Reborn in 78, I made my fortune by working in the mountains, supporting three families on my own.

Upon hearing that Jiang Xinyue was from Beijing, the capital city, Zhao Qiuju immediately felt a desire to befriend her and stepped forward to take Jiang Xinyue's arm. "Xinyue, you don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

"I don't mind."

"Tomorrow we'll be colleagues, in the same department, and among the same batch of new employees. We'll inevitably be interacting a lot in the future."

We need a lot of things for work, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative together to buy some.

Standing to the side, Sun Xiaolian watched the two chatting animatedly, while no one paid any attention to her. She sneered inwardly.

Hmph, so they're already starting to form cliques.

She turned her head away dismissively and left on her own, not giving the two of them a chance to continue their conversation.

Zhao Qiuju had originally planned to strike up a conversation with Sun Xiaolian later, but she was taken aback when she saw her walk away.

Zhao Qiuju said, "Xinyue, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. We need pens and notebooks for work tomorrow."

Jiang Xinyue thought this made sense.

But then she remembered that Zhao Lei was still waiting outside the factory gate, having waited for several hours, so she said apologetically, "Qiuju, my man is still waiting for me outside the factory. I have to go find him first. Let's go shopping at the supply and marketing cooperative together another day."

Zhao Qiuju slapped her forehead: "Oh dear! Right, right, how could I forget? My husband is waiting outside too. Okay, let's go home first, we can do the shopping tomorrow."

After saying that, the two walked out of the office building together, and said goodbye to each other at the factory gate before going their separate ways.

Jiang Xinyue was anxious to tell Zhao Lei the good news of being accepted as soon as possible. She ran all the way to the factory gate, but Zhao Lei was nowhere to be seen.

She looked around and found the gatekeeper, Uncle Liu.

"Uncle Liu, where's Zhao Lei?"

When Grandpa Liu saw Jiang Xinyue, he quickly asked, "Oh, Lei's wife, how did it go? Did you get your exam results?"

"Uncle Liu, I've been accepted."

"That's great! I knew you were a capable girl."

Jiang Xinyue continued, "Uncle Liu, where did Zhao Lei go?"

"You mean Lei Zi? Around noon, Granny Zhang came looking for Lei Zi, saying there was an emergency at home. She asked me to tell you to go home as soon as you finish your exams, as she was going home first."

Jiang Xinyue was puzzled. What urgent matter could Zhao Lei have that made him not wait for her or come to pick her up?

Hearing that Granny Zhang had made a special trip to town to find Zhao Lei, she found it even more suspicious.

Why did Granny Zhang travel all this way to town to find Zhao Lei?

A bad feeling welled up inside her, and she hurriedly said goodbye to Grandpa Liu and walked quickly towards home.

As Jiang Xinyue walked home, she felt increasingly agitated and uneasy.

She had just passed the assessment and successfully become a formal employee of Jinxiu Textile Factory, and should have been overjoyed.

But for some reason, a heavy, oppressive feeling always weighed on my heart, making it hard to breathe.

With her mind in turmoil, her steps became increasingly hurried.

The entire route from Qingfeng Town to Heping Brigade in Tuanjie Township is a dirt road, taking more than an hour to walk. No matter how anxious you are, you can only make steady progress.

It was already three or four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight was scorching hot.

The scorching sun made her sweat profusely; her floral shirt was already soaked through and clung tightly to her back.

She disregarded the scorching sun and hurried along the country dirt road under the blazing heat.

After walking briskly for nearly half an hour, I suddenly heard the clanging of bicycles on the road ahead.

At the corner of the dirt road, a familiar figure suddenly appeared—it was Wang Zongbao, riding a 28-inch bicycle with Qin Xiaocui on the back.

The two were hurrying along on their bicycles when they spotted Jiangxin Yue walking briskly in the distance.

Qin Xiaocui pointed ahead and exclaimed, "Zongbao, isn't that Sister Xinyue?"

Wang Zongbao looked up and saw Jiang Xinyue. He immediately braked and brought the bicycle to a steady stop in front of her.

Jiang Xinyue looked surprised and asked, "Zongbao? It's so late, why are you and Xiaocui still heading to town?"

Seeing this, Wang Zongbao was secretly conflicted.

Sister Xinyue was unaware of the major incident at home, and she was unsure whether she should tell her the truth.

Just as Wang Zongbao hesitated, Qin Xiaocui jumped off her bicycle, grabbed Jiang Xinyue's hand, and cried out anxiously, "Sister-in-law Xinyue, something terrible has happened! Your little stone is missing!"

"Buzz—"

A thunderclap suddenly exploded in Jiang Xinyue's mind.

My mind, already somewhat dazed from the scorching sun, went completely blank for a moment, and I stood there frozen in place.

"Sister Xinyue, what's wrong?"

Jiang Xinyue snapped back to reality, staring intently at Qin Xiaocui, her voice trembling as she asked, "Xiaocui, what did you just say?"

"Sister-in-law... Little Stone is missing!"

Jiang Xinyue's pupils contracted sharply, and she asked repeatedly, "What? Little Stone is gone? How could he be gone? Wasn't he being watched over at Granny Zhang's house?"

Mentioning Zhang Sanpo, Jiang Xinyue suddenly realized something, and all the doubts instantly connected.

While she was at the textile factory during the day, the gatekeeper, Uncle Liu, specifically told her that at noon, Granny Zhang had gone to town to find Zhao Lei, saying that there was an emergency at home and Zhao Lei had to go home first, and that she should return home immediately after the exam.

Little Stone and Yuanyuan were both entrusted to Granny Zhang's care today.

Moreover, the Zhang brothers, Zhang Sangong, Zhang Lin, and Zhang Sen, had already gone out to work a couple of days ago, leaving Zhang Sangong's wife alone at home.

The only possibility is that something happened to the child.

A wave of panic washed over Jiang Xinyue, and she felt a chill run through her body. She gripped Qin Xiaocui's hand tighter and tighter, urgently demanding, "Explain yourself! Where did Xiaoshitou go? How could he suddenly disappear?"

Qin Xiaocui was extremely anxious and flustered for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Seeing this, Wang Zongbao quickly stepped forward and took over the conversation, saying in a deep voice, "Sister-in-law, Xiao Shitou has most likely been abducted by human traffickers. Brother Lei and the whole village are searching frantically everywhere right now."

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Jiang Xinyue's body went limp, and she took several steps back.

Fortunately, Qin Xiaocui reacted quickly and reached out to support her in time; otherwise, she would have definitely fallen directly onto the dirt road.

Although Xiao Shitou is not Jiang Xinyue's biological child, he is the child of Zhao Lei and Su Wanqing.

Having spent so much time together, she had long regarded Xiao Shitou as her own son and cherished him dearly.

The sisters had long been of one mind, and each other's children were the apple of everyone's eye.

After the initial panic subsided, Jiang Xinyue forced down her fear and immediately focused on the key question, urgently asking, "What about Yuanyuan? How is Yuanyuan?"

Yuanyuan is her biological daughter. The two children stayed at Zhang Sanpo's house. Xiaoshitou went missing, and her biggest worry was her daughter's safety.

Wang Zongbao quickly replied, "Sister-in-law, Yuanyuan is fine."