Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 161 - 80 Lian Huahua Comes Back_1

It was the middle of the night, a time for seeking alms.

Lian Manman followed the direction Xiao Qi was pointing and saw a horse-drawn carriage approaching from Qingyang Town toward Thirty Mile Camp.

"It’s coming to our village," Lian Manman put down the basket she was holding; she didn’t care much about the carriage. "Xiao Qi, look southward, will you? See if our dad has come back yet?"

The people who had gone out to search for Lian Duoduo last night had returned one after another in the wee hours and this morning. None of them had found Lian Duoduo; even after asking around the neighboring villages and people from Qingyang Town, no one had seen a young girl like Lian Duoduo.

Now everyone had eaten breakfast and dispersed, while Lian Shouyi and his two sons were catching up on sleep in the east wing room. However, Lian Shouxin and Lian Shouli hadn’t come back yet. Those two were the most reliable, and it was unknown how far they had gone in their search.

"I didn’t see our dad," Xiao Qi said a bit disappointedly after standing on tiptoes and looking around for a while.

Staying at the rooftop provided a much broader view; one could see far into the distance at once. But with mountains and trees surrounding the village, not every place was visible.

"Maybe dad is on the way back, and we can’t see him," suggested Lian Manman.

Xiao Qi nodded in agreement.

"Let’s get back to work," Lian Manman called out to Xiao Qi.

The siblings laid several mats on the rooftop side by side, then evenly spread out peanuts from their baskets over the mats. The weather was good, and after a day under the scorching sun, the peanuts would dry out and achieve a similar effect to being roasted.

"Manman, Xiao Qi, how come you two ran up to the roof already?" Lian Zhizhi and Wu Lang, carrying a bucket of water, returned from outside the yard. Lian Zhizhi looked up to see Lian Manman and Xiao Qi squatting on the roof and immediately became anxious. "Didn’t we agree to wait until Wu Lang and I came back? Both of you, you’re too daring."

With Lian Shouxin not at home and the water container empty, Lian Zhizhi and Wu Lang had no choice but to go fetch water. They had agreed before leaving that once they returned, they would help with airing out the peanuts on the roof, worried because Lian Manman and Xiao Qi were young and they didn’t want them climbing so high. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Lian Manman and Xiao Qi just laughed.

"Oh, the carriage has stopped at our house’s gate," Lian Manman heard the sound of the carriage outside the main door and stood up to look. The carriage that she had seen earlier had stopped at the Lian family’s gate. She saw no mark of the Song Family on the carriage’s curtain and found it odd. Lian Huahua had gone to the Song Family’s store for treatment, so why hadn’t the Song Family sent a carriage for her return?

"Uncle, Aunt, and Sister Huahua are back," Lian Manman shouted loudly toward the main house.

Lian Jizu and Lady Chiang hurried out of the house to greet them. Lian Shouren poked his head out of the carriage, supported down by Lian Jizu, then both of them reached back to assist Lian Huahua out, followed by Lady Gu, who was helped down by Lady Chiang.

Lian Manman and Xiao Qi climbed down from the rooftop and watched the family of the Upper Room enter the house.

"I wonder how Huahua’s leg is now?" Lian Zhizhi whispered.

Lady Gu looked grim, and Lian Huahua had her head lowered, her face not visible. With such expressions, things didn’t seem to be good - at the very least, they hadn’t met their expectations.

"They don’t know about Duoduo’s disappearance yet," thought Lian Huahua, feeling strange about how quickly Lady Gu and the others had returned. Usually, if they had no reason to stay longer in the town, they would still find an excuse to prolong their visit in Jinyang County Town, yet this time they hurried back. From Thirty Mile Camp to Jinyang County Town, it was a thirty-mile journey. Lian Shouren and his group had to have set out from Jinyang County Town before dawn to have arrived now.

Very strange indeed.

Before Lian Manman could figure out the reason, she heard Lian Shouren and Lady Gu both crying out in shock from inside the Upper Room, their voices filled with surprise and anger. It turned out that after settling Lian Huahua in the west room, they had gone to the east room and learned of Lian Duoduo’s disappearance.

"... Uncle Shouyi and Uncle Shouli’s group haven’t come back yet, maybe they’ll find Duoduo," Lian Jizu tried to comfort Lady Gu.

"My life is so hard, my poor Huahua, my poor Duoduo..." Lady Gu started to cry.

Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou had dark looks on their faces, Lady Chiang silently wiped her tears on the side and everyone in the room remained silent.

"I was only gone for less than a day, and my good daughter is..." cried Lady Gu.

"Crying for what? As if it’s our fault that Duoduo got lost, as if we owe you an apology?" Lady Zhou, busy since the previous day, got angry upon hearing Lady Gu’s insinuations, "First daughter-in-law, when Jizu’s wife told you yesterday that Duoduo was missing, you didn’t take it seriously. You didn’t look for her then or even let us know; do you even have the face to cry now?"