Chapter 102 – The Desperate Ye Chan
Because of what happened to Ye Chan, Xu Jinning actually wanted to stay a bit longer, but she also knew that no matter what reason she gave for staying, it wouldn’t be appropriate.
She could only pray that Zhang Changzheng would be more efficient, able to lead people into the mountains and find Ye Chan as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Zhang Changzheng returned to the county town, immediately gathered manpower, and then got into a police car headed towards the mountains of Dahe Production Brigade.
“Old man, do you think they will find her?” Watching Zhang Changzheng and the others’ backs from the foot of the mountain, Old lady Wu’s eyes were filled with worry.
Old man Wu squinted slightly, “They won’t. Haven’t you noticed they’re going in the opposite direction? Plus, that cave is so deep and filled with rocks.”
“Besides, today is already the third day. She might have…” Old man Wu paused and looked at his wife, “You shouldn’t have been soft-hearted back then. We should’ve…”
Old man Wu made a neck-slitting gesture.
Old lady Wu didn’t say anything more. To be honest, deep down, she also regretted it a bit.
If Ye Chan hadn’t died, or worse, been discovered, they would be in big trouble.
“How about I go up and take a look?”
“No, at this moment, we can’t do anything.”
Who knows if the police are secretly watching them? At this time, they can’t act rashly, or they’ll be suspected.
However…
“After this is over, we can leave and go to Country R. We’ll have a better life there.”
“I understand, but…” Old lady Wu hesitated and asked weakly, “Shouldn’t we take the eldest and second child and their children with us?”
Old man Wu gave her a threatening look, his tone carrying a hint of threat, “No, if you can’t bear to leave them, you can stay here and accompany them.”
“No, no, I want to be with you.” Old lady Wu, who had some reluctance initially, immediately dispelled those thoughts.
After marrying Old man Wu, he became everything to Old lady Wu. The saying “if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken, marry a dog, follow the dog” held true for her, and Old man Wu was her world.
Seeing his wife retreat, Old man Wu felt somewhat satisfied inside.
His gaze fell far behind the police officers, onto his second son who was also searching for Ye Chan.
The eldest and second son were his sons, and their children were his grandchildren, but they were fundamentally different from the third son.
The eldest son was too honest, always busy working in the fields. The second son was too sentimental, especially in his devotion to his wife.
Their children had similar personalities to their parents.
Only the third son, who followed him, was shrewd, cunning, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, ruthless.
The two children of the third son were the same.
Only the third son and his children could survive in Country R.
Moreover, there was an important reason for taking the third son and his children away.
However, this reason was known only to Old man Wu. Not even his wife knew, and it was something she must never find out.
If it weren’t for his wife knowing too many secrets about him, he would…
Here, as they entered the mountains, Zhang Changzheng could also feel the gaze behind him gradually fading away, and eventually disappearing completely.
Zhang Changzheng knew it was the gaze of Old man Wu and his wife.
Ever since finding out from Ningning that Old man Wu and his wife were the culprits, looking at them again made everything feel off.
“Let’s go the other way.” With the gaze from behind gone and the route changed, they were back on the right track.
The reason they initially took the opposite route was because they were afraid Old man Wu and his wife would worry, or worse, move or harm Ye Chan.
“Comrade police officer, didn’t we agree to take this route? Why the change?” Wu Lao’er suddenly felt like this police officer was unreliable, with every decision being unpredictable.
“How about we search this area first, then the other side?” Zhang Changzheng looked at Wu Lao’er, seeing the worry and impatience in his eyes.
He sighed softly in his heart.
If they really searched this area first and then the other side, maybe they would find Ye Chan…
The reason he initially took this route was also to confuse Old man Wu and his wife.
He didn’t know what Wu Lao’er’s reaction would be when they found Ye Chan and he learned that his parents were the ones trying to harm his wife.
“We’re going this way. I have a feeling Ye Chan is here. Follow me closely and move fast.” Zhang Changzheng didn’t say much else, nor did he explain. After changing direction, he moved swiftly ahead.
Wu Lao’er had no choice but to follow behind Zhang Changzheng and the others, hoping that the police officer’s intuition was right and that they would find his wife, Ye Chan, as soon as possible.
*
Meanwhile, in the direction where Zhang Changzheng and the others were heading, deep in the mountains, there were many large rocks.
They appeared ordinary, and no one would think that under one of those large rocks, there might be a cave.
But the fact was that under one of those large rocks, there was indeed a cave.
And deep inside that cave lay a person, that person being Ye Chan whom Zhang Changzheng and the others were searching for.
At that moment, Ye Chan was barely alive, she didn’t even have the strength to move.
The hunger and dehydration had pushed her to the brink of death.
Her foot, the wound where the snake had bitten her, had swollen and festered due to lack of timely treatment. Thankfully, the snake wasn’t venomous; otherwise, Ye Chan would have been dead from the poison long ago.
Her complexion was pale, devoid of any color, and her lips were cracked from dehydration.
Her eyes were tightly shut, whether from fainting or sheer lack of energy to open them, nobody could tell.
If it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of her chest, the gentle breathing, others would have thought she was dead.
But in reality, Ye Chan was teetering on the edge of death. She felt like she couldn’t hold on much longer.
If no one came to rescue her soon, she might actually die.
Ye Chan never imagined that just as she was about to start a new life, she would suddenly overhear such a conversation between her in-laws.
Nor did she expect her in-laws to turn violent towards her, even pushing her to the brink of death.
At that moment, Ye Chan wanted to leave, never expecting that the sound she made when bitten by the snake would lead to her discovery and capture.
Afterwards, she experienced a sharp pain at the back of her head and fainted.
When she woke up again, she found herself in this cave.
She knew for sure that it was her in-laws who had abandoned her here.
She wanted to leave, but the pain at the back of her head, the pain in her legs, left her with almost no strength. Moreover, the cave was deep, and without any tools to help, she couldn’t climb up at all.
She also tried calling for help.
However, the cave entrance was blocked by a large rock, leaving only a small gap for her to breathe through.
But it isolated her voice, making it difficult for her voice to reach outside.
Moreover, Ye Chan felt that since her in-laws had just abandoned her here, there was a certainty that she might die here.
So, this place was likely remote and uninhabited.
Indeed, in the past few days, she had shouted countless times but received no response, nor did she hear any signs of movement outside.
Feeling her body deteriorating rapidly, Ye Chan was almost losing hope.
