Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 348: Ah-Hua is back!

Translator: 549690339

It is! It’s Ah-Hua’s dog barking!

Liu Sisi couldn’t help but feel excited, and quickly walked towards the yard door. Everyone hurriedly followed, even the father with the crutch came along.

A few children had already run to the front and opened the main entrance.

As soon as the door was opened, a light brown figure immediately came running in from outside. Ah-Hua excitedly entered from outside and immediately began playing with Ah-Huang affectionately.

Its tail wagged happily nonstop, as if it would break from all the wagging.

“Ah-Hua! It’s Ah-Hua. Ah-Hua, I miss you so much! Ah-Hua…”

Ying’er could no longer contain her excitement and rushed towards Ah-Hua.

Upon seeing Ying’er and Xuan’er, Ah-Hua immediately leaped on them and knocked Ying’er to the ground. It then extended its tongue and quickly licked Ying’er’s face. It kept whimpering, wagging its tail as if was going to snap, and licked Ying’er’s entire face.

“It really is Ah-Hua! Ah-Hua is actually still alive!”

Everyone present was excited!

When Ah-Hua heard everyone calling its name, it immediately jumped off Ying’er and ran happily towards them, completely overjoyed!

At this moment, Liu Sisi took a closer look at Ah-Hua.

Ah-Hua had lost a lot of weight and was almost skin and bones. Before it was plump and strong, but now one could clearly see the ribs beneath its skin. Likewise, everyone could now see the wound on its abdomen—a deep gash that exposed the bone!

“Ah-Hua…”

Liu Sisi couldn’t help but squat down and gently stroke Ah-Hua. Ah-Hua also whined and rubbed back and forth against her hand, rubbing its back against Liu Sisi. Tears visibly streamed down its eyes…

Liu Sisi felt her eyes getting hot and swelling with tears, unable to hold back the tears rolling in her eyes: “Ah-Hua, you’re still alive! That’s just great! It’s wonderful!”

Ah-Hua continued to wag its tail happily, and Ah-Huang, who was nearby, also came over and kept grooming Ah-Hua’s wound while whimpering softly.

“Quick! Don’t crowd around it anymore. Ah-Hua must be starving. Hurry and get some warm food for it to eat!”

Sister Guihua, whose eyes were also red, hurriedly called out.

It was then that everyone remembered the task at hand.

After another session of affection, Ah-Hua’s meal was finally brought over.

“I’m afraid it will overeat, so I’ve brought a large bowl of meat soup and rice for now. We can feed it more later. This way, its stomach and intestines will feel better…”

Liu Zhi’er brought the bowl over, and as soon as Ah-Hua smelled the fragrance, it plunged its head into the bowl and ate voraciously without stopping, clearly starving.

It wasn’t until this moment that Guihua remembered something important.

“Huh! Wait a minute! Ah-Hua originally fell into the cold cave while biting Old Man Li’s leg. How did it climb out of the cave? Ah-Hua is still alive, but… what about him? Is he alive too?”

Guihua’s words immediately silenced everyone present.

Everyone knew who she was referring to.

Especially Liu Zhi’er, her face turned pale, and her whole body trembled for a few moments.

Upon seeing this, Liu Sisi quickly raised her voice, “Sister Guihua, what are you talking about? That’s a cold cave, Ah-Hua can climb out, but it doesn’t mean a person can. Besides, even if Old Man Li climbed out, he would still have prison time waiting for him at the county government. Everyone, rest assured!”

She said this mainly for Liu Zhi’er’s sake.

Guihua realized she said the wrong thing, so she quickly corrected herself, “Yes! That must be it. My husband Zhang Peng said that the cold cave is even bigger than two rooms, and the strong wind inside sweeps everything nearby. It’s impossible for a person to climb out of there, that’s just dreaming!”

“Yes, yes, that’s right! His leg is crippled too, so there’s even less chance of survival!”

Everyone’s attempts to comfort Liu Zhi’er didn’t seem to help, as her face turned pale and she couldn’t help but burst into tears. Covering her mouth, she turned around and ran into her room.

Silence fell upon everyone for a moment.

Seeing that things had gone badly, Ms. Xin hurriedly left, “Third Sister-in-law, it’s getting late, Ah-Bao should be sober now. I’ll go home and check on him.” After saying that, she left the yard door.

With Ms. Xin gone, Guihua also left in embarrassment. Before leaving, she dragged Zhang Yun away with her.

Then Ah-Juan and Ah-Min left one after the other.

When only their family remained in the courtyard, Liu Sisi didn’t know what to say.

As evening approached, Di Yelei returned home. Seeing Ah-Hua coming to greet him, he was overjoyed, and Ah-Hua jumped almost three feet high, nearly kissing his chin.

It seemed that her strength had recovered a lot!

Seeing the return of Ah-Hua and the happily wagging tail of Ah-Huang, Di Yelei was absolutely delighted!

“Sisi! Ah-Hua is actually alive! Hahaha! That’s great! So great! It’s just too good, Ah-Hua didn’t die, and I’m so happy that she’s alive…”

As Di Yelei excitedly spun around in place for quite a while, he finally noticed the lack of joy on everyone’s faces and realized something was wrong.

He stopped and closely examined Liu Sisi’s expression, then curiously asked, “Sisi, what’s going on?”

Liu Sisi, who was leaning against the head of her bed, sighed and explained what had happened.

“Is Old Man Li dead or alive? If Ah-Hua can run out alive, is he still alive too? You know how Second Sister feels. If Old Man Li is still alive, it’s like a thorn in her side, so…”

Upon saying this, Liu Sisi couldn’t continue.

Di Yelei pondered for a moment, “The chance Old Man Li can get out where Ah-Hua escaped is not great. Ah-Hua has a small body, and as long as there’s a small hole, she can escape, but people can’t. How about this! After having dinner tonight, I’ll go to the mountains to see if I can find anything!”

“Tonight? Let’s wait until tomorrow’s daylight. If he really climbed out, it wouldn’t be just one night. The visibility is low at night, and you’re going to that pitch-black, bottomless cold cave. You can’t be careless.”

Di Yelei thought about it and then nodded, “That’s true! I’ll have my day off tomorrow, so I’ll call Zhang Peng and Li Wu to join me, and we’ll also bring some hemp ropes to ensure nothing goes wrong.”

“That’s better, and take some warm clothing too, didn’t you say that the cold cave was freezing cold? It’s always good to be prepared…”

This husband and wife were talking on a makeshift bed in the corner of the kitchen. Outside the kitchen, Liu Zhi’er listened in silence and didn’t speak.

She looked up at the silent night outside and seemed lost in her thoughts.