Lin Lan was so panicked that she went to find another village woman to take the girls home before she returned early with Maisui.
As soon as they entered the village, they met a child who said that Xiaowang and Sanwang fell into the river and Liu Guifa had rescued them.
As soon as the two heard this, they ran home. Fortunately, the children were okay.
Sanwang wanted to say something, but then he remembered that he had made an oath by spit and couldn’t say anything. He hesitated for a moment before he heard Xiaowang say, “We went to wash the veggies…”
Xiaowang played with him and accepted the rules of the older children— if you spat, you were not allowed to complain to adults. He was just a child and didn’t understand the importance of speaking up. He just felt that if they swore to not talk about it, then that is what he should do. If he said anything, his family would become the bad one. Moreover, he was under the impression that he was exchanged for a large pancake and his Third Brother was picked up from the streets. He thought that if his parents were to know that his Third Brother went swimming, they would definitely not want him any longer. He didn’t want to be sent away nor did he want to leave his parents.
Lin Lan said distressedly, “Silly boy, the water is freezing cold at this time, how can you go there to wash vegetables?”
Maisui, “Sanwang, what’s going on? Tell the truth!”
Sanwang wanted to tell the truth, but he felt like something was blocking his throat and he couldn’t speak.
He spat and he didn’t want to be sent away.
Xiaowang, “Mother, Elder Sister, Third Brother and I were…washing vegetables,” He wasn’t exactly lying; it’s just that in the middle of it, his Third Brother just decided to take a swim.
Xiaowang never lied. Lin Lan and Maisui believed what he said. Maisui felt a little guilty because she was worried that Sanwang had gotten into trouble.
Lin Lan was relieved to see that the children were okay. Then, she remembered the young man who made the fire. She hurriedly thanked him and asked him to sit down before she had Maisui take over in making the ginger soup.
Xue Mingliang introduced himself and thanked her repeatedly. His mother had never been able to meet Lin Lan and she was concerned. Hence, while her son was home these days, she had him come over in person to express her gratitude.
Lin Lan also thought it was a coincidence, “What a twist of fate. Let’s not thank each other repeatedly. After all, taking action to help is something that we both did and what I did wasn’t much.”
She also thanked Xue Mingliang for his help in rescuing her children. She now believed that the two children accidentally fell while washing vegetables and that Liu Guifa and Xue Mingliang saw them and rescued them.
Xue Mingliang naturally didn’t say much when he saw Sanwang trying to put up a front, so he let the child speak for himself. He smiled and said, “It’s true that it is something anybody could do with little effort,” After chatting for a while, he praised Sanwang again, “He behaves like an adequate elder brother. Even with a leg cramped up, he never hesitated to save his little brother and even went back in to grab the glasses.”
Maisui cried when she heard this and wiped her tears, “Sanwang, your Elder Sister will never scold you again.”