CHAPTER 925: CHAPTER 625: AN ACCIDENT OCCURRED

Today’s update ends here.

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"Get in the car!" Zhou Mikang frowned, glaring at Luo Hongqi, "Hurry up."

"Yes." Luo Hongqi responded quickly and climbed into the car, sitting up straight.

Chuxia couldn’t help but poke him, "Weren’t you quite at ease in front of him before? What’s gotten into you today?"

Luo Hongqi’s face turned bright red, "It’s my personal business."

Chuxia gave him an annoyed look, "Oh wow, you’re quite the character. Fine, fine, I won’t ask about your personal matters. Serves you right if you tire yourself out."

Luo Xiaoqiong patted her shoulder with amusement, "You misunderstood my brother’s meaning. He meant that he’s here for his personal business today, and he feels bad making Commander Zhou busy with it."

"Is that what you meant?" Chuxia asked, looking at Luo Hongqi.

"Yes."

"Oh, alright, then I wrongly accused you just now." Chuxia looked at him helplessly, "Can’t you just make yourself clearer? Luckily Xiaoqiong is here, otherwise we would’ve kept misunderstanding you."

"He’s been tight-lipped for as long as I can remember. It’d be great if he could change..." Luo Xiaoqiong looked at Zhang Erniu, "Sister-in-law, you saw how today went. If something like this happens again, make sure to press him for an explanation to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."

Zhang Erniu nodded, "Got it."

At this moment, a crowd of people surged out of the exit, and Chuxia hurriedly said, "Erniu, keep an eye out, don’t miss them."

"There’s also a train coming from my hometown at nine tonight. They wouldn’t come that late, could they have been missed?" Even after the crowd dispersed, she couldn’t find her parents and grandma, and Zhang Erniu was so anxious she was about to cry.

"Let’s go down and look for them." Chuxia said while opening the door to get out, and Zhang Erniu quickly followed her. Luo Xiaoqiong stopped Luo Hongqi and Lin Wenbin from getting off, "We’ll go down and look. It’d be too conspicuous with you guys. Brother, haven’t you seen photos of Erniu’s parents and grandma? Stay on the bus and keep a lookout."

The three girls walked around the station a few times but couldn’t spot the people they were looking for.

Zhang Erniu was in a panic, thinking about all sorts of possibilities, and her voice was trembling, "My parents wrote a letter and sent a telegram, it’s impossible for them not to come."

After thinking for a moment, Chuxia said, "Erniu, you saw everyone who came out just now, it’s impossible to have missed them. Maybe they didn’t catch this train. Let’s wait a bit longer, and if they still don’t show up, we can come back tonight."

At this point, that was all they could do.

The group waited for another hour or so, then drove around nearby for a few more laps, eventually deciding to go home, otherwise, Fat Auntie and the others would be worried sick.

Sure enough, as the car drove into the base, they saw Luo Gangshun, Fat Auntie, Zhao Yulan, and Lin Baohe standing at the guesthouse entrance looking out. When the car door opened, they all hurried over expectantly.

After the disappointment, everyone comforted each other, speculating maybe the tickets were sold out and they got tickets for the night.

The whole afternoon, everyone was on edge.

After dinner, the group headed to the train station once more.

This time, they waited until midnight, but still didn’t see any sign of the Zhang family.

Zhang Erniu was on the verge of collapsing. If she hadn’t received a telegram from home, she wouldn’t be like this. She kept insisting that her grandma was a woman of her word and wouldn’t deceive her.

"Do you have any acquaintances over there?" Chuxia quietly asked Zhou Mikang after pulling him aside, "Without a resolution, everyone’s going to remain uneasy."

"I don’t have any acquaintances over there..." Zhou Mikang paused and then continued, "But I think Third Uncle has a close friend who’s a county head over there. Let’s ask Third Uncle to help us."

Knowing this matter was awkward for Zhou Mikang, but when considering it from Zhang Erniu’s perspective, Chuxia could empathize with her feelings. She tried to persuade Zhou Mikang favorably, "Thank you so much for your effort."

Zhou Mikang gave her a discontented look and turned to leave.

Chuxia quickly caught up, "I know I shouldn’t be so formal with you, but I can’t find the right words to express how I feel right now."

"If you can’t find the words, then don’t say anything."

"Alright, I’ll keep quiet."

They walked silently for a while before Chuxia suddenly smacked her own forehead, "Hey, how come I haven’t seen big brother?"

"Just realized it?" Zhou Mikang looked at her with a playful smile, "If Lin Wenbin heard you, how heartbroken do you think he’d be?"

"Stop joking around!" Chuxia shot him a glare, "Let’s get back to the main topic."

"As we were heading to the guesthouse, he ran into an acquaintance, a female soldier."

"A female soldier?" Chuxia’s eyes widened, "Are you saying my brother met an old flame here?"

"I really don’t know..." Zhou Mikang looked at him helplessly, "He just met a female soldier and went out to talk for a while, how did you conclude she’s an old flame?"

Chuxia pouted, "With my brother’s personality, if he wasn’t interested in the person, he wouldn’t have disappeared so quietly for such a long time."

Zhou Mikang couldn’t help teasing her, "Are you feeling a bit jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous? I’d be more than happy if my brother quickly finds a suitable girlfriend. He’s not getting any younger, how can the elders be at ease if he stays single for so long?"

Zhou Mikang: "..."

His young wife spoke with such a tone, he really didn’t know how to respond.

...

"My grandma is a person who keeps her word, she wouldn’t just stop coming for no reason..." Over and over, Zhang Erniu kept muttering this sentence.

After a long time of trying to console her, they couldn’t find the words to comfort her anymore. Besides, everyone was anxious inside and couldn’t find a strong reason to reassure her.

Feeling helpless, Luo Xiaoqiong looked at Luo Hongqi, "Brother, why don’t you take a leave and go back with sister-in-law to check it out? Waiting like this isn’t a solution."

"Yes, go home and take a look, make sure nothing serious has happened." Fat Auntie quickly added.

With this suggestion, everyone thought it was the best solution. Shortly, they decided to let Luo Hongqi and Zhang Erniu hurry back to Erniu’s hometown to check it out.

As for taking leave, wasn’t Zhou Mikang there? Though it felt a bit embarrassing to trouble him, at this point, they had no choice.

When the two of them left, they did so quietly. Everyone’s attention was on Zhang Erniu, so they didn’t even notice. Now that they wanted to find someone to help, they couldn’t find anyone.

They couldn’t find Lin Wenbin either.

Knowing that it’s impossible for the three of them to have left quietly, they must have gone to think of another way, everyone’s emotions stabilized a bit.

Meanwhile, Zhou Mikang woke up Third Uncle Zhou, apologized first, and then explained the current situation, indicating that if it weren’t extremely urgent, they definitely wouldn’t trouble him seeking help at this hour.

Third Uncle Zhou immediately expressed that he would contact an old classmate right away.

Then, about ten minutes later, Third Uncle Zhou called back, saying his old classmate had already called the commune director, asking them to wait.

Another ten minutes later, Third Uncle Zhou called again, saying the commune director was driving overnight to the village where Zhang Erniu’s family lived.

This wait was relatively long, a whole half hour later, the phone rang again, saying the village chief told the commune director that when the Zhang family went to catch a train, the tractor overturned. Old Lady Zhang wasn’t really hurt, but Father Zhang broke his thigh and is now in the county hospital.

Thanking Third Uncle Zhou, Zhou Mikang and Chuxia hurried back to the guesthouse, where a roomful of people were eagerly waiting, and when they saw the two enter, everyone involuntarily stood up.

"Erniu..." Chuxia then told Zhang Erniu the news she had just learned, and as soon as she finished, Zhang Erniu was already crying uncontrollably, "I knew it, something must have happened, otherwise, they wouldn’t not come. My grandma must have sent a telegram, and we will surely receive it first thing in the morning."

"Alright, let’s not wait for the telegram anymore..." Zhou Mikang looked at Lin Baohe and Zhao Yulan, "Dad, Mom, we originally planned to go back these days anyway, how about we set off tonight? Just so we can take Luo Hongqi and Zhang Erniu back, it’s just a detour; if there’s anything we can help with, we can lend a hand."

Lin Baohe and Zhao Yulan naturally had no objections. The couple exchanged a glance and both agreed.

Seeing Luo Gangshun and Fat Auntie looking like they wanted to say something but didn’t, Zhou Mikang said, "Uncle Luo, Aunt Xiao, if you also want to go, ask Lin Wenbin if he can come too. A single car can’t fit so many people."

The couple whispered to each other, and Luo Gangshun said, "We’ll take the train."

Just then, Lin Wenbin also came back and casually asked, "Where are you going that requires a train?"

Chuxia then recounted what had just happened to him.

"I’ll go with you..." Lin Wenbin looked seriously at Luo Gangshun and Fat Auntie, "In Chuxia’s heart, your place is similar to that of her second uncle and aunt, and as her cousin, I of course want to be filial to you with her together.

Don’t feel embarrassed to rely on me, if you can treat me like you treat Chuxia, I would be very happy..." As he said this, he couldn’t help but add, "Oh, what I mean is, reach out to me when needed, not for other things."

Luo Gangshun looked at him gratefully, "Then we’ll trouble Xiao Lin."

"Brother-in-law, you take my parents and Chuxia to pack, and inform the family. I’ll go now and handle the leave procedure for Luo Hongqi and Zhang Erniu." As Zhou Mikang finished speaking, he had already left the guesthouse room, Lin Wenbin replied with a nod and turned to leave.

By the time dawn broke, two cars had already reached the border of Yunshui County. Zhang Erniu’s family belonged to Yunshui County, over a hundred miles away from Chuxia’s family’s location in Yunping County.

According to the information gathered by Third Uncle Zhou, Father Zhang should be at Yunshui County Hospital, so the group headed directly there. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast a vote of recommendation or monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)