Chapter 292: Chapter 292: I Can’t Remember
Qi Quanyin was persuaded by Qi Quanjin, but he also didn’t feel like going to work.
All day long, he stayed with his wife to watch over their son.
Fortunately, by mid-morning, Qi Manman and Qi Shilang woke up one after the other.
The two little ones were still a bit listless after waking up, but after each having some egg custard, they quickly returned to their usual state.
"Brother Xiao Shi, it’s time for class!"
Qi Manman took advantage of the time when Grandma went to return the empty bowls and dashed to the door of the fifth house.
Sitting on the kang drinking sugar water, Qi Shilang heard this and stopped drinking, twisting his body to get down.
"What class? No more classes! From now on, I’m not going!"
Qi Quanyin wore a stern face: "Stay in the room today; you’re not allowed to go anywhere!"
"Dad..."
Qi Shilang was so frightened by his father’s demeanor that he shivered and instinctively looked at his mother for help.
Ai Zhaodi, full of affection, gently coaxed: "Son, listen to your father today, don’t go to class, have a good rest at home, and Dad and Mom will play with you, okay?"
Qi Shilang widened his eyes, incredulous at his mother’s words.
He often said he didn’t want to go to class and wanted to play, but back then, his mother didn’t say this!
His mother used to say that once you start class, you have to study seriously, and you can’t, you can’t fish for three days and dry the nets for two.
In any case, you couldn’t skip class.
But why did his mother suddenly change her stance today?
By this time, Qi Manman had entered the kitchen, but sensibly did not go inside; she stood in the kitchen asking, "Brother Xiao Shi, aren’t you going to class?"
"Manbao, come in, Uncle Five wants to ask you something."
Qi Quanyin’s voice came from inside the house.
Qi Manman scratched her head, her chubby face full of confusion, but nonetheless shuffled her little legs into the room.
Once inside, she saw Brother Xiao Shi sitting on the kang, wearing only a dudou, with his hair unkempt and messy.
"Pfft, hahaha, Brother Xiao Shi, you haven’t even gotten up! Hahaha, you slept in today!"
Qi Manman laughed so hard she leaned back and forth.
Qi Shilang’s face flushed, and he retorted defensively: "I, I’ve actually been up for a while! My mother told me not to rush, and, and let me eat first!"
Both Qi Quanyin and Ai Zhaodi, distressed for their son, couldn’t bear him being teased like this.
Qi Quanyin’s face got even darker, and his tone unintentionally became much sterner: "Qi Manman, come over here, I need to ask you something!"
Being suddenly called by her full name, Qi Manman was taken aback and momentarily forgot to laugh, just blinking her big eyes at Uncle Five: "Uncle Five, is there something wrong?"
Fearing that Qi Quanyin might scare Qi Manman, Ai Zhaodi whispered to remind him: "Husband, don’t scare the child."
Qi Quanyin closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his tone was somewhat softer: "Come here, Uncle Five has something to ask you."
Qi Manman looked at Qi Quanyin, then at Ai Zhaodi.
Seeing Ai Zhaodi beckoning to her, she walked over, then leaned against Ai Zhaodi’s side, tilted her head, and looked at Qi Quanyin: "Uncle Five, did you not sleep well? Your eyes look so dark!"
Didn’t sleep well?
He didn’t sleep at all!
Qi Quanyin pressed down the irritation in his heart and asked: "Tell me where you and Xiao Shi went yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
Qi Manman held her chin and thought for a while, then shook her head: "We didn’t go anywhere! Just..."
Suddenly recalling the scolding from Mr. Yin, Qi Manman blushed and said shyly: "I didn’t listen to the lesson seriously yesterday and made the teacher angry, so I was kicked out."
"And then?"
Qi Quanyin pursued the question further.
Qi Manman thought for a moment, then continued: "I was embarrassed and ran out, afraid Grandma would scold me, so I ran out the main gate. I wanted to find Dad, but later Brother Xiao Shi came out too."
"Then what happened?"
"Then? Then we went to look for my dad, but met Aunt Chen along the way."
Qi Manman’s face was full of distress as she earnestly recalled: "Aunt Chen said my dad wasn’t in the village, but my uncle was and that he was at her house."
"I didn’t believe her, so Aunt Chen said if we didn’t believe it, we could follow her and have a look. Brother Shi and I didn’t want to listen to her, but she said Uncle just got hurt moving things nearby, so he went to her house, and she said Dad would be there soon too."
"Brother Shi said Uncle must be in pain because he was hurt, so he wanted to go and see."
"I thought Uncle getting hurt alone, without family around, would feel bad too, so Brother Shi and I went to Aunt Chen’s house."
Qi Manman’s words were clear, and with this long account, not only Qi Quanyin and Ai Zhaodi, but even Mrs. Qi and Yi Meng, who came to find the children, heard it all.
Qi Shilang also agreed: "Yes, we went to Aunt Chen’s house. But after we got there and didn’t see Uncle, we wanted to leave. But Aunt Chen said we should drink some water and wait a bit, or else if we ran like this we’d get heatstroke and then get sick."
"Manbao and I didn’t want to drink water and just wanted to leave, but then, then..."
Qi Shilang said, suddenly scrunching up his face like a bun, and looked at Qi Manman for help: "Little Sis, what happened next? I can’t remember a thing!"
"It seemed like Aunt Chen took out a handkerchief, and then, then..."
Qi Manman’s face also turned into a bun: "I can’t remember either."
Well, the mystery solved.
The four adults in the room all had complicated expressions on their faces.
Should they say the children shouldn’t trust outsiders?
But Chen Xiaomei is a villager too; should the children not communicate or interact even with villagers?
That’s unrealistic.
"Old Fourth, you’d better call Mr. Qin over! Check if the two children have any residual effects or anything."
Yi Meng stepped forward, carried Qi Manman onto the kang, and said to Ai Zhaodi: "Sister-in-law, Chen Xiaomei has been taken to the county government; I’ll have Dalang take what the two children just said to the city later."
Qi Quanjin went to the city early this morning, and at this time, if they want to send a message to the city, someone else needs to go.
Unexpectedly, Ai Zhaodi said: "Fourth Sister-in-law, let’s take the kids to the city! I want the city doctor to check the kids."
Although it turned out Yin Cheng bore no major responsibility, they still had a knot in their hearts.
If the kids hadn’t just woken up, they’d have already taken them to the city.
Before Yi Meng could respond, Mrs. Qi said: "I think that’s a good idea; let’s harness two carriages and go stay in the city for a while!"
Seeing that even her mother-in-law had said this, Yi Meng couldn’t continue to oppose and could only nod.
Very soon, the Qi Family harnessed two carriages and left the village.
The villagers saw this and didn’t react much, just thinking they must be going to the city to see a doctor.
The precious children of the Qi family had such a big incident yesterday; they probably need to see several doctors.
