Yu'er took the steamed bun handed over by his grandfather, smiled a little sheepishly, and continued eating.
Fu Xinzi, however, dared not move, fearing that Yu'er would follow if she went out.
Qi He saw this, said nothing more, habitually smiled at Sister Fu, and quickly finished eating.
However, when he finished and was about to leave after informing Grandpa Meng, he happened to see his father walking towards the main house with two acquaintances through the glass window.
"Grandpa Meng, my dad, Captain Lin, and Brother Shunzi are here."
"Your father is here. What about Captain Lin and Shunzi? Who is Shunzi?"
Fu Xinzi looked at Qi He, and in each other's eyes, they both saw three words: "We're about to be exposed."
Qi He's reaction was swift. Before Sister Fu could speak, he ran out in three steps, intercepting his father and Captain Lin, who were about to head to the main house.
"Little He, what are you doing?" Qi Yuanshan hadn't expected his son to be so impulsive.
"Dad, listen to me." Fearing that Grandpa Meng would come out to greet them, Qi He spoke briefly, recounting how he and Sister Fu had gone out to find them behind Grandpa Meng's back last time.
Qi Yuanshan looked at his son. If there hadn't been outsiders here, and he was afraid of startling Uncle Meng, he would have really given this boy a couple of kicks.
"You, you child, are too daring. You even took Xinzi out with you. Do you know that if anything had happened, your father would have regretted it for a lifetime?"
"Dad, I know I was wrong." Qi He quickly admitted his mistake, afraid his father would beat him. His father's big feet were strong, and one kick from him would make his backside ache for days.
Captain Lin saw Qi Yuanshan disciplining his son and didn't know what to say. He had come to thank the two children, but now, good intentions had gone awry, and the children were about to be punished. What should he do?
Shunzi, who was following behind them, was even more anxious. He secretly tugged at Captain Lin's clothes, asking him to intercede.
Captain Lin had the same intention and said, "Old Qi, you can't blame the children for this. I'd say we should thank these two children. Without them, Shunzi's life wouldn't have been saved."
"Yes, my life was saved by this little brother and that little sister. Without them, I would have been dead long ago."
Qi Yuanshan also knew that without Xinzi, all the people in their guard post would have been lost.
But...
Seeing that he was still hesitating, Captain Lin pressed on, "Old Qi, I, Lin Yinsheng, am a coarse man, but I also know how to repay kindness. You can't..."
Just as Captain Lin finished speaking, he saw two little girls rushing forward, calling out, "Second Uncle."
"Second Uncle."
When Captain Lin clearly saw the appearance of the two children, the man, over five feet tall, squatted down and wept profusely.
"Nuanxin, Nuannuan..." Captain Lin choked, saying, "How did you two get here? Do you know how worried everyone at home has been?"
"Second Uncle, it's really Second Uncle." The younger Nuannuan hugged her second uncle's neck, crying and shouting.
Nuanxin stood behind her sister, letting tears flow. After days of fear and worry, she could finally relax at the sight of her second uncle.
"Ah~ Ah~"
Fu Xinzi stood in the house, observing the commotion outside. Seeing Nuanxin suddenly fall straight down, she hurried out.
Fortunately, Shunzi was standing behind Captain Lin and caught Nuanxin in time when she fell. Otherwise, her head would have been broken on the hard blue brick ground.
Hearing the commotion, Fu Yu and Fang Shi also ran out. They looked at a soldier in a military uniform similar to Brother Yuanshan's, holding Nuannuan, who was crying uncontrollably, and Nuanxin, who had fainted beside her, with an astonished look at Brother Yuanshan.
Their Brother Yuanshan was also completely clueless.
It was Fu Xinzi who, remembering that Captain Lin and the Nuanxin sisters shared the same surname, and recalling that the sisters had just called Captain Lin "Second Uncle," could guess a bit of the story.
Fu Yu reacted faster and invited the group into the house.
Captain Lin recognized Fu Xinzi and Qi He, as well as Qi Yuanshan, a comrade-in-arms. He didn't hide anything and told everyone about the incident half a year ago when his elder brother's two nieces went to their maternal grandmother's house to play and got lost on the way.
Qi Yuanshan had personally witnessed the day the Nuanxin sisters were bought. Without waiting for Uncle Meng to speak, he spoke first. Then he asked, "Isn't your elder brother the Commander of Jincheng, Lin Jinsheng, Lord Lin?"
"Yes."
No one here was foolish. Thinking of the two children's father being the Commander of Jincheng, and then thinking of the children being kidnapped, Captain Lin and Qi Yuanshan both figured out something unusual.
Grandpa Meng also mentioned what happened between him and his granddaughter when they bought the young sisters.
The doubts in Qi Yuanshan's and Captain Lin's hearts deepened.
Just then, Nuanxin, carried by Fang Shi, was placed on the warm kang and soon woke up.
She then recounted the process of her and her sister being abducted to her second uncle.
"That day, my sister and I were going to see Grandma by car, but halfway there, Mom Xia felt something was wrong and asked the driver why he had changed roads. The driver mumbled something, and Mom Guo said he wasn't our family's driver at all and told him to stop quickly."
"He refused, and Mom Guo pounced on him and started struggling. Xiao Tao and Xiao Ju also wanted to help, but Mom Guo stopped them, telling them to quickly help us sisters jump out of the car."
"Xiao Tao and Xiao Ju were very obedient to Mom Guo and jumped out of the car with us sisters. They were both covered in blood from the fall, but we sisters were not seriously injured."
"At this time, we heard the sound of horses' hooves. Xiao Tao and Xiao Ju told us sisters not to mind them and to escape quickly, to run along the small river nearby. We would surely meet people."
Nuanxin was already sobbing uncontrollably at this point.
Captain Lin didn't reply. When his elder brother led people to search, Mom Guo and the two maids had already been dead for a long time.
"My sister and I didn't dare to walk on the shore, so we waded through the river along the bank. Fortunately, the river was very shallow, and the trees on the side were lush. When we heard the sound of horses' hooves, I covered my sister's mouth and hid behind the dense wormwood."
"After an unknown amount of time, those people finally left. But my sister and I still didn't dare to come out, for fear that those bad guys were waiting in a hidden place for us to walk into their trap."
Fu Xinzi: Compared to this real eight-year-old girl, she felt like she was in the kindergarten class.
Not only her, but also Grandpa Meng and his son gave a thumbs-up to this little girl.
To escape danger with her sister at such a young age, this kind of shrewdness and composure was not something ordinary children could achieve.
Lin Yinsheng was also very fortunate that his niece's intelligence came from his elder brother.