CHAPTER 22: CHAPTER 21: MY LITTLE BROTHER IS MISSING

After Huang Panpan finally voiced her request, the netizens understood why she was so upset.

Her younger brother was missing, and it was already difficult for her to sit here normally.

[What happened? How old is your brother?]

[Are you sure he’s missing? Boys can be mischievous; he might have just gone out to play.]

[Yeah, that’s actually quite possible. I have a brother too. There was a time he didn’t come home after school, and we were worried sick. We even asked his teacher, who said he left school normally. Turns out he was at a classmate’s house the whole time.]

[That must have been a defining night of your brother’s childhood then.]

[Not just defining, he cried himself hoarse the next day when he went to school.]

But Huang Panpan shook her head, "No way."

"He didn’t just not come home after school; he ran out in the middle of the night."

[Calm down first and tell us what happened, so we can help you analyze it.]

[It’s just your brother, don’t worry. Even eight-year-old cases of dismemberment get solved.]

Huang Panpan: "..."

She didn’t feel comforted at all.

Instead, she became even more worried.

[You upstairs, can you not? Sister, don’t listen to him, just tell us exactly what happened.]

Huang Panpan nodded, as if to acknowledge the response.

Then she started slowly recounting what had happened.

"Actually, I think his running away is mainly my fault."

Her brother is eight years old this year and named Huang Shanghuang, just entering the second grade of primary school.

[I know it might not be the best time to ask this, but did your parents like duck necks a lot?]

[...]

[That’s... quite bold of you.]

But Huang Panpan was clearly not in the mood to deal with these jokers.

[Why do you say he ran away because of you?]

"Because I scolded him very harshly yesterday." She recalled the events of last night, and guilt and self-blame instantly filled her heart.

But she still had to continue her story, so she forced back the tears welling up in her eyes, her voice full of tremors and chokes.

"I’m living in a dorm at university now, and the school is out of town, so I don’t come home every day like before."

This visit was for summer vacation.

"I didn’t expect my brother had actually picked up bad habits!"

[Huh? Picking up bad habits? How bad can such a young child be?]

[Not necessarily, I’ll tell you, kids these days mature fast; they’re not like when we were kids. I saw a few ten-year-olds committing murder just the other day.]

[That brutal?]

Seeing the netizens’ extreme assumptions over one statement, Huang Panpan was displeased.

Defending herself, she said, "It’s not like what you think."

"I meant, he’s so young and already starting to refuse doing his homework, even helping others copy it!"

[...]

[I did that when I was a kid too.]

[That’s considered picking up bad habits? No offense, sister, but aren’t you being a bit too harsh on him?]

[Wait, isn’t primary school out for summer break yet?]

Huang Panpan pursed her lips.

"Not yet, but soon."

The final exams were in a few days.

Reading what the netizens were saying, she also began to reflect on whether she had been too harsh with her words.

"I might’ve lost control and got a bit impulsive."

She just hadn’t expected it.

After dinner, she intended to bring him some fruit in his room, only to find several identical exercise books on the table.

If it were her parents, they might have been fooled.

However, Huang Panpan instantly realized something was wrong from her brother’s panicked reaction.

Shutting the door, she launched a ’major search’ operation.

She discovered more than she’d expected.

Comparing his assignments to those issued by the school teacher, she watched Huang Shanghuang take out the corresponding workbooks.

In the end... he hadn’t done 70% of it.

"I was really angry at the time."

"Being poor at studies is okay, but not doing homework is an attitude problem."

Huang Panpan felt complicated emotions, both angry and regretful, "And I’m afraid this would lead to behavioral issues."

Because she noticed that not doing homework wasn’t the end of it—he was helping his classmates copy too.

"You know, my brother is 11 years younger than me. By that calculation, my parents had him when they were nearly forty."

"I worry they’ve been too indulgent, so I decided to teach him a proper lesson, at least make him quit this habit."

She ended up scolding him harshly.

Even made him write a reflection.

Unexpectedly.

The next morning, when she went to the bathroom, she found his room door open, and lots of stuff missing.

Even his usual backpack was gone.

Huang Panpan quickly woke her parents, only to find he had left in the middle of the night.

The security cameras only covered the entrance, capturing no sound.

They showed him calmly leaving the room around one o’clock, not forgetting to pack some bread and milk on his way out.

It’s now seven in the morning, six hours since her brother ran away from home.

Upon hearing her explanation, the netizens showed their understanding.

[I don’t think you did anything wrong, really. She acted for her brother’s own good.]

[Yeah, from her account, it doesn’t sound like she verbally abused him; she was probably just too angry.]

[I think you shouldn’t blame yourself, the kid might just need time to cool down. When I was young, I ran away several times but never went far, just hid in the neighborhood waiting for my parents to find me.]

"No, we searched everywhere, not just around the neighborhood, but all the places he frequents."

Very few places are open at night; the family searched wherever they could.

After Huang Panpan searched around, her parents suggested she return home, just in case her brother thought better and came back so they would know.

But staying home only seemed like an easy option; in reality, she couldn’t calm herself.

Remembering a fortune-telling streamer’s post she’d seen on a website, she held onto the idea of exploring every possible avenue and tried searching the livestream.

Unexpectedly, it was actually live.

What happened next, the netizens already knew.

[Nowadays, children’s minds often can’t withstand too much pressure. I recommend talking things out calmly; they might get stuck in a mental corner otherwise.]

Huang Panpan knew she was regretting it, but it was too late for that now—her brother was missing.

[You should be reporting to the police instead of engaging in superstitions.]

[But isn’t it true there’s a waiting period before a missing person report can be filed?]

[Don’t believe it! That’s a myth. If you have lost an elderly or a child, contact the police immediately!]

"The police have been informed." Huang Panpan replied.

Her parents had indeed gone to report it.

She wasn’t that ignorant.

"I just want to know where my brother is and if he’s in any danger."