Chapter 94: Chapter 93: Thorns in the Cotton

The veteran driver gritted his teeth, started the vehicle, and stepped on the accelerator—with the roaring sound of the vehicle, the trapped tire finally successfully pressed over the coat laid down by Ling Chengyan and crawled out of the pit.

Zhang Wanxiang’s eyes turned red as he ran to the back of the car, picked up the coat, and shook off the snow and mud vigorously. However, he found that not only couldn’t he shake them clean, but a part had already been crushed by the tire, leaving a slit that exposed the cotton inside.

“Sister Yan, you wear mine!” Zhang Wanxiang said with reddened eyes.

Ling Chengyan seemed unconcerned, waved with a smile, took the coat without even looking at it, and put it on directly. “What’s the fuss? It doesn’t affect blocking the wind or keeping warm… Let’s go, get in the car, or we’ll not reach Qing County before dark.”

This time, none of the three cars had any further trouble, and they reached Qing County smoothly and checked into the guest house.

Once the car was parked, Ling Chengyan found the post and telecommunication office and made a call back to report the situation.

Coincidentally, it was Staff Officer Xing on duty that day, and he received the call from Ling Chengyan. After hanging up, he gave some instructions to the staff on duty, left himself, and went to the family quarters.

Promised to be back in two days, but blocked by heavy snow and stuck on the road, the family must be worried. Feeling considerate, Staff Officer Xing made a trip to Ling Chengyan’s home.

Upon entering, he saw Wang Liansheng circling the room holding Little Shi Tou, who continued to cry furiously.

“What’s wrong?” Staff Officer Xing quickly noticed something was wrong. His own kid often went to play with Ling Chengyan’s daughter, and he’d heard about Shi Tou, the mischievous little brother of Xiao Xing. As long as his eyes were open, he insisted on standing and learning to walk, never staying put.

He was a father of two children and naturally understood the challenges of caring for toddlers learning to walk, but he’d never heard of Shi Tou being so prone to crying.

Wang Liansheng was at a loss too, holding the crying Shi Tou, he gave a bitter smile to Staff Officer Xing, “No idea what’s wrong, won’t eat, just keeps crying… nothing can calm him.”

Staff Officer Xing frowned, “Could he be ill?”

Saying this, he reached out to feel Shi Tou’s forehead.

The child’s forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat from crying, but it wasn’t hot.

Staff Officer Xing was a bit lost too. Though he took care of his children more often, most of the time it was his wife who worried and took care of them. Why Shi Tou was crying, he couldn’t immediately think of any reason.

He quickly said, “Don’t worry, I’ll find a couple of female comrades to come over and take a look…”

Saying this, he turned and left. Soon, he brought over his wife Lin Xiuqin and the wife of Political Commissioner He, Liu Caixia.

Both of them were mothers who had raised children and had experience in caring for them.

Upon arriving at the Ling Family, Liu Caixia took Little Shi Tou from Wang Liansheng, while Lin Xiuqin went to wash a towel to wipe the child’s hands and face, gently coaxing him, and the child’s emotions began to stabilize.

The two continued their efforts, placed the child on the bed, and checked under his clothes, discovering several visible pinpoints on his chubby legs, as if pierced by something sharp.

The two exchanged a glance, Lin Xiuqin felt around the matching spot inside the cotton pants… for a moment, she borrowed scissors from Xiao Yu, cut open the seam, and fetched three or four locust tree thorns from the cotton filling.

Thorns from the locust tree, sewn inside the cotton filling, appeared unobtrusive but would pierce through the fabric and injure a child’s skin with movement.

Lin Xiuqin and Liu Caixia exchanged a look. Liu Caixia took Xiao Xing and Xiao Yu to another room, leaving Lin Xiuqin and Staff Officer Xing with Wang Liansheng.

“See for yourself,” Lin Xiuqin opened her hand, showing four or five sharp black thorns, strikingly conspicuous.

Staff Officer Xing picked up one of the thorns with his fingers, looked closely at it, and clicked his tongue, “This intention is truly vicious.”

Staff Officer Xing and Lin Xiuqin both knew Little Shi Tou was usually taken care of by Xiao Yu, and vaguely understood that Xiao Yu wasn’t really Ling Chengyan’s sister… Given the context, both instinctively thought of Xiao Yu first.

But Wang Liansheng’s face turned pale, his body slightly trembling, even as he clenched his fists trying to control his emotions, he couldn’t entirely remain calm.

“Such people can’t be tolerated… This time it’s just a little thorn, who knows if they’ll act more maliciously and harm the child’s life!” Lin Xiuqin, being more straightforward than Staff Officer Xing, and as a mother, couldn’t stand people being ruthless to children, thinking it was exceedingly base and vicious.

Wang Liansheng pressed his lips tightly, forcefully trying to pull up a smile, but only managed a contorted expression worse than crying, “Thank you all, I, I will definitely, definitely give the child and Chengyan an explanation.”

Lin Xiuqin felt his words sounded evasive and was about to say more, but was stopped by Staff Officer Xing pulling at her sleeve.

“As long as you’re aware. The child’s safety is at stake, don’t be confused.” Staff Officer Xing reminded him.

He already decided internally that if Wang Liansheng handled it himself, it was fine. If not, he must at least let Ling Chengyan know what’s happened. After all, he was Ling Chengyan’s superior and had little to do with Wang Liansheng.

Wang Liansheng looked at his son, who had fallen asleep after crying, his heart aching with both pain and guilt, a feeling that hurt more than numerous insects gnawing at his heart.

He barely managed to agree, sent Staff Officer Xing and others off, returned, and didn’t dare meet the inquiring eyes of Xiao Yu and Xiao Xing, lowered his eyes and head, entered the inner room, sat on a chair beside the bed, somewhat dazedly watching his sleeping son.

A moment later, he forcefully held his head, slumping it against the bed rail.

After a long while, Xiao Xing nervously knocked on her parents’ bedroom door, “Dad!”

Leaning against the bed rail as if asleep, Wang Liansheng abruptly lifted his head, wiped his eyes and face haphazardly, stood up, staggered a bit, then walked over to open the door.

“Dad,” Xiao Xing looked up at the man inside the door and cautiously asked, “Is Shi Tou okay now?”

Wang Liansheng’s throat felt a bit dry, his voice hoarse and unpleasant when he spoke, “He’s okay now, already asleep… it’s late, you and Aunt sleep, Dad will watch Shi Tou…”

After starting to speak, his voice gradually became smooth, but saying the last sentence, his heart ached inexplicably, rendering him unable to continue.

“Okay, Dad, sleep early too, don’t stay up late, it makes your eyes hurt…” Xiao Xing looked at her father’s reddened eyes and kindly reminded him.

Wang Liansheng felt warmth and distress in his heart, raised his hand to rub his daughter’s head, wanting to say something, but ultimately failed to voice anything.

With Ling Chengyan away for two nights, the household atmosphere was unusually stagnant and cold, despite having four people of varying ages, no one spoke.

Xiao Yu took Xiao Xing to sleep, checked the little alarm clock on the desk, it was almost ten o’clock; the roads were slippery from the snow, the sister drove out and hadn’t returned yet, wondering if something happened on the road?!

She leaned against the bedhead, holding a book, occasionally checking the time… It’s eleven, and her sister still hasn’t come back.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep