Siheyuan: Game of Red Dust

Chapter 46 Children
On the way there, Zhou Zhenbei whispered to Zhou Zhennan, "Third brother, how did you train this kid to have such good physical fitness?"

"What? You want to be like this? I tell you, it's impossible. He's born with it."

"Innate, how do you know?"

"Don't you think about what he does? He's only eighteen and already a level seven engineer. Does he have the time to train?"

"That's true, but it's really enviable! By the way, Third Brother, do you think our Linlin can bear marrying this guy? He is worse than an animal, right?" He spoke the first half of the sentence in his normal voice, and whispered the second half in what he thought was a very soft voice. In fact, his voice was similar to that of an ordinary person. After all, he was in the army, and in that era, soldiers in the army basically relied on shouting, so they all had loud voices.

Zhou Zhennan paused, glanced around, and saw Chen Xueru and Xu Huizhen, his expression a bit complicated. Linlin blushed. The four guards ran towards Li Weidong, brows furrowed, as if they hadn't heard anything, only the corners of their mouths slightly raised.

Zhou Zhennan felt his blood pressure rising a bit, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing. He said to Zhou Zhenbei, "Fourth Brother, come here."

Zhou Zhenbei took one look at Zhou Zhennan's expression and knew he had made another mistake. He quickly said, "Third brother, I'm going to go see Dongzi first. Don't let him get too tired. It's not easy to find such a good nephew-in-law!" Then he ran away.

"Old Four, you're talking nonsense. You'll be in trouble when you get back." Zhou Zhennan threatened and ran over.

Zhou Xiaolin blushed and ran after her father.

Xu Huizhen and Chen Xueru exchanged a glance, seeing the complexity in each other's eyes. Then, they nodded with determination, as if to encourage themselves and each other, and then ran over.

By the time everyone arrived, Li Weidong had already smashed the blind bear's head to pieces. He continued to smash it again and again, venting his anger.

Zhou Zhennan frowned. Li Weidong was in a bad condition. He looked around and saw the backpack that had been trampled to pieces.

"Guard, go check on the child in the backpack."

When a guard heard this, he immediately ran towards the backpack.

"Dad, what happened to Brother Weidong?" Zhou Xiaolin asked.

"Look over there." Zhou Zhennan pointed in the direction of the backpack.

The three girls all looked at the backpack, and when they saw that it was broken by being stepped on, they screamed and prepared to run over.

Zhou Zhennan quickly stopped them and said to the women, "The guards are coming over. Wait a moment. If the child is okay, the guards will bring him back. If... you guys can't stand it. Wait a moment."

At this point, Li Weidong had almost vented his anger and threw the blind bear away. He wiped the blood off his face, and after hearing Zhou Zhennan's words, he looked in the direction of the backpack.

The guard ran to the backpack, squatted down and reached into the basket to feel for something.

Suddenly, a cry came from the backpack. Li Weidong ran over without saying a word, and everyone hurried to follow.

When I got closer, I saw what was inside the backpack. A baby was crying loudly and was fixed to the bottom of the backpack. This was probably the reason why the baby was not stepped on by the bear.

Perhaps hearing the noises, the baby stopped crying, opened its big, round eyes, and looked curiously at the people gathered around it. When it saw Li Weidong's grimacing face, its little mouth lifted up in a happy smile. Its two little hands reached out to Li Weidong, as if begging for a hug. Li Weidong quickly squatted down and, along with the guards, untied the ropes securing the baby. Then, he picked up the baby and checked for any injuries.

After the baby was picked up by Li Weidong, he giggled and stretched out his hands to grab Li Weidong's face. When Li Weidong turned the baby around to check behind him, the baby could not see Li Weidong's face. He pouted and started crying.

Li Weidong thought he had touched her wound, so he checked it carefully again. After finding that there was nothing wrong, he picked up the baby.

After the little guy was picked up, he saw Li Weidong's clown face and stopped crying. Instead, he stared at Li Weidong's face curiously with his big round eyes.

Everyone followed the baby's gaze and burst into laughter. They'd been so nervous at first that they hadn't noticed. Li Weidong's face had been splattered with blood from the blind bear earlier, and with that smear, it had completely become a clown face. Combined with Li Weidong's expression, it looked particularly amusing.

"Brother Weidong, let me wipe it for you. Your face is covered in blood." Zhou Xiaolin, with a red face, walked up to Li Weidong and said with a handkerchief in her hand.

"Ah? Oh. Thank you, Xiaolin." Li Weidong was confused at first, but after hearing what Zhou Xiaolin said, he realized that the little guy was crying because he couldn't see his big clown face.

Zhou Xiaolin took a handkerchief and wiped Li Weidong gently and carefully. After wiping the blood off Li Weidong's face, she looked at the baby.

The little fellow had a small mouth and was staring at Li Weidong with his big round eyes. He was probably curious, so the big cat wiped it and his appearance changed.

Zhou Xiaolin looked at Li Weidong again, and Li Weidong happened to be looking at her. Their eyes met, and suddenly an ambiguous atmosphere came to their faces.

Just then, a voice came.

"Dongzi, let's go down the mountain first. We have to go to the nearby village to find the child's family." Chen Xueru said.

"Oh, yes, yes." Li Weidong quickly looked away and said hurriedly.

Zhou Xiaolin also looked away, pretending nothing had happened. She folded her handkerchief and put it in her pocket, her pretty face flushed.

Li Weidong held the child, while the guard carried the blind bear, a broken backpack, and the game they had hunted. Together they headed down the mountain.

When they were nearing the vehicle, the guards who stayed there also noticed them. Several people came running over and carried the prey into the truck.

"Then let's go to the nearby village and ask if this child has any relatives." Zhou Zhennan said.

Everyone agreed.

Then everyone drove around and asked around in several nearby villages. After several hours of questioning, they finally found it.

A hunter named Li from the next village had been living at the foot of a mountain with his wife, who had died after giving birth. Around midnight this morning, a blind bear, seemingly unaccounted for, came down the mountain, broke into his home, mauled him to death, and fled with the child in a backpack. When villagers arrived, the hunter had been mauled to death, his home in shambles, and his child missing.

The villagers buried him hastily at daybreak, then took their guns and went into the mountains to look for the child. When Li Weidong and his men arrived, the people who had gone into the mountains had not returned yet.

(End of this chapter)