Chapter 39 : Dad, look, what is that?

Zhou Lin explained everything that had happened that day in detail, and Zhou Tingyue’s brows furrowed even tighter.  

Without even bothering to take off his raincoat, he turned around to leave but nearly bumped into someone.  

Looking up, he saw Zhou Cheng the boy who had been missing all day.  

Zhou Cheng was completely drenched, as if he had been caught in the storm for hours. His soaked hair clung to his forehead, water streaming down his face like tiny rivulets.  

Zhou Lin, Zhou Wei, and Zhou Xinxin were stunned to see him return, and they immediately ran up to hug him.  

“Brother, you’re finally back!”  

“Yeah! Do you know how worried we were?”  

“Where have you been all day? Why didn’t you come home?”  

Zhou Cheng’s face was pale, whether from the cold or his mood, it was hard to tell.  

“Nothing… I just went out for a walk.”  

But Zhou Tingyue wasn’t focused on him, his eyes kept scanning behind Zhou Cheng.  

When he didn’t see the person he was looking for, his expression darkened with urgency.  

“You came back alone? Where’s your mother?”  

Zhou Cheng looked confused by the question.  

“Her? How should I know where she is?”  

Zhou Lin quickly spoke up. “She’s been looking for you all day! During dinner, I told her about what happened last night. She must have gone to Zhou Xiaoyan’s house to find you!”  

Hearing this, Zhou Cheng’s face twisted in anger.  

“How could you tell her that?”  

Zhou Lin scratched his head awkwardly.  

“We were worried about you!”  

But Zhou Tingyue’s expression grew even darker.  

“What happened? What else have you done that I don’t know about?”  

Zhou Lin quickly explained the events of the previous night.  

Without saying another word, Zhou Tingyue turned on his heel and headed straight for Zhou Xiaoyan’s house.  

Zhou Cheng’s heart clenched, and he immediately followed, but Zhou Lin grabbed his arm.  

“Brother, you just got back! Where are you going? It’s still raining!”  

Zhou Cheng shook him off impatiently.  

“She came looking for me, I have to go check myself!”  

With that, he rushed into the downpour, ignoring Zhou Lin’s attempts to stop him.  

Zhou Lin was anxious, but he didn’t dare follow. He had promised to that woman he would take care of their younger siblings. If he left and something happened to them, what would he do?  

All he could do was pace back and forth inside, praying for the rain to lighten and for everyone to return safely.  

—  

When Zhou Tingyue arrived at Zhou Xiaoyan’s house, he noticed Zhou Cheng had followed him.  

Without saying a word, he just gave the boy a brief glance before stepping forward and knocking on the door.  

Inside, Zhou Xiaoyan and Sun Weidong had already finished dinner and gone to bed early. With the rain pouring so heavily, there was nowhere to go, so they figured they might as well save electricity and sleep.  

Hearing the knocking, Zhou Xiaoyan groaned in irritation.  

“Who is it?”  

Sun Weidong got up, put on his clothes, and went to open the door.  

When he saw Zhou Tingyue and Zhou Cheng standing outside, completely drenched and looking like drowned rats, he was stunned.  

“Captain Zhou? What are you doing here?”  

Hearing that it was Zhou Tingyue, Zhou Xiaoyan grumbled as she got up and put on her clothes.  

But when she came out and saw it was indeed Zhou Tingyue along with that brat from their family, her irritation flared.  

“What now? Are you still not done? First, you were looking for one person, and now another! What, does my family owe you money or something?”  

But her words had the opposite effect of what she intended.  

Zhou Tingyue’s eyes suddenly lit up.  

“So my wife really did come to see you. Do you know where she went?”  

Hearing that they were searching for Song Shiwei, Zhou Xiaoyan and Sun Weidong exchanged a quick, uneasy glance.  

Could it be… that woman hadn’t returned home yet?  

With the rain coming down so heavily…  

Could it be that she really took their words to heart, went to the beach to search for someone, and ended up falling into the sea?!

If that were the case, wouldn’t she be a murderer?  

Sun Weidong had the same thought, and his expression suddenly became tense.  

“She came over and asked if we had seen Zhou Cheng. Xiaoyan said she saw him at the beach in the afternoon. She must have gone there!”  

At that moment, Zhou Cheng suddenly shouted in anger, “I never went to the beach at all!”  

Hearing this, Zhou Tingyue’s expression darkened, and he shot a sharp look at Zhou Xiaoyan. Sun Weidong also frowned at her.  

She shrank her neck in fear.  

“I—I was just mad at her for slapping me that day, so I wanted to trick her…”  

Before she could even finish her sentence, Zhou Tingyue and Zhou Cheng took off like the wind, running straight toward the beach.  

Sun Weidong was so furious he didn’t know what to say. He could only sigh deeply.  

“You… you always cause trouble. If something really happens to that woman, you could end up in jail!”  

With that, he grabbed his raincoat and hurriedly followed after them.  

The commotion quickly spread, and the neighbors couldn’t just sit idly by.  

If someone really got swept into the sea in this weather, it could be fatal!  

Quickly, the men from the family compound gathered, grabbing tools, ropes, and anything that could help, and rushed toward the beach.  

—  

When Zhou Tingyue and Zhou Cheng arrived at the beach, the rain was coming down hard.  

The sea was violent and churning. In this kind of weather, if someone fell in, the chances of survival were slim.  

Zhou Cheng was still young, and he had never imagined that Song Shiwei would risk her life looking for him. Tears instantly welled up in his eyes.  

Looking up at Zhou Tingyue with red-rimmed eyes, he sobbed, “Dad, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t think she would come looking for me…”  

Zhou Tingyue knew this wasn’t the time for blame, he just needed to find Song Shiwei as soon as possible!  

He carefully searched along the coastline, making sure not to miss anything.  

The rain blurred his vision, making it impossible to see clearly. The waves were massive, crashing wildly against the rocks. His heart tightened with worry.  

Little girl, where are you? Please be safe!  

Just then, a group of people came running from a distance. At first, Zhou Tingyue thought they were soldiers, but as they got closer, he realized they were villagers from a nearby town.  

Leading the group was a young girl. The moment she saw the raging sea, she collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.  

“Xiaojun!!! Xiaojun!!! My brother!!!”  

Zhou Tingyue was momentarily confused about what was happening.  

An older man, who looked like the village chief, sighed and said with sorrow, “Xiao Cui, you have to accept it. In this weather, Xiaojun was taken by the waves… there’s no chance he survived.”  

But the young girl, Xiao Cui, refused to believe it. She knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, and kowtowed desperately.  

“Village Chief, I beg you, please save Xiaojun! My brother is still alive! He’s only twelve! He’s still so young!”  

“He’s been such a good boy all his life! Just to get medicine for our sick grandparents, he came to the beach every day! How could God be so cruel to take him away? Please, I beg you, save him!”  

The villagers’ hearts ached for Xiao Cui. They had watched her and Xiaojun grow up.  

The siblings had lost their parents when they were little, and their ailing grandparents had raised them. But the elderly couple’s health was poor, and a few years ago, their grandmother became so ill she could barely leave her bed.  

Xiaojun was a responsible child. Though he was only twelve, he climbed mountains to collect herbs and went into the sea to catch fish every day, all just to trade for medicine for his grandparents.  

Thinking about this, everyone’s faces were filled with grief and regret.  

—  

At that moment, Sun Weidong arrived with the men from the family compound.  

They all looked out at the raging sea, their hearts sinking.  

From the looks of it, if Song Shiwei had really been swept away by the waves… she was in grave danger!  

Just then, Zhou Cheng suddenly pointed toward a reef in the distance.  

“Dad, look! What is that?!”