Free Web NovelChapter 430: Chapter 428: Gone
Lin Lan had just finished giving Little Douzi a wipe-down when Dandan came upstairs, hugging his little teddy bear. "Auntie, I’m sleeping with Douzi tonight."
"Okay!" Lin Lan took a blanket out of the closet. "You’ll each get your own, so you two don’t fight over it in your sleep."
"Mmm-hmm!" The two little ones took off their shoes and climbed onto the bed. Little Douzi burrowed under his covers.
Lin Lan shook out the other blanket and tucked Dandan in. "Sleep tight. I’ll make you guys some mini wontons for breakfast."
"Yay!" The two little ones nodded obediently and lay down to sleep.
Lin Lan turned off the light, left the room, closed the door behind her, and went back to her own room.
Dandan and Little Douzi immediately sat back up. Dandan pulled a flashlight out from the teddy bear’s belly, picked up the alarm clock from the bedside table, and whispered, "Douzi, is Uncle Xiangyang really leaving at six?"
Little Douzi nodded and whispered back, "I asked during dinner. Mom said the driver’s cab only fits three people. Where are we going to sit when we get on the truck?"
Dandan whispered, "Silly, the cargo bed is huge. We’ll sit in the cargo bed!"
Little Douzi nodded and pointed at the hour hand. "Five o’clock. We promised Brother Little Hai we’d wake up at five."
"Mmm!" Dandan set the alarm, wound it up, and put it under his pillow. "We’ll put it here, so it doesn’t wake up Auntie and Uncle Xiangyang."
"Okay!" The two little ones turned off the flashlight and lay down.
Lin Lan came out after her shower and saw Li Xiangyang sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard. She said to him, "Xiuyun said the roads aren’t safe. Just how unsafe are they?"
Li Xiangyang lifted the covers for her to get into bed, then pulled her into his arms. "Don’t worry. We have a handgun in the truck, and Uncle Da got us a few hunting rifles to keep on board. Plus, Ding Bang helped me get an electric baton."
"Our truck, plus the ones from the provincial capital, make a convoy of fifteen trucks total. We never drive at night. Any robbers who want to try something in broad daylight will have to think twice." freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Don’t just tell me the good news and hide the bad."
"I’m not. With you all at home, how could I dare gamble with my life? Last time, we ran into a group on a mountainside. Duan Hongjun pulled out his gun, fired a shot right at one guy’s toes, and they all got scared and scattered."
Lin Lan was still a little worried. She looked up at him. "Just remember, when you’re out there, money isn’t the most important thing. Your safety is. If anything seems wrong, just abandon the cargo."
His heart warmed, Li Xiangyang gently ruffled her hair and leaned down to kiss her. "Don’t worry, honey. I’ll be careful. The moment something’s wrong, I’ll run for it."
Lin Lan’s worries eased, and she leaned against his chest. "I feel like those two little rascals are hiding something from us."
Li Xiangyang laughed. "Boys will be boys. They’re different once they get a little older. Little Douzi is already a very obedient kid. I was the real troublemaker when I was young."
Lin Lan thought about it and agreed. "Mmm. Little Douzi is so well-behaved it’s almost heartbreaking sometimes. He’s never given me any trouble his whole life."
"You can’t raise a boy the same as a girl. What would he look like, all effeminate?"
"I know." Lin Lan looked up at him. "I’ll fry some flatbread for you to take on the road tomorrow. What flavor do you want?"
Li Xiangyang shook his head. "No need, your mom will definitely make some." He turned, wrapping his arms around Lin Lan and looking at her deeply. "I don’t want to eat flatbread. I want to eat..."
Before Lin Lan could say anything, he pulled her down and pressed her underneath him.
「Early the next morning」
Li Xiangyang had just gotten up, and Lin Lan got up with him. "I’ll make you a bowl of mini wontons. Eat before you go."
Li Xiangyang said gently, "You should lie down a bit longer. I can make them myself."
Lin Lan shook her head, getting out of bed and putting on her clothes. "I’m going to check on Dandan and Little Douzi. They always kick off their blankets when they sleep."
"Okay." Li Xiangyang went to the bathroom.
Lin Lan opened Little Douzi’s room to find the bed empty. Even their shoes were gone. Her legs went weak and she nearly stumbled. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she strode forward and ripped the covers off the bed. She saw the alarm clock. The children were really gone...
"Douzi!" she cried out. She ran to the bathroom to check, but no one was there either. She stumbled back to her room. "Xiangyang, Little Douzi and Dandan are gone!"
Hearing this from the bathroom, Li Xiangyang stopped what he was doing, yanked up his pants, and ran out.
Lin Lan ran to Old Li’s door and pounded on it. "Dad! Dad, are Little Douzi and Dandan in your room?"
Old Li, still groggy, heard her shouting. "He’s sleeping upstairs with Dandan!"
"Little Douzi and Dandan are gone!" Lin Lan said, her voice choked with tears. She turned and rushed upstairs, wondering if they had woken up in the middle of the night and gone to sleep in the attic study. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
She raced to the top floor and flipped on the light. No one was there either. Her vision went black, and she collapsed to the floor. "Little Douzi, don’t scare Mommy like this..."
Old Li was startled awake. He quickly turned on his light, threw himself out of bed, shuffled into his slippers, and opened the door, just in time to see Li Xiangyang running down from upstairs. "Where’s Little Douzi?"
"I don’t know. Little Lan shouted and then ran downstairs. I’m going to check the yard."
Li Xiangyang ran to the main door and found it ajar. His heart sank. He quickly pulled the door open. The dim yellow light of a streetlamp shone into the courtyard. He rushed to the courtyard gate, saw that it was shut tight, and then turned and ran back into the house.
He saw Lin Lan, her face streaked with tears, holding onto the staircase railing as she came down. "Xiangyang, Little Douzi is gone... Last night, I knew something was wrong with those two. Where do you think they could have gone? Sob... sob... sob..."
Li Xiangyang rushed forward and held her. "Little Lan, don’t panic. Think hard. Did they do anything unusual yesterday?"
Just then, Old Li came back from the backyard, looking anxiously at them. "Not in the backyard!"
Lin Lan’s legs gave out, and she almost collapsed. Li Xiangyang quickly held her tight, trying to control his own panic. "I just checked. The courtyard gate is shut tight. I’ll go get Ding Bang, and we’ll..."
As he spoke, something suddenly clicked in his mind. ’During dinner, Little Douzi asked me what time I was leaving this morning...’
Lin Lan remembered too. "Last night, Little Douzi asked me how many people could sit in the driver’s cab! He wouldn’t even look at me. I thought it was strange at the time..." She ran to the window and screamed toward the large truck outside, "Little Douzi! Dandan!"
Hiding in the cargo bed, Little Douzi, Dandan, and Little Hai stared with wide, dark eyes, looking at each other. "Brother Dandan, Mom’s crying. I want to get down."
Dandan, his face full of regret, shook his head. "It’s too high. We can’t get down."
Little Douzi scrambled to the edge of the cargo bed and yelled, "Mom, I’m here! I’m in the truck! Mom!"
"They’re in the truck!" Old Li and Li Xiangyang breathed a sigh of relief.
"You little rascal, you scared me to death."
The heart that had been stuck in her throat finally dropped back into place. Lin Lan suddenly felt her whole body go limp and almost collapsed to the ground again. Li Xiangyang pulled her up and supported her as they ran toward the courtyard.
The three of them ran to the truck. They heard Little Douzi’s shouts and saw three little heads squeezed together in an opening in the untied canvas tarp, looking down at them.
