CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 122: THE STUBBORN KID

Old Sun’s face turned serious, and Little Tiger’s cries grew even louder.

Old Sun quickly asked Yu Xiaolian to take Little Tiger back inside to comfort him, as he couldn’t communicate effectively with a young child.

Yu Xiaolian led Little Tiger back into the room and spent quite some time before she managed to calm the continuously sobbing Little Tiger.

Suddenly, Little Tiger tugged at Yu Xiaolian’s sleeve, looking at her pitifully, "Sister Xiaolian, is it true that my mom really... didn’t come back on purpose?"

Yu Xiaolian gently patted Little Tiger’s head and asked in return, "Do you think your mom did it on purpose?"

Little Tiger lowered his head and didn’t make a sound for a long time.

Yu Xiaolian sighed, realizing that Little Tiger understood everything in his heart, but just didn’t want to accept the truth.

Yu Xiaolian took a few White Rabbit candies from her pocket and placed them in Little Tiger’s hand, "Eat them!"

It’s not good for a kid to understand too much too soon. Little Tiger was one of those who matured early and had a more delicate mind than his peers.

Little Tiger held the candies tightly, but there was no smile on his face. Instead, he looked up at Yu Xiaolian and said, "I want to go to my grandma’s house to find my mom. I want to see what she’s doing there."

It was almost dark now, and Yu Xiaolian naturally disagreed.

But Little Tiger was very determined to go to Dajing Village to find his mom, and nothing Yu Xiaolian said could change his mind.

Dajing Village was not close to Upper River Bay, with River Bay and Lower River Bend in between. Walking there would take at least an hour.

Yu Xiaolian had been on a bumpy carriage all day, and she was already exhausted.

"If your aunt and uncle come back and find the two of us not at home, wouldn’t they be worried sick?"

Although Yu Xiaolian guessed that her father and mother probably wouldn’t come back tonight, she had to say this to stop Little Tiger, who was determined to find Xu’s mother.

Little Tiger sat there, head down, and Yu Xiaolian saw his tears dropping vertically onto his knees.

Oh, crying again.

She really wasn’t good at comforting people, let alone coaxing children.

Fortunately, Little Tiger was just silently shedding tears and not crying loudly, otherwise, she really wouldn’t know what to do.

Yu Xiaolian lit the oil lamp and took it to the kitchen.

In the large pot, the rice porridge had congealed into a lump, and the small pot contained water boiled with bupleurum.

Next to the pot was a stack of unwashed bowls; Yu Xiaolian, who originally wanted to make some food for Little Tiger, suddenly felt at a loss in the messy kitchen.

Even if she didn’t know where to start, she had to cook. Yu Xiaolian placed the oil lamp on the stove and rolled up her sleeves to clean up the mess.

She fed the leftover porridge to the chickens and washed the pot and bowls clean.

Looking around, she noticed there wasn’t even any firewood in the kitchen.

She went to the backyard and found some wood, but they weren’t split.

Not wanting to chop wood, she simply took out two cans of Eight Treasures porridge from the supermarket, poured them into a clean bowl, and placed a clean porcelain spoon inside.

Holding the oil lamp in one hand and the porridge in the other, she called, "Tiger, it’s time to eat."

"Tiger...?"

Yu Xiaolian held up the dim oil lamp and looked around, discovering that Little Tiger was not in the room.

Yu Xiaolian didn’t care about anything else, she placed the bowl of porridge down and ran out shouting.

This kid was too bold, sneaking out all by himself.

Fortunately, there was only one road out of the village, so Yu Xiaolian ran fast to catch up.

Yelling as she ran, "Tiger, Tiger..."

Under the willow tree at the village entrance, a few people were chatting and cooling off after dinner. Seeing Yu Xiaolian flustered, they immediately asked what was wrong.

Yu Xiaolian asked if they had seen Little Tiger. They said a child did run by, but they didn’t notice whose child it was.

Kids usually came out in groups to play hide-and-seek after dinner, so they hadn’t paid attention to whose kid it was.

Yu Xiaolian couldn’t explain too much. She was afraid that if she delayed any longer, she wouldn’t catch up to Little Tiger.

Even though Little Tiger had been to Dajing Village with Xu before, that was during the day.

In the pitch-black night, if Little Tiger took the wrong path at a fork, she could lose track of him.

Yu Xiaolian felt a chill down her back. If Little Tiger got lost, it would surely be the end of Sun.

She’d also feel guilty for losing the child for the rest of her life.

Yu Xiaolian rushed out like an arrow. She couldn’t believe that she couldn’t catch up with a six-year-old with short legs.

With the wind at her feet, Yu Xiaolian finally caught Little Tiger on the road to River Bay.

Little Tiger, caught by his collar, was unwilling and struggled continuously, "I must find my mom. Even if you take me back, I’ll sneak out again. Sister Xiaolian, please let me go?"

Yu Xiaolian had never seen a six-year-old so determined. What a stubborn boy.

Yu Xiaolian surrendered to this stubborn child, "I’ll take you there!"

Only then did Little Tiger stop struggling and quietly let Yu Xiaolian hold his hand.

Fortunately, it was just getting dark, so the road was still visible.

It was the 16th of the lunar month, and even if it got late, it wouldn’t be very dark.

With Little Tiger’s hand in hers, Yu Xiaolian walked along the river, accompanied by the endless croaking of frogs and no peace for her ears.

Walking on the road next to the mountain of Lower River Bend, a tiger’s roar suddenly sounded, and Little Tiger’s legs gave way, causing him to sit on the ground.

With such a timid heart, he still dared to walk at night on his own.

Yu Xiaolian helped Little Tiger up, crouched down, and said, "Let me carry you!"

Little Tiger hesitated, a bit moved, but in the end, he didn’t let Yu Xiaolian carry him.

He was a man; how could he let a girl carry him?

No matter how tired or scared he was, he had to walk on his own.

But after that tiger’s roar, it seemed that the mountain had started its night feast, with the cries of wild animals responding to each other.

Little Tiger’s legs were wobbling, and his eyes darted around restlessly. He often fell on his butt.

"I’ll carry you!" Yu Xiaolian said in an indisputable tone.

He was so scared and still trying to be strong.

If Little Tiger got scared into mental instability, it would be a huge crime.

This time, Little Tiger didn’t refuse and obediently climbed onto Yu Xiaolian’s back.

In this era, rural people weren’t very fat, and kids were as thin as monkeys. Carrying Little Tiger, who was about thirty pounds, wasn’t too difficult for Yu Xiaolian.

After passing Lower River Bend Village, they stopped at a fork in the road, where Yu Xiaolian asked Little Tiger, "Which way?"

She only knew Dajing Village was downstream from Lower River Bend, but had never been there.

Little Tiger pointed confidently to the middle road, "The middle one."

With Little Tiger’s guidance, Yu Xiaolian and Little Tiger successfully found Xu’s family.

The Xu Family was still awake, and there were voices in the courtyard.

Yu Xiaolian quickly covered Little Tiger’s mouth and pulled him to hide by the straw stack at Xu’s door.

In the courtyard, Old Xu was smoking his pipe; the weak glow flickered in the dark night. "We’ve held on for so many days. That old Sun woman is likely to breathe her last soon. Get the straw mat ready tonight, and go with your sister tomorrow morning to check. If that old Sun woman is dead, wrap her in the mat and bury her in the back mountain when Sun Fengshou isn’t home. That’ll be that."