Finally, after unsuccessfully searching for his son for five hours, Mister Zhong returned to the village broken-hearted. He was sure, he had lost his son. Who knew, if they'd ever find him again?
Mister Zhong stopped in front of the door to his own home, not daring to open it or even knock. His wife loved their son even more than he himself did. If he was broken-hearted already … Would she be able to cope with it?
Maybe I should go back to the forest and search again? Or maybe I should gather the other men and ask them for help? With all of us searching, we might stand a chance of finding him.
Before Mister Zhong could decide, the door opened and he found himself face to face with his wife.
Mister Zhong gulped. How to break the news to her?
Madam Zhong stood there, arms akimbo, and glared at her husband. Jing Yi hadn't said anything, but it was easy enough to guess, what had happened. "You —"
Mister Zhong might not know how to care for a child, but after some years of marriage, he knew the best way to live through the wrath of his wife. At once, he fell to his knees, clasped his hands and plead guilty: "I'm sorry! I took Jing Yi out into the forest without you knowing. I know, I shouldn't have done it! I … I even lost him!"
Madam Zhong whacked him on the head. "What are you doing? Kneeling outside and pleading guilty? At least do that inside, where people can't see! I can hear the neighbors talk already!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Mister Zhong still didn't get up. Instead, he started tearing up. "It's all my fault! I wanted Jing Yi to be a little more open, to play with other children and explore the world outside. I thought … I thought, if I just brought him there, he'd certainly like it. But he started crying and ran away and I just couldn't find him anymore. I'm so sorry! I lost our son!"
Madam Zhong whacked her husband over the head again. "Stop crying already! Really, I feel like you're the only child in this house! What's wrong with Jing'er being a little quieter? He's wonderful like that!"
"Of course he is, of course …" Mister Zhong sniffled. It was too late now. He had already lost him.
"Tch. What kind of father are you? Losing such a small child in the forest? What if anything had happened to him?"
Jing Yi peeked out behind his mother's skirt at that moment and nodded. Mommy's right! What if I had fallen into the river and were swept away? What if a rabbit found me and swallowed me whole? What if a mud monster got me and made me muddy? I don't want to be scolded by mommy!
Mister Zhong stared at his son unblinking. "Jing Yi?"
The boy hid behind his mother again. His Father wouldn't dare to take him away again, as long as his mother was there. He was sure of it. Even if his wife wasn't there, Mister Zhong probably wouldn't have thought about it again. Nearly losing his own child had made him see things in a different light. What if something really had happened to his son?
"Jing Yi! You're alright!" Mister Zhong extended his arms to hug his son, but the boy stubbornly hid behind his mother and wouldn't come out. Finally, Mister Zhong had to give up.
He got up and followed his wife into the house. Like that, the incident of him kidnapping his own son, was laid to rest. The neighbors discussed for a while, but considering the rumors about the heretic practitioner back then and the following appearance of the daoist master, they didn't believe gossip about the Zhongs as fast anymore. As such, they didn't mind Mister Pi and Madam Pan's stories much and just went back to their normal lives.
But, it wasn't long before the next rumor spread. And yes, it was still about the Zhongs or rather the Zhong's boy, who had started to behave quite strangely.
Qiu Ling smiled smugly, when he listened in on the women discussing the rumor:
"Have you heard about the boy of the Zhongs?", asked Madam Pan.
"Zhong Jing Yi? I heard he's behaving quite strangely. Well, he always was odd." This answer sounded quite disdainful, but it was no wonder: The woman speaking was none other than Madam Qiguan, the mother of Qiguan Cheng Da, that had been called because of the incident with the supposed heretic practitioner.
Back then, her son had been quite humiliated because the daoist showed up. Not only had Qiguan Cheng Da not gotten any chance to display his abilities, he had even been compared to the other man. Of course the people hadn't looked at him all that favorably.
Next to a man the cultured Mister Pi had ascertained to be a daoist master even wearing a robe made of a special thread and having such high abilities, that it was an easy feat, to save a mother and child, Qiguan Cheng Da seemed like the beginner he was.
Qiguan Cheng Da had just smiled and politely bid farewell, saying, that it was great, that nothing was wrong with the child of the Zhongs, as if he didn't care for the face he lost. But inside, he had been seething with anger. Should he ever meet Zhong Jing Yi again, he'd certainly give back as he was given.
His mother, who had been so proud of her son, couldn't take the pitying gazes of the other villagers. She also felt, that all of that was the Zhong's fault, even though she herself had provided her so-called help without being asked.
She certainly wouldn't let this opportunity slip away.
"What happened?" Another woman hadn't heard of it, yet, and couldn't contain her curiosity.
Madam Qiguan laughed. "You know the daughter of the Fas?" The other woman nodded. "Well, she went up to him the other day. His eyes went huge as soon as he saw her, then he turned around and fled. It was such a pathetic sight."
"Now, now." Madam Pan furrowed her brow. "How can you call that pathetic? The boy was just a little spooked. I thought, it was cute." Even though she loved to gossip and didn't mind gossiping about a child, she didn't like the way Madam Qiguan talked about the boy. He was such an obedient child, who never made things difficult for anyone. In fact, she would have loved if even one of her sons could be like him. But no, she had two troublemakers at home …
Another woman agreed with her. "Yes, yes, it was really cute! He has such a round face and with his eyes going all huge, it was so funny to watch!"
"Yes, indeed!" Even Madam Fa, Fa Chao Fu's mother, couldn't be angry at the little boy. "Two days before that, he was with us at the river, when Chao Fu fell down. Her whole dress was dirty and I scolded her. Zhong Jing Yi probably just didn't want to make problems for his mother, so now he's cautious around Chao Fu."
"He's just such an obedient child", piped Madam Pan up again. Really, she should let her sons spend time with him. Maybe they'd get a little easier to handle like that?
"Hmph." Madam Qiguan snorted. "Cute? Obedient? Isn't it just because he's such a coward? Even afraid of a little girl. My Cheng Da was never like that."
Madam Fa rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Qiguan Cheng Da was never afraid of anything. He just went ahead with whatever."
One of the women snickered, clearly remembering Madam Qiguan's son spouting all that nonsense about Zhong Jing Yi being a danger to the whole village.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Madam Fa smiled smugly, "Nothing, I'm just saying, that your son isn't a coward …"
Madam Qiguan couldn't say anything to that. She couldn't scold her for complimenting her son, no? But she also couldn't say nothing. Finally, Madam Qiguan could only snort again and give up.
The other women ignored her and gossiped between themselves. Like that, the rumor of Zhong Jing Yi running away from Fa Chao Fu made its rounds through the surrounding villages.