eurekapd Chapter 123 Help! My student is missing!
Chapter 123 Help! My student is missing!
Thus, Chen Dada and Sang Shang, two kids the same age as Da Niu, successfully stayed for a free meal.
After finishing their riding and archery training, the two followed Da Niu back to the restaurant.
When Qian Yan'er saw that Da Niu had brought his classmates back, she quickly put a small stool next to the stove and started working.
He stood on a small stool and reheated the food.
The aroma of the braised pork in the pot, instantly aroused by the fire, wafted out like a soul-reaping messenger.
As soon as it was heated and served, it was forced into people's noses.
Chen Dada and Sang Shang stared wide-eyed at the plate of meat, swallowing hard.
There was also a plate of shredded pork with green peppers and a soup of cabbage and meatballs on the side.
In the stir-fried green peppers and shredded pork, the green peppers resemble soldiers in green uniforms, while the shredded pork is like a majestic general. The two are lined up in the dish, emitting an enticing aroma.
In the cabbage and meatball soup, the meatballs resemble chubby babies playing in a hot spring, while the cabbage leaves serve as their floating mats. Just looking at them makes your mouth water.
The two sat at the table, their eyes scanning the dishes on it.
Meanwhile, the rumbling of stomachs echoed around the dinner table, one after another.
Hearing the rumbling in their stomachs, Qian Yan'er quickly brought over three bowls of braised spicy chicken noodles and placed them on the table.
He called out to the three of them, "Hurry up and eat! The owner and his wife figured Da Niu would be bringing his classmates today, so there's plenty of food!"
The three quickly grabbed their chopsticks and nodded to Qian Yan'er, "Thank you, Uncle Qian!"
Then I couldn't wait to start eating.
The sizzling, spicy chicken noodles made the three of them hiss and pant, yet they couldn't stop eating them.
The meal was a chaotic mess; the chopsticks used to pick up food were leaving afterimages!
While stuffing food into his mouth, Chen Dada took a moment to exclaim, "Boss, you're so lucky!"
"If only my mother had even a tenth of your father's cooking skills, I could eat such delicious meals every day!"
Sang Shang nodded vigorously from the side, mumbling, "That's right, that's right!"
Da Niu looked smug and deliberately smacked his lips: "That's right, my dad's cooking skills are absolutely top-notch!"
My family used to be poor, and there wasn't much food.
Therefore, poverty limited his father's exceptional culinary skills.
There's nothing strange about that!
After finishing their meal, the three washed the dishes, tidied the table, and prepared to go home.
Seeing that it was already getting light, Qian Yan'er quickly called out to the group of people who were leaving, "Wait a minute, I'll take you there."
In the western part of the city, there are hardly any people around in the evening, and after dark, there isn't a soul in sight.
Qian Yan'er was still worried about letting the three of them return to Beicheng Academy in the dark.
Da Niu turned to look at Qian Yan'er, who was shorter than him, and waved his hand, "Uncle Qian, no need to see us off, we can get back by ourselves!"
They walk this road every day; they know it very well!
But Qian Yan'er refused, insisting on escorting the three back to the academy, only feeling at ease after watching them enter.
When Da Niu saw that Qian Yan'er insisted on giving it to him, he no longer refused!
So Qian Yan'er found a lantern, carried it ahead to light the way for the group.
Along the way, Chen Dada and Sang Shang joked and teased each other, their conversation revolving around their earlier embarrassing eating habits.
You stab me, I'll stab you with an arrow! [This can be interpreted as mutual teasing or sarcasm.]
Da Niu watched the two men stabbing each other in the back and grinned from ear to ear.
Chen Dada quickly pushed away Sang Shang, who was trying to burp at him and attack him with his "bad breath," and said, "You're so disgusting, you stink! Get away from me!"
"Ugh, I can smell it!" Da Niu quickly covered his nose, pretending to be disgusted!
"Oh really? Let me teach you guys a lesson!"
Sang Shang stretched out his arms, ready to give the two of them a bear hug!
Chen Dada quickly took two steps back, "Stand back, don't talk, you really stink!"
If it were untrue, he would probably cover his nose and make fun of it.
But it does smell bad, that's a fact.
If he were to cover his nose at that moment, he would be afraid of hurting Sang Shang's pride. Therefore, he would suppress his discomfort and quickly move away.
Qian Yan didn't have the emotional intelligence of Chen Dada and Da Niu. He frowned, turned his head and sniffed Sang Shang, "Hey, why do you smell worse and worse?"
The two men were joking with him, but if all three of them were like that, it would become a tiger.
Sang Shang couldn't help but sniff his sleeve. "Hey, no, that stench isn't from me!"
As he spoke, he deliberately spun around in front of them to demonstrate his "innocence."
Da Niu leaned closer, still somewhat skeptical, and sniffed again. "That's strange, but why is there a weird smell around here?"
Da Niu didn't pay much attention, after all, it's normal for the wind to sometimes blow "strange smells" from the depths of alleys in Pingyao County.
So, Da Niu looked around listlessly.
Suddenly, they discovered that at the alleyway ahead, darkness, like thick ink, and smoke, like silk, were drifting upwards.
"Hey, Uncle Yan, is that burning fallen leaves ahead? It seems to be a bit of a dead fire, with smoke rising but no flames visible."
Qian Yan'er squinted in the direction Da Niu was pointing, shook the lantern in her hand, and stretched it out further. "It seems so."
The group stopped as they passed the pile of smoke.
Burning things at midnight poses a risk of fire if the wind picks up.
So the group ran over to check it out, just in case.
As he ran closer, Da Niu suddenly lost his balance and quickly grabbed Qian Yan'er's arm. "Uncle Qian, I... I feel a little dizzy."
"I'm also... Ni..."
Before Chen Dada could finish speaking, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Sang Shang followed closely behind, and fell backward in a split.
Qian Yan'er sensed something was wrong and was about to shout when she found her legs going weak...
With two thuds, Da Niu and Qian Yan'er fell to the ground unconscious.
The lantern fell to the ground and went out, returning the darkness to the night.
At that moment, two strong and powerful men jumped out of the alley, their faces full of triumphant satisfaction!
"Hey bro, that's good this time, four at once!"
Another burly man rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "That's right, just look at the power of our sleeping powder! It's practically 'with a smoke in hand, I have the world at my fingertips'!"
"Quickly pack them into sacks and carry them back. We'll leave the city first thing tomorrow morning and sell them for a high price in the southwest to be used as Gu children!"
"Haha, these kids have such delicate skin and tender flesh, they'll definitely fetch a good price, and then we'll make a fortune!"
As he spoke, a burly man pulled out several large sacks from behind him.
They tied the four men's hands and feet, put them in sacks, and each carried two sacks before disappearing into the darkness.
Yu Mengmeng comes to the student dormitory at night to take a headcount—commonly known as a dormitory check.
It was discovered that Da Niu, Chen Dada, and Sang Shang had not returned.
Yu Mengmeng frowned and muttered to herself, "These brats, why aren't they back yet, so late?"
Feeling uneasy, he quickly summoned the gatekeeper and asked him to check the Lin family's restaurant, or the Sang and Chen families' establishments, to see if anyone was home.
But when the gatekeeper returned, he brought back a bolt from the blue.
Yu Mengmeng became even more anxious.
That night, the gates of the Dou residence were being pounded on by Yu Mengmeng and two tutors. "Dou Weiyi, help! My student is missing—"