The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 196 - 185: Great Cry

Chapter 196: Chapter 185: Great Cry

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang didn’t dare let anyone at home know, and sneaked out to find Zhou Silang, but as soon as they reached the entrance to the village, they saw an anxiously rushing Zhou Silang running back.

Both of them were overjoyed and immediately waved to Zhou Silang, "Silang, you’re back?"

"Silang, why were you so slow?"

Zhou Silang, with red eyes, asked, "Where’s Manbao?"

"She’s at home."

Zhou Silang then dashed towards home.

Once the rhizomys had turned into a pile of meat, Junior Ms. Qian wasn’t afraid of it anymore, so she made it exceptionally delicious. Manbao, smelling it, felt very hungry, and had been lingering around the dinner table since early morning, unwilling to leave.

Zhou Silang burst in like a gust of wind from outside. Upon seeing Manbao by the dining table, he rushed over and yanked her up to look her over.

Manbao got a fright and, seeing his disheveled hair and red eyes, asked, "Silang, what’s wrong with you?"

This question acted like a switch. Zhou Silang, who had been trembling with fear, burst into loud crying, sitting down on the ground like a big baby, shamelessly crying with tears and snot running down his face...

Old Zhou, who was sitting nearby smoking, got such a fright he nearly jabbed his smoking pipe into his own eye.

Everyone in the Zhou Family was stunned into silence, shocked by Zhou Silang’s endless weeping.

Zhou Silang had spent the entire afternoon in a state of alarm, his head filled with worries about what to do if Manbao had been taken away, what to do if she fell off a mountain and was carried away by wolves?

Now seeing his little sister alive and well, his fear finally found an outlet.

The effects of his incessant running also surfaced; he was weak in the limbs with slight trembles in his fingers and toes, but he cried his heart out like he had suffered a great injustice, no longer caring about his dignity.

Junior Ms. Qian ran out of the kitchen holding a spoon. Seeing him like that, she was both annoyed and amused, "What happened, who bullied you?"

But Manbao had already snapped back to reality. She didn’t mind the dirt, and directly reached out to hug his head, patting his back to comfort, "Silang, don’t cry. I’m perfectly fine."

Zhou Silang sprawled on the ground, crying his heart out like a drama queen. Once he had let out all the fear, sadness, and grief inside him, he gradually returned to his senses, hiccuping and recovering.

Zhou Silang, facing everyone’s gaze: ...

Because he had cried so hard, he couldn’t stop his hiccuping right away.

He sniffed a few times and wiped away his tears, looking pitifully at Manbao, "What... what happened to me?"

Clearly, his cerebral cortex had deleted the scenes of him rushing in and hugging Manbao while crying.

Old Zhou stuffed the smoking pipe back in his mouth and sighed deeply, "Oh, what a disaster. This matchmaking business just got even more complicated."

Ms. Qian, who came out of the main house because of his crying, furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "Why are you crying?"

Zhou Silang bowed his head, shivered, and didn’t say a word.

Zhou Silang had cried so loudly and miserably that it was difficult for the neighbors to pretend they hadn’t heard. At that moment, quite a few people had gathered outside the Zhou Family’s home, with one asking, "Uncle Jin, what’s wrong with your Zhou Si?"

Others tried to console, "Brother Jin, if the child isn’t obedient, just smack his bottom a few times; don’t hurt the child badly."

"Yeah, Silang is about to start matchmaking soon, at least leave the child some face."

It’s not surprising everyone was concerned; Zhou Silang cried much more pitifully than last year when he lost some money gambling and got beaten up. Back then, even though he cried loudly and miserably, everyone felt he was full of vigor.

But this time his crying conveyed his heartbreak and fear to those who heard it, and so, they inevitably offered a few more words of concern.

Old Zhou hadn’t expected to be unjustly blamed, and so irritated he stopped smoking and tapped his smoking pipe, "Go outside!"

Letting people see for themselves that he hadn’t laid a hand on him.

Zhou Silang, feeling guilty, tried to get up, but found his limbs weak and was unable to rise, leaving him to look pitifully at Manbao and his brothers.

Manbao immediately protected him, "Dad, Silang is all dirty; let him wash up first."

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang guessed there must have been some misunderstanding, and Silang probably hadn’t seen the note they left behind, so they quickly went to help Zhou Silang up, saying on either side of him, "Right, Dad, we’ll take Silang to wash up first."

The two of them hurriedly helped Zhou Silang back to their room.

Going back to their own room meant leaving the main hall and crossing the courtyard to the room under the firewood shed, and at this moment, there were quite a few people gathered in the courtyard. Thus, the villagers saw Zhou Silang being supported by his two younger brothers as he came out.

Everyone sighed and couldn’t help but feel Old Zhou was too harsh; on a festive day, how could he beat the child to the point he could barely walk?

Manbao followed, trotting with her little legs, but Old Zhou grabbed her. He frowned and asked her, "Why was your Silang crying?"

Manbao guiltily responded, "I’m going to ask Silang now."

Old Zhou looked at her skeptically, "Did you all do something bad today?"

Manbao shook her head repeatedly, "No."

Old Zhou wasn’t very good at interrogating, especially a little girl, so after asking one question, he turned to look at Ms. Qian at the doorway.

Ms. Qian’s gaze was heavy as she watched Manbao.

Manbao fiddled with the corner of her clothes and hung her head without speaking.

The atmosphere in the room grew tense for a moment.

Ms. Qian withdrew her gaze and said, "Go ahead."

Manbao, feeling relieved, turned and ran towards the room of her brothers.

The new house had been built, but since the beds weren’t fully ready, they hadn’t moved in yet. Therefore, Zhou Silang was still living with Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang in the thatched cottage they erected.

Manbao entered to find Zhou Silang had already washed his face clean, and Zhou Wulang was considerately tying his hair up.

Because he had cried so fiercely, his eyes were still a bit red and slightly swollen. Seeing Manbao enter, he snorted and asked, "Where did you run off to?"

Although Manbao felt a bit guilty, she thought she wasn’t solely to blame, so she said, "I was picking up leaves, and when I looked up, all of you had disappeared. I called out for you, but you didn’t answer, so I went to look for you."

Now it was Zhou Silang’s turn to feel guilty. He hesitated before saying, "Next time you get separated from us, stay put and don’t move. Otherwise, when we come back and can’t find you, nobody will be able to find each other."

Manbao agreed, "I should have left a note for you at that time. Ah."

Mentioning this made Zhou Silang angry as he chided Zhou Wulang, "Couldn’t you even leave a note properly? That leaf was all smudged."

"How was I supposed to know some birds would come back to peck at it?" Zhou Wulang was blaming him in return, "Manbao was lost in the mountains; why did you run off to White Horse Pass Town instead of looking for her in the mountains?"

"At that time, I saw a pile of half-burnt leaves in the bamboo grove. I thought someone had taken Manbao away." Just the thought made Zhou Silang shiver; children who are kidnapped seldom get found.

If Manbao really had been taken away...

Zhou Silang’s face turned pale as he asked Manbao, "Who lit that fire?"

Manbao raised her little hand and softly said, "I did."

Zhou Silang: ...

He suddenly deflated, lacking the energy to speak anymore.

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