But she hadn’t expected that there were so many children who lived each day just to fight for a few steamed buns.
Those who failed to get any could only be starved to death...
For the rest of the time, Xiaocong remained dazed, lost in a hazy nightmare, unable to accept this cruel reality.
It wasn’t until late at night that he finally could not resist sleepiness, sitting on the straw, leaning against the wall, and falling into a deep slumber.
He didn’t know how long he had slept when someone suddenly shook him awake.
Upon opening his eyes, he saw two boys pressing down on his body, while Zhang Xu was on top of him, fiercely choking his neck.
"What are you doing?" Xiaocong shouted in shock and anger, struggling.
Zhang Xu sneered viciously, "Kill you! Only by killing you will I be the boss here!"
Xiaocong’s face turned crimson with suffocation, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t shake them off...
"Xiaocong, Xiaocong... Xiaocong!" Lin Xinlan suddenly woke from her dream.
She sat up abruptly, her forehead drenched with sweat, her eyes wide open in terror, looking utterly petrified.
The light was immediately turned on, and Rong Shaoze, seeing her expression, quickly embraced her and asked anxiously, "Xinlan, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"Xiaocong..." Lin Xinlan’s heart was still pounding with fear.
She clutched Rong Shaoze’s arm tightly, panicked, "I dreamed that Xiaocong was in trouble, he was crying, he was calling out to me for help. Rong Shaoze, something has happened to him!"
The man’s pupils contracted sharply, pain stabbing at his heart.
He hugged her tightly, not letting her see the pain on his face at that moment.
"Xinlan, you were just dreaming, it’s not real. Xiaocong is fine; he’s with Meiying. How could anything happen to him?"
Lin Xinlan shook her head, "No, something has happened to him."
She pushed him away and stared at him, urgently saying, "Otherwise, let me talk to him on the phone. I won’t believe he’s okay until then. I’ve never dreamt of him being in trouble before. Just now in my dream, he was calling for his mother, asking me to save him, his voice was so real, how could it be fake? He must be in trouble..."
Lin Xinlan’s expression changed, and she suddenly stared at Rong Shaoze with wide eyes.
The man felt uneasy under her gaze and asked perplexedly, "What’s the matter?"
"Rong Shaoze, you’re deceiving me, aren’t you?" Lin Xinlan said with sudden realization, "Xiaocong never went to the headquarters with Meiying for training, something has happened! You’re lying to me, aren’t you?!"
"I’m not lying to you. If something had happened to Xiaocong, how could I hide it from you?" Rong Shaoze said in a deep voice.
"Xinlan, you’re letting your daily concerns turn into nightmares. It’s because you’re too worried about Xiaocong that you had a bad dream at night. Don’t worry, he will be okay," he reassured her.
A flicker of confusion crossed Lin Xinlan’s eyes.
She shook her head doubtfully, not quite believing his words.
"No... I didn’t pass out from heatstroke that time, someone did something to me, that’s why I fainted... If Xiaocong was really leaving for two months, he would have said goodbye to me first. He wouldn’t just leave without saying anything..."
The more Lin Xinlan thought about it, the more she felt something was amiss. She stared intently at Rong Shaoze and demanded coldly, "You’re lying to me, he’s in trouble, and you haven’t told me!"
Rong Shaoze’s gaze flickered slightly, and he replied with a faint smile, "You have such a vivid imagination. It’s not impossible for you to talk to him on the phone. It’s just a bit of a hassle, but I’ll let you speak to him in a few days, okay?"
Seeing how seriously he spoke, Lin Xinlan asked with a mix of belief and skepticism, "Are you really not lying to me?"