205 Let’s go Find Grandma
Lu Jiao shook her head and pondered. Did the four little ones go into the mountains to look for her?
Lin Chunyan added, “The children looked rather sad. They were gesturing around as they walked with Xiaobao.”
Lu Jiao jumped in, “What were they gesturing?”
Lin Chunyan copied what she saw. It looked like the children were trying to draw out the mountain.
Beside them, Xie Yunjin said in a low voice, “They are trying to go to your mother’s.”
Lu Jiao thought that was a real possibility. However, to get to her mother’s, there would be no need to go into the mountains. They could simply go around it. The children went up the mountains, meaning they planned on cutting across.
Lu Jiao’s expression dropped. So did Xie Yunjin’s.
It was late and a boy barely a teen led four children into the wild. It was likely that they would run into animals. Plus, the mountains got so cold at night. Even if the children were lucky enough to not run into any animals, they could easily get sick.
The more Lu Jiao and Xie Yunjin thought about it, the more worried they got. Beside them, Lin Chunyan caringly asked, “Third aunt, what’s wrong?”
Lu Jiao responded anxiously, “I think they’re trying to go through the mountains in order to get to my mother’s Apricot Village. However, to get to Apricot Village, we usually take the north road around the mountain. It’s dangerous to go through the mountains.”
Lin Chunyan was shocked. Her brother-in-law’s child was also involved.
Lin Chunyan asked with apprehension, “What do we do then?!”
Xie Yunjin said, “We have to go find them.”
He then tried to walk up the mountain. Lu Jiao stopped him, “Your legs aren’t healed yet. You’re in no state to climb a mountain. You should tell the Leaders what happened and get others to help.”
Lin Chunyan also offered, “I will go find my in-laws and ask them to join the search.”
Lu Jiao nodded then said to Xie Yunjin, “You should find people for us instead of going into the mountains yourself. You might hurt your legs if you’re uncareful.”
Lu Jiao then assertively turned around. Lin Chunyan also left to find her in-laws without another word.
Behind Lu Jiao, Xie Yunjin watched her leave. A thought flashed across his mind. What if he fell and broke his legs again? Would Lu Jiao stay then? The four little ones wouldn’t be so sad if she stayed.
He quickly snapped back. Just what was he thinking?
Xie Yunjin leaped back to the village to form a search team.
The leaders and others soon learned the situation and assembled a group of people to go look for the children.
The mountains were a dangerous place at night. There were wild animals and it could get very cold there. It was easy for children to get sick if they spent a night.
Deep in the mountains, Xie Xiaobao led the four little ones forward. The five clueless children were oblivious about the danger and just how worried their parents were.
As Xie Xiaobao walked, he asked, “First Born, how come you thought of visiting your grandma?”
Earlier today, the four little ones noticed that their mommy went to harvest herbs instead of talking to them. So they decided to figure out a way to keep her around.
In the end, they decided to ask for Lady Tian’s help. Their mommy listened to their grandma. If their grandma stopped their mommy from leaving them, she might just stay.
They only knew their grandma lived in the neighboring village on the other side of the mountain but they didn’t know how to get there.
They thought Xie Xiaobao might know. So the four little ones lightly and quietly crawled out of bed and snuck out to find Xie Xiaobao. The First Born almost promised Xie Xiaobao that if he took them to their grandma’s, he would give him one of their skateboards.
Of course Xie Xiaobao agreed and led the way.
Honestly, Xie Xiaobao had no idea how to get to the Apricot village. Since they said it was the neighboring village, he figured they just had to get across the mountains.
The five of them quickly started to climb. However, after some time, the four little one’s legs felt sore and they could barely walk on.
Despite the pain, the four little ones pushed themselves forward. If they didn’t find their grandma, their mommy would leave them. They had to find their grandma.
With that belief motivating them, the four little ones gritted their teeth and followed Xie Xiaobao.
However, in the end, all five of them were too exhausted to walk. They laid there in the forest to rest.
It was late now and the Sun had slowly set. The children started to get scared.
The Fourth Born was already scaredycat. When he looked into the dark forest and listened to the harsh wind around him, it stressed him out. He started to cry loudly and screamed, “I’m scared! I want to go home to my mommy!”
The Third Born also started to sob while the Second Born scolded harshly, “What are you crying about? Don’t cry! We need to find grandma!”
The Fourth Born cried and weeped, “But, where is grandma? I want to go home! I miss my mommy.”
The Second Born looked to the First Born, “What do we do now?”
He was honestly afraid also. The mountains at night were not a friendly place.
The First Born’s always been the spine of the siblings. He did his best to remain calm and glance around the dark forest. By now, there was not the slightest trace of light.
The First Born tried to look forward.
Where was their grandma’s house?
Not knowing what to do now, the First Born asked Xie Xiaobao, “Brother Xiaobao, what do we do?”
Though Xie Xiaobao was now 13, he was not an adult and didn’t have good ideas. Plus, he was just as frightful. He remained collected and hoped he didn’t show any fear.
“How about we head back? You can ask an adult to bring you to your grandma’s.”
The First Born was flustered and he was scared so he agreed, “Okay. Let’s go back then.”
The five of them turned around to walk the other way. Sadly, the forest was now so pitch black that they couldn’t see where the roads were. The children stumbled and tripped. They were starting to lose track of each other.
In the end, all five of them started to cry. Xie Xiaobao asked everyone to hold hands and walk together.
It was safer that way. However, the group had lost their original courage and now wailed loudly.
Their cries mixed with the wind sounded rather eerie.
Lu Jiao had searched for a while. Behind her, many villagers split up to look for the children.
Since it was dark now, Lu Jiao carefully took out a flashlight from her space and used it as she went on.
The flashlight was rather effective and earned her much visibility.
Xie Xiaobao, who was trying to make his way back croaked when he saw the light, “First Born, look, what is that? It looks like a flame.”