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

"It was too far away to see clearly, so I only glanced at it briefly. The bag looked like it was covered by something and was full. I thought it was pig feed carried by someone."

"The man was wearing a straw hat and walked past my house. I was wondering why he would come out to cut pig feed on such a hot day."

Jiang Xinyue instantly realized that this was the person.

Neighbors didn't see any trace of the child because the small stone was hidden in the baby carrier. People assumed it was pig feed and didn't think much of it.

Su Wanqing, who had been lost in thought, suddenly stood up: "That's right, Sister Xinyue, you're right! We've probably been investigating in the wrong direction!"

Yuanyuan then spoke up, whispering, "Mom, I remember now! When we were playing in the mud in the yard, there was an uncle carrying a really big backpack, like he was there to cut pig feed."

The child's words confirmed Jiang Xinyue's suspicions.

Just as she suspected, the little stone was very likely hidden in the man's backpack and taken out of the village quietly.

Jiang Xinyue immediately instructed everyone, "You all wait at home. I'll go find Zhao Lei and the others and tell everyone about this clue. All we need to do is ask around and find out who saw the man wearing a straw hat and carrying a basket cutting pig feed at noon, and figure out which direction he went, so we can continue the investigation."

Su Wanqing propped herself up and said, "Sister Xinyue, I'll go with you."

Granny Zhang hurriedly stopped her, "Wanqing, no. You stay here and watch over the child with me. I'm so scared. What if something else happens to Yuanyuan?"

This incident left Zhang Sanpo with psychological trauma, and she never dared to take care of the child alone again.

Jiang Xinyue comforted her, "Wanqing, you stay home. You're in a very bad state right now. I'll go and inform Zhao Lei and the others. You can take care of Yuanyuan."

Su Wanqing instantly understood the gravity of the situation. With tears in her eyes, she nodded and said, choking back sobs, "Sister Xinyue, please. Little Stone is my life. If he disappears, I can't live on."

"Silly sister, don't say such things. Don't worry, we will definitely find the child. You stay home and wait for news. I'm leaving now."

After saying that, Jiang Xinyue turned to Granny Zhang and asked, "In which area are Zhao Lei and the others looking for someone?"

"It should be over at Qingshui Ditch."

"Okay, you all wait for news at home!"

Jiang Xinyue quickly stepped out of the room.

Finding walking too slow, she pushed out her tricycle parked in the yard.

As long as it's not uphill, a tricycle can travel much faster than walking.

She pedaled hard, speeding along the country dirt road, heading straight for Qingshuigou.

A dozen minutes later, Jiang Xinyue found Zhao Lei in the Qingshui River section.

At this moment, Zhao Lei, Qin Mancang, Chen Xiumei, and several other villagers are carefully searching along the upstream and downstream of the Qingshui Ditch.

Zhao Lei had prepared for the worst. The child couldn't have just disappeared into thin air. He searched the whole village but couldn't find him. He secretly wondered if Xiao Shitou had gone to play in the river by himself and accidentally fell in.

They wanted to find the person alive or dead, so they searched carefully along the river.

Seeing Jiang Xinyue arrive on her bicycle, Zhao Lei was somewhat surprised: "Xinyue, what brings you here?"

"Lei Zi, everyone's looking in the wrong direction! Just now, Granny Zhang recalled that when the child had the accident at noon, a man wearing a straw hat who looked like he was cutting pig feed passed by the door of our old house."

Zhao Lei's heart skipped a beat: "You mean...?"

"What I mean is, it's very likely that he secretly took Little Stone away by hiding him in his backpack. Let's quickly ask the villagers if they saw this person with the backpack at noon, and which direction he went."

Upon hearing this, a villager nearby immediately chimed in, "Hey? Now that you mention it, I remember! There was indeed a person wearing a straw hat and carrying a pig feed bag who passed by my house about 20 or 30 minutes before you started looking for the child!"

Everyone was misled. They all thought the child had run away on his own or that the traffickers had simply taken the child away. So they were only focused on finding the child's footprints and figure and never thought of this kind of disguise.

Upon hearing Jiang Xinyue say that the child might have been put into a pigsty and taken out of the village, the villagers recalled their thoughts and provided this crucial clue.

"Oh? So that means this person left with the child over an hour ago! Which way did he go?"

Zhao Lei hurriedly pressed the villager for answers.

The villager pointed towards Qingfeng Mountain: "Over there, my house is on that side. He seemed to be heading towards Qingfeng Mountain. I was thinking to myself, with such a scorching sun, someone still goes out to cut pig feed, they really aren't afraid of the heat, so I took another look."

He had his straw hat pulled low, so I didn't recognize him and didn't pay much attention.

Zhao Lei's anger surged, and he roared, "Damn it! This son of a bitch human trafficker is so cunning!"

"No wonder the child vanished into thin air right before our eyes in such a short time; it was all premeditated!"

Qin Mancang hurried forward, anxiously saying, "Lei Zi, don't delay, hurry and chase after them!"

"These damned human traffickers will definitely flee our territory the moment they steal a child! Once they're out of Qingfeng Town, scattered all over the country, there will be absolutely no hope of finding them!"

Zhao Lei knew that the situation was urgent and that not a single second could be wasted.

He immediately turned around and loudly called out to all the villagers present: "Everyone, there's no need to search this side of the river! The child has most likely been taken by traffickers towards the foot of Qingfeng Mountain!"

"Immediately call back all the villagers who have scattered to search for the stranger. Ask them one by one if they saw the stranger wearing a straw hat and carrying a basket to cut pig feed at noon. If you remember any clues, come to the foot of Qingfeng Mountain and tell me! I'll go after him alone first!"

"Don't worry, Lei Zi!" Qin Mancang nodded emphatically. "You go after them first. I'll immediately gather everyone and collect all the clues. We'll meet up soon. As long as we pinpoint their direction, we'll definitely catch up!"

Zhao Lei said no more, got on his old-fashioned bicycle, and prepared to rush to the foot of Qingfeng Mountain.

Jiang Xinyue quickly caught up from behind, leaped onto the back of the bicycle, and said in a deep voice, "Let's go, we'll go together!"

Zhao Lei nodded in response, put his legs to work, and pedaled furiously, sending the bicycle speeding along the dirt road toward Qingfeng Mountain.

At this moment, he was extremely anxious, only regretting that the bicycle was too slow and could not keep up with his impatient pace.

He was secretly annoyed and made a silent decision to change his mode of transportation in the future.

He used to think that being the first person in the village to ride a 28-inch bicycle was prestigious and eye-catching. But when he encountered an emergency, he realized that the old bicycle was slow and strenuous, and completely useless.

Now that our family is well-off, we are fully capable of getting better transportation. In times of crisis, a means of transportation is the key to saving lives.