CH 15.1

Mi Xi still hasn’t been found, so everyone can only continue to work hard.

Chen Ying calls Du Xiaowen. In the past few hours, in order to be able to stay in contact, several people’s numbers have been added to his mobile phone. Unfortunately, Du Xiaowen and her colleagues have not found any new leads yet. Chen Ying is quite angry. Although he knows that Mi Xi had good intentions, and even though he understands that Mi Xi has no concept of modern life, he is really angry that he is being tossed around like this.

“Damn it, when we find her, let Cheng Jiangyi take her away. I’m already so busy every day, I can’t afford to support her like this.” He mutters angrily to himself, driving slowly down the street, paying attention to the roadside.

He makes another u-turn. He’s driving again from Lishu Lane back to the bank when he suddenly has a flash of inspiration. He steps on the accelerator and drives all the way home.

As soon as he gets out of the elevator, he sees a figure in light pink standing upright at the door of the house. The fire in Chen Ying’s stomach explodes. He is so angry that he can’t speak, pointing at her, “You, you…”

Mi Xi stands there, her small face wrinkled into a ball, very listless, serious and dejected. “Uncle, I lost Sister Feng.”

Chen Ying swallows back the words he intended to say, choking him up.

“She took me outside and was teaching me about the bank. Well, it’s a ‘bank’.” Mi Xi pauses for a moment, not sure if it was properly called a ‘bank’. 

But seeing Chen Ying’s expressionless face, it should be the right name, so she continues, “Then an old woman was robbed of her purse by two thieves. The old woman said it was life-saving money for her grandson. I helped the old woman snatch the purse back. Let the government handle it from there, but I don’t know the government here, so I can only take the purse back.  I wanted to return it to grandmother, but when I returned, grandmother was nowhere to be found, and even Sister Feng is lost.” Mi Xi confesses earnestly about her sins.

Chen Ying takes out the key, opens the door, ignores Mi Xi, and goes in by himself. He pours a glass of water, gulps it all down, then throws himself on the sofa, arms and legs spread out.

Mi Xi follows behind and closes the door lightly. She also feels very thirsty, but she doesn’t dare to drink water, she only follows behind Chen Ying. As he’s lying down on the sofa, she stands upright in front of him and continues, “I went back to the bank, but I didn’t see the old woman or Sister Feng. There seemed to be something strange happening at the bank, and I didn’t dare go in.” 

She purses her lips—she was afraid of making a joke and causing trouble, so she just peered in from outside. “After waiting for a long time, I tried to ask someone, but that person didn’t know anything. I waited again, and then I thought that maybe Sister Feng had come home, so I came back here. But when I knocked on the door, there was no one inside of the house.”

As she’s speaking, her voice is a little choked with emotions. 

Chen Ying feels very unhappy, and he asks her, “Why are you aggrieved?” 

Disobedient, running around without a care. There are still a bunch of people looking for her outside. He hadn’t eaten or even drank water these past few hours, and he was anxious this entire time! Who could he cry to?

“Grandmother—,” she chokes, “Grandmother said that this is the life-saving money for her grandson. I promised grandmother that I would get it back for her, but in the end, I couldn’t find her.” 

Mi Xi’s tears finally fall. She hadn’t cried at all earlier, but now, after seeing Chen Ying, she finally seems to have the feeling of being with family, and she has become weak all of a sudden. “Chen Ying, this is grandmother’s life-saving money. I promised her, but I can’t find her. And Sister Feng, I lost her. What should I do?”

Chen Ying pinches his brows. He was about to teach her a lesson but now he’s completely blocked. Really, it’s not right to scold her, but it’s also not right not to scold her. 

He sighs. He ignores her for now, takes out his cell phone and calls Cheng Jiangyi and Wu Hao.

“I found her, she came home by herself, and she was standing at the door of the house. Mmm, it’s quite far away, I didn’t expect her to know the way after going around. Yes, she’s fine, it’s okay.” Chen Ying said. One by one, he personally calls to explain that she has been found, and thanks everyone for their help.

Mi Xi is a little flustered; she is still holding the old woman’s purse tightly in her hand. She doesn’t know what to do, she is anxious to return the money. But Chen Ying doesn’t seem to want to talk to her, and what he said on the phone also disturbed her; What’s wrong? Is someone looking for her? She wasn’t lost—she went to recover the purse and came back.

Chen Ying gets angry all over again while talking on the phone and glares at Mi Xi. Seeing her eyes redden, tears filling her eyes—that pitiful look made him even more angry. He is starving and tired. 

On the phone, Cheng Jiangyi and Su Xiaopei both say they will come over to see Mi Xi, and Chen Ying asks them to bring some food along the way. Wu Hao also says on the phone that he would come to take a look, and Chen Ying agrees.

Mi Xi stands like this throughout, waiting for Chen Ying to finish the calls. Chen Ying stares at her. Although Mi Xi is uneasy and doesn’t know what happened, she doesn’t feel that she is at fault, so she also looks back at him directly.

“What do you want to tell me?” Chen Ying finally asks.

Mi Xi thinks for a while. “Uncle, um, Chen Ying, can you help me find grandmother? I promised her. And Sister Feng.”

Chen Ying doesn’t speak.

“If I don’t do as I promised, I will feel uneasy.” Mi Xi thinks about it, and feels that it’s probably difficult for Chen Ying. He has never met this old woman, and he doesn’t know what happened. How can he help her find her? And with such a huge crowd, it is indeed difficult. She bites her lip and lowers her head.

Chen Ying stares at her. And stares at her. Finally, he sighs. 

He pats the sofa. “Sit down. No one is making you stand.”

Mi Xi walks to the sofa with solemn dignity and, with careful and upright bearing, sits down two feet away from Chen Ying. 

“Where’s your cell phone?” Chen Ying asks her. 

Mi Xi answers seriously, “When I got back after recovering the purse, I wanted to call Uncle’s cell phone, but when I touched my pocket, it was gone. But when I went out of the house earlier, I made sure to follow Uncle’s instructions and took my phone with me.”

“You jumped around, kicked trees, stepped on cars, climbed over walls, and your pocket is so shallow—can you still keep your phone?” Wu Hao had sent the video to his mobile phone for him to watch, plus with the comments on the Internet, and Feng Xin’s description of what happened, he didn’t need to use his brain to guess what it was like when she was chasing the thief all the way.

Mi Xi blinks her eyes, a little dazed.