Chapter 15: Something Must Have Happened

At this very moment, Old Wen Er was cracking the whip as the donkey cart sped along the road back to the village.

Just moments ago, they had arrived at the Liu family’s cloth shop with hearts full of excitement.

But the shopkeeper wore a cold expression, saying flatly that no one had sent them any letter, nor had anyone asked them to return for work. He even claimed the new helpers were more diligent and clever than them.

Mrs. Fang sensed something was amiss and hurriedly urged the cart onward toward home.

“Something’s wrong! Something definitely happened!” Mrs. Fang’s face turned pale, an ominous feeling gnawing at her heart.

“Nonsense! Maybe… the shopkeeper is just playing with us,” Old Wen Er replied.

“Why would the shopkeeper play tricks on us? It must be Wen Ye. Yes, it has to be that girl! She’s been acting strangely lately. I should have been wary of her! What does she want? My Yue’er is still up on the mountain… Hurry, drive faster!” Mrs. Fang urged anxiously.

“Stop nagging! I’m already driving as fast as I can,” Old Wen Er shouted back.

The two rushed back to the village in a flurry.

Upon reaching their doorstep, they jumped down without even tying the donkey.

They rushed into the main hall, where Grandma Wen, Old Wen Da, and Mrs. Luo were eating.

“You came back just in time. I saved some food for you,” Grandma Wen said excitedly. At this hour, they could still sell someone!

But the Fang couple didn’t respond. Seeing that Wen Liyue was nowhere in sight, they turned pale and dashed out again.

“Hey, Er—” Grandma Wen called after them, puzzled by their sudden departure.

She wanted to say more, but they vanished like smoke.

After leaving the house, Old Wen Er and Mrs. Fang hurried up the mountain.

Panting heavily, they arrived at a valley abundant with shepherd’s purse.

According to the plan, Wen Liyue and Wen Mei had gone to gather firewood, while Wen Ye and Wen Lan were supposed to faint here—

But now, all they saw was a sea of green, with not a soul in sight, let alone the Wen sisters.

“Where are they?” Mrs. Fang’s heart pounded fiercely.

“Maybe… they went somewhere else to pick wild vegetables,” Old Wen Er said. “Don’t worry! The ones who took the medicine are those two sisters. Yue’er won’t be in danger. She went with Mei to gather firewood!”

Mrs. Fang frowned, still uneasy.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she ran to a small dirt pit, spotting a pink shoe inside.

“This… this is Yue’er’s shoe! It’s hers!”

Old Wen Er was stunned too. “How could Yue’er’s shoe be here? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“No way! I made these shoes for her myself!”

“Then… maybe she dropped it by accident?”

But shoes worn on one’s feet don’t just fall off unnoticed and get left behind—unless… she lost consciousness!

Mrs. Fang panicked and shouted, “Yue’er! Mei, where are you?”

They frantically searched.

After an hour, having almost scoured the entire mountain, there was still no sign of anyone.

Not only Wen Mei and Wen Liyue, but even the Wen Ye sisters were nowhere to be found.

By now, the couple had accepted a grim reality: their daughters were truly missing.

Could it be that the men from the tooth-pulling shop couldn’t wait and came up the mountain, capturing Mei and Liyue together?

Whatever the case, their priority was to find them first.

Their faces pale, they hurried down the mountain and raced to the village’s tooth-pulling shop to find Qian San and Zhao Qiang.

But the shopkeeper said, “They left this morning and haven’t returned. Maybe they went to deliver ‘goods’ to the Wanhua Brothel in the county.”

The Fang couple’s vision blurred, and they rushed to the county town.

Fortunately, the county was only a half-hour away, and they arrived shortly.

After much effort, they found the only brothel in the county, but the madam said she hadn’t seen Qian San or Zhao Qiang today.

Feeling dizzy and at a loss, the couple set off back to the village.

Old Wen Er said, “If Yue’er was really mistakenly caught by Qian San and the others, they’d have sold her by now. They’re reputable tooth-pullers, not shady traffickers. There’s no reason for them to hide.”

“I think Yue’er might be hurt or something, still on the mountain. Let’s go back and search there,” Mrs. Fang said, tears streaming down her face.

Though anxious and distraught, they had no choice but to return.

...

Grandma Wen, Old Wen Da, and Mrs. Luo were sitting in the main hall drinking tea to settle their stomachs.

Old Wen Er and Mrs. Fang entered, and Mrs. Fang collapsed into a chair, saying, “Mother, Yue’er… Yue’er is missing.”

Grandma Wen set down her teacup in confusion. “Yue’er? Isn’t she up on the mountain cutting pigweed?”

“We searched the mountain, but all we found was Yue’er’s shoe. She’s nowhere to be found…”

“Oh? Maybe a tiger snatched her away?” Mrs. Luo said mockingly, picking her teeth.

Mrs. Fang glared at her fiercely. “She was with Mei! Now both of them are missing.”

“What? Mei’s missing too?” Mrs. Luo spat out her toothpick. “What happened? Didn’t you send them to cut pigweed?”

Old Wen Da snapped irritably, “What’s the fuss? They just went a bit far to cut pigweed or gather firewood. Why panic? They’ll come back soon enough.”

Mrs. Luo nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Fang’s eyes burned with frustration, feeling like a mute watching helplessly as injustice unfolds.

It was common for them to return late.

But the problem was she had given two of her daughter-in-laws a drug and arranged for tooth-pullers to meet them...

And now her daughters were missing at this hour, with only a single shoe left behind...

A dark premonition weighed on her heart; something terrible had happened.

Gritting her teeth, she said, “Anyway… let’s all search together! It won’t take much time!”

Knowing the situation, Grandma Wen grew anxious too. “Let’s gather the villagers. The more the merrier. Old Wen Da, wife, get moving!”

Reluctantly, Old Wen Da and his wife stood and dawdled alongside Grandma Wen and the second branch of the family as they headed out.

The Wen family split up to search.

The second branch and Grandma Wen were anxious, asking every villager they met for help.

Within half an hour, the entire Qingshui Village knew that Wen Mei and Wen Liyue had gone up the mountain to cut pigweed and were now missing, with only one shoe left behind.

The villagers, all warm-hearted, shouted out their calls, helping however they could.

...

At the edge of the village, Mrs. Lin, Old Wen San, and Wen Chuizi were cleaning their new home when they heard about the two missing nieces and were shocked.

Wen Chuizi tugged on Mrs. Lin’s sleeve. “Big sister and second sister went up the mountain too.”

“What?”

Mrs. Lin and Old Wen San’s faces changed, panic setting in. They joined the frantic search throughout the village.

But as evening approached, there was still no trace of the four Wen girls.