Scared

Mǎn Bǎo and Bái Shànbǎo were still young, and Bái Èrláng rarely traveled long distances. Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Liùláng took turns carrying all three of them, slowly making their way home.

In the distance, they saw the smoke rising from the village. Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Liùláng's spirits lifted as they quickened their pace with Bái Shànbǎo and Bái Èrláng on their backs. Mǎn Bǎo, who had just been set down, happily ran ahead with his little short legs.

Little did they know, their appearance had caused great excitement in Qīlǐ Village.

The Bái family's servants, who had been searching and looking out on the mountain, were the first to spot them. Despite the distance, the servant with keen eyes saw their young master and shouted down the mountain.

Bái Lǎoyé, who was consoling his tearful mother, perked up and hurried over, leaving the others behind.

Liú Shì, who had been supporting herself, immediately stood up and, holding a maid's hand, quickly followed Bái Lǎoyé.

Before Zhōu Wǔláng and the others reached the village entrance, a group of people rushed out of the village, with Bái Lǎoyé at the front, his hair somewhat disheveled. He collided with Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Liùláng. After checking on the two children lying on their backs, he glanced at Mǎn Bǎo, who was joyfully walking between his two brothers with short legs. His anger could not be contained, and he glared at Bái Èrláng, who looked so comfortable that he could fall asleep. Zhōu Wǔláng couldn't help but discreetly pinch Bái Èrláng, who immediately woke up and shouted, "Shànbǎo is down!"

As soon as he opened his eyes, he met his father's gaze and was startled. He immediately tried to shift the blame, "I didn't intentionally lead us the wrong way, father." Shànbǎo and Mǎn Bǎo don't blame me.

Bái Lǎoyé didn't know what he was saying, but he could tell from his words that his son was the culprit. So, he let out a loud "Ah!" and rolled up his sleeves to hit him.

At this point, Bái Lǎoyé's expression was too fierce. Zhōu Wǔláng was so scared that he turned and ran, with Bái Èrláng on his back.

Bái Èrláng was also terrified, and he tightly hugged Zhōu Wǔláng's neck, crying out, "Run, run, my father is coming after us…"

Liú Shì caught up, ignoring Bái Lǎoyé's disciplining, and first took Bái Shànbǎo down from Zhōu Liùláng's back. He squatted down to ask him, "Where did you go?"

Bái Shànbǎo was also startled and instinctively knew that they had caused trouble. So, he briefly explained what they had done today.

In fact, only the Bái family in the village was anxious, while the Zhōu family was relatively calm because they didn't realize Mǎn Bǎo was missing.

The adults all knew that Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang had taken Man Bao with them. Because the Bái family had lost two children, the entire village had helped search for them. It was only then that the Zhou family realized that Man Bao and her two brothers were also not in the village.

However, Qián Shì thought they had sneaked off to the county town again and wasn't very worried.

She didn't know what her daughter and two sons were up to, but they were able to buy meat for the family, so they must have been involved in some business. So she assumed they had gone to the county town to make money again.

Why was the Bái family so anxious?

Because Bái Èrláng, although he would sometimes go to the village to play with his friends, always made sure to come home for meals on time.

Not to mention Bái Shànbǎo, who had run out early in the morning. Normally, the servants who followed him would just go for an early meal. However, when they decided to guard the young master, they discovered that he was missing.

In their search, they discovered that Bái Èrláng was also missing.

The Bái family initially thought that outsiders had come to the village and taken the children away.

After questioning the villagers and confirming that no strangers had come to the village that day, the Bái family became extremely worried. They feared that the children had fallen into the river or gone into the mountains.

That would have been a real disaster.

So, the villagers searched the mountains and the river, causing a commotion. However, they never expected that the two children were with the Zhōu family.

In the end, Bái Èrláng was caught and scolded by Bái Lǎoyé. However, after chasing them for a while and venting some of his anger, his rationality returned. He then restrained his actions, which was a stark contrast to his fierce appearance.

Then Bái Lǎoyé brought all five of them back to the Bái family for questioning.

So the notes made by Mǎn Bǎo and the others were also taken by Bái Lǎoyé.

Bái Lǎoyé carefully examined the notes, and after a while, he handed the notebook to Liú Shì.

Liú Shì also carefully looked at it and asked the three children, "Who came up with these questions?"

Bái Èrláng glanced at Bái Shànbǎo and Mǎn Bǎo.

The two children were honest and raised their hands together.

Bái Lǎoyé looked at his son, who appeared guilty, and his hand twitched. In the end, he didn't strike, but he let out a sigh and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, in the future, when you want to leave the house, you must inform the adults at home." Do you understand what it means to go far? Once you leave the village, that's going far. Do you hear me?

With thunderous words but little action, even Zhōu Wǔláng, who was standing on the side, couldn't help but secretly despise Bái Lǎoyé.

After reprimanding his own two children, Bái Lǎoyé smiled at Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Liùláng, "The children don't understand, and I appreciate your help."

Zhōu Wǔláng immediately bowed his head and said, "Please forgive us, Bái Lǎoyé." We didn't know that the young master hadn't informed his family. They said it was an assignment given by the teacher, so we thought they had informed their family, and that's why…"

Bái Lǎoyé expressed understanding; after all, the little girl had confided in her older brother at home, but the two little rascals hadn't informed their family.

Bái Lǎoyé repeatedly expressed his gratitude, as it was the Zhōu family who had brought back their two children, and even the youngest, Mǎn Bǎo, had walked back on his own.

Bái Èrláng later protested, claiming that he had been carried twice on the way back, while Mǎn Bǎo had been carried most of the time, only walking for a short while.

But whether Bái Lǎoyé believed him or not was uncertain.

Zhōu Wǔláng took Mǎn Bǎo back to the Zhōu family, and Qián Shì had already received the news. When she saw her two sons sneaking in with their little sister, she coughed lightly at the door.

Zhōu Wǔláng shivered and lowered his head, leading the two young ones to apologize sincerely.

Qián Shì wasn't very angry. Unlike the Bái family, Mǎn Bǎo had brought her two brothers with her. Zhōu Wǔláng was almost of marriageable age, and in Qián Shì's eyes, he was already a young adult, so this mistake wasn't a big deal to her.

But she still had to be strict, and she questioned them for a while before turning to Mǎn Bǎo, "Was it really an assignment from Master Zhuāng?"

Mǎn Bǎo nodded vigorously, "Master asked us to write a world-famous article."

Master Zhuāng: ...I didn't do it. I'm innocent!

Qián Shì felt that her daughter's words needed to be stripped of embellishments and adjectives, as the child often spoke this way. After cutting through the middle, her conclusion was that Master Zhuāng had asked Mǎn Bǎo to write an article related to service. This was the reason why the three children had gone to see the road being repaired.

After straightening out the sequence, she waved her hand to interrupt her daughter's endless chatter and asked, "Did you finish writing it this time?"

"Almost, almost, we haven't finished asking the people yet." We'll be almost done after another trip. "Mother, can we bring the family's clay pots with us tomorrow?"

Qián Shì asked, "Why bring them?"

"To make soup for Third Brother, Mother, you don't know how pitiful Third Brother is, eating cold bread and drinking cold water."