Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 339 - 327: Returned, an Update

Aunt Ma’s original name was Ma Guihua. Her family had always been house slaves of a large family clan. However, when war broke out, the family they served was also scattered, and thus, everyone dispersed.

Ma Guihua’s family had always been in charge of caring for children, producing several wet nurses, possessing skilled techniques and experience in child care. Therefore, even during the war years, their family did not face hardship but took care of children for the wives of some high officials.

After liberation, she had taken care of children for several leaders’ families, and her life was considered good.

During the New Year, after Ma Guihua returned home, she found her cousin, who also took care of other people’s children, unexpectedly wearing gold and silver. Upon asking, she learned that her cousin had joined a money-gathering scheme. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

An investment of ten yuan would yield an interest of one yuan after a month. Ma Guihua’s cousin had deposited five hundred yuan, receiving an interest of fifty yuan each month, accumulating US$ 150 after three months, and then she deposited all her family’s five hundred yuan savings into it.

Upon hearing this, Ma Guihua immediately felt this was a good money-making opportunity and wanted to join, but her cousin said that an introduction and a guarantor were necessary.

However, Ma Guihua had some issues at the Siheyuan and could not easily leave the house. With Leng Qing gone and Su Yan needing a nap at noon, she stealthily took the children out once in the earlier days, quickly returning without anyone noticing, which emboldened her. Moreover, it was the end of the month, a critical time to invest more money or she had to wait till the next month, so she was very anxious.

After going out with the twins, she met the person she had arranged to meet at a kiosk in the park. That person warmly treated her to a soda, costing ten cents a bottle. She happily drank it, but soon felt a stomach ache. The person then offered to watch the children, so she went to the toilet, but upon returning, she was shocked to find one child missing.

Presumably, carrying both children was too cumbersome, so the quietest one, Ba Yi, was taken away.

Li Xianglu felt she could hate Ma Guihua to death at this moment. Why hide it? Why not inform them earlier?

Everyone clearly understood Ma Guihua’s state of mind; she was afraid that the loss was caused by her and was worried about her employers finding out. Yet, such concealment only delayed the rescue of the child.

Looking at the sleeping Ba’er, seeing the same facial expression in his sleep, Li Xianglu’s hands trembled, uncertain of Ba Yi’s fate.

The old master and Su Yan brewed thick tea and sat waiting in the living room. Su Yan felt deeply guilty at this moment; her habit of taking an afternoon nap had caused such a disaster, and moreover, Ma Guihua was someone she had found through a recommendation; she never imagined that such a mistake would occur.

The old master was worried; he feared that this was a setup from the beginning, that someone targeted someone close to them and then took the child away when everyone was off guard. If that was the case, the chances of finding the child were much slimmer.

After drinking two cups of strong tea, Li Xianglu felt a bit more alert. Sister Xing did not leave and stayed overnight. Seeing a table full of untouched dishes, she advised, "Xiao Li, eat something good. Ba Yi is a blessed child; rest assured, he will be back soon."

Li Xianglu shook her head, her gaze hollow as she stared at the door, afraid of missing any sound.

Sister Xing could not say more and just quietly sat there, waiting together with everyone.

As the clock struck three, Li Xianglu grew increasingly anxious. Why was there still no news? It had been three to four hours already.

Just as Li Xianglu stood up to go out and check, her body suddenly swayed. Sister Xing quickly supported her, worriedly saying, "Xiao Li, you can’t go on like this. You should lie down for a while."

Li Xianglu was about to say it was not necessary when she heard a ding-dong sound near her ear and suddenly widened her eyes, "The doorbell, there’s a doorbell sound."

Su Yan and Li Huai Ren sighed, even though there was no noise; just as they were about to say a few words of comfort, they suddenly heard the ding-dong sound. Everyone instantly stood up, all ready to leave, but Su Yan stopped in her tracks. Ba’er was still in the room, so she decided not to go out to check.

Soon after, they heard the crying of Li Xianglu outside. Su Yan’s heart tightened, she immediately stood up with the child in her arms. Then, the door curtain was flung open and Li Xianglu stumbled in, holding a child dressed in a blue cotton-padded jacket. Su Yan’s heart finally dropped back into her stomach, thankful that the child was found.

After placing both children down, Li Xianglu carefully touched the child’s face which surprisingly had red scrapes, and even more so on the small hands, all covered in red blood marks.

Li Xianglu’s tears couldn’t be held back, they fell heavily.

Qin Xi stepped forward and suggested, "Let’s go back to the room and apply some medicine on Ba Yi first. The child is fine, just extremely exhausted and asleep."

No details of what actually happened were discussed.

Xu Wu did not return, and Da Li had summoned two people to guard the area.

The couple each carried a child and went back inside.

Li Xianglu boiled some hot water and cleaned Ba Yi from top to bottom, while Qin Xi brought some cotton swabs and antiseptic solution, applying it on Ba Yi’s hands. The child was really exhausted and didn’t move at all.

Li Xianglu, somewhat worried, said: "He’s sleeping so deeply, is he really alright? Should we take him to the hospital to check?"

Qin Xi explained, "There was a doctor with us who has already examined him. He only advised us to apply some medicine on the hands. Moreover, he’s just shocked; he might wake up frightened at night. You hold him while sleeping."

Li Xianglu trusted Qin Xi, he wouldn’t talk nonsense about their son’s condition.

After the medication was applied, they placed the two children in the middle, and Ba Yi snuggled up to Li Xianglu and fell asleep.

The dim desk lamp remained on, and Li Xianglu asked about the events that had transpired.

Their response had been timely, as the gang involved initially planned to leave after collecting the money this time. However, one of the sub-leaders took a fancy to the twins during the collection. He couldn’t bear children, so he impulsively took Ba Yi away.

This sub-leader’s sister was originally from the capital, so he planned to send the child there at dawn, and according to the instructions, hide in another region.

However, they were caught by Qin Xi and Xu Wu’s men before they could leave, and Ba Yi had surprisingly crawled down from the bed and staggered all the way to the outside of the courtyard.

The child was just over a year old yet incredibly resilient; the scars on his tiny hands spoke volumes about how far he crawled.

Thinking of her grandfather’s earlier concerns, Li Xianglu couldn’t help but ask, "It seems this matter was just coincidental?"

Qin Xi nodded, "It seems so for now, but this incident also reminds us that we must not let our guard down, otherwise incidents like what happened to Ma Guihua could happen again."