Chapter 31.2

Perhaps Wen Yue’s threat had some effect. Lin Fang, who had been frantically kicking the door, calmed down a bit and shivered at the thought of the Li family threatening to find Zhou Jianghai. Cursing a few more times, she hurriedly left the yard.

After waiting for a while, noticing there was no more commotion outside, Wen Yue grasped the axe behind the door and cautiously opened it.

Lin Fang was gone.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped outside, closed the kitchen door, and headed towards Grandma Fang’s house.

Li Nianqiu and the other girls had already arrived. When Wen Yue got there, she didn’t see Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao, so she curiously asked Grandma Fang, “Grandma, where did Zhou Yao and the others go?”

“I don’t know. They seemed to have gone out early for something.” Grandma Fang shook her head, also unsure.

Wen Yue pursed her lips and replied, “Oh,” before greeting Li Nianqiu and the others and getting busy at the sewing machine.

“The materials are running low. I’ll go to the city tomorrow.” Li Nianqiu said.

Wen Yue responded, “Okay…By the way, how is your grandma?”

Li Nianqiu raised her eyebrows. “I’m not too sure, but I guess it shouldn’t be too serious. They still have the energy to go to your second uncle’s house for money.”

If it were really that serious, they probably would still be at the hospital and wouldn’t come back so casually to cause trouble.

“Zhou Yao’s aunt is almost going crazy. Just now, she was blaming me, saying if I hadn’t refused her, none of this would have happened.” Wen Yue quietly muttered, her lips turning downward.

Li Nianqiu noticed she wasn’t in a good mood and comforted her, “Don’t mind her. People like that only find faults in others.”

Wen Yue nodded in agreement.

Until after lunch, Zhou Yao, Ren Yeliang, and Fang Shitao had not returned.

Wen Yue felt a bit distracted, wondering if something had happened… Zhou Yao hadn’t said a word when he left, which annoyed her.

It was around four o’clock in the afternoon when noise was heard outside the yard.

Ren Yeliang hadn’t even arrived when his voice rang out, “We’re back!!”

Grandma Fang stood up slowly and walked outside. “What were you all doing? Why are you back now?”

“Don’t even mention it. Do you have any leftover food, Grandma? We didn’t eat lunch, and we’ve been busy until now. I’m starving!” Ren Yeliang patted his stomach.

Grandma Fang replied, “Yes, I’ll go and heat it up for you.”

Zhou Yao pursed his lips and strode into the house, his gaze quickly locking onto Wen Yue. The young girl had her back to the door, focused intently on the sewing machine, oblivious to the sounds behind her.

“You’ve been busy for a while. Why don’t you take a break?” Zhou Yao walked over to Wen Yue’s side and whispered.

Wen Yue didn’t look up. “I’m not tired.”

Zhou Yao sensed that the girl seemed a bit down. After pursing his lips for a moment, he said in a low voice, “Uncle Sun is in trouble.”

“?”

Wen Yue immediately stopped her movements, looking up at him with a confused expression. “What happened?”

“He ran into bandits on his way back, and everything in the car was stolen. He was beaten badly, and when they sent him to the hospital for emergency treatment, he didn’t make it.” Zhou Yao’s voice was somewhat hoarse. “This came as a shock. I forgot to tell you when I left this morning.”

He didn’t make it?

Wen Yue was stunned and instinctively glanced at Zhou Yao’s expression.

He looked calm, but there were many bloodshot veins in his dark eyes, indicating that he didn’t seem well.

Wen Yue stood up, and all her previous anger dissipated in an instant. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him outside. “Let’s go talk outside.”

“Did you guys skip lunch?”

She had just heard Ren Yeliang mention it.

Zhou Yao lowered his gaze and softly replied, “It was a bit hectic. We were waiting for results at the hospital and had to deal with some other matters, so we didn’t have time to eat.”

“There’s not much leftover from lunch. I’ll go cook some noodles for you guys.” As she spoke, Wen Yue prepared to turn back to the kitchen, but Zhou Yao gently pulled her wrist back, holding her in his embrace.

Zhou Yao’s voice sounded tired. “No need. Just let me hold you for a moment.”

Wen Yue was held tightly in Zhou Yao’s embrace, his chin resting on her shoulder. His breath was heavy and warm, sending a shiver down her ear.

“Why did this suddenly happen?” Wen Yue spoke softly, her hand patting Zhou Yao’s back. “Didn’t you say Uncle Sun had a transport team? There should be quite a few people in the team. So, how could this happen?”

Wen Yue had heard that running goods in this era was dangerous. If you encountered bandits on the road, losing the goods was a small matter, and sometimes you could even lose your life.However, someone like Sun Xiang, who had been driving long distances for many years, would surely have his ways to handle it.

Zhou Yao replied, “According to the people under Uncle Sun, he was in a hurry to get back and drove ahead. It turns out a group of unknown bandits appeared on that road.”

Sun Xiang could be stubborn at times. It was likely that negotiations had broken down on both sides, leading to conflict. It was said that when he was sent to the hospital, he had numerous wounds all over his body, looking very tragic.

Wen Yue didn’t know what to say for a moment. “So, what happens next?”

“We handled everything we could today. The rest will be dealt with by Uncle Sun’s team,” Zhou Yao straightened up, his voice a bit cold. “That group of people will cause more trouble.”

Wen Yue sighed. “…What about Uncle Sun’s funeral?”

“It should be in three days,” Zhou Yao reached up to gently touch Wen Yue’s head. “Will you come with me then?”

“I’ll go,” Wen Yue replied, glancing at the watch on her wrist.

After chatting for a while, Grandma Fang had finished heating the food. Wen Yue urged Zhou Yao to go eat while she returned to the sewing machine, lost in thought.

She didn’t expect Uncle Sun to encounter such a thing. Indeed, there were too many unexpected events in this world.

Wen Yue felt a bit down, having already forgotten about Lin Fang’s incident.

That evening, as she walked home with Zhou Yao, she noticed the lonely sadness in his posture. She comforted him softly, “Death is inevitable. Don’t be too sad.”

“…Hmm?” Zhou Yao looked puzzled. When he caught a glimpse of Wen Yue’s concerned eyes, he smiled. “I do feel a bit down, but it’s alright. I just find Uncle Sun’s death a bit strange.”

After years of losing loved ones one after another, his heart had already become toughened.

Wen Yue blinked. “Huh?”

Zhou Yao, with his hands in his pockets, squinted at the brightly lit path ahead under the moonlight and slowly said, “From what I know of Uncle Sun, he wouldn’t have returned unless something major happened at home.”

Wen Yue was stunned for a couple of seconds. “Are you saying Uncle Sun was harmed by someone?”

Zhou Yao fell silent and didn’t answer immediately. After a while, he said, “Maybe I’m overthinking it. Don’t take it to heart.”

“Alright.” Wen Yue glanced at Zhou Yao’s expression and nodded softly in agreement.

The two fell quiet, focused on their path home.