Qi Yuanshan had seen it long ago and was overjoyed in his heart.
He thought to himself: It’s still his son who has good judgment, and a foolish person can also have good fortune. Looking at this little girl, she knows to protect his foolish son at such a young age. He was truly happy for his son.
However, Fu Xinci paid no attention to that. She rolled her eyes at Qi Wangshi.
Then, she immediately put on a sweet smile and called out, "Uncle Qi." After that, she directed Qi He to untie the donkey cart tied to the old elm tree.
"Brother Qi, let's go home, I'm hungry."
"I'm hungry too." Qi He remembered that when they were at the military post before, he heard his second aunt babbling incessantly, like a hundred ducks squawking, which made his head ache.
At this moment, Grandpa Meng and Sister Fu were simply saving him from dire straits.
He nimbly jumped over, untied the rope tied to the old elm tree, waved goodbye to his father and Grandpa Village Chief, and kept winking at Xi Zi and Xiao Fang, indicating that he would come back to find them to play later.
With the unspoken understanding they had from childhood, Xi Zi and Xiao Fang immediately nodded in realization.
Seeing them about to leave, Qi Wangshi became anxious. She pointed at Fu Xinci and loudly questioned Qi Yuanshan, "Big Brother, how could you let that little brat take our family's silver notes?"
Qi Yuanshan didn't want to answer her words. Instead, he looked at the two children on the donkey cart, who were dirty beyond recognition, and asked, "Uncle Meng, have the people been bought?"
"Mm." Grandpa Meng replied, then suddenly remembered the suspicious tooth-puller and pulled Qi Yuanshan a few steps away, carefully reminding him, "Yuanshan, I always feel that the tooth-puller is very suspicious."
"Uncle, which tooth-puller?"
"It's the man of the tooth-puller from Xian Shui Town. He has a scar on his face, is agile, and always feels a bit different."
Saying this, Grandpa Meng glanced at the two warm-hearted girls and then mentioned his granddaughter's suspicion.
"Ci'er also thinks that person is suspicious and suspects that these two children might have been kidnapped, so she urged us to come back quickly. However, I've been watching carefully all the way, and there's no one following us."
Qi Yuanshan also took it seriously and whispered a few words with Grandpa Meng in a low voice before letting Grandpa Meng and the others leave.
Seeing that her eldest uncle had really let that little brat leave, Qi Wangshi was so angry that she almost exploded.
But she wasn't stupid. She dared to insult the ancestors of the Qi family in front of her mother-in-law, but she didn't dare to do so in front of her eldest uncle.
The murderous intent in her eldest uncle's eyes was not to be deceived. Although she was unruly, she was also afraid of death.
When Grandpa Meng arrived home driving the donkey cart, Nuan Xin's arm around her younger sister finally relaxed a little.
All the way, she had been secretly observing the scenery by the roadside. The further they went, the more desolate it became. She was scared at first, afraid that her sisters would encounter bad people again.
Although this grandfather and granddaughter didn't look like bad people, her mother had told her that bad people don't have "bad person" written on their faces, so how could you know who was bad?
It wasn't until they saw the military post and heard fragmented words from the old grandfather and that officer that she began to believe that this old grandfather and that young girl were good people.
Hearing the knock on the door, Meng Yuluo quickly came to open it.
"Second Great Uncle, Brother Qi, Sister Ci, you're back."
"Mm, we're back."
Meng Yuluo, diligently and somewhat clumsily, followed Qi He to quickly put the donkey cart in the donkey shed. Then he happily followed Qi He back to the main courtyard.
At this time, Grandpa Meng and his granddaughter, along with Nuan Xin and her sister, had already seen Fang Shi.
Looking at the two little sisters who were like beggars, Fang Shi immediately arranged for hot water to bathe the children.
Zhong Shi and Tian Shi immediately took the sisters to the washing room. Both of them were straightforward and diligent.
Even though the sisters had lice and nits on their bodies and hair, they didn't show any disgust.
An hour later, when the family saw the two sisters looking brand new, they all felt indignant. Which heartless scoundrel had kidnapped these two children?
Nuan Xin's clothes fit perfectly, as they were Fu Xinci's. However, Nuan Nuan's small undershirt, which belonged to Yu'er, was a bit tight.
When the two sisters stood before everyone, anyone with eyes could see that these two sisters were definitely not children from ordinary families.
The sisters were eight parts similar, both fair and clean, with big, watery eyes and delicate, pink lips. They were already considered little beauties.
If there was a flaw in the sisters' faces, it was their noses. They should have been nine-tenths beauties, but because of their slightly flattened nose bridges, they lost two-tenths of their beauty.
Fu Xinci didn't think so. She thought that the slightly flattened nose bridge was quite cute.
Grandpa Meng finished looking and his expression became unusually grave. However, he was afraid of scaring the two little sisters, so he remained silent for a while before adjusting his mood, putting on a kind smile, and asking the older girl, "I heard you tell Ci'er just now that your name is Nuan Xin."
"Yes, sir. My name is Nuan Xin."
"Then, Nuan Xin, do you remember your surname and your parents' names?"
"Nuan Xin remembers her surname. My younger siblings and I all take our father's surname, Lin. Our mother's surname is Luo. Father calls Mother Huiru at home. As for Father's name, we only heard Mother call Father 'husband'."
Fu Xinci clearly saw a flash of sadness in Nuan Xin's eyes. It was obvious that this girl was hiding something and not telling the truth.
Fu Xinci wanted to say something to alleviate her concerns, but then she decided against it.
Alas, if she didn't want to say it, she shouldn't force her.
She believed that with time, they would eventually speak.
Grandpa Meng and his granddaughter thought along the same lines. If the younger one didn't know her father's name, it would be understandable.
But the older one, who was about the same age as his granddaughter, how could she not know her father's name? It was likely due to some unspeakable difficulty.
After Fang Shi took the two girls away, Grandpa Meng discussed with his son.
"Yu'er, it seems that Yuanshan and Xiao He are also in trouble."
"Father, how can that be?"
Grandpa Meng recounted the matter of Qi He's aunt and uncle coming here and also described the character of Qi He's second aunt.
"She snatched Xiao He's silver notes in front of us. Xiao He gave the silver notes to Ci'er, and she wanted to snatch them again. I've never seen such shamelessness."
Grandpa Meng did not approve of Qi He putting so many silver notes in his granddaughter's hands. However, when he saw Qi Wangshi's unpleasant behavior, he temporarily did not let his granddaughter refuse.
He worried that if these silver notes were in Xiao He's hands, Qi Wangshi might snatch them away.
With the silver notes in his granddaughter's hands, he could guarantee that the woman would not be able to snatch them.
He had god-like confidence in his granddaughter.
Grandpa Meng then remembered the willow branch his granddaughter was holding. The woman, who was strong and robust, was stopped from moving forward by the willow branch in his granddaughter's hand.
Afterward, he saw his granddaughter throw away the willow branch and he picked it up to examine it carefully. It was just a very ordinary willow branch.