Chapter 176

The woman felt irritable watching him and kicked the child in the face.

"Cry, cry, cry, all my fortune has been cried away by you!"

In reality, the six-year-old boy, who looked like he was four, fell sideways, his face full of terror, not daring to cry anymore; his small body was stiff as wood, and he didn't even dare to breathe hard.

"Damn it, daring to trick me, I'll kill that idiot sooner or later." The woman vented her anger.

Seeing someone in front from afar, she lowered her head to give the child in the bamboo basket a warning look, a simple and honest smile appearing on her face, and she hurried along, bowing her waist.

The little boy looked at the passerby, his eye sockets red, his mouth moving, but thinking of the experience of being beaten, he didn't dare to call for help.

It was useless; no one believed him.

He lowered his head, staring at his hand that was missing a finger, bean-sized tears hitting his knees.

The passerby didn't notice any problem, just swept a glance over them lightly, then brushed past the strange mother and son.

Once the person was gone, the woman stared at the boy, his small body trembling, trying his best to minimize his presence; she smiled as if enjoying it.

She liked this feeling of manipulating fate, and even more liked watching men and women who claimed to love their children suddenly learn that their child was lost, crying and wailing, heartbroken; that would make her feel very good.

This trip was a waste, wasting half a day; the woman frowned, her mood unhappy. She pinched the boy a few more times, the anger blocked in her chest dissipated, and she strode away.

The little boy shed tears *drip, drip*, calling out in his heart to Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom...

The enemy had appeared quietly and had a connection with Zhang Manyue; Lin Zhao didn't know this for the time being, and might never know, after all, the latter was dead.

That night, Li Ergou quietly carried Zhang Manyue on his back up the mountain.

The wind blew the treetops, making a *rustle, rustle* sound; there were waves of owl calls in his ears, and the sound from the grass could scare people into jumping.

Seeing Li Ergou stop, Li Da looked over, and then... saw the face sliding down his brother's shoulder.

Most of that face had been bitten off, the eyeball had fallen out, it was bloody and fleshy; looking at it once would give you nightmares for half a month.

Seeing it at such close range, Li Da was full of horror, his legs losing their strength.

A few breaths later, with an "Ah," he ran down the mountain as if chased by a ghost.

"Ghost!"

Li Ergou was scared by this sound into dropping the person on his back, and he also turned and ran.

"Big Brother, wait for me—"

He forgot his purpose for going up the mountain and only cared about running.

Seeing the blood on the rotten jacket, he took it off and threw it into the river; the water stained with blood, diluted in an instant, and the jacket was washed away by the current, the bloodstains and the jacket disappearing quickly.

Running all the way back to the village, Li Da stopped, panting heavily.

That bloody face kept appearing in front of his eyes involuntarily; he reached out and slapped himself.

"Don't think about it, don't think about it. Heaven bless, Heaven bless..."

Just as he was muttering, a hand fell on his shoulder; Li Da was scared into screaming, grabbed the hand, pulled hard, closed his eyes, and hoisted the dirty thing to the ground.

"Ah..." Li Ergou lay on the ground, limbs splayed, groaning in pain; his waist hit a stone, his face turning pale from the pain.

"Big Brother, what madness are you having!" He gasped.

Li Da heard the voice and found it familiar; looking in the direction of the sound, it was his unlucky brother whose wife had died.

"You still say that, I was almost scared to death by you, what are you doing popping out sneakily."

Li Ergou was so angry he wanted to jump, but his waist hurt too much to get up.

"How was I sneaky, I was right behind you."

He reached out to Li Da. "Pull me up."

Li Da pulled his unlucky brother up.

"Slowly, slowly, it hurts!" Li Ergou hissed in pain. "My waist! Big Brother, where did you get such brute strength, it hurts me to death!"

Li Da was sheepish. "I thought I was being targeted by something dirty."

Remembering the serious business, he looked behind Li Ergou and asked: "... How is that thing? Is it buried already?"

Li Ergou's expression stiffened. "... No, no."

His tone was resentful. "You ran so fast, no one helped me dig the pit, how could I bury it alone?"

Li Da said unhappily: "Then is that your wife or my wife?"

On the mountain, he only heard people say that his sister-in-law had been half-eaten by wolves, her corpse wasn't complete, and it was very scary; he was afraid of having nightmares at night and didn't dare to get close to look, but seeing that face just now had scared him to death.

Li Da leaned against a tree by the road, and the sweet potato rice he had eaten at night was all vomited out.

"I can't do it alone." Li Ergou said aggrievedly.

"Why can't you? What doesn't encounter difficulties, solving them is being a good comrade, did you try? Don't always say you can't, there's nothing you can't do." Li Da wiped the filth from the corner of his mouth onto the tree trunk, his dark, thin face full of seriousness. "I'm going to sleep, your wife's matter, *blech*..."

"Think of a way yourself."

Leaving this sentence, he ran home quickly, lay on his creaky bed, and hugged his own wife to feel at ease.

The weather was hot, and the Li family's windows were small and didn't ventilate well. Li Da's wife was sweating from sleep and felt a furnace appear beside her, so she slapped out impatiently. Feeling the pain, Li Da didn't care, but that feeling of dread dissipated a bit.

To be honest, it scared him to death.

There really were man-eating beasts in the deep mountains; he would never be arrogant again!

Over there, Li Ergou was also scared; once his brother left, he felt everything was wrong, didn't dare to stay on the mountain, and turned and ran back.

He had thrown it far enough, no one should have discovered it.

The Gu family's old house was very quiet, the doors were closed, and everyone was asleep.

They had been busy in the fields all day, then went up the mountain to find people, then divided the wild boar... after eating meat, touching their oily bellies, they returned to their rooms and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow, feeling very comfortable.

Tie Dan turned over and said to his younger brother: "Hammer, meat is truly delicious, what do you think about us going to dig a trap?"

"... My name is Gu Zhili, Zhi as in knowledge, Li as in reason, not Hammer." Li Bao also turned over, facing his brother, frowning and correcting him.

"Oh, what's the difference, isn't it still you, I'm just calling out in the room." Tie Dan didn't care at all.

Hearing this, Li Bao shouted angrily: "Gu Tie Dan."

Gu Zhixing: "..."

Reaching out to tickle his brother's ticklish spot, Tie Dan, who felt he was a big child and didn't want to hear people call his nickname anymore, snorted: "Who are you calling Tie Dan? No sense of seniority, call me Brother!"

"Call me Li Bao!" Li Bao skillfully dodged his brother's hand, his small face serious; the little child was very earnest.

Tie Dan compromised. "... Li Bao."

Muttering to himself: "You've learned bad habits from the twins, you're so sharp, it's not easy to trick you anymore."

"Xiang Yubao and Gu Hangbao are very good." Li Bao's small brows were tightly furrowed, his immature voice full of dissatisfaction. "You're speaking ill of them!"

He went to pinch Tie Dan's mouth, and once he pinched it, he wouldn't let go, pinching his brother's mouth into a duck's mouth.

"Brother is speaking ill of Xiang Yubao and Gu Hangbao, Brother is bad, spit out the meat, don't eat the wild boar Third Uncle hunted, spit it out!"

Tie Dan pulled his brother's hand down and stared at him. "Did I speak ill? Huh?"

"I said they were sharp, can you stop only listening to half of what people say, you're making me angry to death!" he said angrily.

Li Bao said: "You did, you said, 'learned bad habits from the twins'... if this isn't speaking ill, what is?"

Tie Dan's eyes went dark, and he took a deep breath. "Grandma wasn't wrong, you're just a blockhead."

"..." Li Bao puffed out his cheeks in anger, retorted: "Grandma also said, with Xiang Yubao, Gu Hangbao, and Qian Bao, I won't suffer any losses no matter what!"

"No, Grandma also talked about me, right? What about me?" Tie Dan pulled his cheeks.

"Hmph!" Li Bao rolled on the bed, sticking to the wall to sleep, saying very annoying things in the most casual tone: "Can't rely on you."

"You're not smart..."

Tie Dan: "?"

"Who's not smart?" Tie Dan refused to accept it, sat up and teased his brother. "How am I not smart, explain clearly to me!"

Li Bao looked at his parents' bed and complained: "Dad, Mom, I'm sleepy, Brother won't let me sleep."

Gu Yuanshan and Huang Xiulan were watching the fun, watching with great interest.

Hearing his younger son's words, the father said: "Tie Dan, stop messing around, go to sleep!"

"Dad is biased."

Gu Yuanshan: "Biased your head, I think your skin is itching!"

Tie Dan snorted and turned his back. Discovering that his brother's breathing frequency wasn't quite right, he sat up and looked over; this kid had actually fallen asleep?!

"..."

Gu family's new brick house.

Lin Zhao was sleeping in the children's room tonight; as for Gu Chenghuai, he wasn't willing to be separated from his wife, and after obtaining the children's consent, he also slept over.

Fortunately, the twins' low bed was big enough; it was enough for four people, two adults and two children, to sleep.

Xiang Yubao and Gu Hangbao slept in their own bed, their small pillows close to the low bed, very close to Mom and Dad; the little brothers didn't make a fuss about sticking to Lin Zhao.

"Mama, our room is truly lively tonight, I like it." Gu Hangbao said with a grin.

"I know, you like it lively." Lin Zhao hugged Qian Bao, patting her youngest son's back lightly. The little one hadn't slept with Mama for a long time either, happy enough to curve his black eyes and smile, not a hint of sleepiness.

Gu Hangbao turned over, lying on the upper bunk, his short legs folded and propped up, his milky voice tinged with excitement. "Mm-hmm, I like it lively. I'm always so happy every time I go to the old house."

"Are you not happy at our house?" Lin Zhao asked back.

She wanted to ask, are you happy when your little aunt is at home? That person was a buzzkill and didn't deserve to appear on such a warm night.

"I'm happy too, a different kind of happy." Gu Hangbao said cleverly.

Gu Chenghuai lifted his eyelids, swept a glance at the boy on the upper bunk, his voice clear and steady. "Lie down properly. Do you want to hear a story tonight?"

Zhao Zhao was sleepy, the children should sleep.

Today Gu Chenghuai led people to hunt wild boars, hunting several, his prestige was unprecedentedly high, praised by the whole village; the children surrounded the twins to praise them, envying them for having a father who could hunt wild boars...

Because of this, Gu Hangbao was floating on air, his worship of his father like the surging water of the Yellow River.

The boy on the upper bunk immediately lay down properly, grabbed a corner of the blanket, and covered his belly.

"Listen. I'm lying down properly." he said loudly.

Gu Chenghuai reached out to pull the blanket for his wife and took out a children's book to read, his voice deliberately lowered, very hypnotic.

Before long, the four cubs were asleep.

Seeing Yaobao fell asleep the fastest.

Lin Zhao whispered: "Seeing Yaobao might not like reading in the future."

Gu Chenghuai laughed. "How old is she, it's normal to sleep a lot, you can't tell at this age, maybe she'll like it when she's older."

"That's true." Lin Zhao looked at the two similar little faces, her brows and eyes gentle.

She gave birth to them, so she had to pave the way for them; when the college entrance examination resumed, she would go to the capital, and at that time, she would buy several more properties to provide a safety net for them.

"Gu Chenghuai, do you feel that today's matter, Qian Bao being lost, was very strange?"

"I feel so. Everything is strange." A cold light flashed quickly in Gu Chenghuai's black eyes, disappearing in an instant. "I will investigate. No matter who is making trouble behind the scenes, they won't have a good end."

"You pay attention, I feel this matter isn't over."

Gu Chenghuai nodded.

The male twin of the Fengshou Brigade was abducted up the mountain by a fellow villager, without losing any arms or legs, and the person who abducted him was eaten by wolves—this matter spread to the surrounding brigades in a short time.

The Lin family also heard about it.

Early the next morning, Lin Heling and Song Xiwei brought their two sons to visit.

As soon as they entered the door, they saw Qian Bao drinking milk from a bottle; he and his younger sister were sitting side-by-side on a rattan chair, swinging their lotus-root-like short legs, their faces full of smiles.

Lin Heling and Song Xiwei, who were walking in front, looked at each other and laughed.

It seemed he was fine.

Qian Bao saw his maternal grandmother and grandfather, his eyes brightening slightly; he slid down from the rattan chair and ran over, *da, da, da*.

"Grandma, Grandpa, Second Uncle, Third Uncle." The little milky voice called them one by one.

Seeing Yaobao followed her brother and called them, then continued drinking milk after finishing.

The little chubby one was holding a pink milk bottle drinking milk, cute enough to melt people.

Lin Shifan walked over, picked up his little niece, and smiled, showing his white teeth. "Seeing Yaobao still recognizes me? I thought she wouldn't remember me, truly smart."

After saying this, he took out a White Rabbit milk candy.

"Call me again, and I'll give you candy." he coaxed playfully.

Seeing Yaobao didn't even look, only caring about drinking milk *ton, ton, ton*.

Just then, Gu Hangbao walked over. "Seeing Yaobao won't want it."

"?"

Question marks appeared on Lin Shifan's head; were there children who didn't like candy?

"Seeing Yaobao doesn't like candy?"

Gu Hangbao reached out. "Give me two, and I'll tell you the reason."

Lin Shifan: "..."

Where did this sharp little ghost come from, even knowing how to bargain.

He took out two candies and gave them to him.

Gu Hangbao collected them skillfully, one for himself and one for his brother.

"When Seeing Yaobao is drinking milk, she doesn't want anything."

Lin Shifan asked: "What about meat?"

"Mama said she and Qian Bao can't eat meat." Gu Hangbao looked at his younger brother and sister with sympathy.

Thinking about it, when he was his younger brother and sister's age, he hadn't eaten meat either, so he felt there was nothing strange and calmed down again.

Lin Zhao heard the sound and came out.

"Dad, Mom, Second Brother, Third Brother."

Song Xiwei looked at her carefully, and seeing she was in good spirits, she felt relieved. "Something so big happened at home, why didn't you send word home? Who is more familiar with the mountain environment than me? Your father and I were shocked when we heard the news, and hurried over."

"I didn't think of it." Lin Zhao said righteously. "We heard the news as soon as we got back, my brain was empty."

"Fortunately, the child is fine." Song Xiwei held Qian Bao, her eyes filled with unspeakable heartache.

"Yes." Lin Zhao thought to herself, if something happened to Qian Bao, she didn't know what she would do.

But she also knew that Qian Bao was wearing a red string on his hand, and this thing could at least protect his life.

"Did Qian Bao sleep well last night?" Song Xiwei asked again.

"Very well, slept until dawn." He needed to pee, so he pushed Gu Chenghuai's face, woke him up, and carried him to pee.

"Where's Chenghuai?" Lin Heling asked casually, seeing he didn't see his son-in-law.

"Went to buy candy." Lin Zhao led the twins to pour water for her family. "Yesterday, many people in the village helped go up the mountain to find people, so I'm buying some candy to thank everyone."

"That's what should be done."

Lin Shifan took out a handful of tickets from his military uniform pocket, all kinds of messy tickets. "Zhao Zhao, you keep these, there are many candy tickets inside, buy candy to eat."

As for money, he had just sent some back before, so he wouldn't give any this time.

Lin Zhao accepted it without being polite. "Thanks, Third Brother, when you return to the troops, I'll bring you two bottles of meat sauce."

"Generous enough, worthy of being my own sister." Lin Shifan grabbed Xiao Jin, held him in his arms to smooth his fur, and asked again: "Does Little Four know... about the success of the drug testing?"