Chapter 188: Yun Laidai Is Discovered Missing
“Buy it, second child, find some time to tell your father-in-law that he should keep a fat pig for us!”
Coincidentally, the second child’s wife’s family raised five pigs.
Lin He nodded repeatedly.
Hearing that their family would also slaughter a New Year pig this year, everyone was extremely happy.
They were already anticipating it, even though it wasn’t New Year yet.
Jiaojiao was also looking forward to it because New Year was the liveliest time, especially when the family slaughtered a pig.
It wasn’t that their family hadn’t considered raising pigs, but before, Xiaowu and the other children were too young, and coupled with Jiaojiao, the adults had to be busy looking after the children, tide pooling, and working, plus the old house didn’t have space to raise pigs.
However, now, Old Master Yun was already contemplating in his mind about enclosing a piece of land behind the new house to build a pigsty, and at the beginning of next year, he would go and get a small pig to raise.
Now that the boys were a lot older and had gone to school, the burden of looking after children was gone. Even if the son and daughter-in-law were busy with tide pooling and going out to sea and didn’t have time to raise pigs, he and his wife had the time.
When Xiaowu and the others finished school, they would be old enough to help with some chores.
As he thought about it, Old Master Yun rubbed his hands together, took out his dried tobacco, and started smoking, a smile never leaving his face.
In the countryside, what makes people happiest now is having a fat pig at home. Slaughtering a New Year pig at home is the most proud and triumphant moment.
This signifies that the family’s days are going well.
In the past, he also envied other families slaughtering New Year pigs.
The Flame Pearl was carefully collected.
Granny Yun hid it in her small cabinet, locked it, and also carefully hid the key.
Today was truly a happy day.
However, the next day, Xiaowu and the others were not happy.
Because they had to go to school.
Going to school was the most difficult when the weather turned cold.
Because the bed was so comfortable, getting up became exceptionally difficult.
With the current weather, Lin Hai and Lin He went out to sea less and less often.
After some more time, they would stop going to sea altogether.
The winter weather was harsh and not suitable for sea operations.
Even if they went out once in a while, Jiaojiao was not allowed to go along.
It was cold, and the family absolutely dared not let Jiaojiao go to the sea.
So, the unfortunate her, even though she didn’t go to school, had to practice writing at home.
In order to personally write letters to Big Brother and Second Brother, Jiaojiao studied very seriously.
Although her handwriting was crooked, it was much better compared to her initial stage where she wrote each character wildly as if it were two.
Two days ago, a big event happened in the village.
Yun Laidai disappeared.
This matter was discovered two days after Yun Laidai had completely disappeared.
On the first day Yun Laidai didn’t show up, Cai Jinhua didn’t pay it any mind, and happily counted her money.
The family Yun Laidai was supposed to marry into had sent the betrothal gift. For the sake of the money, she surprisingly didn’t ask Yun Laidai to do this or that all day, only calling out occasionally. When she found the person missing, she cursed them for being lazy and so on.
But on the second day, when the man’s side was ready to pick her up, they realized Yun Laidai hadn’t appeared for a long time, and only then did they start to anxiously look for her.
Cai Jinhua didn’t even consider that Yun Laidai had run away. She only thought Yun Laidai disliked the marriage she had arranged and was throwing a tantrum by hiding.
Because of this, she searched while scolding, and her voice was so loud that people could hear her wherever she went. Many people couldn’t stand her scolding her daughter so harshly.
But this was their family’s private matter, and they couldn’t interfere. Otherwise, with Cai Jinhua’s personality, they would surely get themselves into trouble.
Cai Jinhua even came to Jiaojiao’s house to look for her. Her loud voice was heard by Jiaojiao, who was practicing writing at home.
Jiaojiao knew Yun Laidai had run away, but she didn’t tell anyone.
Let her scold, anyway Yun Laidai couldn’t hear her.
After searching for a whole day and their throats were hoarse, Cai Jinhua’s family finally realized that Yun Laidai might have run away.
The man’s side refused to accept this, demanding the person back or a refund. Then Cai Jinhua went mad, not only scolding Yun Laidai more fiercely but also asking everywhere if anyone had seen her.
Jiaojiao, holding the little turtle and the puppy, with sunflower seeds in her pocket, went to the village chief’s house to join the fun.
That’s right, Cai Jinhua couldn’t find her and went to harass the village chief.
Jiaojiao: Offering a few seconds of silent prayer for the village chief.
The tiny Jiaojiao had come to understand that managing people was troublesome and often involved encountering oddballs.
At this moment, quite a crowd had gathered at the village chief’s house.
After all, there was less work in this weather, and few people went out to sea, so everyone was very idle.
With no other forms of entertainment, they showed particular enthusiasm for joining the fun, gossiping, and eavesdropping.
Jiaojiao also saw her grandmother.
She immediately ran over with the little turtle.
“Grandma, Grandma.”
Granny Yun beckoned to her: “Come here quickly.”
She and her good friends from the village had secured a very good spot, and they made room for Jiaojiao to join them.
Then, pairs of eyes all stared intently at Cai Jinhua’s family and the village chief, whose hair was getting sparser.
The village chief sat on a stool, frowning, and took drag after drag of his cigarette.
Cai Jinhua sat on the ground, beating her thighs and crying and making a scene.
“Village Chief, you must help us find Laidai back! That brat is about to get married and has disappeared. How can we explain this to our in-laws…”
After hearing a lot of talk, Jiaojiao didn’t hear any worry about Yun Laidai’s disappearance from their mouths. Instead, their words and tone were more concerned that if the person was gone, the two hundred yuan betrothal gift they received would be wasted.
Jiaojiao pouted and took out a handful of sunflower seeds.
She gave a handful to her grandma, a handful to Grandma Liu, a handful to Grandma Zhao…
These grandmas were all close friends with her grandma, so she gave a little to each.
“Aiyo, Jiaojiao, you brought so many sunflower seeds.”
“Come, come, Jiao Jiao, try our fried broad beans. Eat slowly now, be careful of your teeth.”
“Jiaojiao, have some peanuts.”
After giving out a few handfuls of sunflower seeds, Jiaojiao received other snacks.
Peanuts, fried broad beans, and a few candies.
She put them all into her small bag and then munched on sunflower seeds while listening to Cai Jinhua’s wailing and watching her throw a tantrum on the ground.
Roasted sunflower seeds were really delicious!
Village Chief: “It’s been two days, where do you expect me to find Laidai for you? How can you parents be like this? You only realized two days after Laidai disappeared!”
The village chief genuinely couldn’t stand Cai Jinhua’s family. After lecturing them, he was still worried that something might have happened to a young girl like Laidai, so he asked those present when they had last seen Yun Laidai.
Jiaojiao, who knew clearly that Yun Laidai had already left, said nothing, acting as if she knew nothing.
But others who had seen Yun Laidai the day before yesterday spoke up.
“The day before yesterday, around the time before lunch, I did see Yun Laidai heading towards the sea hooks with red eyes.”
Hearing this, everyone started to murmur.
“Could that girl Laidai have jumped into the sea because she was heartbroken?”
“What’s there to be heartbroken about? It’s just marriage; everyone goes through it. I saw the young man from the family Cai Jinhua mentioned; he seemed like a decent person.”
The family Cai Jinhua had negotiated with had visited the village, so everyone had seen their youngest son.
“But why the rush? They could afford two hundred yuan as a betrothal gift, yet they didn’t even hold a wedding banquet.”
That’s right, the man’s side intended to take her away just like that, keeping it low-key with only a meal for a few relatives from both families.
