vrcanaries Chapter 438 Searching for the Child
Chapter 438 Searching for the Child
“Not ordinary…” Lu Jing stared wide-eyed in surprise, as if she had just realized something.
She gasped, glancing frantically left and right to make sure no one else was listening, before whispering:
"Do you think Ina might be a princess from Northern Li who was lost to the world?"
Gu Xixi shook her head. "I don't know."
Lu Jing, however, was engrossed in deduction and frowned, asking, "Or perhaps...the Queen?"
Gu Xixi said, "Beili has just changed its king, so their queen wouldn't stay in Daye."
She paused for a moment, then said, "Stop thinking about it. The military knows about these two, so it's not our place to worry about them."
Ina exudes the air of a person in a superior position in every gesture she makes.
However, Gu Xixi has no concrete evidence, and at present, all that can be confirmed is that this woman is definitely not an ordinary merchant.
He is both a Beili person and his identity remains a mystery.
If they are truly stuck here out of necessity, as they claim, then so be it.
If there are ulterior motives or other purposes...
Gu Xixi gazed at the distant horizon and sighed softly.
"We just need to be careful not to have any further contact with her recently."
Lu Jing had just been thinking of making something delicious to send to Yina.
Hearing Gu Xixi say this, he immediately put aside his thoughts and his expression became serious. "Okay, I understand."
She didn't delve into the details, believing that Xixi must have had a reason for saying that.
Gu Xixi added, "Let's also look for those two children around here."
"Aunt Lin should go look for her first."
Lu Jing suddenly realized that Aunt Lin had been away earlier because she had gone to look for the missing little girl.
The layout of the dependents' village is very simple, with only houses and no farmland.
There are only a few places in the village where the children usually play.
I imagine everyone must have already searched everywhere by now.
Gu Xixi then walked towards the fields outside the village.
"Little Xiuer! Dou Dou!!"
Lu Jing was puzzled, "I didn't see you ask whose child was lost just now, how did you know the name?"
Gu Xixi said, "When they saw their mother pointing at Yina and demanding the child, they were almost crying in distress."
"When we arrived at Yina's place just now, the two of them didn't come with us. They must have gone to continue looking for the child."
Lü Jing nodded, "Indeed, a mother loves her child the most, no matter whose child it is."
She rallied her spirits, "Let's put in more effort and find our child as soon as possible."
"Xiao Xiu! Dou Dou! Where are you?!"
They hadn't gone far outside the village when they encountered Aunt Lin.
Aunt Lin shook her head and sighed, "We still haven't found it."
Gu Xixi briefly told her what had just happened in the village.
"For now, both mother and child are safe, so don't worry."
It wasn't too surprising that Aunt Lin looked worried.
“We’re not all on the same page. I’ve been thinking about what might happen if we let them stay.”
"Thankfully you were here today, otherwise things would have gotten out of control."
The sun was already high in the sky, and the villagers were all searching for the child; the harvest for the day had not yet begun.
They searched the oat field thoroughly, and heard voices calling for the two children everywhere.
Lu Jing wiped her sweat. "What should we do? We've searched everywhere we can."
Gu Xixi thought for a moment and said, "Let's go back first."
"Go back?" Lu Jing jogged to catch up.
The carriage that came with them was left in the courtyard so that Gu Xixi could use it at any time.
Two horses were tethered in the shade under the courtyard wall.
Gu Xixi led one of the horses away, saying, "I'm going to take a look at the fields that the army has reclaimed."
"You stay home and rest for a while. Change the well water for making plum juice; I want to drink it when I get back."
Lu Jing sighed and chased after him for a few steps, but then realized that she wasn't yet skilled at riding a horse, so she had no choice but to stop.
She turned and walked back, looking at the remaining horse, and murmured, "You know, I learned to drive a carriage pretty quickly, so why have I been learning to ride for so long and still not proficient?"
"Is it because I've always ridden a mule?"
The horse chewed on the hay, making soft, muffled sounds, speechless.
Gu Xixi spurred her horse and galloped away as soon as she left the village.
The fields cultivated by the army were so vast that it would take a whole day to find everyone on foot.
At this time, the soldiers of the Northwest Army had harvested more than half of the oat fields.
These fields will have some wheat grains and broken ears left behind.
Last year, some young children traveled a long distance to pick oats in the fields of the military camp.
The horses galloped along, passing fields that had already been harvested.
There was no one else nearby, as the soldiers of the Northwest Army were busy at a distance.
Gu Xixi searched with her eyes while calling out to Xiao Xiuer and Dou Dou.
As she ran, a black horse caught up with her from behind.
"Xi Xi! Gu Xi Xi!"
Amidst the whistling wind, a familiar voice could be faintly heard.
Gu Xixi turned her head in surprise, "Mu Nanzhao! What are you doing here?"
Mu Nanzhao's horse caught up again and rode alongside Gu Xixi.
"While I was in the army, I heard from someone that I saw Boss Gu riding a horse at breakneck speed alone in the distance, for some unknown reason."
“They’re a bunch of men, and they don’t wear much when they’re doing farm work. They were too embarrassed to come over and stop you, so they had to send someone back to report and see if there was anything they could help with.”
Gu Xixi smiled, "Yes, I need it!"
So, under Mu Nanzhao's arrangement, the soldiers harvesting outside the camp stopped their work and scattered to look for the children.
Although neither of the two girls' biological fathers were among them.
But since they were all comrades-in-arms, these uncles and elders naturally did their best to find the person.
Many hands make light work; within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, an echo was heard.
When Gu Xixi rode her horse back to the village of dependents with two little girls in front of her.
The women ran excitedly, shouting to the others as they went.
"Xiuer and Doudou have been found! They've both been found!"
"Both children are fine, nothing's wrong!"
Soon everyone ran over and happily surrounded Gu Xixi's horse.
Gu Xixi rolled off the ground and picked up the children one by one.
Both mothers were terrified.
After the initial joy of seeing the child safe and sound, I was still filled with lingering fear.
DouDou's mother grabbed the little girl and slapped her bottom, asking, "Where did you go?"
"He sneaked out of the house before dawn without even saying goodbye to his mother!"
"I told you not to run around! I told you not to run around!"
Xiuer's mother then pinched her daughter's ear and said, "You're two years older than Dou Dou, so you're the older sister. Was this your idea?"
"You've really grown up. Is it that your mother can't control you and you need your father to do it?"
DouDou didn't dodge when her mother hit her; she just sobbed and cried.
Xiuer winced in pain, "Mother, Mother, stop pinching me! I won't do it again!"
The aunts, grandmothers, and other women who were watching also felt that the child should be taught a lesson for making such a fuss.
But after watching for a while, they all felt extremely sorry for him and began to dissuade him.
Those who protect children protect children, and those who pull adults along pull adults along.
In the blink of an eye, the two little girls were rescued.
Gu Xixi finally got a chance to speak, "The two children really meant well, but their plans have taken a turn for the worse."
She turned around and looked behind her.
Mu Nanzhao stood there, having already taken the two baskets off the horse and placed them on the ground.