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Old Man Yu was frantic too, wanting to say something, but in his agitation, he doubled over coughing, unable to straighten his back.

Granny Wei steadied Old Man Yu, patting his back, while Su Rouer continued to cry. Yu Sanbao paced around in distress, making Granny Wei snap, "Enough! What's the use of crying?"

Su Rouer, as if finding an outlet for her emotions, pushed Yu Sanbao away through her tears, "Look who's talking! Over some little thing, you forced me to take Ju Geer back to my parents' home! If it weren't for that, Ju Geer wouldn't have gone missing!"

Li Chunhua and Bai Xiaofeng both paled at this.

What was this third sister-in-law saying?!

The Yu men all looked grim.

This daughter-in-law was really crossing the line!

Granny Wei's face darkened.

Then, a child's voice cut in urgently, "Third Aunt, that's not true! It was you who took Ju Geer out—why are you blaming Grandma? Back then, Grandma and Xingxing went to the county town and saw Ju Geer alone at the market. Granny was worried sick and told you to keep an eye on him! And you even scolded Grandma at the time!"

Xingxing was fighting back tears.

She knew what "missing" meant—she'd heard the village folks say she herself was a lost child. Being lost was no small matter, and with Ju Geer missing now, she knew the whole family must be worried sick!

But that didn't give Third Aunt the right to yell at Grandma!

Xingxing spoke quickly and urgently, her voice trembling with tears, tugging at hearts more than Su Rouer's hysterical sobbing.

Even Yu Sanbao snapped out of his panic for a moment, giving Su Rouer a disappointed look.

He'd never heard about this before.

His mother had never once complained about his wife to him.

But look at what his wife was saying and doing—what kind of way was this to act?

Su Rouer had already felt a twinge of regret the moment those words left her mouth.

But the words were already out, and combined with the panic and fear over Ju Geer's disappearance, she couldn't hold back anymore. She snapped at Xingxing, "Who asked you?!"

Granny Wei was livid.

Xingxing bit her lip and tugged at Granny Wei's sleeve. "Grandma, forget it. I spoke out of turn just now. Third Aunt is an elder... Let's just focus on finding Ju Geer."

Xingxing knew Ju Geer had never liked her, so she didn't dare call him "brother," only referring to him as "Ju Geer" like everyone else.

Seeing how grown-up Xingxing was being, Granny Wei's heart ached. She took a deep breath and ignored Su Rouer, giving orders to the men of the family: "Go ask our village friends for help—have them join the search in the mountains for Ju Geer!"

Old Man Yu added, "I'll go borrow hunting dogs from Old Bai... You all gather some wood and make torches. Be careful on the paths."

Yu Daniu, Yu Erhu, and Yu Siyang all responded in unison.

Even the Yu family boys went to gather supplies, ready to join the adults in the search.

Yu Sanbao looked at Su Rouer, who was still stubbornly silent. He pressed his lips together and simply said, "Wait at home," before following his family into the night outside the courtyard without another word.

In an instant, only Granny Wei, Li Chunhua, Bai Xiaofeng, a sobbing, shaken Su Rouer, and Xingxing—who itched to join the search—remained at home.

Granny Wei didn't even look at Su Rouer, instructing Li Chunhua instead: "Go to the kitchen and boil a big pot of ginger tea—make it strong. The mountains are cold at night. They'll need something to warm their bones when they return."

Li Chunhua nodded.

Bai Xiaofeng, seeing that Wei Pozi hadn't given her any instructions, feared being left out and volunteered, "Mother, I'll go help light the fire too. I need to do something to feel at ease."

Wei Pozi nodded without saying anything more, then took Xingxing's hand and headed into the house.

Su Rouer cried in the courtyard for a long while, but when no one paid her any attention, she gritted her teeth and started to leave.

Xingxing stepped out of the main room and called out to her, "Third Aunt!"

Su Rouer turned to look at Xingxing warily and resentfully.

Xingxing flinched slightly under such a gaze but found the courage to relay her grandmother's message: "Grandma said you shouldn’t go out, or else we’d have to look for you too later."

Those words shattered Su Rouer. She wailed, "Ju Geer is my son! If I don’t go out to look for him, what else can I do?"

Xingxing, just a little girl of three, didn’t know how to comfort her distraught aunt.

After a moment's thought, she said earnestly, "When Ju Geer is found, he’ll definitely want to see you right away. Just wait at home, Third Aunt."

Su Rouer couldn’t hold back her wails any longer.

The crescent moon rose, and half of Nantuo Village joined in.

Many villagers volunteered to join the search for Ju Geer.

For a time, the slopes of Mount Langshen rang with cries of "Ju Geer!"

Yet, even after searching until midnight, they still hadn't found him.

Someone couldn’t help but whisper, "Could the child have been kidnapped?"

Another elbowed them sharply, urging them to be quiet—how terrible would it be if the Yu family heard such words?

As the night deepened and when they couldn't find him, the villagers gradually withdrew from Mount Langshen.

Finally, even the Yu family returned looking devastated.

Chapter 34: Found!

Su Rouer fell ill.

She came down with a high fever, burning up so fiercely that she lost consciousness, and it didn’t subside for hours. Yu Sanbao rushed to fetch a doctor in the middle of the night.

After such a terrible night, Yu Sanbao got only an hour of rest before rushing off to the county town.

He had once had connections with all sorts of people, and though he’d been cheated by some, he still had connections with others.

If Ju Geer had truly been kidnapped, perhaps they could uncover some leads.

Li Chunhua and Bai Xiaofeng had originally planned to discuss returning to their maiden homes, but they put those plans on hold.