The Bittersweet Days of Our Youth

On our return, the old maid who others to the Eight Immortals Bridge stormed into the hall and pulled the butler’s sleeve, even her nails were embedded in the flesh. The sweat on her forehead and the undulating flush on her face looked unusual. She then asked in a trembling voice, “Housekeeper, has the Little Miss returned?”

The housekeeper was taken aback when he saw her being so reckless in front of the Second Miss and the third yitai and unnaturally shrugged it off. “Didn’t you accompany Little Miss and follow the madam, the second yitai, and the young master to the opera?”

Mother and Second Yitai then followed in. As soon as they came in to inquire whether Tao Tao had returned, the old maid sat on the floor with a thud and cried while muttering, “I can’t live, I can’t live, this is truly going to cost my life.” 

It turned out that halfway through the play, Tao Tao made a fuss about wanting to eat the walnut cake of the Eight Treasure House. Thus, the old maid took Tao Tao out to buy it. But the roadside of the Eight Immortals Bridge was full of vendors selling candies and bamboo dragonflies. The child was just playful and sat on the roadside to watch cricket fights. The old maid saw that Little Miss was usually well-behaved and never wandered off so she left her and went into the Eight Treasure House to buy snacks. However, when she came out of the door, there was no sign of the Little Miss.

Upon hearing this, Third Yitai’s body swayed twice and almost fainted. The maid quickly went over to lead her inside to rest, but she shook her hand and said, “It’s getting dark. That child is lost and can not find her way back home. All should quickly go and look for her. Will definitely be able to bring her back.”

After that, the whole family went out in a hurry. The housekeeper ran to the police station with Tao Tao’s photo. Father also called the chief, “Money was not a problem as long as my little girl was found.”

That night, the whole family sat in the living room throughout the night. The sumptuous dinner prepared by the cook was hot and warm, but no one bothered to eat. In the early morning, Du Yi sent Yujie back and was shocked to see so many people. When she heard that Taotao was lost, her eyes turned red with anxiety. She said, “I thought a lot of police officers outside were arresting prisoners. It seems that money makes it really easy to do things and that the director is not a fool.”

When it was almost dawn, Second Yitai could not stay up any longer and went upstairs to rest. The underlings who had searched all night returned with a look of disappointment on their faces. Seeing this, my heart sank little by little as I felt that this was a bad omen. A thick layer of dew had fallen on the swing in the garden and the air was bone-chillingly cold.

“Don’t worry about it, Du Yi has gone back and sent someone to look for her too. He’ll get her back for sure.” Although Yujie was reassuring me, deep down, she was also too worried to sleep.

“I’m just afraid it’s not as innocent as getting lost.”

“If it’s a kidnapping case, there’s even less to fear as the kidnappers will just ask for money.” Yujie said angrily, “Only, if they kidnap a child that young, they must be really snake-hearted.”

I sighed, “The world is getting worse. People’s hearts are no longer good, these hearts have long transformed into jackals and tigers1.”

As the two sisters pitied themselves, the moon faded into the deep blue of the velvet sky, leaving only a single star in the sky. Probably this atmosphere was depressing, and Yujie’s voice was like swaying water plants rippling through the waves of dawn, “Let me tell you a strange thing. When I went to Lu’s house with Du Yi yesterday, I just sat in the car while Du Yi ran off to deal with my future brother-in-law.”

“Peh, who’s your future brother-in-law?!”

“Young Master Lu!”

“…”

“Lu Xingjiu told Du Yi that Qin Shiyue had been picked up by the French consulate. He certainly wouldn’t joke with his father’s official job. Just when did Qin Shiyue get involved with the Frenchs?”

“Then where did he go?”

“He has legs on him, how should I know where he went?” Yujie said, “Now you can rest assured that your Mr. Qin is out of danger. It’s just that Fatty Lu must hate the Du family to death. At first, Du Yi snatched his promising daughter-in-law, which was already a nuisance enough, and then he was blocked again by Du’s residence to demand people. They’re the kind of villains who will certainly not give up. But even if he died of anger, he can’t help it. No matter how much he holds a grudge, a colonel still has to nod and bow when he sees a major general.”

“Careful sailing of the ten thousand-year boat2Careful sailing of the ten thousand year boat means: the fisherman can drive a boat for ten thousand years if he grasps the rudder carefully. It usually means that life tells us to be careful and cautious in everything we do in order to maintain a certain success. It also generally means that no matter what you do, you must think about it comprehensively, and take into account both negative and favorable factors., Sister, please tell Du Yi to be more on guard.”

“Naturally.”

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The sun was shining brightly, which made one dizzy, and the feeling of staying up late is really unbearable. One felt queasy so it’s better to take a rest peacefully. Yujie and I went back to our rooms and slept for a long time only to hear the rain outside the window and then, the autumn breeze blew the window open and came into the white mosquito net.

I didn’t even put on my shoes and ran downstairs hastily to ask, “How is it, has Tao Tao been found?”

Third Yitai stayed up until mid-afternoon, and when she heard Tao Tao’s name, she burst into tears again. Mother glared at me, gesturing to keep my mouth shut. Yujie had also gotten up and reeled me back upstairs. 

It was almost noon when a letter arrived through the postman, saying that 50,000 cash had to be deposited in a designated account and this would ensure Tao Tao’s safety. Father directly went off to the bank and didn’t dare to alert the police.

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