Chapter 285: Chapter 285: The Child Is Missing
Upon hearing the news that her beloved granddaughter was crying, Mrs. Qi immediately jumped up.
But she got up so abruptly that her head buzzed, her body swayed, and she almost fell.
Wang Daya was startled, quickly threw aside the kitchen knife, and supported her mother-in-law: "Mom, don’t worry, it’s normal for kids to cry. Let’s go over and see what’s going on."
Not only the old lady, but even Wang Daya had a tight feeling in her heart when she heard the news.
The little girl was the family’s treasure, rarely seen crying. What could have happened to make her cry?
Mrs. Qi didn’t say anything and hurried toward the front yard.
Seeing Qi Balang and Qi Jiulang running over, Mrs. Qi finally asked, "What’s wrong with Manbao? Why is she crying? Is she feeling unwell? By the way, where is Manbao now?"
The old lady burst out with a series of questions.
Qi Balang and Qi Jiulang were bombarded with questions they couldn’t even respond to.
It was Wang Daya who calmed the old lady down, finally giving the two brothers a chance to speak.
"Mr. Yin asked a question, and Manbao couldn’t answer."
"Mr. Yin scolded a bit, and Manbao ran away crying."
The brothers took turns explaining what happened.
It was brief, but one had to say, still quite complete.
When Mrs. Qi heard this, she slammed her thigh in anger, "What’s wrong with this Mr. Yin? So what if she couldn’t answer? It’s not like she’s taking the imperial exam. Why scold my Manbao?"
Wang Daya also felt Mr. Yin was making a fuss over nothing, but didn’t forget the main point: "So where is Manbao?"
"Exactly, where’s Manbao?"
Mrs. Qi realized too, and hurriedly pursued the question.
Qi Balang and Qi Jiulang exchanged a glance and shook their heads together.
Qi Balang: "Xiao Shi went after his sister."
Qi Jiulang: "Mr. Yin asked us to get grandpa and grandma."
"What asking! I’m going to find my Manbao!"
Mrs. Qi was furious.
If not worried about her precious granddaughter, she would’ve torn Yin Cheng apart by now.
Wang Daya dared not let go of the old lady and could only support her, quickly following along toward the front yard.
Remembering what Qi Jiulang had just said, she asked, "Did you go find grandpa?"
"Not yet."
The brothers shook their heads in unison.
"Go tell Mr. Yin we’ll meet him once we find Manbao and grandpa."
Wang Daya was not completely out of her mind and instructed, letting the two kids return first.
Qi Balang and Qi Jiulang were obedient and quickly ran back to Yin Cheng’s house.
"This Yin Cheng, we’ve been nothing but generous to him, yet he scolds our Manbao?"
"No, I must discuss with the old man. Such a teacher, we can’t afford to keep."
"If my Manbao has even a scratch, I won’t hesitate to tear that Yin Cheng apart!"
Mrs. Qi muttered as she walked.
Wang Daya listened silently beside her, only constantly looking around.
The old lady was about to go mad with worry; nothing mattered more than finding the little girl.
Only finding the little girl would allow other matters to proceed, right?
Soon after stepping out, they spotted Qi Quanli and others carrying two baskets of soil each from the distant riverside.
"Mom, sister-in-law, where are you two heading?"
From afar, Qi Quanli greeted them.
Upon seeing her family, even before Wang Daya could speak, Mrs. Qi shouted first, "Old Gadge, quickly help find Manbao, Manbao is missing!"
"What? Manbao is missing?"
Qi Quanli was shocked, immediately threw away the pole on his shoulder, and hurried over: "What happened? How did Manbao go missing?"
"It’s because of that old Yin Cheng, he..."
Mrs. Qi was about to complain but was interrupted by Wang Daya: "Mom, it’s no use talking about that now; we should first find the child!"
"Right, right, find the child first; I’m all muddled with anger!"
Mrs. Qi urged Qi Quanli: "Quickly get people to help find the child, with these mountains and forests, it’ll be troublesome if she ran up the mountain."
"Yes!"
Qi Quanli now didn’t bother to figure out what actually happened.
Finding the niece was the most important thing.
Qi Quanli shouted to those who were carrying soil with him: "Everyone help find my niece, quick!"
Not only the people of Yongping Village but even the outsiders working in the village knew the village chief’s daughter was a precious one.
Upon hearing this, no one dared to be lazy, dropping their poles to either keep looking for someone.
Qi Quanjin noticed something was wrong when he heard a lot of people shouting "Manbao".
"Big brother, you keep watch, I’ll go see what’s happening."
Concerning his daughter, Qi Quanjin couldn’t stay calm any longer and quickly ran towards the crowd in the distance.
Before reaching them, Qi Quanjin heard someone shouting at him: "Village Chief Qi, hurry, get people to find the child! Your daughter ran off somewhere!"
"What?"
Qi Quanjin’s vision went black, his legs weak, almost kneeling on the ground.
The person was startled, ran over, but by the time they reached him, Qi Quanjin had already steadied himself.
"What’s going on? What happened to my daughter?"
Qi Quanjin grabbed the other person’s arm, eyes bloodshot.
The person was startled, with their arm hurting from Qi Quanjin’s grip, couldn’t help gasping, hurriedly saying: "I don’t know the details, just that your family’s old lady came out asking for help to find the child. Village Chief Qi, find her quickly!"
"Manbao! Dad’s Manbao!"
Qi Quanjin let go and immediately ran off in a direction.
He didn’t really know where, just wanting to find the child quickly.
The whole village, both locals and outsiders, soon joined the search for the child.
Cries of "Manbao" echoed over the village, yet no one found the child.
Not only Manbao, but even Xiao Shi who chased after was not seen.
"It’s really strange, Yongping Village is far from other villages; it’s unreasonable to not find them after such a search!"
"Exactly! If they went to the mountains, even more impossible. There are always people working in the fields; if two kids ran over, there’s no reason not to see them!"
The villagers helping search couldn’t help speculating.
In less than half an hour, Mrs. Qi had fainted twice, and even Qi Zheng passed out once.
Qi Quanjin’s face was pale, yet his eyes were blood-red.
Yin Cheng, shocked upon hearing the news.
He was angry but didn’t mean to make the children disappear, so despite his age, he also came out to help search for the children.
"Fourth brother, just shouting like this won’t work, we should change our method!"
Qi Quanli, with a hoarse voice and furrowed brows, found Qi Quanjin, saying: "Search house by house!"
