Tang Yumin also looked at Jiang Manman and said:
“I heard that it was Third Aunt who helped deal with the monster that night. Is that true?”
Jiang Manman didn’t deny this.
“Indeed, I was the one who took action. The monster claimed to have gained sentience before the founding of our nation. But I didn’t find its skills particularly impressive. I handled it easily. Why? From what you’re saying, it seems there’s more to this story. Could you explain it more clearly?”
Tang Yumin was somewhat taken aback by her response. He rubbed his nose and looked at Jiang Manman with curiosity, his mouth agape in surprise.
Wasn’t it said that this Third Aunt grew up in the countryside? How could she possibly defeat those monsters?
Moreover, wasn’t this matter better left for others to explain?
He glanced at Third Uncle beside him, silently asking with his eyes whether he should speak.
“Let me explain! What we’re referring to is an organization formed by those monsters. Some of them possess considerable abilities that we haven’t been able to handle for the time being. My legs… were also courtesy of those monsters. But why would there be monsters appearing in your village as well?”
As someone who had just arrived, Jiang Manman genuinely had no idea about this matter and could only shrug.
“I’m not sure.”
Tang Yumin fell silent, thinking that Third Aunt might be unwilling to share the information.
Nearby, several children ran over to play with Tangxin Tangyuan, and their words successfully made Jiang Manman laugh.
A village child named Aiguo, about five or six years old and dressed in gray cloth clothes, looked curiously in their direction.
In childish language, he asked:
“Tangxin Tangyuan, I heard you have a father now. Is that man sitting on the stool your father?”
Tangxin lifted her little face proudly.
“Yes! My father is really amazing!”
Another child named Aidang looked confused.
“Then why does your father always sit on the stool? Why doesn’t he stand up and walk?”
Tangxin beamed with pride.
“Of course it’s because my father doesn’t have legs!”
Aiguo exclaimed in surprise:
“Wow! Your father actually doesn’t have legs! Then he can’t stand up, right?”
“That’s right!”
As soon as Tangxin finished speaking, Tangyuan pulled her toward them, his little face tense and serious.
He seemed to have realized that his father lacking both legs might not be something worth boasting about.
Tang Yumin looked embarrassed but still concernedly glanced at his two young cousins.
“I think we should be more careful during this period. Since one appeared here, it’s quite possible a second monster might show up.”
Just as he finished speaking, the Village Chief’s voice came from afar through the loudspeaker, calling out:
“Villagers, please check if anyone has seen Hongbing. If you see him, quickly send him home.”
Tang Yumin and Tang Changsheng exchanged glances, both feeling a sense of foreboding.
“Could it be…?”
“Can’t rule out that possibility. Later, go inform the Village Chief to keep a close watch on their children recently. Everyone should be more careful.”
After speaking, Tang Changsheng turned to the two little ones.
“Tangxin Tangyuan, don’t run around everywhere these days.”
Jiang Manman looked suspicious and sent a mental message to the divine beast Black Tortoise in Tangxin’s arms.
“Use your Divine Sense to check if that child named Hongbing is in the village.”
Although Jiang Manman could extend her Divine Sense, its range wasn’t sufficient to cover great distances. The Black Tortoise cub, being a Divine Beast, could cover the entire Lianshan Village with its Divine Sense even as a newly hatched cub.
“He’s not in the village. He probably isn’t here.”
Jiang Manman frowned.
“Could that child have left the village?”
“I wouldn’t know. My Divine Sense only covers the entire Lianshan Village. Beyond the village boundaries, I’m unaware. And from what I can perceive, there’s no monster aura in Lianshan Village.”
None?
That’s strange. Where could that child named Hongbing have gone?
Jiang Manman didn’t work with the production team today.
Thanks to Wang Guihua’s big mouth, everyone in the village knew that the Educated Youth surnamed Tang who had abandoned Jiang Manman had returned.
Moreover, he brought back a lot of money – their family was now considered a thousand-yuan household.
When Jiang Manman went to ask Old Wang for leave to record work points, everyone looked at her with strange expressions.
Some were envious, some were jealous, but they all knew the Tang family wasn’t to be trifled with, so no one dared to cause trouble.
“Will you still go up the mountain to gather boluo leaves tomorrow? Although we know your family has money, without Food Stamps and Industrial coupons – if you don’t work, you won’t get work points. You’d have to buy the coupons with cash, which isn’t cost-effective.”
Jiang Manman didn’t expect this Wang fellow would specifically remind her.
“Understood. I’ll go up the mountain to gather boluo leaves when the time comes.”
These past few days, Jiang Manman had been busy cleaning and organizing the house.
Tang Changsheng couldn’t help much, so he took care of the children and played with them.
His spare time was spent cultivating the technique recorded in the Jade Slip Jiang Manman gave him – a method called the Nine Heavens Thunder Control Art.
This technique was quite advanced, ranking among the top few in the World of cultivation.
As for the child named Hongbing, he still hadn’t been found after two or three days missing.
Yesterday when they were supposed to go up the mountain to gather boluo leaves, Jiang Manman worried about leaving one disabled adult and two small children at home, so she left the divine beast Black Tortoise, the little turtle, at home too.
Gathering boluo leaves was actually quite simple – just take gunny sacks up the mountain and pick the leaves.
The leaves were light and fluffy, so even a full sack didn’t amount to much.
Usually, villagers would gather these leaves to wrap zongzi or other flour-based foods.
The reason they were collecting in such large quantities was because there was a collective buyer with sales channels.
It was said that after drying, the leaves were compressed and sold abroad for making grass lawns for landscaping.
Whether this was true or not, they didn’t know – they just gathered as many as they could since it counted toward work points.
Jiang Manman actually didn’t need to go up the mountain to work at all.
She could use the cash she had to buy coupons from villagers, though most families wouldn’t easily sell these, some would.
If she wanted to buy, she could acquire them. Even rice and flour could be bought at the Black Market.
“Oh, sister-in-law, you’re here to gather boluo leaves too? Didn’t your man bring back lots of cash? Why do you still need to work up the mountain?”
Jiang Manman had a purpose for coming up the mountain today. Seeing Wang Guihua pop up again, she remembered something.
“Right, I almost forgot since you didn’t mention it. Today I’m going to your place to take back my bicycle. After all, it’s mine.”
“How can that be? We’ve always been using that bicycle!”
Wang Guihua objected. Their family only had that one bicycle – what would they do if she took it?
“Just because you’ve always used it doesn’t mean it belongs to you.”
She continued picking leaves while speaking, simultaneously keeping an eye out for any game that could add to their meals.
Within her Divine Sense range, she indeed detected a rabbit.
There was also a child’s shoe, and Jiang Manman’s heart skipped a beat. Could this shoe belong to the child who had gone missing earlier?