I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

"That brat can really run!" Granny Qian leaned against a tree and sighed. She was exhausted and hadn't eaten lunch. If she hadn't been waiting at home for the past few days without any chance to get close to Zhao Ningning, she would have turned around and left long ago.

"Mother, Mother!" Madam Sun patted Granny Qian's arm excitedly, pointing to a spot on the mountain: "Look! Isn't that Wuya!"

The two huddled together and looked in the direction Sun was pointing. Sure enough, there was a small figure digging something with its head down.

They were instantly energized, as if they had drunk nectar, and no longer felt tired or hot. Granny Qian kept her eyes fixed on the small figure and climbed up using all four limbs.

—We must catch that girl this time!

To make things easier for them, Zhou Jian kept his distance. He saw that his niece was tied up after meeting them and only exchanged a few words with them, without being beaten. Only then did he feel relieved and quickly ran down the mountain.

As soon as he arrived in the village, the men who were sitting under the trees chatting saw that the boy was running like a wolf chasing him, so they quickly stopped him and asked him why he was running so fast.

Zhou Jian looked like he was about to cry, saying that he and his niece went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables early in the morning, but they got separated. He looked around but couldn't find her, so he quickly went down the mountain to ask for help.

The loss of a child in the village was a big deal. The men under the tree stopped chatting, grabbed his arm to find out the location, and rushed home to call the others.

When Zhou Jian ran home and told his mother about his niece's plan, He Shi slapped him on the back.

"How dare you!" Mrs. He exclaimed, both anxious and angry. "She's only eight years old!"

If anything goes wrong, it could cost a life!

Zhou Jian hesitated, "But Ningning said..."

"No buts! Let's go! Let's hurry up and go into the mountains to find her!" Madam He put down her work, quickly locked the door, and took her mentally challenged son up the mountain.

It's not the busy farming season right now, so most of the men in the village have gone out to find work. Seven or eight men have gathered in the village, and even five or six women who usually go up the mountain have come out.

Seeing so many people come to help, Madam He was overwhelmed with gratitude. She pulled Zhou Jian to thank them first, and then let Zhou Jian lead the way to find Ningning on the mountain.

The sooner they find her, the less Zhao Ningning will suffer.

—Isn't that suffering?!

A rag was stuffed into Zhao Ningning's mouth. Granny Qian used a lot of force when she stuffed it in, so much so that the corners of her mouth almost split open.

Fearing she might run away, the two of them stuffed themselves into their baskets. To avoid being discovered, they also added a pile of dry branches and wild vegetables they had just dug up from the ground to the baskets.

Huddled in this bamboo basket, Zhao Ningning felt stuffy and hot, and her mouth was sore. She could only pray that her uncle would be reliable and bring people to "find" her soon.

A group of about ten people went up the mountain in a grand manner, searching and calling out as they went.

A woman comforted He Shi: "Maybe the maid got tired of digging for wild vegetables somewhere and fell asleep."

He smiled at her, but she was extremely anxious inside.

According to Zhou Jian, those two should be almost halfway up the mountain. How come they haven't seen them even after almost an hour of climbing up?

Carrying about twenty pounds of things, Sun was walking down the mountain path, her steps were unsteady. If her mother-in-law hadn't been there to stop her, she would have already crawled into the ditch with the basket of things.

Even so, the two of them stumbled and fell several times on their way down the mountain, and Zhao Ningning, sitting in her basket, was already starting to regret coming up with the idea today.

With a thud, Sun fell to the ground again, and Zhao Ningning's head hit the ground hard in the basket, causing her to burst into tears from the pain.

"How can you be so useless!" Granny Qian scolded in a low voice, reaching out to help Sun up. "Hurry up and go, otherwise there will be too many people in the village when it gets cooler."

"No one could walk fast carrying such a heavy basket! It's a miracle if you can even walk steadily. Mother-in-law is just talking without understanding the pain." Sun Shi, supporting her back and panting, said, "I can't go on, Mother, let me rest for a while."

Seeing that her eldest daughter-in-law was so exhausted she was almost fainting, Granny Qian took pity on her and said, "Alright, you can rest for a while."

She helped Sun unload the basket from her back, and the two of them had just sat down on the ground when Granny Qian's expression changed.

"Did you hear anything?!"

She suddenly stood up and looked around.

"What's all that noise?" Sun was so tired that her heart was pounding like a drum. Sweat dripped into her eyes from her eyelids, making it impossible for her to open them. She had no mind to care about anything else.

"Someone's there!"

Granny Qian listened intently, her face growing increasingly grim.

"Let's go! Hurry!" She grabbed Sun Shi from the ground and urged, "People from the village are looking for this girl!"

Upon hearing this news, Mrs. Sun was shocked. Without even taking a break, she quickly picked up her basket and helped her mother-in-law run down another road.

They had been waiting for this day for days! With the money almost in their hands, they couldn't afford to let it all go to waste here.

A dozen or so people were scattered around, sifting through the entire mountain forest like a fishing net.

When they reached the halfway point on the mountain, they still hadn't seen Granny Qian and the other woman. He's expression grew increasingly serious. She pulled her son aside and asked, "Are you heading in the right direction?"

"That's right..." Zhou Jian scratched his head, "Ningning is right there... she's gone missing. If she were going down the mountain, she would definitely be heading this way."

"You also said that Ningning came down the mountain..." Madam He nervously rubbed her hands back and forth. As a widow, she had raised her child alone and helpless in the village, which required a lot of survival wisdom.

"No, they might have gone down another road!" Mrs. He gritted her teeth. "After all, they've done something wrong. If they heard someone was looking for them, they would definitely have run in another direction. We won't find them here!"

Even the best-laid plans can have flaws!

Zhou Jian's small face turned completely pale with fright.

Since this was a possibility, Madam He quickly called out to several men and women who were nearby, telling Zhou Jian to stay there while she followed them in another direction to search.

Zhou Jian wanted to follow his mother, but she stopped him with a look.

the other side.

Zhao Ningning bounced back and forth in the basket on her back, thinking about how to act later. Unexpectedly, she could vaguely hear someone calling her name at first, but the further she walked, the less she could hear.

The world was completely silent, with only the noisy chirping of cicadas in the woods and Sun's heavy breathing.

Not right.

Zhao Ningning's eyes widened as she realized a possibility—these two people had taken a detour!

This is a bit tricky. If her uncle can't find her, he'll have to carry out another plan: to ambush her on the road to town.

Hopefully, her good uncle will realize this soon and lead people to block the road.

Otherwise, the only option would be to be "sold" into the Sun family and then use the space to escape.

Zhao Ningning prayed silently.

Perhaps her prayers worked, because soon she heard shouts in the distance.

"What do we do!" Mrs. Sun gasped for breath, her hand trembling as she supported her mother-in-law. "They're catching up!"

"Don't rush! Let me think..." Granny Qian gritted her teeth, her eyes darting around. Seeing a flat area appear ahead, she stopped Sun Shi. "Stop."

"No!!" Mrs. Sun cried out urgently, "If we don't run, they'll catch up with us!"

"What do you know!" Granny Qian slapped her across the face. "Listen to me, hurry up!"

Sun was furious that her mother-in-law had never hit her before, so she threw down her basket and Zhao Ningning inside was immediately struck.

Granny Qian pulled her aside and whispered, "Anyway, you can't outrun them. Don't we have baskets? Just wear them like this later..."

The further she went, the more uncertain she became. She had been walking for half an hour and still hadn't seen a trace of anyone. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to explain this to her daughter today...

Just as Mrs. He was feeling extremely anxious, the man at the front shouted loudly, "There are two women up ahead!"

Although it wasn't Wu Yatou, the group perked up a bit, hoping that if the two women had seen any trace of Wu Yatou, they could follow the clues to find her.

Upon hearing this, Mr. He's spirits lifted.

—Two women?

I hurried forward, and sure enough, behind the gentle slope, on the flat ground, Granny Qian and Madam Sun were sitting on the ground, panting.

Upon seeing the newcomers, Granny Qian feigned surprise and asked, "Why are so many of you coming up the mountain?"

"So it's Aunt Qian." The leading man bowed. "You didn't know your fifth granddaughter got lost on the mountain?"

"Lost?" Granny Qian asked in surprise. "I didn't know! My eldest daughter-in-law and I were bored this morning, so we brought baskets and went into the mountains to dig for wild vegetables."

"Haven't you seen that girl?" a woman in the group asked.

"No?" Granny Qian said, "There aren't many wild vegetables on the mountain, and I'm too old to go far, so I just dug some up in this valley."

Everyone glanced at their baskets, which were half a person tall and stuffed with a bunch of dry twigs, with only a dozen or so wild vegetables on top.

Seeing the villagers looking at the basket on her back, Sun's voice trembled slightly as she echoed, "Yes...yes, we didn't...we didn't see that girl."

"Maybe she's fallen asleep somewhere. That girl, she's always trying to shirk her responsibilities!" Granny Qian scolded.

"You've been up in the mountains for so long, and all you've packed is some kindling and a few wild vegetables?" Mrs. He caught up with the group and slowly walked up from the back.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, He kept glancing at the basket on her back.

If nothing unexpected happens, Zhao Ningning is inside!

"We're just two women, and we can't walk fast, so what's wrong with us gathering some firewood on the mountain? This mountain doesn't belong to your family!"

Granny Qian and her in-law He Shi didn't get along, and Granny Qian retorted as soon as He Shi spoke.

"It's nothing, it just looks like there's something alive in your basket?" Madam He said, leaning over to look behind Madam Sun.

"What living thing!" Sun's hands trembled with fright. She pointed at He, "He Yan, don't talk nonsense!"

"I saw it too, the basket was moving." The woman behind whispered to her husband.

Hearing this, Granny Qian's face fell. Then, as if remembering something, she kicked the basket and smiled shyly, "That was just good luck; I caught a rabbit on the mountain today..."

The villagers were all so poor that they could barely afford to eat. At this time of year, if they could catch rabbits in the mountains, it was only natural to secretly bring them home and cook them for themselves.

Amidst the envy and jealousy of the crowd, Granny Qian urged, "Weren't you looking for Fifth Sister? Why aren't you going to look for her anymore?"

"Oh dear, we don't know where that girl has run off to. We'd better hurry and look for her, or she'll be in danger when it gets dark..."

"What kind of rabbit could kick a basket half a person's height?" Mrs. He sneered. "I've never seen one like it before. Why don't you show us?"

"Mrs. He!" Granny Qian frowned. "Don't go too far!"

"That's right, Aunt He, it's not really appropriate for us to pester others to see their rabbits..."

He dodged the hand that was trying to persuade her, "Why do I think I heard Ningning's voice coming from the basket?"

"Impossible!" Granny Qian retorted instinctively.

Sun tightly blocked the basket on her back, and the atmosphere immediately became tense.

"Really?" Mrs. He put her hands on her hips. "It's just a rabbit. These guys aren't exactly naive; why are you so protective? Is Fifth Sister in there?"

"Before the family split up, you even planned to kidnap Ningning and sell her to the Sun family!"

"The sun is so strong, how come you two lazy women are going up the mountain at this time, and what a coincidence that you're following behind Fifth Sister up the mountain."

Upon hearing this, the men and women who had come with He to find someone also sensed that something was amiss.

Even ignoring the scorching sun, a normal woman could gather a dozen wild vegetables and a basket of firewood in an hour and then head down the mountain.

Why are these two women, one quite old and the other a lazy woman who stays home all day, so diligently going up the mountain today? And how did they spend several hours gathering so little?

Something's not right, something's very wrong.

"Why don't you open the basket and let Aunt He see? That would put her mind at ease," the man advised. "If she doesn't see it, we still need to continue searching!"

"Why should I!" Granny Qian clutched her basket, cursing the entire He family lineage in her mind.

"Let's see, it's not like we'll take a single rabbit hair from you." Someone in the group urged, "Hurry up! This sweltering heat is unbearable!"

"Ms. Qian, if you keep blocking our way like this, does that mean Wuya is in this basket?!"

Mrs. He didn't want to waste any more breath arguing with her. It was so hot, and Wuya was still so small. What if she fainted from suffocation in the basket?

Granny Qian's face turned ashen. Pointing at Madam He, she said, "Fine! Look if you want! If Wu Ya isn't inside, you'll kneel down and kowtow to me today!"

After she uttered those harsh words, the expressions on the villagers' faces were quite varied. Some people tried to persuade Aunt He not to act impulsively, but Aunt He gently stopped them.

Saving my granddaughter is the priority!

"I'll kowtow then!" Mrs. He readily agreed.

Granny Qian stepped aside, and Madam Sun looked at her mother-in-law, wanting to stop her again.

Ignoring everything else, He stepped forward, pushed Sun aside, and took the wild vegetables and firewood out of the basket.

No.

No?!

—What's going on?!

They emptied the bottom of the basket and found nothing but a small gray rabbit, no bigger than a palm.

Did they have someone else kidnap Fifth Sister?

Mrs. He's face turned deathly pale.

"You've looked, and there's nothing inside. Shouldn't you kneel down and kowtow to me?" Granny Qian said in an unfriendly tone.

Sun's heart pounded like a drum, and she secretly glanced at her mother-in-law beside her several times.

—Just as I thought! I still have to listen to my mother-in-law!

"How could that be!" Mrs. He shook her head. "No, that can't be right!"