991: Three Children Are Gone

Three Children Are Gone

Later, someone in the family building heard the battalion commander's mother say that Lu Xingzhi had left that day. She also said that he did not know how the world worked. When Mrs Lin heard about that, she laughed about it with her husband.2

The battalion commander's mother thought that her son should not do the dirty work of clearing a clogged toilet because he was a military officer. She was an old lady, and her daughter-in-law also did not know how to do it, so it was only fitting for her to look for Lu Xingzhi as he was her son's subordinate.

Mrs Lin smiled as she exchanged a few words with Jiang Yao. Then, she began to talk about what had happened when she returned the vegetables. "The battalion commander's mother held my hand and kept asking me to go in and have a seat. When I returned the vegetables, I told her that the two of you are at my place and that I have to rush home. She was very unhappy about that. She thought that I had to return the vegetables because I was concerned about your opinion. She might think that the two of you had spoiled her good deed."

"She must have thought that we are eager to please you and Colonel Lin, and perhaps she was about 80% worried that Xingzhi would usurp her son's throne." Jiang Yao threw a sympathetic look at Lu Xingzhi. She did not expect someone had treated her husband like a servant while she was away. 

When Colonel Lin came back with Xiao Wei, it was already six in the evening. Mrs Lin had washed the ingredients and steamed the rice. As soon as Colonel Lin came home, he went into the kitchen to cook the dishes. He was quick; he managed to serve a few dishes in less than half an hour.

"Do you and Sergeant Lu want some wine?" Mrs Lin asked casually as she set the dishes.

"No, I have a meeting in the city tomorrow morning. I'm afraid that I won't be able to stop once I start to drink." Colonel Lin shook his head. Then he turned his head and said to Lu Xingzhi, "Old Zhu has a task. Tomorrow, it will be transferred to you. He has an urgent matter, so he asked for leave; he has to rush back to his hometown overnight."

The Old Zhu that Colonel Lin mentioned was Major Zhu. Lu Xingzhi nodded in agreement. He did not ask about the mission, but he wondered about Old Zhu instead. "It's almost the New Year. Is he going back to his hometown? Where are Mrs Zhu and his son? Are they going back together or staying in the army?"

"The mother and son will stay in the army," Colonel Lin said. "Old Zhu's younger brother called him and said that the two children are gone. It's been a few days. He asked him to go back and help."

"Gone?" Jiang Yao was shocked. "What does that mean?"

"It means that they're gone. The two children followed their aunt to buy New Year goods. There were too many people in the market, and the aunt couldn't keep an eye on them. The two children and one of the aunt's children disappeared together. They couldn't find them for several days, and their family was frantic. Now, they suspect that someone has taken them."

Colonel Lin drank the soup; his body immediately warmed. He turned his head and praised Mrs Lin; he said that the soup was delicious. Then, he said, "That area is not very secure. When I was drinking with Old Zhu, he said that his family told him that two or three people had disappeared from that town recently. The oldest victim was around 20 to 30 years old, and the youngest was only 15 or 16 years old. There hasn't been any news, and they haven't been able to find them either. No one knows if they're still alive."

"Most likely they were kidnapped," Colonel Lin said. "Weren't there many poor villagers who couldn't get a wife? The victims were 20 to 30 years old, the right age to have a child. Fifteen to sixteen years old sounds about right as well. They can get married and have a child in two to three years."

"Maybe." Colonel Lin nodded.

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