At this very moment, Wen Lao’er was cracking his whip as the donkey cart sped down the road back to the village.
Just a short while ago, they had arrived at Liu Family Cloth Shop full of excitement.
But the shopkeeper had said coldly that he had never sent anyone to deliver a message to them, nor had he asked them to come back to work. He even said that the new assistant was more diligent and clever than Wen Lao’er.
Mrs. Fang immediately realized that something might have gone wrong and hurriedly drove the cart home.
‘Something happened! Something must have happened!’ Mrs. Fang’s face turned pale, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.
‘What nonsense! Maybe… maybe the shopkeeper was just playing a trick on us!’
‘Why would the shopkeeper toy with us? It’s Wen Ye! Yes, it must be her! That dead girl has been acting strange lately. I should’ve been on guard against her! What is she trying to do? My Yue’er is still on the mountain… Hurry and drive faster!’
‘Quit nagging! Aren’t I already driving?’ Wen Lao’er roared back at her.
The couple hurried back to the village in a panic.
As soon as they reached home, they jumped off the cart, not even having time to tie up the donkey.
They rushed into the main room and saw Old Madam Wen, Wen Lao Da, and Luo Shi eating.
‘You came back just in time. I even saved some food for you,’ Old Madam Wen said excitedly. There was still time to sell the girls!
But the couple didn’t answer. Seeing that Wen Liyue wasn’t there, they turned pale and ran outside again.
‘Hey, Lao’er—’ Old Madam Wen was baffled as they rushed in and then right back out.
She wanted to call after them, but they had already disappeared.
The couple headed straight up the mountain.
Panting, they arrived at the valley where wild shepherd’s purse grew in abundance.
According to the plan, Wen Liyue and Wen Mei should have gone to gather firewood, while Wen Ye and Wen Lan should have been lying unconscious here.
But now, all they saw was a lush green valley with not a single person in sight—let alone the Wen sisters.
‘Where are they?’ Mrs. Fang’s heart pounded wildly.
‘Maybe… maybe they’ve gone somewhere else to dig for wild vegetables,’ Wen Lao’er said. ‘Don’t worry. The ones who took the drug were those sisters. Yue’er will be fine. She and Mei went to gather firewood!’
Mrs. Fang frowned, still uneasy.
Suddenly, her eyes widened. She ran to a small dirt pit and saw a pink shoe inside.
‘This… this is Yue’er’s shoe! It’s her shoe!’
Wen Lao’er was stunned. ‘How could Yue’er’s shoe be here? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?’
‘Impossible! I made this shoe for her myself!’
‘Then… maybe she accidentally dropped it?’
But how could a shoe simply fall off someone’s foot without them noticing and picking it up? Unless… she had lost consciousness!
Mrs. Fang panicked and immediately began shouting, ‘Yue’er! Mei! Where are you?’
The two hurriedly started searching.
After searching for an entire hour and nearly combing the whole mountain, they still couldn’t find anyone.
Not only were Wen Mei and Wen Liyue missing, but even Wen Ye and her sisters had vanished.
At this point, they had accepted one fact—their daughter had truly disappeared.
Could it be that the human traffickers had grown impatient, come up the mountain, and taken both Mei and Liyue?
No matter what had happened, they had to find the girls first!
Their faces turned pale, and they immediately rushed down the mountain and headed to the town’s broker house to find Qian San and Zhao Qiang.
But the broker house said, ‘They haven’t returned since they left this morning. Perhaps they’ve gone to the county’s Wanhua House to “deliver the goods.”‘
Mrs. Fang and Wen Lao’er nearly blacked out and hurried to the county town.
Fortunately, the county was only a quarter of an hour away from the town, and they soon arrived.
After much difficulty, they found the county’s only brothel, but the madam there said she hadn’t seen Qian San or Zhao Qiang that day.
Mrs. Fang and Wen Lao’er became dizzy with anxiety, not knowing what to do.
They then drove the donkey cart back toward the village.
Wen Lao’er said, ‘If Yue’er was really taken by mistake by Qian San and the others, she’d already have been sold. They’re a legitimate broker house, not shady traffickers. There’s no reason for them to hide.’
‘If you ask me, Yue’er was probably injured or something and is still on the mountain. Let’s go back and keep looking!’
Mrs. Fang cried with worry, but she had no better idea and could only return to the village with him.
…
Old Madam Wen, Wen Lao Da, and Luo Shi were sitting in the main room drinking tea after their meal.
The couple walked in, and Mrs. Fang collapsed onto a chair.
‘Mother, Yue’er… Yue’er is missing.’
Old Madam Wen put down her teacup, stunned. ‘Yue’er? Wasn’t she on the mountain cutting pigweed?’
‘We searched the mountain and only found Yue’er’s shoe. She’s gone…’
‘Oh? Could a tiger have carried her off?’ Luo Shi said sarcastically while picking her teeth.
Mrs. Fang glared hatefully at her. ‘She was with Mei! They’re both missing now.’
‘What? Mei’s missing too?’ Luo Shi spat out her toothpick. ‘What’s going on? Weren’t you the one who told them to cut pigweed?’
Wen Lao Da said impatiently, ‘Why make such a fuss? Maybe they just wandered farther away while cutting pigweed or gathering firewood. Why panic? They’ll come back later.’
Luo Shi quickly nodded. ‘Exactly!’
Mrs. Fang’s eyes widened. She felt like a mute person swallowing bitter medicine—full of suffering but unable to speak of it.
Coming home late was indeed common.
But the problem was that she had drugged the two girls from the third branch and arranged for human traffickers to take them…
Yet her own daughter had disappeared at this very moment, along with that shoe…
She had a terrible feeling that something had happened.
Mrs. Fang gritted her teeth. ‘Anyway… let’s all go look for them. It won’t take much time!’
Old Madam Wen, who knew the truth, also grew anxious. ‘Let’s ask the villagers to help. Many hands make light work. Eldest son, eldest daughter-in-law, get moving!’
Wen Lao Da and his wife reluctantly stood up and lazily followed Old Madam Wen and the second branch out the door.
The Wen family split up and began searching.
The second branch and Old Madam Wen were frantic. Every villager they met was asked to help.
In less than half an hour, the entire Qingshui Village knew that Wen Mei and Wen Liyue had disappeared while cutting pigweed on the mountain, leaving behind only a single shoe.
The villagers were warm-hearted, and nearly everyone joined in the search.
…
Lin Shi, Wen Lao San, and Wen Chuizi were cleaning their new home at the edge of the village when they heard that their two nieces were missing, and they were shocked.
Wen Chuizi tugged at Lin Shi’s sleeve. ‘Big Sister and Second Sister also went up the mountain.’
‘What?’
Lin Shi and Wen Lao San’s faces changed, and they immediately panicked, joining the search throughout the village.
But by the time evening approached, the four girls of the Wen family were still nowhere to be found.