Chapter 414: Missing
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Behind her, the green cicada suddenly let out a shrill cry. The old butler exclaimed, “Aiyo, Third Miss, how did you kill the cicada?”
Ruan Xiaoshuang was shocked. “What’s wrong, Xiaodie?”
Ruan Xiaodie raised her head innocently. “It bit me.”
She let go of her fair palm. The cicada that was alive only a few minutes ago was now dead and motionless.
The old butler could not help but laugh. “Third Miss, you’re talking nonsense. How can cicadas bite?”
Ruan Xiaodie pursed her lips. “But it just bit me. It hurts.”
“Could it be that you were bitten by some other insect when you caught the cicada?”
Ruan Xiaoshuang was worried and instructed the old butler, “Take Xiaodie to apply some ointment.”
The old butler quickly agreed and was about to leave with the girl.
“Sister, 1 didn’t mean to kill it.” Ruan Xiaodie said.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Be more careful next time, Xiaodie.”
Ruan Xiaoshuang comforted her gently. “Sister will accompany Xiaodie to catch another one later, okay?”
Ruan Xiaodie blinked and nodded obediently. “Alright.”
Sang Qianqian could clearly see that her palm was fair and smooth, without any signs of being bitten or turning red.
She looked at Ruan Xiaodie’s figure as she walked away briskly, then looked at the dead green cicada in the sarong.
For some reason, that strange and terrifying black doodle flashed across her mind, the chill in her heart spread again.
*
The Ruan family’s old mansion had been empty for a long time. After the big accident, the servants in the mansion had all left.
Fortunately, Xie Shi’an took care of the building and arranged for people to take care of the house regularly. The flowers and fountains in the garden gradually returned to their former appearance, but there was no one around and it was too quiet.
Sang Qianqian didn’t pay attention to this and accompanied Ruan Xiaoshuang straight to her residence.
Ruan Xiaoshuang remembered clearly that Ruan Xiaodie’s paintings were placed in a small box in the study.
However, after a series of changes, the things here had long been reorganized by the servants, and there was a big difference from what she remembered.
The two of them spent a lot of effort and finally found the small box in the deepest part of the bookcase.
When the box was opened, there were a few old photos inside. They were photos of Ruan Xiaoshuang’s family when she was young. One of the photo frames was a photo of the three Ruan siblings.
In the photo, Ruan Xiaodie was still a delicate little child. She was held by the young Ruan Cheng and was looking curiously at the camera.
“Xiaodie should have been three years old at that time. Not long after this photo was taken, when the nanny took her out, she was kidnapped. After the event, she got the mental problem she has now.”
Ruan Xiaoshuang recalled the past and her expression darkened. “When she was about five years old, she was sent abroad for treatment. When she had to leave, she cried her heart out and refused to get into the car.”
She still remembered that every year when Ruan Cheng went abroad to visit Xiaodie, she would always show a frightened and guarded expression. However, in front of her aunt, she was like an ordinary child who could act coquettishly and smile.
And to Shao Jin, who was always by her side to protect her, she would also call him Brother Shao Jin intimately, but she refused to call Ruan Cheng ‘Big Brother’.
After that, many years had pa.s.sed, but her condition still did not improve much. Ruan Cheng completely gave up on that idea. In addition, his health was not as good as before, so he rarely went abroad to see her.
Ruan Xiaoshuang would fly over to visit her every year, especially when she was studying abroad. She would visit her every few days, and Ruan Xiaodie had more or less become familiar with her sister, which was why she gave Ruan Xiaoshuang several paintings.
Ruan Xiaoshuang lowered her head and rubbed the photo in the photo frame with her fingers. She said softly, “If Xiaodie can really get better in the future, 1 won’t have any regrets. Big Brother will also be happy if he knows.”
Sang Qianqian looked at her, her emotions complicated.
Sister Xiaoshuang had just come back from the incident with Song Yu, and her heart had once again turned cold. It was only because of Ruan Xiaodie that she regained some l.u.s.ter.
If Ruan Xiaodie’s ’illness’ really had a mystery, and if Sister Xiaoshuang knew that Ruan Xiaodie might not be as innocent as she looked, what would she do?
Would she still be able to bear the blow from her own loved ones?
“Under this frame is the painting that Xiaodie gave me. I was afraid that it would be broken, so I specially got someone to seal it and keep it.”
Ruan Xiaoshuang carefully took out the photo frames, but there was nothing underneath.
“Those paintings…”
Ruan Xiaoshuang touched nothing and was stunned. “Why is it gone?”
Sang Qianqian frowned. “Could it be that the servants accidentally threw it away when they were cleaning up?”
Ruan Xiaoshuang shook her head. “That’s impossible. Those who came to clean up are all old servants of the Xie family. They know their limits and won’t touch their master’s things.”
At most, they would put things in the wrong places when they were packing, but they would never throw or take things randomly.
Sang Qianqian was silent.
Indeed, when she was helping to look for things just now, she realized that even if it was a bookmark that Ruan Xiaoshuang had casually written while reading, the servants would keep it safely in a drawer for her.
The box contained photos of the Ruan siblings. So how could the servants not know their place and throw them away?
“When Shi’an comes back, I’ll ask him.”
Ruan Xiaoshuang thought for a moment. “Also, I’ll personally find out which servants last cleaned this room.”
Sang Qianqian nodded, thinking that even if she couldn’t find these paintings, she could still verify it once Xie Shian brought back the picture alb.u.ms.
However, she didn’t know when he would be able to return after settling matters over there.
As for Ruan Xiaodie’s ident.i.ty, the sooner it could be verified, the better.
After leaving the residence, Sang Qianqian sent a message to Xie Shi’an.
Naturally, she made up an excuse that it was because of Xiaodie’s condition that she wanted to see the contents of the alb.u.m so that she could further determine the next stage of treatment.
For some reason, there was no reply from the other end. When she called, no one picked up.
Sang Qianqian still had to rush to the Zhen family, so she could only put this matter aside for the time being.
In the Zhen family’s living room, the old lady was waiting for her.
What surprised her was that besides the second daughter of the Zhen family, Zhen Zhen, there was also the eldest daughter of the Zhen family, Zhen Zhu, who had broken off relations with her family.
Seeing that Sang Qianqian had arrived, the old lady quickly ordered the servants to serve the dishes. She then lovingly pulled Sang Qianqian to sit down beside her. “Qianqian hasn’t had dinner yet, right? It just so happened that Grandma hasn’t eaten yet, so come eat casually with Grandma.”
Zhen Zhu pursed her lips and smiled. “Grandma, you’re not telling the truth. You obviously delayed dinner for Cousin-in-law. Zhen Zhen and I are hungry from waiting.”
The old lady glared at her. Although she looked helpless, her smile was full of the love of an elder for a junior. “Then hurry up and eat. Don’t just stand there.”
The few of them sat down at the table. Old Lady Zhen pushed a bowl of ginseng soup to Sang Qianqian. “I asked the kitchen to specially make it. Try it and see how it tastes.”
Zhen Zhu looked at Sang Qianqian without blinking, “Speaking of which, I haven’t officially met Cousin’s wife yet. The last time 1 did, I only caught a glimpse of her and 1 felt that Cousin Hanyu’s taste wasn’t so bad. Now that I’ve taken a closer look, 1 can confirm that he really has good taste.”
“Cousin-in-law, you’re really beautiful,” she said sincerely..