During this period, the children stayed at home. Fu Yuling prohibited He Wen and He Xuan from going to work, which they agreed to.
However, it wasn’t good to stay at home all the time. The so-called “educated youth” didn’t know when they would arrive, let alone talk about setting up a school!
Tomorrow morning, when she and Fu Qi went to set up their stall, she planned to take a look at the school and see if they could enroll. If they could, she could take He Wen and He Xuan to school in the morning, while He An would temporarily stay with them at the stall.
There was also He Qiu, this child covered with thorns. She was in a dilemma.
After He Jingxue took He Qiu away, it had been almost half a year now. The original owner knew that He Qiu often secretly brought them food behind He Jingxue’s back, so she turned a blind eye and allowed He Qiu to stay at He Jingxue’s house.
No matter how much she hated He Jingxue, she took He Qiu in anyway.
Now Fu Yuling was troubled. When she learned that He Qiu was frequently beaten, she didn’t even know if she would be more ruthless dealing with He Jingxue than with Li Cuihua.
After taking a bath, Fu Yuling instructed He Wen to take his brothers out to play but not to go too far.
Children should be taught about the danger of strangers, but she didn’t want to confine them indoors just for the sake of safety. Both of these things were important.
Fu Yuling herself wandered around the village. It was said to be walking aimlessly but actually she had a purpose in mind.
This place always had a group of people sitting there, and whenever someone passed by them, they would discuss that person’s eight generations of ancestors.
When Fu Yuling approached, she noticed many familiar and unfamiliar faces engaged in lively conversation. Their loud voices could be heard from a distance.
People from all the surrounding villages were present.
Someone with sharp eyes spotted Fu Yuling walking over.
“Oh! Isn’t that her? Where did she get the money from again?”
The people nearby burst into laughter.
It seemed that they harbored a lot of ill will towards her for no apparent reason.
Even though the original owner’s actions hadn’t directly harmed their interests. Just like the person who spoke, the original owner didn’t even know them.
“Auntie, don’t worry about where the money comes from,” she replied with a charming smile. “After all, it’s not from you.”
She quickly changed the subject indifferently. “Who were those people who came yesterday? They seemed quite imposing.”
“Who else could it be? I don’t know who reported it, but they said our village’s Li Cuihua was selling children. They searched around but didn’t find anything. And now they’ve come again today…”
“What? They came again?”
“Hey! Auntie Niu, you still don’t know! It was this morning. I had just gone out to pick vegetables when I saw them. I was so scared that I didn’t dare to go out…”
“I didn’t know about this at all…”
…
This topic immediately caught everyone’s attention. Obviously, it was more intriguing than Fu Yuling’s trivial matters.
Fu Yuling listened for a while, joining them in sitting together and occasionally chiming in, as if she had become one of them.
Some people started gossiping with her. They talked non-stop and dragged her into the conversation.
Fu Yuling listened attentively to every word and then asked questions.
“The police didn’t find anyone. Did Li Cuihua run away?”
The people from Zhuangjia Village fell silent. Their expressions shifted uneasily.
The aunt who had been talking to her pulled her sleeve and whispered, “Li Cuihua is being held captive by the villagers! Don’t spread it outside!”
Fu Yuling silently laughed in her heart and quickly nodded.
She looked gratefully at the woman. “Auntie, don’t worry. I won’t say anything.”
