Chapter 31: Saving Gu Yunyang

“Bang!”

“Ah…!”

A scream came from inside. Gu Yunyang took to his heels.

The door opened at the same time. Bai Jun came out, holding a stick, chasing him out of the alley. Seeing no one, he roared, “Who is it? Get out!”

Qin Lan also ran out, the pot smashed, the meat she had been stewing all morning spilled all over the ground. At that moment, she wished she could stuff the person who smashed the pot into the stove and burn them.

The street was quiet, not a soul in sight, as if the person who had thrown bricks at their courtyard just now was a ghost.

Qin Lan was so angry she wanted to burst into a tirade, but opening her mouth, remembering to maintain her image in front of Bai Jun, she swallowed the words back down.

“What are you yelling about at noon?”

The landlord’s voice came from the courtyard. Bai Jun’s body tensed, and he quickly carried the stick and ran back into the rented house. He couldn’t let the landlord see him and Qin Lan together.

Qin Lan hurried back too, looking at the meat on the ground, her teeth grinding in anger.

Gu Yunyang came out from another alley, wishing he could go back and throw a few more bricks at the courtyard, preferably to kill Qin Lan. Qin Lan had bullied his older sister a lot when she was at the Qin family’s, and even if he killed Qin Lan, it wouldn’t relieve his hatred.

But he knew he couldn’t go. If he were caught by those two, it would only cause trouble for his family.

He turned around angrily and walked back.

After walking for a while, he remembered that he had been out for a long time. His family might be worried. He walked faster and faster, even jogging.

“Little boy, what are you running for?”

A man on a bicycle passed him, then turned around and looked around.

Gu Yunyang ignored him and continued to run forward.

The man followed him slowly on his bicycle, “Got beaten by a grown-up? Adults these days, they really are something, hitting children at the drop of a hat, it really hurts a child’s self-esteem.”

“Don’t run, you’re sweating all over. Uncle will buy you an ice pop.”

Seeing that Gu Yunyang still ignored him, the man approached, grabbed his clothes with one hand, and covered his mouth with the other.

The bicycle fell over, but the man didn’t care, dragging Gu Yunyang into the alley.

Gu Yunyang struggled desperately, but couldn’t break free from the man’s grip. He couldn’t shout either.

Just as he was about to be dragged into the alley, a voice came, “What are you doing?”

Gu Yunyang struggled even harder, making muffled sounds, trying to pry the man’s hand away.

The man glared fiercely at the woman who spoke, trying to scare her away.

But the woman wasn’t afraid, “Let him go, or I’ll shout.”

Then, the woman pretended to shout.

The man was scared, released Gu Yunyang, picked up his bicycle and rode away quickly.

Gu Yunyang sat on the ground, terrified.

The woman walked over but didn’t help him, “Running around at noon instead of sleeping at home, remember this lesson?”

Seeing Gu Yunyang trembling with fright, looking pitiful, she said again,

“Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”

The fear of being unable to make a sound while being restrained was still there. Gu Yunyang slowly stood up, “I… my home is in the west of the city.”

West of the city?

The woman frowned, looking at her slightly bulging belly. It was hot enough walking so far at noon, but she didn’t know if that man had gone far. If he hadn’t, the little boy might fall into the man’s hands again.

Forget it, just consider it accumulating blessings for the baby in her belly.

…

At this moment, Gu’s mother was about to be driven crazy. After eating, she came out and didn’t see Gu Yunyang. She called out twice, but got no response. She opened the door to look outside, but he wasn’t there either. Thinking that he might have gone with Jiang Yiyi, she didn’t pay much attention. When Jiang Yiyi returned and learned that Gu Yunyang hadn’t gone with her, she was immediately scared.

“Yiyi, something might have happened to Yunyang, right?”

“No!”

Jiang Yiyi said decisively. Although Gu Yunyang was only eight years old, his mind was far more mature than that of an average eight-year-old child. He wouldn’t be easily abducted.

Besides, this area is remote; human traffickers wouldn’t come here even if they wanted to abduct children.

Although she said so, Jiang Yiyi was still uneasy. She and Jiang Jinfeng rode their bicycles to look for him. From afar, they saw Gu Yunyang walking towards them with a woman beside him, and she went to meet them.

“Sister-in-law!”

Gu Yunyang ran towards her.

The woman also looked over and, seeing that it was Jiang Yiyi, was somewhat surprised.

Jiang Yiyi stopped her bicycle and looked at Gu Yunyang, “What happened?”

“He was almost kidnapped by a human trafficker just now, but I saved him.”

The woman approached. She heard Gu Yunyang’s “sister-in-law,” meaning the boy was Gu Yunchi’s younger brother. She didn’t know what kind of fate it was that made her repeatedly encounter people connected to Qin Gang.

Jiang Yiyi pondered the truth of her words, saying, “Thank you.”

“That’s it? Jiang Yiyi, do you know how hard it was for me to bring him back at noon while pregnant?”

“So?”

“You should at least treat me to one, no, two servings of Liangpi.”

“I’ll send it to you tomorrow.”

“No, I want to eat it now.”

With that, the woman pushed Gu Yunyang aside and sat on the back of the bicycle, “Take me to eat now.”

The boy said his home was in the west of the city, meaning they lived here. Their home must have Liangpi. Even if they didn’t, she would have Jiang Yiyi make some for her. She had saved someone after all.

“My mother-in-law and younger sister are both at home. Are you sure you want to go?”

The woman hesitated for a moment, unable to resist the temptation of Liangpi. Last time, she hadn’t eaten much before Qin Gang threw it away, and later he wouldn’t let her eat it. She had been craving it for a long time, and now she finally had the chance, how could she miss it?

Besides, Gu Yunchi and Qin Gang had divorced, and she wasn’t a third party now, so what did she have to be afraid of?

“Go.”

“Yunyang, you go back first. I’ll walk back with her.”

Gu Yunyang ran back to the workshop.

The woman reluctantly got off the bicycle and followed her back, relieved that she had quarreled with Qin Gang and ran away, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to eat Liangpi.

Jiang Yiyi wondered if it was a coincidence or premeditated. If it was a coincidence, she would remember this kindness and repay it later. If it was premeditated, what was the purpose of the woman and Qin Gang doing this?

When they entered the courtyard, Gu Yunyang had already been taken into the house by Gu’s mother to be scolded. Gu Yuncan and Tiantian and Yueyue stood at the door listening.

They had never heard Gu’s mother lose her temper so much, and they all shrank their necks, not daring to make a sound.

Jiang Yiyi took the woman into an empty room and called Zhou Fen to make her a serving of Liangpi, specifically instructing her to add two spoons of chili.

Zhou Fen went to make the Liangpi, and Jiang Yiyi walked to the door, waiting until there was no more noise inside before saying to them, “No matter where you go in the future, you must tell your family first, remember?”

Gu Yuncan and the two little ones nodded repeatedly, afraid that if they nodded slowly, they would also be taken into the room to be scolded.

Gu’s mother came out of the room, Gu Yunyang following behind. He met Jiang Yiyi’s gaze and his heart trembled. His mother was easy to fool, but his sister-in-law was not.

“I… I just wanted… wanted to look around.”

He forced himself to say it, not daring to say that he had followed his sister-in-law. He wouldn’t dare to say it even if he died.

At the time, he hadn’t thought that much. He just wanted to know whether Jiang Yiyi had gone to deliver food to his younger brother or to that wild man.

Jiang Yiyi motioned for him to follow her to another empty room and closed the door.

Gu Yunyang’s body tensed.

“What exactly happened?”

Gu Yunyang only told her about encountering the human trafficker, “Sister-in-law, I didn’t tell Mom, and you don’t have to tell her either, okay?”

He wasn’t afraid of being beaten; he was afraid of his mother worrying.

Jiang Yiyi agreed. With this lesson, Gu Yunyang would think twice before doing anything in the future.