Chapter 22

As the rain fell relentlessly, the entire forest turned a hazy green, resembling a fairyland. It was quite beautiful. However, Lin Miao was particularly anxious, always fearing that on rainy days, her brother would fall ill.
Yu Jingxuan, on the other hand, felt fine. After going through so much, he didn’t feel any discomfort. In fact, it was at home that he often felt unwell, his head felt heavy, and his body ached.
It was at this moment that Yu Jingxuan realized that the past three days had actually been quite good. Apart from the first day, when being tied up so tightly made him uncomfortable, the past three days hadn’t caused him any issues. Especially in the last two days, he had been jumping, running, in the wind and sun, drinking unfiltered water, and eating raw sweet potatoes and cold rice. He had done everything but didn’t seem to be sick.
It seemed that his body wasn’t as weak as he had imagined...
Suddenly, Yu Jingxuan felt as if a lightning bolt had struck him.
The adults had rarely told him exactly what kind of strange illness he had, and he had assumed it was something serious. So, the adults had kept it from him.
Yu Jingxuan turned to look at Lin Miao, who was talking to the dog, unable to believe the guess that had formed in his mind.
"Shui Shui, have you ever heard the adults talk about what illness I have?" Yu Jingxuan asked.
Lin Miao shook her head. "I haven't heard anything, but don't be afraid, brother. I will protect you."
Yu Jingxuan wasn’t scared. Now, however, he had a bold idea: when he was kidnapped, he had thought he was doomed, that his weak body wouldn’t survive the ordeal. At that time, he had only thought about making it through long enough to get Shui Shui home. So many things had happened afterward that he had forgotten this initial thought.
And now, he realized that his body... might actually be quite strong, stronger than ever.
Lin Miao, however, misunderstood what her brother meant and thought he was feeling hopeless because of the rain.
She leaned over and hugged him. "Brother, don’t be afraid. I'll tell you a secret, but you mustn't tell anyone else. I heard the master say that I’m very lucky and can help protect you from disasters."
At the time, when the master was talking to the village head, Lin Miao had overheard, though she didn’t quite understand, she grasped the essence of it.
Yu Jingxuan, no matter how sharp he was, never expected Lin Miao to say something like that.
He could only stare at her, feeling that no one in the world could be purer than her.
Growing up, Yu Jingxuan had spent more time at home than at school due to his illness. He hated watching TV, as it was either his mother’s dramas or advertisements featuring her.
In many of those dramas, his mother even had children, children who might call her "Mom" more times than he did.
So, most of the time, he stayed in his study, as he didn’t know what else to do. He started with fairy tales and later moved on to famous novels and detective stories.
The more books he read, the more he understood that, most of the time, one has to walk this world alone.
Although people of his age had visited his family, many had only come because they believed he was a sickly child who would soon pass away. They hoped his parents would adopt them instead.
Some had even left babies at their doorstep, hoping that Yu’s parents would adopt the child, and then, once he died, the others could inherit the family fortune.
At that time, Yu Jingxuan thought that it was better to just walk alone.
The rain outside continued to pour, even heavier now. Yu Jingxuan, carrying the pure-hearted girl who had never been in sync with his thoughts, hugged her. "Shui Shui, after we go back, let's go to school together, okay?"
Lin Miao thought for a moment. She didn’t really want to go to school, but she was afraid her brother might get bullied. So, she agreed. "Okay. But we’ll need to go next year. I’ll ask Mom about the tuition money during the New Year."
Yu Jingxuan had forgotten about that matter. Seeing Lin Miao’s look, he could only nod.
Just then, the dog beside them whimpered.
"Blood! Brother! It’s bleeding!" Lin Miao said, pointing at the blood on the ground.
Lin Miao wanted to rush over to see what had happened.
The dog barked fiercely. "Woof woof woof!"
Yu Jingxuan was puzzled. How had it started bleeding suddenly?
Then, a strange sound followed, not a bark, but a kind of... "mewing" sound.
Lin Miao realized, "Brother! It’s giving birth!"
Lin Miao was so excited, though she didn’t know what she was excited about. "Brother, the dog is having puppies!"
Yu Jingxuan also realized what was happening. No wonder the dog was so thin with such a big belly. He had thought it was sick and planned to take it to the vet, but it was about to have puppies.
Lin Miao, though excited, understood she couldn’t help, and didn’t want to frighten the mother dog. She pulled her brother to sit aside, not watching the dog give birth.
Still, Lin Miao couldn’t contain her excitement. "Brother, can we take the puppies back with us?"
"Sure," Yu Jingxuan said, not caring about any other problems. Whatever Shui Shui wanted, he would agree to.
Lin Miao was even more excited to hear the confirmation. "Great! When we go back for the New Year, we’ll take Da Huang and the puppies with us!"
Yu Jingxuan sighed in his heart, wondering how they would handle things during the New Year. The problem was, he couldn’t contact Shui Shui’s mother.
Before long, the big dog stopped moving.
Lin Miao went over and saw that Da Huang wasn’t barking at her anymore. She noticed two tiny puppies.
They were so small. This was the first time Lin Miao had seen such tiny puppies. Da Huang, exhausted, lay on the ground. Lin Miao felt so sorry for it.
She ran off to peel several chestnuts and fed them to the dog. "Da Huang, you’ve worked hard. When we get back, you can eat some delicious food."
Yu Jingxuan searched around the cave, realizing the wind had to be blocked.
He moved some rocks over.
Lin Miao threw away some strange things that had dirt on them, though she didn’t know what they were, she figured it was best to just get rid of them.
Then, she and her brother set up a windbreak and placed some dry leaves inside.
Lin Miao gestured and communicated as best as she could, "Da Huang, can you take the puppies inside?"
Da Huang walked in on its own.
Lin Miao, looking at the little puppy that had been dropped and was now nursing, froze for a moment, then thought that Da Huang must have been too exhausted to care for it properly.
Lin Miao cautiously picked up one of the puppies. She held it with both hands, having never seen such a small one. She was both excited and nervous.
The little puppy hadn’t opened its eyes, making soft little mewing sounds, and even licked Lin Miao’s fingers. Lin Miao’s heart melted. "Brother, look."
Yu Jingxuan did the same as Lin Miao, picking up the other puppy and placing it near Da Huang.
Da Huang didn’t mind. It must have been too tired, lying motionless in the dry leaves.
The two little puppies were a pure yellow color, with one having a patch of black hair on its head, which made it easy to tell them apart.
Lin Miao began thinking of names.
Unable to come up with one, she asked her brother to decide.
Yu Jingxuan thought for a moment and said, "This one’s called Hui Hui, and this one’s called Jia Jia. What do you think?"
"Fei Fei, Jia Jia, yay! Let’s go home early!" Lin Miao exclaimed happily.
Yu Jingxuan couldn’t help but laugh. "Yes, Fei Fei, Jia Jia. We’ll go home together!"
Lin Miao had no idea that she had mispronounced Hui Hui as Fei Fei, but she didn’t notice, making it even more adorable.
"Fei Fei, Jia Jia, you have to be good. We’ll be home soon," Lin Miao said.
Despite how clever Yu Jingxuan was, how knowledgeable he seemed, he was still a child who had spent most of his life at home. Seeing the little puppies made him just as happy as Lin Miao.
So, the two children spent the afternoon happily, even saving some sweet potatoes for the mother dog, who would now have to care for two puppies.
That evening, the little puppies were quiet and well-behaved.
The next morning, it was still raining heavily. When Lin Miao woke up, she touched her brother’s head and found it was cool to the touch.
This time, Yu Jingxuan also woke up, realizing they couldn’t leave because of the heavy rain.
Occasionally, birds came in to shelter from the rain. The two children watched the dog and the birds, then sat on the ground, playing tic-tac-toe.
Outside, things weren’t as calm. So far, six days had passed, with two of the kidnappers already caught. The children were still missing, and the remaining kidnappers hadn’t called.
There had been progress with the police, as a young couple tried to sell cheap jade to a pawn shop, claiming it was worth a few hundred thousand. The store owner reported it, and it was later confirmed that the jade was from the two children.
After the police questioned the couple, they realized they had been investigating the wrong suspects, thinking it had something to do with Mother Yu’s enemies.
To their surprise, the perpetrators were unrelated to Yu’s family.
Yu’s family rushed to the scene after hearing the news, only to find that the children were still missing. The police quickly joined the search.
However, the cliffside location in the pictures was correct, but there were no children found.
The heavy rain had hampered the search, and the police dogs couldn’t track the scent.
The search continued into the night, but there were no signs of the children. Still, Yu’s family refused to give up, pushing through the rain, determined to find their children.
Late at night, Da Huang suddenly began barking, waking the two children from their sleep.
Lin Miao quickly went to quiet it, "Don’t bark, Da Huang, don’t bark." What if it attracted the bad guys?
But Da Huang barked louder, frightening the two little puppies.
Yu Jingxuan started preparing sweet potatoes, ready to escape again.
Meanwhile, the search team, having reached the end of their search, suddenly heard the barking.
"Didn't they say another dog was missing?" Yu’s father asked, looking haggard.
They were far from the village. It was impossible for a dog to be barking here.
"Listen, which direction is the barking coming from?" Mother Yu asked, tears immediately streaming down her face.
In the cave, the two children heard voices that sounded like someone calling their names.
Then, soon after, flashlights pierced the darkness.
"Xiao Yu, Shui Shui, are you in there?"
"Grandma! We’re here!"
A group of people entered and saw two children, full of energy and covered in dirt, holding a pouch of sweet potatoes and two puppies...
And a big dog, staring fiercely at them.