Chapter 91

Li Chen and Shen Yiyi had just left when Da Bao woke up.  

He looked around but didn’t see his parents. He nudged the still-sleeping Er Bao beside him. “Er Bao, wake up! Father and Mother are gone!”  

Er Bao was startled awake. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he processed Da Bao’s words, then quickly sat up. He jumped off the heated brick bed barefoot, ran outside, and saw Mother Li sweeping the courtyard. “Grandmother, where are Father and Mother?”  

Mother Li noticed that both Da Bao and Er Bao had run out without wearing clothes or shoes. She let out a startled cry, immediately dropping her broom and rushing over. “Oh my, oh my! Why aren’t you wearing clothes or shoes? What if you catch a cold? Hurry back and put them on, quickly, quickly!”  

Hearing this, Da Bao turned and ran back inside to fetch their shoes and clothes.  

Er Bao, however, remained persistent. “Grandmother, where are Father and Mother?”  

Da Bao brought out Er Bao’s clothes as well. As the two of them put on their clothes, they looked at Mother Li with anticipation.  

While helping them dress, Mother Li casually replied: “Your father and mother went to your maternal grandmother’s house.”  

“They went to Grandmother’s house?” Er Bao’s voice suddenly rose, and his hands paused in the middle of dressing, his face full of disbelief.  

“Yes.” Mother Li said nonchalantly. “Finish putting on your clothes first, be good.”  

Er Bao allowed his grandmother to help him dress, but his little face puffed up like a small pufferfish. “Father is a bad man!”  

Mother Li finished dressing him snugly and, upon seeing his puffed-up face, found it amusing. She chuckled and asked: “How is your father a bad man?”  

“Father took Mother away and left us behind!” Er Bao huffed angrily. In his heart, his mother could do no wrong—there was no way she would abandon them. It must have been Father’s idea! “Grandmother, how long have they been gone?”  

“Not long, about twenty minutes.” Mother Li replied casually.

Er Bao’s eyes lit up instantly. He grabbed his older brother’s hand and dashed toward the outside. “Big Brother, if we go now, we can still catch up to Father and Mother!”  

“You can’t go! Da Bao, Er Bao, come back!” Mother Li realized what was happening and quickly shouted after them. Her voice startled Xiao Bao, who was still inside. The little one, dressed in only thin inner clothes, had also come outside.  

Mother Li immediately rushed back inside, grabbed Xiao Bao’s clothes, wrapped him up, and then scooped him into her arms before hurrying after the two older boys.  

Meanwhile, Er Bao wasn’t running very fast, mainly because his older brother had slowed down. After running for a while, Da Bao lost the will to continue.  

“Er Bao, let’s not go anymore. After twenty minutes, who knows how far Father and Mother have walked? Our legs are too short; we can’t catch up to them. Let’s just go back.”  

“We can still catch up…” Er Bao weakly insisted, though his confidence was clearly wavering.  

“We’re definitely not going.” Da Bao said firmly. “We need to go back quickly, or Grandmother will start worrying!”  

Er Bao hesitated for a moment. He didn’t want to give up, but since his older brother wasn’t going, he didn’t dare to go alone either. Reluctantly, he followed Da Bao back, mumbling in disappointment: “If only I could fly… then I’d definitely catch up to Father and Mother!”  

“No one in this world can fly!” Da Bao mercilessly shattered his dream. “It’d be better if we had a car. That way, we could definitely catch up to them!”  

“A bicycle?” Er Bao’s eyes lit up again. “Grandpa Village Chief has one! Let’s go ask him to lend it to us!”  

“Not a bicycle, a car!” Da Bao corrected him.  

“A car?” Er Bao tilted his head in thought. He had heard of cars before—people said they could move very fast—but he had never actually seen one. Curious, he turned to his older brother and asked: “Big Brother, have you ever seen one?”  

“No, I haven’t!”  

“Then how do you know about it?”

“There’s a picture book!”  

“Which picture book? How come I don’t know about it? Big Brother, did you hide it?”  

“I didn’t!”  

“You definitely did!” Er Bao declared with certainty and started pestering his older brother. “When we go back, you have to find it for me. I want to see the car too…”  

“Let’s talk about it when we get back.” Da Bao said, feeling annoyed by Er Bao’s persistence.  

Just as he finished speaking, a loud rumbling sound filled the air. Both Da Bao and Er Bao turned their heads and saw something speeding toward them. Da Bao’s mouth formed an “O” in astonishment.  

Er Bao, not knowing what it was, asked his brother: “What is that?”  

“It’s a car!” Da Bao said excitedly, taking two steps forward.  

Er Bao’s eyes lit up immediately. Without hesitation, he ran to the middle of the road, jumping and waving his hands at the approaching car. “Hey! Hi! Can you stop for a moment?”  

“Er Bao, that’s dangerous!” Da Bao had just shouted when the car came to a halt.  

A young man, around sixteen or seventeen years old, with a clean and refined appearance, stepped out from the front passenger seat. He quickly walked up to Er Bao and said: “Little guy, why are you standing in the middle of the road? That’s too dangerous! Move aside quickly.”  

“Big Brother!” Er Bao called out sweetly, grabbing the young man’s hand. “Can you drive us to find our father and mother?”  

“Find your parents?” The young man was momentarily stunned.  

“Yes, yes!” Er Bao huffed indignantly. “Our father and mother abandoned me, my big brother, and my little brother to go to our grandmother’s house. We want to find them!”  

The young man: “…”

“Xiao Xuan, what’s going on?” At that moment, the back door of the car opened, and a well-dressed middle-aged woman with an elegant demeanor stepped out.

“Aunt.” Er Bao smiled sweetly and repeated: “Can you drive your car and take my big brother and me to find our parents?”  

The middle-aged woman was stunned for a moment, then chuckled: “Little one, you have such a sweet mouth. I’m old enough to be your grandmother!”  

Er Bao giggled. “But Aunt looks so young and beautiful! Big Brother, don’t you think so?”  

Da Bao was not talkative, but he spoke sincerely. “Yes.”  

The middle-aged woman was so amused that she could hardly close her mouth from smiling.  

Shen Yuxuan couldn’t stand it any longer and reminded her speechlessly: “Mom, they want us to drive them to find their parents!”  

“…” What a way to spoil the moment.

Mother Shen shot him a glare, then crouched down to meet Da Bao and Er Bao’s eyes, speaking hesitantly: “Little ones, did your parents go to your grandmother’s house? Where is your grandmother’s house?”  

“In Beijing!” Da Bao and Er Bao said in unison.  

Beijing? That was way too far!

Mother Shen paused for a moment before asking: “Did your parents say they would take you with them?”  

Da Bao and Er Bao bit their lower lips and replied sadly: “No…”  

Mother Shen comforted them: “If they didn’t say so, then you can’t go. Beijing is very far, and there are many dangers on the road. Your parents didn’t take you along because they wanted to keep you safe. What if you try to catch up with them but can’t find them? What if you run into bad people who take you away?”  

She deliberately frightened them: “I’ve heard that some traffickers… eat children.”  

“?”  

Da Bao and Er Bao looked at her in horror.  

Mother Shen continued slowly: “If that happens, you’ll never see your parents again. Your parents would be very, very sad. Even knowing this, do you still want to go?”  

Da Bao and Er Bao shook their heads frantically. “We don’t want to go anymore!”  

Mother Shen smiled with satisfaction. These two were so obedient. “Then be good and go home to wait for your parents…”  

“Da Bao! Er Bao!”  

Before she could finish speaking, an urgent and anxious voice called out from a distance.  

Mother Li came running over in a hurry, holding Xiao Bao in her arms.  

“Grandma, slow down!” Da Bao called out.