"She ran away this morning. Maybe Dad came back, I don't know. Anyway, when I found out, she was already gone."
An Sijia shuffled in her slippers to the sofa, nonchalantly beginning to rummage through the bags Sun Xuehui had brought back.
As she rummaged, she asked, "Mom, what did you buy? Did you get anything for me?"
"Buy, buy, buy, you only know to ask for things. Have you thought about it? An Ran ran away. If she really goes to Nan'an University and finds Ye Sheng, what will you do?" Sun Xuehui angrily poked An Sijia's forehead as she spoke.
"Mom—" An Sijia cried, covering her forehead. "I've thought about it. Keeping An Ran locked up isn't a solution. You can lock her up for a day, but can you do it for a lifetime? Instead of wasting energy guarding her, you should beautify yourself and use your charm to win over Ye Sheng."
Today's events made An Sijia realize that, despite Ye Sheng's claims that he didn't like her and liked An Ran, she could feel that Ye Sheng couldn't be without her.
With An Ran's personality, it was impossible for her to reconcile with Ye Sheng as if nothing had happened after he got involved with An Sijia. As long as An Ran didn't go back to him, An Sijia believed that with her charm, Ye Sheng would eventually fall in love with her.
Sun Xuehui nodded in agreement as she heard An Sijia's words. "What you said makes sense. I never planned to keep her locked up for life. I just wanted to lock her up until she was engaged to the Chen Family's young master. Since she's run away, I need to explain this to the Chen Family. But to be honest, Mrs. Chen doesn't think much of An Ran. After all, she's just an adopted daughter, not very presentable. I accompanied Mrs. Chen shopping and treated her to a meal today before she agreed to meet An Ran. It was utterly humiliating."
"If you don't like suffering, then don't suffer. How capable is that Chen Family? At most, they have a business relationship with Dad. With An Ran's looks, it's not impossible for her to latch onto a family like the Ye Family. As long as she's not the main wife, who cares if she's an adopted daughter? What's important is that she has good looks."
"Exactly, why didn't I think of that? My daughter is indeed clever."
Sun Xuehui's eyes lit up at An Sijia's words, dispelling her previous gloom. "I'll talk to Mrs. Chen tomorrow. As for An Ran, let her run. Without money, let's see if she doesn't come crawling back. She wants to earn money for her tuition by working? If it were that easy in this society, your dad wouldn't have to work so hard."
"But what if An Ran really earns enough for her tuition?" An Sijia suddenly asked.
"How is that possible? You know how high Nan'an University's tuition is. Even in six months, let alone two, she might not be able to earn enough. You just focus on Ye Sheng. When that wild girl comes back, I'll arrange a good match for her, so you can be at ease."
Sun Xuehui patted the back of An Sijia's hand, already plotting in her mind.
...
Wei County, by the time Mu Xingfeng and his team arrived, the place was already a mess. The heavily affected villages were in the mountains, and the rain showed no signs of stopping. They coordinated with the troops in the rescue operations.
To speed up the rescue, Mu Xingfeng, as the team leader, divided the team into several groups to head to different villages, while he led one group to the hardest-hit village.
After two days and nights of rescue operations, all the villagers had been evacuated, and the rain was starting to subside. Mu Zhixing took a last look at the devastated village and said to Lin Junyang and Liu Hu behind him, "Let's pull out."