Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Kitty Snowball: "Meow meow, let go of my tail! Big Brother is actually this scary? How could you bear to bite my tail?!"

Waaah! And he even sucked on my ears…

Snowball shuddered.

Big Brother’s even scarier than Second Brother.

Second Brother either ignores it or just whacks it.

But Big Brother uses its ears like a pacifier—super terrifying.

One little puffball wailing, another little puffball cooing…

After who knows how much fussing, they finally quieted down and fell asleep.

Qi Mo woke up from the heat.

He opened his eyes, pupils dilated in shock—what was that ball of fluff on his neck? No wonder it was so hot.

As for what was on his chest, Qi Mo knew—that was his little Baby Yan.

But who could tell him why Kitty Snowball was here? Last night, he had clearly put Snowball in her temporary two-story cat condo. How did the little furball sneak into his room?

Had she followed his footsteps and slipped in? Why hadn’t he noticed?

He stared at the ceiling for a good while.

Huh. His stomach felt cozy. Warm.

Another day feeling great.

His awareness sank into his space, looking at the overflowing supplies—definitely enough for him and the babies to live a lifetime. Hmm, good—he felt overwhelmingly secure.

Wait, no…

Just as Qi Mo’s awareness withdrew, he immediately returned to inspect the space again.

His space… his space seemed to have… changed?

It looked like a minor issue.

Not a bad thing.

Holy crap— Qi Mo suddenly sat up, sending the kitty and Baby Yan tumbling into a heap.

Still drowsy, their eyelids fluttered, their bodies shifted, and they found a comfortable position to keep right on snoozing…

Qi Mo’s mind reeled.

In his past life, his space had appeared five months later.

Unfortunately, it’d been practically useless back then.

Supplies were already hard to come by, and he could only scrape by with Baby Yan.

The space had remained unchanged until his death—a huge, hollow void, barely anything stored in it.

After his rebirth, his storage space was mostly unchanged from his previous life—except that it had expanded.

The only difference was that this time he had bought a lot of supplies.

But now, in one corner of the storage space, there was something extra—no, a whole patch of land.

That’s right, land—rich black soil, to be exact.

In the center of the land was, well, a pond.

The pond held water and was about a hundred square meters in size.

The land itself was around ten times larger than the pond—roughly a thousand square meters, just over an acre.

Holy cow.

Qi Mo pinched his cheek hard and yelped—it hurt a little, but he was thrilled. This proved he wasn’t dreaming.

It was real. His space had leveled up, unlocking farmland.

Originally, Qi Mo had planned to rest today. The house already had enough food to decently fool the villagers.

But today, he was too excited. He whispered, “Go in.”

Sure enough, the next moment, he stood on the land. Even barefoot on the soil, Qi Mo was delighted.

A beam of sunlight filtered in from somewhere, warm but not scorching like outside.

He walked to the pond, scooped up a handful of water, and looked at it closely.

It was spotless—not a grain of dirt.

Once the excitement faded, Qi Mo noticed the farming area and storage space were separated by an invisible membrane, making it impossible to pass between them directly.

In his previous life, he’d never been able to enter the space physically.

After calming down a bit, Qi Mo exited the space.

Looking at his muddy feet, he found them completely clean—not even a speck of soil came out with him.

Watching Snowball, whose tail was getting tugged, Qi Mo felt happy. Snowball had arrived last night, and today he gained farmland and a small pond. This cat was a real blessing—how awesome.

Even though no dirt came out, Qi Mo still went to the bathroom to wash his feet.

After cleaning up and changing clothes, he picked up Baby Yan and plopped the kitty into his arms.

They went downstairs, where Baby Yan was placed in a fancy playpen to keep sleeping.

Snowball dozed right next to Baby Yan.

Qi Mo had even tried to separate them a little, but Snowball just wriggled over and curled up beside Baby Yan again.

Baby Yan reached out, gave a few pets, grabbed the tail, and finally settled down.

Guess the two babies were already best buds.

Qi Mo headed to the kitchen first to boil some water—no electricity made everything such a hassle.

After bringing water to a boil, Qi Mo walked toward the courtyard. The moment he opened the door, a blast of heat hit him.

Today's temperature was definitely much higher than yesterday's, and it wasn't even six o'clock yet.

First, he went to the washing area, washed the clothes, and hung them under the eaves.

Walking to the grill, he had added pine branches last night before bed. Now the chicken and fish on the smoker had turned a shiny brown, looking very appealing.

He thought to himself: They looked pretty dried out.

Qi Mo lit the fire again, and smoke began to spread once more...

He planned to store away this first batch of smoked meat after this round. The second batch of fish marinating in the large barrel could also be taken out to dry later.

He walked to the flowerbed near the dining area.

Qi Mo refilled the water dispenser for the baby quails and added some millet feed.

The baby quails, now adapted to their environment, had already laid three quail eggs for Qi Mo.

Using long chopsticks, he picked them out, pleased with himself.

He washed the eggs and took them home.

In the morning, he boiled the quail eggs.

As the water boiled, Qi Mo poured it into a large pot from his storage and covered it.

Then he fetched more water, washed about four or five pounds of quail eggs, added them to the pot with some salt, and let them boil. Later, he could peel and eat a couple whenever he had time.

Super convenient.

A shout came from outside the yard: "Qi Mo, are you going to dig potatoes today?"

It was his neighbor Aunt Chen.

Qi Mo opened the yard gate and looked at Aunt Chen. "Not today. I'm pretty worn out, and I'm pregnant, so I'll rest for a day. Might go pick up some fish later. By the way, Aunt Chen, could you ask around if anyone in the village has lost a cat?"

"Good lord, you're pregnant? I couldn't tell. Little Yan's just nine months old. How many months along are you? You need to be careful. Things are tough enough as it is." Chen Xia was clearly startled by the news.

Qi Mo laughed. "Two months. It was a surprise, but since it happened, I couldn't go through with ending it. The doctor said it's twins."

"Good heavens, twins! No wonder you kept them. They're heaven-sent gifts. You must take good care of yourself. Alright, I'll ask around for you. Not many households in the village keep cats, and I haven't heard of anyone losing one." With that, Chen Xia left, thinking Qi Mo's life would be quite challenging from now on.

No one had seen Huo Liangzhou lately.

As a neighbor who had also received kindness from Huo Liangzhou's family, Chen Xia thought she should help out more in the future.

But her own family situation wasn't great either.

Though they had some food stored, once her daughter and son-in-law returned, along with the son-in-law's family and her son away at college, their food stores would run out fast. They needed to dig more potatoes to stock up.

Only, money didn't stretch far these days.

She prayed her kids would come home soon and bring more money to buy more food.

As Qi Mo returned to the yard, he heard Baby Yan's characteristic "da-da-da" baby talk.

Returning home, he gave Baby Yan a diaper change.

He let Baby Yan's bottom air out for a bit.

Then Qi Mo went to the kitchen and cooked dumplings.

Watching the kitten jump down from the luxurious climbing bed and follow at his feet, Qi Mo said, "Snowball, do you eat cat food? I'll go to town to buy some when I have time."

The little kitten Snowball replied, "No cat food! Meow only eats Daddy’s food!"

For breakfast, there was a plate of dumplings with four fillings, two poached eggs, a bowl of multigrain porridge, and four or five quail eggs.

Snowball got two quail eggs, one dumpling, and a spoonful of porridge.

Baby Yan had about the same—two quail eggs, two dumpling wrappers, and half a small bowl of porridge.

After breakfast, Qi Mo diapered Baby Yan.

Rubbing Snowball's head, he said, "Snowball, stay at home and don’t wander off—someone might try to take you. Wait here until I get back. I’m going to Huangjia Village to buy some fish, shrimp, and snails."

The moment the tricycle left the yard, the kitten slipped right out through the closed door.

Then it climbed into the baby stroller and crouched inside.

Unless someone took Baby Yan out, no one would spot it.

Of course, if it didn’t want to be seen, no one could notice—not even Daddy.

After all, it wasn’t really a cat.

It was just a disguise.

Qi Mo’s first stop wasn’t Huangjia Village—he headed straight to the chicken farm.

"Chen Fang! You around?" Qi Mo called out in the farmyard.

Soon enough, Chen Fang came out.

Yesterday’s noon heat had hit 39°C (102°F). If they didn’t do something soon and the temperature kept rising, the chickens could easily get sick.

But without power, they couldn’t even run fans.

And ice? Couldn’t find any anywhere.

"Mr. Qi, here to buy chickens?" Chen Fang asked.

Qi Mo nodded. "Yes."

"Want me to butcher them for you? How many? But prices are up now—500 a chicken," Chen Fang asked.

Prices were shooting up everywhere lately.

"Not yet," Qi Mo shook his head. "I’ll raise them for a while. Just cage them up for me—I’ll pay. Four hens and two roosters—for now. Got any ducks?"

"Yeah, about a dozen left—they’re over by the pond. I can catch some for you. Oh, and how about black-boned chickens? I’ve got those too, plus spotted Luhua chickens and big white geese."

Qi Mo was a VIP—good looks and deep pockets.

"Sure," Qi Mo said. "Two hens and a rooster for each kind."

As for the small plot of land in his space, Qi Mo isn’t planning to grow vegetables for now, as he already has plenty inside. He wants to save them for seeds instead.

With chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, and such, there would always be meat to eat in the future.

Hearing Qi Mo say they didn’t need to be slaughtered, Chen Fang immediately grabbed a cage to catch them.

Four hens, two roosters, two black hens, and one black rooster—the same for the spotted chickens, ducks, and white geese…

Chen Fang quickly rounded them up and brought them straight to Qi Mo on a board.

Eighteen in total, nine thousand yuan.

Qi Mo handed over ten thousand, and Chen Fang gave him the cages without hesitation.

Once Chen Fang left, Qi Mo quickly moved all the chickens, ducks, and geese into his space. Then he pulled out some grass seeds and scattered them over the land inside.

When he got around to it, he’d build a chicken coop, a duck pen, and a goose shed.

After throwing in some cabbage leaves, millet, and feed, Qi Mo carried the cages to the backyard.

Chen Fang had given Qi Mo a large bag of mixed-grain feed.

He washed his hands.

Qi Mo gave Baby Yan a small bottle of water. It was just seven in the morning, but when Qi Mo checked the thermometer hanging under the eaves, it already read thirty-nine degrees.

It might even hit forty today.

He carried the smoked chicken, fish, and meat from the yard into the kitchen to store temporarily, planning to bag them up once they cooled.

Then, he took out the fish that had been soaking overnight and hung them on a rack to dry.

The heat was brutal, but he had a pond—he needed to buy fingerlings and shrimp to stock it.

Soon, Qi Mo, with Baby Yan all bundled up, set off on his tricycle toward Huangjia Village.

Today, many people had come to buy fish—villagers, townsfolk, and even city dwellers—all flocking to the countryside for fresh food.

Qi Mo’s home now had a little kitty, and cats love fish. His space couldn’t support many big fish, but small ones were manageable.

After growing them out for a while, the small fish would become big ones.

Soon, Qi Mo found a fish pond selling fry. The owner had just stocked it, and the pond held small crucian carp, common carp, bighead carp, as well as some miscellaneous small fish and river shrimp.

None of these fish were very big—smaller than Baby Yan’s palm.

Qi Mo also requested some river snails from the fish pond owner.

The owner scooped up half a bucket for him on the spot, not charging a single cent.

Qi Mo quickly rode his tricycle away, stashing the haul in his space along the way to prevent them from dying.

The temperature was too high, and before long, the fish and shrimp were already surfacing for air.

Then, Qi Mo steered his tricycle toward a mountain-based farm, where they raised small fragrant pigs.

However, the distance was a bit far, even farther than the quarry.

Halfway up the winding mountain road, the tricycle stalled on the slope—Qi Mo couldn’t go on.

He took out the cart and locked the tricycle under a tree.

Fifteen minutes later, Qi Mo arrived at the scented pig farm.

He knocked on the door.

When Qi Mo explained his intention—he wanted to buy three small scented pigs.

The owner immediately quoted a thousand yuan each.

A bit pricey.

"Can you deliver them? To the house with the high walls in Huo Village. Bring them at six in the evening. I want ten—five males and five females. The sows should be around five jin (~2.5 kg), and the boars ten jin (~5 kg). All alive," Qi Mo said.

The owner agreed upon hearing this.

Amid widespread panic, skyrocketing food prices, cars that couldn’t run, and no feed deliveries getting through,

the heat made pigs harder to raise, so some were desperate to offload their stock.

Seeing Qi Mo about to leave, the owner asked, "Interested in peaches? We have yellow peaches and honey peaches here."

They were ready to pick two days ago, but without power or transport, they couldn’t be shipped out.

Since they weren’t staples, nearby villagers weren’t interested, and distant buyers couldn’t make the trip. They moved slower than Chen Village’s potatoes.

"Yes, will you deliver?" Qi Mo asked.

The owner shook his head. "I can deliver, but you’ll have to pick them yourself. You pay us five yuan per jin."

The hillside was nearby, just half an hour away—that’s why the owner was willing to deliver.

Since he was already delivering the piglets, he might as well bundle the delivery.

Qi Mo agreed.

Pushing the stroller, he followed the owner around the pig farm to the back of the hill, where he spotted peaches, oranges, bayberries, cherries, and nectarines.

At that moment, Qi Mo cared less about the fruit—he wanted the trees.

No rush. He’d case the place first and come back later to dig up the trees once they were abandoned.

Pity an acre wouldn’t fit many fruit trees.

The cherries were ripe. Qi Mo picked a few to taste—sweet and juicy.

The owner eyed the handsome young man eating cherries and said, "We only use manure here. The fruit tastes great, and the varieties are excellent."

"Grab a basket and start picking. Toss your picks under the cherry tree. We’ll pack them for you later and deliver them this evening," the owner handed over a dozen baskets.

Qi Mo nodded. "Alright, I’ll take my time."

There were several peach varieties—yellow peaches, honey peaches, green and white ones.

Qi Mo took the scissors the owner gave him.

Once he’d settled the baby under a large camphor tree with open sightlines, Qi Mo went to pick yellow peaches.

Whenever he looked up, he could see the little one kicking his feet and flailing his pudgy arms.

He picked the biggest and roundest ones, leaving the imperfect ones behind.

The ripe yellow peaches were fragrant, and the honey peaches were just as fragrant.

Half were placed in baskets—these were the slightly underripe ones—while the fully ripe peaches were stored in his inventory space to avoid being crushed.

The weather was getting hotter. Qi Mo wiped his sweat and drank half a bottle of mineral water.

He went back to the big camphor tree to refill Chubby Baby’s bottle with water.

The little one clutched the bottle, sucking eagerly, his tiny feet swinging back and forth. He cooed happily, looking like an adorable, well-behaved little one, never fussy at all...

As long as he could see his daddy, Chubby Baby was happy as can be.

Suddenly, Qi Mo paused while picking peaches—he spotted something in the corner of his eye.

He looked closer.

There, behind Chubby Baby, was a flash of white that looked exactly like Snowball the kitty's long tail.

Did she sneak out again?

Did she have to be caged to stay in?

How did she keep slipping out so easily?

Qi Mo frowned and checked the time. It was almost noon, and the temperature had already hit 40 degrees Celsius. Thankfully, the shade under the tree was slightly cooler.

The heat was brutal, and Qi Mo worried about heatstroke.

He had already picked four baskets of yellow peaches, four baskets of honey peaches, one basket of nectarines, and half a basket of cherries.

That was enough.

With the cherries in hand and Chubby Baby in the stroller, Qi Mo walked out.

The owner helped weigh them—50 yuan per half-kilo.

The cherries totaled five jin.

He paid a 1,000-yuan deposit, with the rest to be settled when the owner delivered the goods in the evening.

By the time Qi Mo got home, it was already 12:30.

The heat was unbearable.

Fortunately, aside from his soaked clothes, Qi Mo didn’t feel unwell. Staying hydrated usually kept heatstroke at bay.

The thermometer in the yard had hit 41 degrees Celsius.

Inside the living room, Qi Mo changed out of his damp clothes and grabbed a bottle of salted soda, chugging down half of it.

He picked up Chubby Baby and felt his forehead—the little one was cool and dry.

The ice packs had done their job.

The baby’s outfit was changed, a fresh bottle tucked in, and then he plucked Snowball the kitty out from where she’d curled up inside the stroller, setting her down on the cool marble floor.

He took out a small bowl containing ground meat congee—unsalted—and Qi Mo added a bit of dried shrimp flakes.

"Snowball, here's your lunch," Qi Mo gently pushed Snowball toward the bowl, encouraging the little one to eat, and poured a small dish of water for her.

Baby Yan dozed off right after eating.

Qi Mo spread out a floor mat in the living room and laid the baby on it.

He himself had a bowl of cold noodles and a cucumber.

The heat killed his appetite.

Once lying on the mat, he didn’t feel like moving anymore. Exhausted.

After hurrying nonstop, the folks from Zhangjia Village finally reached Yuncheng.

Many in Yuncheng had heard of Huo Liangzhou’s reputation, but few cared where he was actually from.

They were thirsty and hungry—the city’s situation was far worse than their village.

Without cars, transporting goods became difficult, and even bottled water shot up to 30 to 40 bucks a bottle.

Food prices also spiked—a bowl of pickled vegetable noodles that used to cost fifteen now went for seventy or eighty.

Want something with meat, like pork chop or rib noodles? Sorry, fresh out.

Meat couldn’t be transported without refrigerated trucks. Getting it out of farms was already tough enough, not to mention sending it to slaughterhouses before distribution to cities.

With just human labor, the goods would spoil before arrival.

Even if animals were transported alive, the extreme heat could cause them to die of heatstroke en route.

Considering how many people live in a city, supplying enough resources requires a huge supply chain.

Now, logistics were pretty much kaput. Even if individuals pushed carts or used mules and horses, it did next to nothing—utterly inadequate.

The five from Zhangjia Village went through hell just to find out that Huo Liangzhou’s home was likely in Huojia Village.

But locating Huojia Village took even more effort. They paid through the nose for a map and eventually found Taohua Town.

Figuring out how to get to Taohua Town was a whole other headache, but they finally found a guide.

Hiring the guide set them back another bundle.

This revenge mission had already bled them dry, and some even suffered heatstroke.

Those who got heatstroke were left behind at the outskirts of Yuncheng, while the remaining three from Zhangjia Village followed the guide toward Taohua Town.

Huo Liangzhou’s men pushed through the night and arrived in Yuncheng by noon.

Chen Lei had visited Huo Liangzhou’s hometown before as a driver.

Though he didn’t know the route like the back of his hand, he had no trouble finding it.

Chen Lei booked it to the Taohua Town police station.

He tracked down Huang Ming quickly.

After filling him in on the situation, Huang Ming agreed to help.

The troublemakers of Zhangjia Village were beyond Huang Ming’s reach back in the village, but if they dared to extend their hands into his territory, he’d chop off any hands that reached in and sever any feet that stepped in.

Killing? Chen Lei couldn’t kill—at least not now. Getting rid of a body was too much trouble.

Huang Ming was key here. After understanding the situation, he agreed to arrange someone to keep watch outside Qi Mo’s house.

If anyone from Zhangjia Village dared to make a move, he would step in and arrest them.

Qi Mo was completely unaware. He slept through the night and woke up at 2:30.

Qi Mo took out a fan and gently fanned his child…

Even indoors, the heat was unbearable.

The child’s forehead was dotted with sweat, while Snowball was splayed out on the mat like a limp kitten pancake.

Someone knocked on the courtyard gate.

Qi Mo downed a glass of water, then went out and asked, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me—Huo Huakang, the Elder Clan Leader’s son, Aunt Wang’s husband,” Huo Huakang replied.

Qi Mo opened the courtyard gate in surprise. “Uncle Huakang? What brings you by?”

“Here’s the thing—Aunt Wang said you wanted a kang built, right?” Huo Huakang asked.

Qi Mo nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. Come on in.”

Huo Huakang nodded in agreement.

Qi Mo led him to the tea room. “The kid’s asleep in the living room. Let me get you some water.”

Huo Huakang nodded, showing understanding.

These days, every family had just one treasured child—no one wanted to wake them.

Qi Mo brought over a cup of cool boiled water and handed it to him. “Uncle Huakang, if you don’t buy grain now while you still can, once the drought gets worse, it’ll be impossible to find.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to—I just don’t have the cash,” Huo Huakang explained. “Who even keeps that kind of money lying around anymore? I’m stuck. About the kang—I’d like to take an advance on the payment so Aunt Wang can buy grain first. Then I’ll come back to build your kang.”

Qi Mo understood—nowadays, few people kept large amounts of cash at home.

He wasn’t short—he had prepared for this.

He still had over a million stashed away, not to mention gold.

“Sure. Just tell me how much you need—I’ll front you the money.” Qi Mo offered. He trusted Huo Huakang—the Elder Clan Leader’s family had a reputation for honesty. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have held that position for so long.

“I’ll have to scope it out first to give you a price,” Huo Huakang replied.

Qi Mo led Huo Huakang to the dining area and pointed at the floor-to-ceiling window. “I want the kang right here. We’ll tear out the window and put up a brick wall—five layers deep. Slip a vacuum insulation panel between the third layer, then add two more layers of brick.”

Hearing this, Huo Huakang realized it wasn’t just about building a kang.

“You’re not just building a kang—you’re putting up a wall,” Huo Huakang observed. “And there’s no wall here in the dining area. If you build it like this, the door here will be blocked, and you won’t be able to enter the tea room.”

Qi Mo pointed at the door of the tea room and said, "The wall can be built up to the door but shouldn’t touch it directly. We also need to install an insulation layer beneath the heated bed to prevent damage to the floorboards. Even though the quality will definitely be good, it’s better to be cautious."

Huo Huakang nodded after hearing this. "I understand. You want the heated bed built horizontally, so the outer wall should be about half a meter thick, making the heated bed itself around two and a half meters long. That should be enough for your family."

"Two walls plus the heated bed and the insulation layer. Originally, just the materials for the heated bed would have been around five thousand yuan. But now everything has gone up in price—I can’t give you an exact estimate. Labor costs are rising too, and everything needs to be transported by hand," Huo Huakang said, sounding troubled.

"If it were just the heated bed alone, I’d do it for ten thousand yuan," he added.

But now, with the addition of two more walls, the materials he already had at home wouldn't be sufficient. He'd also need to purchase materials for the insulation layer.

"How about this?" Qi Mo said. "I'll give you fifty thousand yuan—thirty thousand for supplies and twenty thousand as profit. If that's not enough later on, just let me know."

He wasn’t worried about the relatively small sum. The Elder Clan Leader’s household was small, and Aunt Wang was well-meaning. Helping them was essentially helping himself.

Huo Huakang replied quickly, "That’s more than enough! Really too much!"

"It’s not too much. Buy extra supplies—you might end up helping me out too," Qi Mo insisted.

Huo Huakang thought about it and realized there was truth in that. Qi Mo was alone in the village now, and no one knew when Liangzhou would return. It would be wise to support him a bit and make sure no one took advantage of him.

"Then I’ll go prepare. We can start tomorrow," Huo Huakang said.

Qi Mo replied, "Wait a moment, let me get the money for you."

Soon, Qi Mo returned from the living room. He had simply opened a cabinet and taken out a stack of cash.

Huo Huakang couldn’t help commenting, “You keep your money too casually, Qi Mo. Times are uncertain these days. You and Baby Yan should be careful.”

“It’s fine. I’m nearly out of money anyway,” Qi Mo said with a smile as he saw him off.

There were two spare bathroom windows in the storage room, both made of tempered glass. The two panes in the dining room were also tempered glass—expensive stuff. He decided to keep them; they might prove useful later.

After some thought, Qi Mo went back to the living room. Baby Yan was already up from his mat. His first move wasn’t to look for his father, but to grab the kitten Snowball by the tail and bite down on it to soothe his teething pain...

Snowball, rudely awakened by being bitten while lying on the ground, wore an expression of utter resignation. *My human brother is actually this kind of child?!*

In the afternoon, Chen Xia returned home and asked around the village if anyone had lost a cat.

She found that only a few households even kept cats, and none had reported a missing one.

After confirming this, Chen Xia went to tell Qi Mo that no one in the village had lost a cat.

Qi Mo thought about it and agreed—it must be a stray or unusual cat. There was no telling why it had wandered into his house, but clearly, it had been well cared for before.

Lifting Snowball gently by the scruff of her neck, Qi Mo looked into her eyes and said, "Alright then. From today on, I’m your cat caretaker."

"Welcome to the family, Snowball." Holding her scruff in one hand, he used the other to shake her little paw.

After the formal welcome, he grabbed a bucket—he was heading to the village chief’s house to borrow some sand for the litter box.

The leftover sand from his own renovation had already been used to cool down the well cover of the water cellar.

Huo Jianian watched Qi Mo hauling the bucket of sand back home. Frowning, he ran to ask his grandmother, "Grandma, didn’t Chen Xia ask earlier if anyone in the village had lost a cat?"