Chapter 112

The people in line thought she would leave, but they didn't expect this girl to shout loudly: "Which one is Comrade Su Hongmei?"

The clerk looked up at Lu Qiaoge: "I am Su Hongmei. What's the matter?"

Lu Qiaoge considered it and decided not to say it in front of the crowd. She said urgently: "Then Comrade Su, come out for a moment. I have something urgent to find you about!"

Su Hongmei hesitated for a moment but still walked out.

Lu Qiaoge brought her to the windowsill and whispered: "Just now, an old lady asked me to pass a message to you. Your mother-in-law locked your daughter in the house alone and went to the cinema to watch a movie; she won't be back until noon. She said you'd better go home and check; your daughter will be scared being home alone."

Su Hongmei's face changed drastically. She clenched her hands and hurried out.

Lu Qiaoge naturally followed closely behind.

Su Hongmei was both angry and anxious, so she walked very fast. Turning her head, she saw Lu Qiaoge had followed her out too.

She said to Lu Qiaoge with difficulty: "Little comrade, thank you."

Lu Qiaoge waved her hand: "I'm just passing on a message, no need to thank me. But you—how are you going to get back?"

"I... I didn't ride my bicycle today." Su Hongmei was so anxious she was about to cry.

Lu Qiaoge said to Comrade Zhou Li: "I'll take her home. Comrade Zhou Li, wait for me a moment."

Su Hongmei's home wasn't very far from here; it would take about ten minutes by bicycle.

After saying this, Lu Qiaoge got on her bicycle and called to Su Hongmei: "Hurry up, don't delay."

Su Hongmei got on the bicycle. Lu Qiaoge rode extremely fast, and before Comrade Zhou Li could even react, they were already gone.

Comrade Zhou Li felt it was inexplicable. Several people walked out of the office to inquire about the news—after all, they were on duty, and for someone to suddenly leave, there must be something going on.

Comrade Zhou Li naturally didn't know, but Qiao Ge certainly wouldn't make trouble for no reason, so she just waited for her there.

Su Hongmei was perhaps too anxious and didn't even notice how fast Lu Qiaoge was riding.

It seemed that before she could even come to her senses, they had arrived at her home.

Perhaps it was the Bodhisattva's blessing.

Opening the door and moving the cupboard, Su Hongmei's daughter, Dandan, was indeed pinned down. But because she was small, and because the cupboard door had broken yesterday and hadn't been fixed yet, Dandan had been trapped inside the cupboard. The surrounding wooden boards had saved her life. But the cupboards nowadays are all made of wood and are very heavy; how could a child like Dandan have possibly tipped it over?

It turned out that one of the cupboard's legs had suddenly snapped.

How should one put it? It can only be said to be a stroke of luck in misfortune; this child is truly blessed with great fortune.

Lu Qiaoge also breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing the little sparrow had already flown to the big tree nearby, Lu Qiaoge said to it: 【You are amazing. Thanks to you for reporting the news and staying with her, otherwise Dandan would have really been in trouble.】

The trapped child must have been terrified. When they opened the door, the little sparrow, which had been chirping and keeping the little girl company the whole time, finally flew out of the window.

The little sparrow said excitedly: 【It's also thanks to you being able to understand me. Dandan is so good; she often feeds me, and I didn't want anything to happen to her.】

Over there, Su Hongmei held Dandan for a long time, unable to recover from the shock.

Su Hongmei's mother-in-law heard the news and rushed back. Seeing this scene, she was also scared out of her wits.

Worried that her daughter-in-law would blame her, she made excuses for herself: "I just went to the backyard to chat with your Fourth Aunt for a while; it was only a few minutes in total."

Before Su Hongmei could speak, someone nearby said: "You left the house after eight o'clock, and it's almost ten now. You still have the nerve to say a few minutes? Wrong is wrong; why be so stubborn? Hongmei is reasonable and won't blame you."

This old lady is muddled. Her other two daughters-in-law dislike her for being meddlesome and having a sharp tongue, so they don't let her in. Only this son is filial, and Hongmei is sensible, but as a result...

Su Hongmei, after all, works in a government department. Holding her little daughter, she said calmly: "Mom, Dandan will be sent to the nursery starting tomorrow. You are getting on in years, so just stay home and rest well." Then, without giving her mother-in-law a chance to speak, she thanked the neighbors who came to help, and naturally, she was also extremely grateful to Lu Qiaoge.

She even asked Lu Qiaoge: "I wonder who it was that reported the news to you?"

Lu Qiaoge said solemnly: "She said not to tell you what she looks like, lest your mother-in-law accidentally finds out and holds a grudge against her."

Su Hongmei certainly couldn't go to work in the morning. Lu Qiaoge spoke a few words with Su Hongmei and then rode her bicycle to find Comrade Zhou Li. By this time, Comrade Zhou Li had already become familiar with several clerks and was chatting away. Seeing Lu Qiaoge return, Comrade Zhou Li's eyes flickered, and she hurried up to pull Lu Qiaoge away.

Lu Qiaoge followed her footsteps.

Comrade Zhou Li lowered her voice and warned: "Although I don't know what happened, I'm sure it wasn't anything good. No matter who asks you, just smile and say nothing."

Lu Qiaoge nodded obediently.

And so she was pulled out of the office by Comrade Zhou Li.

On the road, seeing no one around, Comrade Zhou Li quietly asked Lu Qiaoge what had happened at Su Hongmei's house.

Curiosity, after all, is something everyone has.

Lu Qiaoge said that an old lady had come to send a message and happened to run into her, so she asked her to pass it on.

She also mentioned that Su Hongmei's daughter had almost lost her life.

Comrade Zhou Li also said with lingering fear: "It's thanks to that old lady, but she must be a neighbor. She didn't want to show her face to avoid offending Su Hongmei's mother-in-law, but she was also worried about the child, so she ran to report the news. Speaking of this, do you remember the home of Master Leng that we visited?"

Lu Qiaoge thought for a moment and nodded: "I know, Master Leng's wife has mental health issues, and the family is quite struggling."

Comrade Zhou Li sighed: "It must have been in the fifties. After Master Leng and Comrade Wang had their second child, the mother-in-law from their hometown said she would take the child back to look after, and would send the child back once the child was old enough for preschool. At that time, the nursery here hadn't been built yet, so Comrade Wang agreed.

At that time, the child was just over a year old. Comrade Wang's mother-in-law went out to pick wild vegetables and left the child at home. But you might not know, children in the countryside are like that; they are basically free-range. If they are hungry, they are given food; if they are thirsty, they are given water. Some are afraid of the child falling off the kang, so they use a rope to tie the child up... Back then, the old Leng family raised a sow, and somehow it got into the room and dragged the child off the kang..."

At this point, Comrade Zhou Li couldn't continue and sighed: "The child was gone. Comrade Wang went mad on the spot, but in fact, the child's grandmother couldn't get over it either, and a few days later, she jumped into the river..."

Lu Qiaoge's eyes widened in shock as she listened.

This was the first time she had heard of this.

It made her heart sink.

Seeing Lu Qiaoge's expression, Comrade Zhou Li couldn't help but sigh: "Your generation is very lucky. When you were little, there were over a dozen nurseries established just in our Guangming neighborhood."

Lu Qiaoge agreed deeply.

By the time the two returned to the neighborhood office, it was already noon.

On the way, Comrade Zhou Li had successfully collected the money and was preparing to distribute it to the families who were pasting paper boxes in the afternoon.