CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 123: LIN XIANG GOES MISSING

At least there was someone at home who cared about her, so she wouldn’t feel like she was completely abandoned by that family.

"Comrade Lin Xiang, can I ask you a favor?" Huang Jiayun hesitated before speaking, "Could you help me tell the team leader that no matter what excuse or way my mom uses to try to bring me back to the city, he must withhold my paperwork for returning. I don’t want to go back."

In this era when young educated youth generally looked forward to returning to the city, Huang Jiayun refused to go back due to disappointment with her family, showing how deeply her original family had hurt her.

However, Lin Xiang refused Huang Jiayun.

"Personally, I think you should talk to the team leader yourself. Tell him everything and your own thoughts, then he will have a clear idea and can help you."

Although Lin Xiang could convey Huang Jiayun’s wishes to the team leader, it wouldn’t be the same as her saying it herself.

"Thank you, Comrade Lin Xiang, I will talk to the team leader myself."

In Ji Province in November, the air was already filled with chill, the sky completely darkened, and walking on the rarely-trodden path, Lin Xiang had to hug her arms for warmth.

"Let’s walk faster, it’ll get even colder later if we’re late."

She felt her feet were already numb with cold, tomorrow she had to go to the supply and marketing cooperative in town to buy a pair of cotton shoes!

It’s not that she was reluctant to spend money on leather shoes for herself, but the supply and marketing cooperative in Mianyang Town didn’t have any, unless she got a chance to shop at the department store next time she went to the county town.

Huang Jiayun rarely ventured out of Li Hua Team, so she was unfamiliar with the road back to the village, stumbling several times on the uneven surface, forcing Lin Xiang to stop and wait for her.

"How about I support you while walking, so we can go a bit faster?"

"That would be a great help, thank you."

The two continued walking arm in arm, chatting along the way, and it didn’t feel dull.

Suddenly, Huang Jiayun furrowed her brows and asked Lin Xiang quietly, "Did you hear something?"

Lin Xiang listened carefully but could only hear the sound of footsteps on the ground.

"I didn’t hear anything. What did you hear?"

Huang Jiayun still frowned, "I heard the sound of stepping on dry leaves, but the problem is that there’s no dry leaves on this path we’re on."

She had just walked this road with her mother and younger brother in the afternoon to the hostel, remembering it clearly.

"Stepping on dry leaves... no, we..."

Before Lin Xiang could finish, a sharp pain exploded at the back of her neck, and she immediately lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground.

Huang Jiayun didn’t expect the incident to occur so suddenly, her vision went black, and she also fainted.

The person behind them kicked Lin Xiang but got no response.

He kicked Huang Jiayun as well but still got no response.

Ignoring Huang Jiayun, he lifted Lin Xiang from the ground, slung her over his shoulder, and left with big strides.

Pretending to be unconscious, Huang Jiayun didn’t dare to move. She barely opened her eyes, watched the man disappear from sight, and after waiting for quite a while, ensuring only the sound of the wind around her, hurriedly got up from the ground and sprinted.

She had been working in the fields for years, so her stamina wasn’t bad, and driven by fear, it took her just over ten minutes to run back to the Li Hua Team.

By now, the team office was empty, so Huang Jiayun first went to the closest house, the Lin Family’s.

Mrs. Lin was tossing and turning in bed.

At this point, she was usually asleep, but tonight Lin Xiang hadn’t come back yet, and Mrs. Lin felt uneasy, unable to fall asleep.

Hearing frantic knocks at the door, Mrs. Lin sat up, threw on a coat, and opened the door of the room, cursing, "Who is it? Do you want people to sleep at this hour or not?"

"Auntie, I’m Huang Jiayun, a young educated woman. Lin Xiang asked me to come find you."

Hearing her daughter’s name, Mrs. Lin, although puzzled, went to open the door.

She looked behind Huang Jiayun but saw no one else, "Where’s the girl? Is she still at the hospital?"

The tension suddenly snapped, and Huang Jiayun slumped to the ground.

She grabbed Mrs. Lin’s hem, speaking in broken sentences: "Lin Xiang and I were coming back from town together, and when we passed the cornfield, someone attacked us suddenly, knocking Lin Xiang out and taking her away."

Mrs. Lin’s pupils dilated, "You say my girl was..."

She halted mid-roar, realizing that shouting about the girl’s absence all night could ruin her reputation unnecessarily.

"Smartie Huang, tell me exactly what happened!"

Huang Jiayun skipped over her quarrel with her mother, "I happened to be with Comrade Lin Xiang, and seeing that it was getting late, we decided to walk back to the village together. We were chatting on the way when suddenly a person appeared and knocked Lin Xiang out, and she immediately fainted. Sensing something wrong, I pretended to faint too."

"The attacker carried Lin Xiang off, and once they were gone, I ran back right away."

Mrs. Lin’s heart was trembling now.

The girl was hit and carried away just like that?

Who on earth would attack the girl?

Seeing that Mrs. Lin wasn’t speaking, Huang Jiayun cautiously said, "Auntie, it’s not that I didn’t want to save Lin Xiang, but my strength against the attacker was no match, I..."

"How can I blame you? Smartie Huang, the ground is cold, get up." Mrs. Lin pulled her up, "Let’s go to the team leader’s house, quickly!"

Huang Jiayun, almost out of strength, could only be dragged on by Mrs. Lin.

Luckily, the team leader’s house wasn’t far, and this time it was Mrs. Lin’s turn to frantically knock on the door.

The team leader, who came to open the door, had a cotton-padded coat on, and upon seeing Mrs. Lin, he frowned slightly, "What’s the matter?"

Mrs. Lin pushed Huang Jiayun forward, "Smartie Huang, quickly tell the team leader!"

Huang Jiayun had to repeat what she had just told Mrs. Lin to the team leader.

"What? You say the girl was knocked out and taken away? Did you see who it was?"

Huang Jiayun cried, "It was too dark, I couldn’t see the face of the person, and I was scared, so I pretended to faint."

The team leader stuffed his hands in his sleeves while closing the door, "Go to the team office first, I need to call the leadership!"

At the team office, the team leader didn’t care about the late hour; the first call was to Director Chen at the cotton spinning factory.

Director Chen hadn’t finished work yet and was surprised to receive the call, "Comrade Lin, what’s the matter calling so late?"

"Director, I’m the leader of the Li Hua Team. Lin Xiang went to town today and was taken by a bad guy on the way back. You see, can you help find her?"

Director Chen frowned slightly, "Lin Xiang was taken by a bad guy? What happened?"

The team leader couldn’t explain clearly, so he handed the phone to Huang Jiayun, who then quickly recounted the situation again.