In the evening, Mrs. Wei had not returned, and Wencheng found it strange. "Grandma, did my mother go out this morning? Did she say where she was headed?"
"No, after we ate breakfast, I went out for a bit, and when I came back, I didn't see your mother. Perhaps she went back to her natal family," Mrs. Chen didn't know when her daughter-in-law had left. "Huixin, Jingya, did you two see anything?"
Huixin and Jingya both shook their heads, "No, we've been in the house, didn't go out."
"This is odd, where could she have gone?" Mrs. Chen also couldn't figure it out.
At that moment, Wencheng rushed back into the west wing to check his mother's room, then returned with a changed expression. "Grandma, some of my mother's clothes are gone, and it seems like the small box where we keep money has been tampered with."
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly went to check the west wing. Indeed, many clothes were missing from the wardrobe. The box where Mrs. Wei kept money was opened, displaying its emptiness; nothing was left. Seeing this, Mrs. Chen knew something was wrong, fearing that Mrs. Wei had taken the money and run away. "This conscienceless woman, she's taken the money and run off! How could she just leave? We've been so good to her, and here we have two kids, her heart must be really cruel. This heartless woman, leaving behind these two children, isn't this going to make us a laughingstock for life? I told her already, if she fancied someone, the family would approve, why did she still run away?" Mrs. Chen said as tears streamed down her face.
Wencheng and Wenchang stood there, motionless, tears also flowing down their faces. "Mother, why don't you want us? Why? Mother, where are you?" Wenchang cried out.
Mrs. Xue saw the situation and quickly came forward to embrace the two children. "Wencheng, Wenchang, don't cry, you still have your Aunt. From now on, your aunt will be like your own mother." She couldn't help but curse Mrs. Wei internally, too cruel-hearted to care for her children, leaving them in such a predicament for the future.
Jinghan and Jingya stood at the doorway, also unable to hold back tears, watching this scene unfold. They came forward to hug Wenchang and Wencheng, "Brother Wencheng, Brother Wenchang, don't cry anymore. We don't need that heartless woman anymore. From now on, we'll live together, we're family." These two kids were truly pitiful, without a father, and now their mother had run away. How were they to live in the days to come?
Mr. Xu's hands trembled with anger, and he barely steadied himself against the wall. "All right, stop crying. We can't ask around openly, but in the future, we should listen around and if we find out that a man from some family is also missing, it's likely they ran off together. We talked to her so many times, she never indicated she was interested in anyone; it's clear she and a married man were involved in something secret. Now, having planned it together, they've both run off."
Zhixin also felt his father's words made sense, considering that the family had been more than reasonable towards this second daughter-in-law. Unexpectedly, despite everything, she had still run off, taking with her all the money from the second branch of the family. That was his brother's pension money, the exchange for his brother's life, and now it had been squandered on that woman. "Okay, Wencheng, Wenchang, from now on, you'll live with your uncle. As long as Wenhan and Wenxuan have a bite to eat, you won't go hungry. I swear, I will take good care of you both, even better than if you were my own flesh and blood," Zhixin approached the two children and embraced them, the pitiable kids.
The west wing was unfit to stay in tonight; one couldn't leave the two children to sleep there alone, in case they ran out looking for their mother, which would be disastrous. So, they arranged for both to stay in the same room as Wenhan and Wenxuan, the four boys sharing one bed. Zhixin even went out of his way to caution Wenhan to be vigilant at night, to call out if he sensed any disturbances. Then he secured the front gate with a lock before going back to sleep.
That night, Wencheng and Wenchang both wept softly, and Wenhan dared not sleep deeply for fear of anything happening to his two younger brothers. It was with great difficulty that morning came. Everyone got up listlessly, washed their faces, and ate a little breakfast.
Both Wenhan and Wencheng were supposed to go to school after breakfast. Wenhan tried to pull Wencheng to school, but Wencheng refused to go at all. "Big brother, I don't want to go, everyone will laugh at me."