"What’s happened?" Lady Zhang asked. Lady Chiang was usually so gentle and quiet, hardly ever showing her teeth when she smiled, and never raising her voice. It was unusual to see her so flustered.
"It’s Duoduo," Lady Chiang said, her eyes welling up with tears, "It’s almost ti for dinner now, and she’s still nowhere to be seen. Jizu and I have searched the entire front and back courtyards but haven’t found her."
Lian Duoduo was missing?!
Aside from Lady Zhang who stayed inside, Lian Shouxin brought several children with him to the Upper Room, followed by Lian Shouli and Lady Zhao with Lian Yeye. Shortly after, Lian Shouyi and Lady He brought over the children from the second branch of the family.
"When did this happen?" Old Master Lian asked when Lian Duoduo was last seen.
"After Huahua got burned, Duoduo hasn’t been seen around the house," Lady Chiang replied.
"Then why didn’t you search for her sooner?" Lady Zhou asked. The family had been beset with one misfortune after another, leaving Lady Zhou extrely irritable, which robbed her of the usual pleasantness she showed towards her granddaughter-in-law.
Lady Chiang’s face turned a little red, and after a mont of thought, she still said, "At noon, when I didn’t see Duoduo, I called out for her in the front and back courtyards but saw no one. I then told Mother, and she said that since Duoduo had splashed water and scalded Huahua, Duoduo was likely afraid of being beaten and must be hiding sowhere. She couldn’t run out of the courtyard and would co back at alti."
Having spoken these words, Lady Chiang glanced at Lian Jizu.
"Yue E has been worried all along. We have searched every corner of the front and back courtyards and still haven’t found Duoduo. Grandpa, Grandma, what should we do?" Lian Jizu spoke up.
It was then that Lian Manman rembered the incident: when Lian Huahua had been scalded and fainted, Lian Duoduo was stunned, and Lady He had said, if anything happened to Lian Huahua, Lady Gu and the others would surely beat Lian Duoduo to death. Hearing this, Duoduo turned and ran towards the back courtyard.
"Did you search thoroughly?" Old Master Lian asked.
"We did, thoroughly, but she’s nowhere to be found," Lian Jizu confird.
The front and back courtyards of the Lian Family were vast, filled with a variety of vegetables and cluttered with things like firewood. There were many places where one could hide. Lian Jizu and Lady Chiang did not usually stay in this old estate, so if Lian Duoduo was hiding sowhere and refused to co out, they might indeed miss her.
"Search the front and back courtyards again, thoroughly," Old Master Lian commanded coolly. "Everyone, go."
At Old Master Lian’s order, the people of the Lian Family ca out of the house and began searching the courtyards once more.
The Lian Family was large, with well over a dozen mbers, adults and children combined. Now the advantage of having many people beca evident, as they spread out through the courtyards, effectively conducting a carpet search.
"Duoduo is afraid of Auntie Gu punishing her, so when we call out to her, let’s tell her that it’s Grandpa and Grandma who are saying she can co out and assure her she won’t be punished," Manman suggested.
Old Master Lian, holding his smoking pipe, stood in the outer room with both the front and back doors wide open, waiting for the results. He thought Manman’s idea made a lot of sense and instructed everyone to call out while searching, telling Lian Duoduo she could safely co out without fear of punishnt.
Everyone called out Lian Duoduo’s na while examining every nook and cranny that could possibly hide a person.
And so, the front and back courtyards were turned upside down, but Lian Duoduo was still nowhere to be found.
Once again, everyone gathered in the Upper Room. By this ti, it was evening, and most families had started preparing dinner.
"...Where could Duoduo have gone? She has bound feet, and since she’s co back here, she hardly leaves the main gate. Besides this courtyard, where else could she go?"
"Don’t tell she’s... taken her own life?" Lady He suddenly suggested.
"Nonsense!" Old Master Lian glared at Lady He.
Lian Duoduo was only ten years old and inherently very fragile. Faced with such a situation, it was quite possible that she felt as if the sky was falling down on her, and taking her own life was not outside the realm of possibility.
"If she’s not at ho, then go out and look for her," Old Master Lian said. "Does Duoduo have any friends she knows?"
If she had any friends, it was very possible that she had hidden at a friend’s house out of fear.
Everyone looked at each other. Lian Jizu and Lady Chiang had only recently returned to town. By that ti, the incident with Lian Huahua breaking the engagent gift had occurred, and both Lian Huahua and Lian Duoduo no longer went out or interacted with the girls from the village, so naturally, they wouldn’t know.
Lady Gu and Lian Huahua would probably know, but unfortunately, they were not there.
"When Sister Huahua first ca back, she got along well with Yingzi and the others. Right, it’s that well near Yingzi’s family’s house; they played there for many days," Si Lang provided a clue.
"A well?" Old Master Lian’s eyes involuntarily twitched.
User Comments
0 comments from readers