this time normally, but maybe it was raining and he was delayed on the way," said the village chief.
"What does he do for a living?" This time it was Li Nanqiu who asked.
"What else can I do for a living? I have no legs, so I can only beg. If I'm lucky, I can at least keep my family from starving to death."
Hearing this, the eldest sister-in-law threw herself on Mo girl again and cried, "Girl, go back with mother. We won't let you live like this anymore. Dad and mother can support you now, and we will also treat your illness."
The girl raised her eyes to glance at her sister-in-law, and that look made her sister-in-law shudder as if she were facing a great enemy. Suddenly, she let go of her hand. The girl returned to normal.
Tao Xiaoxi saw all of this and seemed to understand something. She couldn't even wait to go home and ask, so she pulled her sister-in-law out of the house.
Li Nanqiu didn't understand why, so he followed.
Outside the house, Tao Xiaoxi asked, "Sister-in-law, now that things have come to this, you have to tell me the truth. Was Mo's disappearance intentional?"
"Third sister-in-law!" Li Nanqiu exclaimed.
Tao Xiaoxi only looked at her sister-in-law.
The eldest sister-in-law twitched her shoulders and began to speak incoherently, "I don't know, I don't know. They said that little Mo couldn't be cured and wouldn't live long, but she's alive, alive, and even had a baby. What a sin, what a sin..."
"Sister-in-law!" Tao Xiaoxi said sternly, lowering her voice. "Things have come to this, and you're still unwilling to tell the truth?"
The sister-in-law was frightened and looked at her timidly.
"Sister-in-law, is there really a hidden story?" Li Nanqiu felt vaguely uneasy.
The rain wasn't heavy, but the three of them had their hair and shoulders wet. After a while, the eldest sister-in-law said, "It was Dad. He said that little Mo can't be cured. This is her fate."
"What do you mean, sister-in-law? What do you mean by father?" Li Nanqiu pulled his sister-in-law.
Tao Xiaoxi pulled Nan Qiu and said, "Let sister-in-law finish speaking."
"It was my father who asked the beggar to come into the village that day, and it was he who brought him into the house. The candy that lured Miss Mo away was given by my mother, ah!" The eldest sister-in-law was heartbroken and burst into tears.
Tao Xiaoxi's scalp went numb and she stood there in a daze. She had felt it a long time ago but had never dared to think about it. She had never expected that human hearts could be so cruel!
Li Nanqiu's world obviously collapsed. The parents she had finally forgiven turned out to be executioners.
"Do you and your elder brother know about this?" Tao Xiaoxi asked.
The eldest sister-in-law shook her head, then nodded, "I didn't know at first, but I found out later."
"You knew it but didn't go to look for it?" Li Nanqiu asked with red eyes.
The sister-in-law was silent.
"Does Miss Mo know about this?" Tao Xiaoxi asked again.
Li Nanqiu looked at his sister-in-law in horror, "Does Mo know?"
"I don't know." My sister-in-law seemed to have been drained out of her body, and her voice was as soft as a mosquito.
"I think I probably know it." Tao Xiaoxi said.
Li Nanqiu thought about it again and understood why Mo Yatou's eyes were so resolute and indifferent. He understood why she was unwilling to go with them. The people who hurt her were right in front of her, so how could she give them the chance to hurt her again?
Tao Xiaoxi wiped her face with her sleeve and walked into the house without looking back.
In the room, Miss Mo was holding the thin child, humming a discordant tune. The sound seemed to come from ancient times, old and dull.
When it was pitch dark, the man finally came back. As expected, he had no legs. There were four wheels under the cart, which were his feet.
Mo Yatou broke her silence, walked over, took off the cloth bag on the man's back, picked him up from the cart, put him with the children, dried his hair with a towel, and finally gave him a white flour bun, which was brought by Tao Xiaoxi.
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