A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 89

The courtyard gate was slightly ajar. Aside from a few chickens pecking for bugs, the yard was empty.

Sisi Shen rushed inside, her heart racing with anxiety. When she saw Hongying Xu scurrying around like a headless fly, she felt a wave of pure panic wash over her.

“Mom, where is Niuniu?”

Seeing them, Hongying Xu slapped her thighs in distress. “I was in the kitchen cooking rice, and Niuniu was playing with blocks in the living room. Who knew that the moment I turned my back, she’d be gone!”

Sisi thought of the gate and asked urgently, “Mom, was the gate open before?”

“No, I’m certain I closed it.”

Sisi’s chest tightened as if a heavy stone were pressing down on her heart. Her legs felt so weak she could barely stand. “This is bad. The gate is open now; Niuniu might have run out.”

Niuniu had always been a well-behaved child. Back at the youth center in the countryside, she would never open the door to run out even if no one was watching her—let alone with Hongying Xu there and the courtyard gate closed.

Her intuition told her that Niuniu would never go out on her own. Someone must have lured her out.

Was it a human trafficker?

In those days, traffickers were rampant, but they usually didn’t dare set foot inside a military family compound. If it wasn’t a trafficker, then who was it?

Regardless of who it was, Niuniu was so small and unfamiliar with the area. Moreover, she was still sick. If she were lost, the consequences…

Sisi didn’t dare think further; the blood in her veins felt like it was flowing backward.

Chengfeng Gu was equally anxious, but he maintained his military composure and first inspected the lock.

“Don’t panic. There are no signs of the lock being tampered with. Niuniu opened the door and went out herself.”

“Niuniu doesn’t usually open the door for strangers. It must be someone she knows.”

“Mom,” Chengfeng turned to his mother, “how long has she been missing?”

Hongying Xu sobbed, “Just a few minutes. I only just went to wash the rice.”

“Then it was only minutes ago,” Chengfeng analyzed calmly. “Sisi and I came in through the main entrance and didn’t see Niuniu on the way. They should still be inside the compound.”

His words settled Sisi’s frantic nerves.

“Mom, you stay here in case Niuniu comes back on her own. Brother Feng and I will split up to search!”

The name “Brother Feng” came out naturally, so much so that even Sisi didn’t realize she had said it.

Chengfeng Gu’s eyes flickered with a subtle emotion. “Do as she says. Mom, you stay. I’ll go to the gate to get the soldiers on duty to help. Sisi, you head toward the sports field first…”

“Alright…” Sisi began jogging toward the sports field.

She asked everyone she met along the way, but they all said they hadn’t seen her. However, an elderly lady cooling herself in the shade provided a lead: she had seen a few children heading toward the back mountain.

Sisi immediately changed direction and ran toward the mountain. On the way, she ran into Wenhui Li, who was heading out to gather herbs. Wenhui had a small basket on her back and was chewing on a roasted sweet potato, her mouth stuffed full.

“Sisi, what’s the matter? Why are you running so fast?” It was the first time Wenhui had seen Sisi like this—disheveled, hair messy, and nearly running out of her shoes.

Sisi was out of breath. “Wen… Wenhui, Niuniu is missing. Have you seen her?”

“What? Niuniu is missing!” Wenhui nearly choked on her sweet potato. After a coughing fit, she gasped, “I haven’t seen her! Did she go toward the back mountain? I’ll help you look…”

The two women linked arms and dashed toward the back mountain at full speed.

As soon as they reached the foot of the hill, they heard Niuniu’s crying, mixed with the taunting shouts of several young boys.

“Little bastard! You’re a little bastard! You don’t have a daddy…”

Niuniu was wailing, screaming back at them with all her might. “I have a daddy! I’m not a bastard… I’m not! Shut up… shut up!”

“Lululu~ I won’t shut up! I’m going to say it…”

“You’re a little bastard, and you’re carrying a virus…”

“Get out of the family compound!”

The boys were dragging her toward the woods.

“Niuniu!” Sisi screamed, her eyes turning bloodshot as she looked ahead.

She saw four boys push Niuniu to the ground, repeatedly throwing mud and small stones at her. Niuniu was covered in filth, and a large lump had already formed on her forehead. She was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

Even while being bullied, she refused to back down. Between sobs, she loudly protested that she wasn’t a stray child or a bastard.

The scene felt like a knife carving into Sisi’s heart, piercing her already frayed nerves. Without a second thought, she lunged forward, grabbing two of the boys by their ears and nearly lifting them off the ground.

“Get away!” She flung them aside. The two chubby boys hit the ground hard and burst into loud wails.

Sisi knelt on the ground and gathered Niuniu into her arms, her whole body shaking. “It’s okay, it’s okay… Mommy is here…”

Niuniu had inhaled a lot of mud and dust; she was coughing heart-wrenchingly, her face a mess of snot and tears. Mommy was finally here.

She opened her short arms and clung tightly to her mother’s neck. Sisi gently rubbed her back to help her breathe, fighting back her own tears. “It’s okay now, it’s okay…”

Seeing this, Wenhui Li was so angry she tossed her sweet potato aside, rolled up her sleeves, and picked up a small branch to swat at the boys.

“How dare you bully people! How dare you tell such lies!”

The leader of the group, a chubby boy, pushed Wenhui back. “Who are you? How dare you hit me? Do you know who my dad is?”

Wenhui stumbled back a few steps. This brat was quite strong and had an even bigger mouth. “I was just about to ask—when did such a brat join the military compound?”

“You’re the brat!” The boy brushed the mud off himself, glaring fiercely at Wenhui and Sisi. “My dad is a Battalion Commander! If you dare hit me, I’ll have my dad execute you! Pew, pew, pew!”

He mimicked a gun with his fingers and “shot” at Sisi, Wenhui, and Niuniu.

A Battalion Commander?

Sisi looked at Wenhui questioning-ly.

Wenhui thought for a moment and then it clicked. “After Commander Gu was promoted, the position of First Battalion Commander remained vacant. Someone was just transferred in a couple of days ago to fill it.”

So, he was the son of that new commander. No wonder he was an unfamiliar face.

“Fine. Perfect. Let’s go find your parents!” Wenhui grabbed the troublemakers.

The moment they heard “parents,” the boys lost their bravado—except for the chubby one, who continued to bluster about how his father would kill these bad people.

“Who’s going to be killed isn’t decided yet…”

While Wenhui was scolding the children, Sisi was comforting Niuniu, checking her all over. “Baby, does anything hurt?”

Niuniu pointed to the swelling lump on her forehead. “Mommy, my head hurts…”

Sisi’s gaze turned sharp with pain. She gently blew on the bump. “Besides your head?”

“No more…” Niuniu sniffled piteously.

Sisi’s heart was breaking. “Good girl. We’ll go home and put some lard on it, it’ll be fine…”

The ground was cold, so she stood up holding Niuniu. Just then, Chengfeng Gu arrived with the patrolling soldiers. Seeing Niuniu covered in dirt with a large lump on her head, he was livid.

“Who did this!”

Wenhui Li pushed the brats forward and immediately filed a complaint. “Commander Gu, you’re finally here! It was these boys. They lured your daughter away, threw stones at her, and called… called her a little bastard!”

At those words, Chengfeng Gu’s expression changed instantly. His fists clenched until his knuckles cracked.

“Take them all away!