Fang Dihua pressed the iron shovel in her hand. “What do you mean, lost?”

Wasn’t the old Chang family arguing? How did the child go missing?

Lu Ping said, “Huzhi’s mother said he didn’t come home for lunch. She doesn’t know where he went, and Chang Xiaogang’s older brother said he didn’t see him either.”

Old Wang’s wife was so angry with her daughter-in-law that she gave her another beating.

She had been gossiping all day instead of cooking and looking after the child, and now her son was lost!

Fang Dihua asked, “At noon, I saw the two kids wandering around the west side and even called them to come home for lunch. Did they not go back?”

Lu Ping replied, “Others saw them going west too. Huzhi’s father and grandmother have gone over there to look for them, fearing they might have fallen into the big well.”

At this moment, Chang’s wife’s voice called out from outside, “Xiaogang, come home for dinner, come home—”

She called out with a tone that sounded like she was summoning spirits.

Tiantian said, “When they were fixing the basin, they even came to me to play in the west. I remembered what grandma said and didn’t play with them, so I didn’t go.”

Panpan added, “I also told Huahua and the others not to go.”

Fang Dihua hugged the two children tightly. “Good kids, luckily you didn’t go. Always listen to adults and don’t run off.”

She suspected that the two children hadn’t listened and might have fallen into the big well.

After searching for half a day without finding them, it was possible that…

The two kids nodded repeatedly and said in unison, “Definitely. Grandpa said long ago that there are water monkeys in the water and forest monkeys in the woods. We can’t go anywhere without adults.”

Soon, the whole village was stirred up. Some people, unable to even eat their dinner, went out to help search for the children.

The villagers who had been watching the commotion in Chang’s alley directly joined in the search.

Old Lu also sent his older and second son to help look for the children.

When they went out, Lu Dage told his wife to stay at home.

Lu Da said, “I walk fast. I’ll help look for them.”

Lu Dage replied, “You’re a woman, and women have a strong yin energy. It’s not safe for you to go out. Stay home tonight.”

Lu Da protested, “I’m strong and healthy. How can I have strong yin energy?”

Lu Dage said, “You’re a woman. The more robust you are, the stronger the yin energy. Stay at home.”

He and his younger brother left together.

Lu Da stood at the door, feeling unsettled. Seeing Sister-in-law Lu Er peeking around, she chuckled, “Look, how nice your older brother is to me.”

Lu Er was already full of jealousy towards the favoritism between her mother-in-law and the older sister-in-law.

Now, being provoked even further by Lu Da made her almost sick.

She shouted for her daughter, “Cuicui, Cuicui, where are you? Come home quickly!”

“What a troublesome girl, running off after eating. It’s like she won’t settle down unless she gets a beating.”

Lin Shu was trying to fend off mosquitoes in the house.

There was no mosquito repellent or floral water, but there was some homemade mosquito-repellent grass prepared by her father-in-law.

It was made from mugwort and other dried herbs braided together and burned in the evening to drive the mosquitoes away.

While it could drive them out, it couldn’t kill them.

The smell was overpowering.

She even made the kids lead their grandparents to the downwind side of the courtyard to avoid the smoke.

She had noticed that commercially advertised mosquito-repellent plants, such as mosquito grass, night-blooming jasmine, mint, and purple jasmine, were actually ineffective and could even attract more mosquitoes.

In her past life, her grandmother’s house had a whole garden of these plants outside the windows, and it didn’t prevent mosquitoes from buzzing around inside at all.

The medicinal effect was insufficient.

Nothing was more effective than physical methods at this point.

Drive them out with smoke, then use mosquito nets, and if necessary, kill a few mosquitoes through the net. This way, she could get a good night’s sleep.

Ah, she missed mosquito coils, mosquito liquid, and mosquito repellent tablets.

She hoped her father-in-law could use his skills and the county hospital’s resources to research these things.

When the smell in the house had mostly dissipated and the night temperature had dropped, Lin Shu coaxed the two children to bed.

Although it was scorching hot during the day under the blazing sun, the nighttime was cooler without the heat island effect, air conditioning, or exhaust fumes.

The ground moisture evaporated, and with a gentle breeze, the temperature felt quite comfortable.

At night, she still had to cover them with a cloth sheet.

After they had just fallen asleep, Lin Shu only covered the children’s small bellies and used a fan to cool them down.

Panpan, struggling to keep her eyes open, asked, “Mom, do you think Huzhi and Chang Xiaogang were eaten by a tiger?”

Lin Shu replied, “That’s not possible. We don’t have tigers here, nor do we have poisonous snakes.”

Tiantian’s little belly was rising and falling. “Then could they have been grabbed by water monkeys by the river?”

Lin Shu said, “No. They must have wandered off following the cicada monkeys.”

Panpan asked, “Mom, do you think they could have been taken by the basin repairman?”

Lin Shu replied, “No, the repairman is from our commune. He has children of his own.”

Panpan said, “I saw his big boxes. They are even taller than me. He could definitely hide me in them. He even said I should go with him.”

Lin Shu hadn’t thought much of it before, but now, with Panpan mentioning it, her heart skipped a beat.

Right, wasn’t Panpan supposed to go missing in the original story around these days?

It should be… a couple of days ago?

She wasn’t sure because she hadn’t died, and the Lu family didn’t have to hold a funeral.

The two children wouldn’t be upset about going to the west side to find their parents.

The original book didn’t mention anything about a repairman that day.

After all, it was a recollection from the protagonist’s perspective, and she only remembered Panpan’s disappearance.

Lin Shu carefully recalled the plot.

Panpan was eventually found in the mountains a hundred miles west of the Lu family village.

Panpan, along with two women and three other boys, had been locked in an abandoned deep well.

The well was an old hiding place for bandits’ food and was so remote that even the locals didn’t know about it.

Lin Shu’s head ached from thinking.

Some scenes were presented through Panpan’s memories, which were not pleasant.

The man who had taken them was a gloomy and taciturn person.

He originally had a wife and child, but they had died due to some events.

Unable to accept the reality, he had gone mad.

Lu Shaotang’s comrades had searched the area but found no suspicious traces.

The villagers living at the foot of the mountain also said that the man was pitiful, honest, and had suffered greatly from the deaths of his wife and child. Although he lived alone, he never did anything wrong.

Later, Panpan, pretending to be foolish, finally got the chance to climb out of the deep well using a rope ladder that the man had failed to remove.

While escaping, he was injured by the other prisoners and limped away to seek help.

Lu Shaotang’s comrades immediately sent people back to clear the abandoned well.

However, the people inside remained silent, pretending no one was there.

Even when forcibly dragged out, the two women who were there resisted vigorously and did not want to leave.

Except for Panpan, everyone else genuinely believed that the well was their home.

When Lu Shaotang’s comrades searched the man’s house, they found many scattered flat nails, which were said to be repair nails.

Lin Shu suddenly recalled the big boxes and repair nails.

That old man was a repairman!

The repairman who came to the village wasn’t from the Commune’s repair team; he was probably the kidnapper!

Could it be that the two children were stolen by this repairman?

Even though she had conflicts with the old Chang family, this was a separate matter.

Huzhi and Chang Xiaogang were just two naive children.

In her previous life, she had acted decisively to save a stranger girl, and in this life, she would similarly rescue stolen children.

Lin Shu coaxed the two children to sleep, then quietly made sure the mosquito net was secure and went out to find Fang Dihua.

Fang Dihua and Old Lu were using a flashlight to spray pesticide on the fruit trees in the yard, grumbling about how a big rascal had recently stolen honey apricots and now peaches.

Hearing her voice, Fang Dihua asked, “Are the kids asleep?”

Lin Shu replied, “Yes. Mother, Panpan just said that the repairman wanted to abduct him. It’s possible that he stole the two children. He was carrying a very large load. Hiding the children there is easy.”

Fang Dihua: “A mender? It can’t be, can it? Our commune’s mender wouldn’t dare to steal children.”

Lin Shu: “It’s probably not one of our commune’s menders.”

Fang Dihua: “How many menders do we have in our commune?”

Old Lu has a good memory. He thought for a moment and said, “There’s a mender named Ge. He’s tall and thin and specializes in repairing large items; he’s not good with delicate things. There’s also a mender named Jing Liuzhi. His work is beautiful; he can mend fine porcelain according to its patterns. The teacups at our house were repaired by him, but unfortunately, they still ended up broken.”

As he got older, he would often get nostalgic, talking about teacups, teapots, Yixing teapots, and inkstones, but eventually came back to the point, “There’s also an old Mou. These menders usually have a habit of not leaving their names when they work. It’s only because we interact with them often that I know about them.”

Lin Shu asked about the characteristics of these people, “Panpan said that today’s mender looked like an ordinary person, not matching any of the features your father mentioned.”

She didn’t know exactly what he looked like; she just wanted to guide everyone to think about menders from outside the area.

Fang Dihua: “Let’s go to West Street and ask. Jin Ping’er must have had her teacup mended.”

The old couple went to the street to find Jin Ping’er and ask.

Xu Laonian also brought his sons to help look. Jin Ping’er was at the door, looking out anxiously.

When Old Lu and Fang Dihua arrived, Jin Ping’er immediately recognized them by their silhouettes, “Second Master and his wife are here.”

Old Lu didn’t waste time with pleasantries and asked about the mender’s appearance.

Jin Ping’er: “This mender’s work is quite good, but he’s really dark-skinned. He dares to charge money, just like those old master menders from back then. Fortunately, I could negotiate the price. Back then, our old master…”

Fang Dihua: “Don’t talk about that dead ghost; just talk about the mender.”

Although Jin Ping’er was a small wife from a wealthy landlord family, she was sold into it and had a hard life.

She considered herself tough and not afraid of anyone, so she spoke her mind freely.

She laughed and said, “Look at my broken mouth; I can go on forever when I start talking about the past.”

She described the mender’s appearance, “He’s just an ordinary person you wouldn’t notice in a crowd. Like a green bean among green beans or a red bean among red beans. Ordinary people are pitiful; he doesn’t look special and…”

Fang Dihua: “Alright, it’s so dark now. Be careful not to trip on your small feet. Go home quickly.”

Jin Ping’er: “Okay, I’ll listen to Second Mistress. I’ll head home and go to bed.”

The old couple then went to the production team to report.

After they left, Lin Shu went back inside and lit a small bean-sized lamp.