After the shopkeeper drove the woman away, Grandpa and Millet went upstairs again.

After dinner, Grandpa and Millet packed up their things and prepared to go to the countryside to collect grievances. Since it would take some time to get from here to the wilderness, they had to leave a little earlier. Before they could get out, they heard a clanging in the hallway outside the room, intermittently with the low whining of dogs.

Grandpa heard the voice of the shopkeeper.

"Big brother, why are you going to bring these dogs upstairs too? I'm not afraid they'll stain the room. But I'm afraid they'll make noise at night and make noise to the other guests! Why don't you lock them in front of the store? ”

The man's voice rang out: "It's out of the way." My dogs don't bark much, so they won't disturb the other guests. You can rest assured! ”

The shopkeeper said anxiously: "How can I put my mind at ease?" You said that these dogs didn't bark, but at noon they barked so hard that they almost bit someone. ”

The man said, "You see, didn't I beat it so hard that I didn't dare to scream? ”

"This, this, this ......" the shopkeeper's words revealed helplessness.

Grandpa and Xiaomi opened the door and just saw the man opening the door. The man was followed by five dogs, one of whom he had beaten beyond recognition. Behind him is the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was still trying to persuade the man not to bring the dog into the guest room.

When the man saw Grandpa and Millet coming out, he looked the two of them up and down, pouted, and said, "Good fortune!" Old husband and young wife! ”

Grandpa didn't bother to talk to him, and walked straight towards the stairs. Xiaomi is also silent.

The man did not give up, and shouted behind his father: "That gentleman, I see that you are doing a good job, if you have time, I will ask you for advice tomorrow!" The tone of his speech was not at all pleading, but more provocative.

Daddy smiled and arched his hand, gestured, and continued towards the stairs.

Xiaomi was dissatisfied: "What are you doing with him?" Think it's a dog barking! ”

"Ouch, the little girl's mouth is so vicious!" The man walked into the room with a smile. The five dogs behind him were pulled in.

The shopkeeper had to persuade him, but the door slammed shut, almost hitting the shopkeeper's nose.

Out of the store, Xiaomi muttered: "Ma Xiucai, tell me, why did he bring the dog to the room at night?" He said that he was afraid that the dogs would suffer the night dew outside, but he kicked and beat them so fiercely during the day, without any pity. ”

"Because he's afraid of revealing his stuff." Daddy said.

"Exposed?" Xiaomi didn't know what Daddy meant.

"You'll find out later." Daddy said.

After walking for a while, Xiaomi realized that the route was not right. They should have gone to a more desolate and remote place, but her grandfather took her to the center of the county. The more lively the place, the more popular it is, and resentment generally does not stay in such a place. The barren mountains and mountains are where they drift.

Xiaomi asked, "Ma Xiucai, are we on the wrong path?" ”

Daddy said, "No." We're not going to collect grudges tonight, we're going to find someone somewhere. ”

"Looking for whom?"

"The woman I saw during the day looking for a child." Daddy replied.

"What are you doing with that woman?" Millet sped up and rushed to his father's side. Just now she looked left and right, and fell a distance. The population of this county is not very large, and the housing is not dense, so there are no nocturnal people at night.

"I promised her that she would find the child. If she hadn't found her, wouldn't I be lying? Daddy said.

"But how do you know where she lives?"

Grandpa smiled and said, "When I pinched her, she said where and when she found out that the child was missing." Did you forget? ”

Millet argued: "She said the time and place, but her home won't be in that place!" ”

Grandpa stood up and said to Xiaomi: "This is the heart of your parents who don't understand it." If she hadn't found the child, she would have been wandering where she had gone missing. So we don't have to go to her house, we just have to go to the place she said. We're going in that direction right now. ”

Xiaomi smiled reluctantly, and said in a deep voice: "Yes." The heart of parents all over the world. But I have never met such biological parents. ”

Grandpa was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly comforted: "Thrush Village is your home." Aren't Sister Zhao, Yu Youyang, and Luo Buzhai all very good to you? ”

Xiaomi smiled a little more happily at this time.

They walked for a long time, and finally came to a wide intersection. The road is paved with green bricks, and on both sides are shops that have closed. It can be imagined that the situation here during the day should be the most lively and prosperous area of the county. Red lanterns hang in front of the doors of individual shops, and the lanterns emit a faint light.

"This is where the woman said the child was lost." Daddy said.

Millet looked in all four directions of the road, and soon saw a long, long shadow on the south street. The figure stood there dumbfounded, motionless. At first glance, Xiaomi thought it was a sculpture on the street. Occasionally, a breeze swept through the street, blowing the figure's clothes, and the shadow on the ground moved with it, which made Xiaomi realize that it was a person, not a sculpture.

"Hey, Ma Xiucai, look over there." Millet said, pointing to the motionless figure.

Grandpa pulled Millet and walked towards the figure, and when he got closer, it was indeed the woman he met during the day.

Grandpa and Xiaomi walked very close, and the woman didn't make any movement ⌒ When I looked closely, it turned out that the woman's eyes were closed.

Millet quietly stepped forward and was about to touch her. Her eyes suddenly opened.

Millet was taken aback by her action.

When the woman saw Xiaomi, she immediately knelt down and hugged Xiaomi, crying: "My child! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you here, so hard! Thank God! Thank you, sir! You're finally here! I'm almost asleep standing here! You're here! "It turned out that she had just fallen asleep standing up.

Millet broke free from her embrace and shouted, "You admit your mistake! I'm not your child, I'm the little girl you saw in the store during the day! ”

The woman was stunned, grabbed the millet with both hands, looked at it face to face for a long time, rubbed her eyes again, and finally realized that she had made a mistake. Her lips trembled and she said, "What...... How are you? What I saw just now was my child? What about my child? She looked around in a panic and suddenly saw Xiaomi's father behind her.

She hurriedly got up, rushed to her father, grabbed her father's hand, and shouted with round eyes: "Sir! Mr! Are you sending my child back? You said my child would come back, he didn't go far, and he didn't have an accident. You said I'll wait for him, and he'll be back! Did he come with you? Her hands were cold, not like human hands.

The wind was too cool this night.

"Hasn't your child come back yet?" Grandpa grabbed her hand and sent her a little warmth.

The woman shook her head violently, her cloak like a ghost. She said, "Sir, you told me to wait for him at home, but how can I sit still?" I couldn't help but walk over here and wait for him. My child is very well-behaved, and if he wants to come back, he will know that I will still be waiting for him here. He's going to come here first to see if I'm not there before he comes home. ”

"Where's the child's father?" Daddy asked.

"The kid's dad was arrested and sent to the army! I can't come back once or twice a year. Before leaving, his father explained that he wanted me to take good care of the children, saying that he might not be able to come back from the battlefield, and that he should not let their family cut off the incense...... "The woman cried silently.

At that time, there were frequent changes of warlords in Shandong, first controlled by Yuan Xiangcheng's men, then ruled by Anhui warlords, and then occupied by Feng warlords. Due to the intricateness of the relationship and the frequent occurrence of wars, many strong men who had no money and no power at that time would be arrested and sent to serve as soldiers.

"Don't cry. I said your child is still there. I said your child will come back and he will come back. You don't cry. Grandpa comforted.

Millet apparently had little faith in what her father said, but she helped to comfort the poor woman and said, "Yes, we promise that your child will not be lost." Don't cry. It's no use crying! If crying had helped, I would have cried to death a hundred times! ”

The woman felt strange when she heard Xiaomi's words, and she quickly suppressed her crying and looked at Xiaomi's eyes in confusion.

Like an elder, Millet put her hands on the woman's face, wiped away her tears, and said gently: "The child can't cry back." Think about where the child might have gone. You tell us and we'll help you find it. ”

The bloodshot jade bracelet dangled on Xiaomi's wrist. The woman's tears dripped a few drops on the jade bracelet.

The woman stopped her tears and remembered the day. She said she was shopping on the street, and her children were attracted by the vendors making small candy figures on the street and stood there refusing to leave. She told the child to stand there and wait for her to finish shopping, and then come back to call him. The child happily agreed.

She finished her shopping and went back to the vendor who made the little candy man, but the child was not standing here.

She asked the vendor if he had seen her child.

The vendor said that the kid who was standing here just now seemed to be walking towards North Street.

She hurriedly walked to North Street, and after walking for a short distance, she saw the child's back. She hurried forward, but there were many people on the street, and she couldn't be much faster. She shouted the child's name as she walked, but the people on the street were noisy, and I didn't know if the child could hear it.

No matter how she hurried and shouted, she felt that the distance between herself and the child had not been shortened.

The child also seems to be chasing something, moving faster and faster.

At that time, she was not in a hurry, thinking that it was a big deal to go to the end of the street, and when there were fewer people and less noisy, she could catch up with the child and pull him back.

But when she reached the end of the street, she suddenly found that the child who was there was missing!

Then she panicked, and kept walking in that direction, calling the child's name as she went∵ and after saying a long way, she suspected that the child had not gone so far, so she went back to the lively street to look for it.

When she thought about it later, she regretted that she hadn't chased it in the same direction, and regretted that she had turned back halfway. She said that if the traffickers abducted her child, she might be able to catch up with the traffickers and get the child back.

After turning back, she still didn't find the child.

So, she had to look for North Street again.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that the situation of the child being lost was weird, and the more she thought about it, the more confused her heart became.