"...Oh, so the little brother also likes to eat this. Mom, do all kids like this? Today, Hua Hua and I were outside playing with the kids in the big yard, and they were all nibbling on instant noodles. It’s a sha Hua Hua and I didn’t have any money. But later, an old couple saw us and kindly gave Hua Hua a bag. But they didn’t give any. Do they not like ?"
"It’s not that they don’t like you. Perhaps the old couple only had one bag left, and whoever they gave it to was just a random choice. Maybe they thought Hua Hua was smaller, so they gave it to the little one. You’re the big sister, so you definitely won’t compete with your younger siblings, right?"
"Oh, Mom, that old couple had lots of candy too, but they only gave Hua Hua, none for us other kids. That old couple was so nice to Hua Hua. They even picked up Hua Hua and gave him a kiss. They didn’t hold ." Little Star pouted, acknowledging her mom’s point but still feeling a bit aggrieved.
"Oh? Which family’s grandparents like Hua Hua so much?" Lin Wan noticed her daughter’s upset expression and quickly offered her so noodles. "Our family has mom and dad who dote on you, so you have just as many people who care about you as Hua Hua does. Little Star, don’t be angry."
"Of course I know, but we don’t know that old couple, and Hua Hua doesn’t know them either. Little Dunzi said they’re not the grandparents from the big yard." Little Star, seeing her bowl filled, happily scooped the food into her mouth.
"You don’t know them? Where did you et them?" Why would strangers be so kind to Hua Hua?
"At... at the big yard entrance, next to the supply and sales shop." Little Star hesitated, rembering her mom’s instructions not to leave the yard, and seeing her mom’s stern expression, quickly explained obediently. "It was Little Dunzi who said we should accompany him to buy instant noodles, he said it’s just at the entrance, so we went out. Mom, I won’t dare next ti."
"So you t that old couple at the entrance?"
"Yeah." Little Star nodded.
Now Lin Wan was puzzled, holding her chopsticks as she frowned and pondered for a long ti, suspecting these two might be human traffickers. This realization frightened Lin Wan.
"Little Star, from now on, you cannot go out and play without mom’s company, okay? Did those two people only put Hua Hua down and sneak away when they saw soone coming?"
Little Star was surprised but laughed. "Mom, you guessed it right. Later, an uncle ca over, he knew Little Dunzi and talked to him, telling us to hurry back and not run around. We all obediently agreed. But those two grandparents left without saying anything when they saw the uncle. Luckily, they didn’t take back what they gave Hua Hua. Later, Hua Hua even gave two candies."
"In the future, if you encounter those two people, make sure to stay away from them. They are not good people, possibly human traffickers, planning to abduct you innocent kids. If you were taken away, you would never see mom and dad again and might be sold into the mountains, where you wouldn’t be given food or drink, and would have to do lots of work every day."
During dinner, Lin Wan educated her daughter about various ways traffickers abduct children and the fate of kids who are trafficked.
Little Star was so scared, she clung to Lin Wan all night.
...
anwhile, at the old house, after putting Hua Hua to sleep, Ye Qing sneaked downstairs in the middle of the night, began searching through the rooms on the first floor, looking for things.
The first stop was Old Mrs. i and Mr. i’s room, with the most conspicuous items being the small jewelry boxes on Old Mrs. i’s dressing table.
Ye Qing searched the room for quite a while and found a small brass key at the head of Old Mrs. i’s bed. It was clearly ant for the jewelry boxes.
Eagerly, Ye Qing opened them.
One of the locked boxes contained old docunts that were decades old, which she couldn’t understand and weren’t what she wanted.
In the other box, there were a few big silver coins from the Republic era and a jade bracelet.
This jade bracelet was a treasure; Ye Qing didn’t know its worth, but it was definitely worth several tens of thousands.
However, Ye Qing was still disappointed with these two boxes of Old Mrs. i.
"To lock it up so securely, and there’s only this much inside." She muttered while taking out a cara she had prepared to take photos of the few items, planning to have them evaluated in a few days to see if they were actually valuable, so she wouldn’t end up losing out.
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