Chapter 57: Discovering Qian Xiujü's Disappearance

For some reason, the moment Qian Weiguo looked at the well, his throat felt parched, as though smoke were pouring from it.

He wanted nothing more than to leap into the well and drink every last drop.

“Qian Weiguo, what are you doing?!”

Fortunately, his wife’s shout jolted him out of his dazed hallucination.

Only then did Qian Weiguo realize that most of his body was already hanging over the well. If he exerted even a little more force, he would tumble straight in...

“Xiuju! Xiuju, get up quickly! Your father’s stuck in the well!”

Qian Weiguo’s wife, Sun Hongying, was famous far and wide for her booming voice.

Her shout rang out like thunder, rousing several nearby households.

“What? Qian Weiguo jumped into the well?”

“You heard wrong, didn’t you? Qian Weiguo must have fallen into the well...”

“That doesn’t make sense either! He’s a grown man. How could he possibly fall into a well?”

“Then he really did jump in?”

“The Qian and Wang families are counting on him as their only able-bodied man. What could have driven him to jump into a well?”

The villagers began discussing the matter among themselves. They hurriedly pulled on their clothes and shoes and ran over to see the commotion.

By the time they arrived, Sun Hongying had already hauled Qian Weiguo away from the well.

Qian Weiguo sat on the ground, his face flushed as he panted heavily.

Sun Hongying, meanwhile, planted her hands on her hips and stormed toward Qian Xiuju’s little room.

“Qian Xiuju, are you deaf? Your father nearly died in that well, and you didn’t even make a sound! You heartless little—”

Cursing and kicking, Sun Hongying sent the door flying open.

But when she looked inside, there was no sign of Qian Xiuju.

Not only was the room empty, but the quilt and pillow on the kang were untouched.

They were still folded exactly as they had been yesterday morning.

Sun Hongying panicked at once.

“Xiuju? Xiuju!”

She searched the room from corner to corner. It was cold and deserted, with Qian Xiuju’s favorite heavy coat still lying on the long bench...

Her clothes were there, but she was gone?!

In an instant, all sorts of ominous possibilities flashed through Sun Hongying’s mind...

She turned around, ready to howl the news to Qian Weiguo.

But when she saw the many villagers standing outside with their hands tucked into their sleeves, waiting for the spectacle, she forcibly swallowed the wail rising in her throat.

Sun Hongying even pretended to keep cursing as she backed out of the room and shut Qian Xiuju’s door again.

“You little deadbeat! Go on, sleep! Keep sleeping! Sleep yourself to death!”

“Is there another girl in the whole village who can sleep as much as you? Were you reincarnated from a pig in your last life?”

“I’ve never seen anyone as lazy as you in all my years!”

“I can’t do anything with you anymore! Just wait until your future in-laws take care of you!”

By now, Qian Weiguo had recovered from his daze.

Listening to Sun Hongying’s curses, he felt his head throbbing.

There was no work in the fields during winter, and he had sent both of his sons to work at the mine. Thus, only his younger daughter remained at home with him and his wife.

Qian Xiuju was usually sensible and hardworking. Her only flaw was that she liked to sleep late.

That was hardly a serious problem.

Did it really warrant her mother shouting abuse at her in the street?

Qian Weiguo roared irritably at his wife, “Stop yelling, Sun Hongying! You’ve summoned half the village!”

Sun Hongying hurried to the entrance of the house.

“What are you looking at? What are you looking at? Don’t you have any work of your own? Why are you blocking my doorway?”

The villagers had numbers on their side and were not to be bullied easily.

“Hongying, don’t mistake kindness for malice. We heard you shouting that Weiguo had fallen into the well, so we came to help.”

“That’s right.”

Sun Hongying did not even bother to put on a smile. “How could a grown man like him fall into a well? Besides, I was only calling my daughter to help. I didn’t call any of you! There’s nothing wrong now, so go on, go home, all of you!”

After finally driving everyone away from the entrance, Sun Hongying turned around—and her face went white.

She crouched in front of Qian Weiguo, her features twisted into a knot.

“Qian Weiguo! Something terrible has happened! Xiuju is gone!”

“What?!”

Qian Weiguo sprang up from the ground and rushed into Qian Xiuju’s room as well.

After looking around, his expression was scarcely better than Sun Hongying’s.

“She wasn’t here all night? Where did she go? Did she go sleep at her aunt’s house? Didn’t she tell you?” Qian Weiguo fired off a string of questions.

Sun Hongying cried as she cursed.

“When has she ever gone to her aunt’s house without telling us?”

“And Xiuju doesn’t even like her aunt! Zhao Di wouldn’t spare her so much as a sip of egg tea. Why would she go there?”

“If you ask me, that brat Ma Jian from the educated youth team must have lured her away!”

“Ma Jian used to train in athletics in the city. He’s educated, too, and he often practices throwing javelins with the educated youth team. Plenty of girls sneak glances at him!”

“Xiuju mentioned him to me once. She said you should create an opportunity for her to spend more time with Ma Jian...”

“I never liked that little bastard. He didn’t seem honest to me, so I refused!”

“Xiuju even quarreled with me over it!”

“Didn’t she ask you for a piece of wild animal hide, saying she wanted to make a new fur hat?”

“I reckon she wanted to wear it while parading around in front of that Ma Jian boy!”

Qian Weiguo heard Ma Jian’s name twice in succession. Though he had never even met the man, he already hated him.

Of all the people he could have lured away, he had to choose Qian Weiguo’s daughter?!

He was going to shoot the bastard dead!

“Don’t make a scene!” Sun Hongying hurriedly wiped away her tears and tried to persuade him. “That’s only my guess! What if Xiuju isn’t with the educated youth team? If people find out she spent the night away from home, how will she ever get married?”

Qian Weiguo’s face darkened. “I know! I’m only going to take a look. We’ll talk about the rest later!”

Just as Qian Weiguo slung his rifle over his shoulder and prepared to storm toward the educated youth team, Zhang Haiquan blocked him at the gate.

“Inside!”

Zhang Haiquan shoved him inward.

Qian Weiguo was both anxious and furious. “Zhang Haiquan! By seniority, you ought to call me Uncle! Who do you think you’re barking orders at?”

Zhang Haiquan lowered his voice. “I came because of Xiuju! Do you still want your daughter or not?!”

Qian Weiguo was stunned. “You know where Xiuju is?”

“I don’t know!” Zhang Haiquan was exasperated by his bullheadedness. “Get inside and talk!”

Qian Weiguo did not understand what he meant, but it was obvious that Zhang Haiquan was deeply troubled.

Sensing that something terrible had happened, he hurriedly pulled Sun Hongying inside with him.

Zhang Haiquan locked the door and briefly told the couple what had happened to Qian Xiuju in the mountains the previous night—how she had seemingly gone mad.

“The yellow weasel spirit harmed her?!” Sun Hongying’s legs gave way, and she collapsed beside the kang.

Zhang Haiquan waved his hands. “There’s no proof of that yet... But the things she was muttering were definitely strange!”

He looked at Qian Weiguo. “Uncle Weiguo, just how many yellow weasels has your family killed?”

“We haven’t managed to kill even one!” Qian Weiguo’s eyes were bloodshot, and his face was full of grievance. “I only set a few traps. I don’t even know whether they caught anything! I was planning to check them after dusk today...”

“Go check them now!” Zhang Haiquan snapped angrily. “With so many creatures in the mountains, why do you have to hunt those sinister things?”