A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Madam Meng was furious and slammed her hand on the table. "You're all lying! I've been too lenient with you all all this time!"

"The back door was locked, and we didn't leave through the front hall."

"Could it be that my Qing'er has grown wings and can fly?!"

“Madam Meng,” Mu Nanzhao said, “could you take me to the backyard?”

The passageway on the first floor of the Treasure Pavilion is the only way to the backyard.

The backyard isn't large, but it's been carefully maintained.

Flowers, bonsai trees, shrubs and grasses can be seen everywhere, and the roads are paved with bluestone slabs, giving it a deep and secluded courtyard feel.

Mu Nanzhao first had the servants point out the place where Xiao Qing'er last played.

He bent down to look at the ground, then walked straight ahead until he stopped at the foot of the courtyard wall.

Madam Meng quietly asked Gu Xixi, "What is your husband looking at?"

Gu Xixi shook her head. "I don't know. But I believe him."

"Please give him some more time, Sister Meng."

Mu Nanzhao paused slightly upon hearing Gu Xixi's words.

He then walked ten steps westward along the base of the wall and stopped again.

He bent down and parted the weeds at the base of the wall, revealing a hole in the wall.

Madam Meng gasped in surprise, "How come I didn't know there was a hole here?"

The servants and waiters behind her also said they didn't know.

Mu Nanzhao peered through the grass and said with certainty, "There's fresh dust here; the child must have gone out from here."

Madam Meng quickly called for someone to unlock the door and went out through the back door to look for her child.

She was almost in tears, "Qing'er is so young, how could she possibly crawl through a dog hole to go out and play?"

"Could it be that someone deliberately dug this hole to lure my Qing'er out?"

"What if it really is a bad guy who kidnapped her this time?"

Gu Xixi said, "Sister Meng, you should stay in the shop."

"If someone brings Qing'er back, the shop can't be left empty."

Madam Meng only had one child, Qing'er, whom she cherished more than her own eyes.

She was completely disoriented at the moment and it was indeed not a good time for her to go out and look for someone.

"But……"

"No buts." Gu Xixi patted Madam Meng's hand reassuringly.

"We will definitely bring Qing'er back safe and sound."

Gu Xixi walked out of the back door of the Treasure Pavilion.

Before her was a straight back alley, and she was looking around, wondering which way to go.

Mu Nanzhao said coldly, "This matter has nothing to do with me. Believe it or not, it's up to you."

Gu Xixi turned around and said, "I know."

Mu Nanzhao reached out and grabbed her wrist. "This way."

Gu Xixi stood there blankly as Mu Nanzhao led her out of the alley.

I asked several vendors on the street, and sure enough, I found something.

An old woman selling large bowls of tea said, "I saw a little girl like that."

"But there was a little boy next to her who was about six or seven years old."

"They can walk hand in hand across from here in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

Although Gu Xixi wasn't thirsty, she still bought two bowls of tea to support the old woman's business.

While drinking tea, the old woman said again, "I just remembered that I've seen that boy before."

"He seems to know the steamed bun vendor up ahead; you can go over and ask him."

Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao exchanged a glance, put down the copper coins, thanked the old woman, and hurried to find the steamed bun stall.

The steamed bun vendor, a middle-aged man, said, "You're talking about the small stones from the fruit tree vendor, aren't you?"

He pointed across the street, "He's right there."

Across the street is a teahouse, where performers are currently putting on acrobatics in the lobby on the first floor.

Two small figures, one tall and one short, were perched side by side outside the teahouse window.

Gu Xixi recognized Xiao Qing'er and smiled and breathed a sigh of relief at Mu Nanzhao.

"Qing'er," Gu Xixi called softly as she walked over.

The little girl turned around, blinking her big, watery grape-like eyes, "Aunt Gu, what brings you here?"

Gu Xixi poked her little nose, "You still have the nerve to ask me?"

“It’s so dangerous for you to run away with other people. Your mother is worried sick.”

Qing'er tilted her head in confusion. "Brother Stone is Qing'er's friend, not just anyone."

The boy named Stone looked to be six or seven years old, with dark skin and a tall, thin build.

With big, double-lidded eyes and a high, straight nose, he's a good-looking child upon closer inspection.

He watched Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao warily from the moment they appeared.

Gu Xixi pulled Qing'er to her side and asked the boy, "Are you called Shitou? Did you teach Qing'er to crawl through the hole in the wall?"

Stone's eyes darted around for a moment, then he straightened his back and raised his head, adopting a nonchalant attitude.

"Didn't I leave you a message?"

"Qing'er said she had never seen a variety show before. I brought her out to play openly and honestly, it was definitely not kidnapping!"

Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao looked at each other in bewilderment.

Mu Nanzhao didn't have Xixi's good temper. "What letter did you leave? Where did you write it? Did you hand it to his parents in person?"

Stone said, "Of course it was written on the ground outside their back door, words drawn with a stone..."

He was initially quite assertive, but his voice grew weaker and weaker as he spoke.

"Indeed, it wasn't given to her parents."

Gu Xixi broke out in a cold sweat.

The writing on the ground, drawn with a stone, was already quite unclear.

The staff at the Treasure Pavilion ran out the back door to look for someone, and after trampling on the writing, it's probably no longer visible.

Mu Nanzhao said coldly, "You brought someone else's girl out without prior notice, and you still say it's not kidnapping?"

Gu Xixi cleared her throat a few times while giving Mu Nanzhao a meaningful look.

The child meant no harm, so there was no need to be so harsh.

Stone lowered his head and remained silent, looking somewhat ashamed.

Gu Xixi bent down and looked at him, smiling as she said, "Qing'er's mother thought she had encountered a bad person and was very worried."

"Could you come with us to explain this in person?"

Shi Tou glanced at Xiao Qing'er, hesitated for a moment, and finally said in a muffled voice, "I'll go!"

On the way back to the Treasure Pavilion, Gu Xixi asked, "Shitou, you can read, you're already in school, right?"

Stone replied, "Yes, I have."

After a moment, he added, "However, I haven't gone there for a long time."

Gu Xixi was taken aback. "Why not go? You're so young; it's the perfect time for you to study."

Suddenly, as if pricked by a needle, Stone widened his eyes and growled, "I'm not going, that's my problem!"

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

Qing'er looked at Shi Tou with concern and confusion, "Brother Shi Tou, what's wrong?"

Gu Xixi paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your privacy. If you don't want to talk about it, then don't."

Shi Tou looked up at Gu Xixi with some surprise.

This woman actually apologized to a child? She's different from the adults he's used to.

In the backyard of the Treasure Pavilion, Madam Meng found her beloved daughter and was extremely grateful to Mu Nanzhao and Gu Xixi.

Aunt Meng hugged Qing'er tightly, and her emotions finally calmed down.

"Qing'er, what have I always told you? Don't go with strangers!"

Qing'er pouted, "Brother Stone isn't a stranger; he always plays with Qing'er."