"Woo woo woo"
They were just a group of four or five-year-old children. No matter how brave they were normally, they were so scared that they started crying when they couldn't find their way back in the mountains.
An'an held the two of them tighter, calling out to Zhuangzhuang while trying to find her way back.
Crunch
Few people walk here, and the fallen leaves crunch underfoot. Sui Sui and Xiao Ting were hesitant to proceed, so An An found a stick and had them use it to probe the way.
"elder brother!"
Zhuangzhuang just saw a pheasant strolling in the bushes and secretly followed it. An'an has told him more than once that she has caught pheasants in the mountains. If he catches this pheasant, she will definitely admire him.
The pheasant seemed oblivious to the person behind it, leisurely strolling through the woods. Zhuangzhuang carefully followed behind, but by the time he realized he couldn't find anyone, it was too late.
"An An!"
In his panic, he ran wildly through the woods, getting further and further away. He felt that all the surrounding woods looked the same. At this moment, all the words the adults used to scare him came flooding back.
"There are wild leopards in the mountains. If children misbehave and play up there, they will be dragged away by the leopards, chewed up and swallowed, and then they will never see their mothers again."
"Besides leopards, there are also tigers; one slap from one tiger can send a person shoving into a tree."
Besides the sounds of his own footsteps on the branches, there were other animal calls and birdsong in the woods. He felt as if a wild creature was about to leap out from behind him and snatch him away, so he ran away crying in fear.
An'an held their hands, "What should we do? We need to go down the mountain and ask someone to come and find Zhuangzhuang."
They should ask an adult for help as soon as possible, but they are already lost. Sui Sui and Xiao Ting finally stopped crying and looked at An An with their big, blinking eyes.
Only An'an can take them out.
"Wait a minute, look!"
Each of them carried a small backpack. Zhuangzhuang refused to carry a backpack, so he carried a water bottle instead. Most of their food was packed in Suisui's bag.
There was a piece of wrapping paper lying on the ground, and Sui Sui immediately picked it up when she saw it.
"It's cookies sent by Grandpa! It's my brother!"
Zhao Qin's father was the director of a state-owned textile factory in Shanghai. The family was well-off, and Zhuangzhuang and Suisui wore very nice clothes and used very nice things. Every month, their maternal grandfather would send them a large package.
Xiaoting also recognized the packaging. "Look, there's another piece inside. It must be him!"
The remaining small piece of cookie hadn't gone soggy yet; Zhuangzhuang must have left it there today.
"Then let's go find him first."
The three of them huddled together, picked up a few sticks, and called out to Zhuangzhuang as they walked up the mountain.
Fortunately, Zhuangzhuang cried for a while and then ran out of energy. He took out the biscuits from his pocket, ate them, and hid behind a tree. Otherwise, if he had kept running up the mountain, An'an and the others would not have been able to catch up with him.
He clung tightly to a large tree so that no leopard would drag him into the mountains. His face was streaked with tears, and he looked around in disbelief after hearing the sound.
"Zhuangzhuang!"
"Waaaaah..."
After confirming that he hadn't misheard, he burst into loud sobs. An'an and the others heard him and immediately ran forward, and sure enough, they saw Zhuangzhuang hiding behind a tree, crying loudly.
He was terrified; he thought he would never see them again.
Sui Sui used to hug her brother and cry together. The two often played around and refused to call him brother, always saying that she must be the older sister since she came out first.
Xiaoting also silently wiped away her tears. After everyone finally stopped crying, the four of them sat cross-legged on the leaves, looking at the tall forest and the surrounding environment that always seemed the same.
"……what to do?"
"Will we stay here forever? I miss my mom."
An'an took off her backpack, drank some water, and then rummaged through the snacks her mother had put inside. She had just been scared and had run around in the woods for a while, and her stomach was growling with hunger.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely get down. We'll come looking for you when the adults find out."
What she didn't actually say was that as long as they got down the mountain before dark, it would be fine. Third Aunt had emphasized to the author more than once that they absolutely could not stay on the mountain after dark, as it was very dangerous.
But she wouldn't say it out loud, because if she did, they would be even more scared. Seeing how calm An'an was, the others weren't so scared anymore and took out their snacks to share.
When Yamashita-sama discovered they were missing, chaos ensued.
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