Xia Ran was taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously asked,
"What happened? The child is missing? What child? What's missing?"
Dazhuang: "It's Gu Chen. That kid left the hotel a few hours ago, and we still haven't been able to find him. The police and other people have been helping to look for him, but they can't find him at all."
"Qin Hao just called He Xiu and asked him to ask you if you've seen the child come looking for you."
Xia Ran's head was buzzing, he couldn't hear anything, his mind was filled with Da Zhuang's words that the child had disappeared a few hours ago.
"Xia Ran? Xia Ran, are you alright?" Da Zhuang waved his hand in front of Xia Ran's face. "You... don't worry, we'll go find the child right now."
"Why did he disappear? How could they have looked after the child? Couldn't two adults have watched him?" Xia Ran came to her senses, her eyes reddening. "The child was so obedient and well-behaved, how could he have run away alone? They must have lost him!"
Xia Ran was about to step out the door to look for her child, but Da Zhuang grabbed her hand.
"Xia Ran, have you thought this through? You and Gu Zheng have nothing to do with each other anymore. If you go out to look for the child now, people might misunderstand."
Xia Ran glanced at Da Zhuang, pulled her hand away, and said,
“Dazhuang, the child is innocent. I’m afraid something has happened to him. I need to find him first. We can talk about the rest later. Besides, I’m just looking for the child. It has nothing to do with Gu Zheng.”
Xia Ran left after speaking. Da Zhuang sighed; he knew this would be the outcome.
But what other options does Xia Ran have besides this? If she can't find the child, Xia Ran will probably feel guilty for the rest of her life.
He Xiu placed his hand on Da Zhuang's shoulder and said,
"Go find the child first. You are more familiar with this area. Think about where the child might go."
Dazhuang nodded, then jogged out.
When Xia Ran arrived at the door, he ran into Gu Zheng, who was coming to find him.
The moment Xia Ran saw Gu Zheng, her eyes revealed undisguised disappointment.
He didn't know why Gu Zheng would lose the child, but he was still filled with disappointment.
Gu Zheng approached Xia Ran, his voice slightly hoarse and expectant.
"Ranran, has the child...has the child come looking for you?"
Xia then took a step back, "Why can't you even keep an eye on one child? He's so well-behaved..."
Xia Ran originally wanted to control his emotions, but when he thought about how his child had been missing for so many hours, he couldn't control himself.
He hated Gu Zheng, he disliked Gu Zheng, but he could never let go of the child who always obediently called him "Little Daddy".
"Forget it, that's just the kind of person you are. He's your son, and I have no right to interfere."
After saying this, Xia Ran turned around to look for the child. So many hours had passed; she had to pray that the child was alright.
Gu Zheng watched Xia Ran leave and could only follow in her footsteps.
Xia Ran originally wanted to ignore Gu Zheng, but he just couldn't help himself.
"What are you doing following me?" Xia Ran turned around and growled at Gu Zheng, "Go find the child!"
Despite being yelled at by Xia Ran, Gu Zheng didn't dare show any displeasure, only whispering,
“I’ve already called the police above to call the police station here. They’re all helping to find the child. I don’t know the way around here, so I can only follow you.”
"You!" Xia Ran ultimately said nothing, but simply continued walking forward.
Gu Zheng followed Xia Ran closely, while Da Zhuang and the others did not follow, but instead went in a different direction to search.
Although Gu Zheng had already sent people to look for them, it would always be better if more people were involved.
But they searched for a long time, until it was dark, and still found no clues.
But Xia Ran kept searching, and eventually even saw a passerby holding up a photo on their phone and asking if they had seen the child.
This photo was taken by Xia Ran and his child before. He secretly posted it on his WeChat Moments, but he set it to be visible only to him.
Xia Ran searched for many people, but none of them said they had seen the child.
Gu Zheng accompanied Xia Ran on her search, but Xia Ran ignored him completely.
Seeing Xia Ran's pale lips, Gu Zheng felt extremely distressed.
"Ranran, stop looking. Take a break and have some water. You'll ruin your health if you keep going like this!"
Although he was also worried about the child, he was afraid that Xia Ran wouldn't be able to hold on if things continued like this.
If the child is not found and Xia Ran gets into trouble, he will truly break down.
Xia Ran completely ignored Xuan Yuancheng. He was now in a park with many people, and he was sure he could find the child by asking around on his phone.
Seeing Xia Ran's expression, Gu Zheng immediately hugged her.
"Alright, Ranran! Stop doing this! Take a break first!"
"Let go of me! How can you rest after your child has been missing for so long? Have you even thought about what might have happened to him? Is he hungry? Is he thirsty? Is someone bullying him...?"
As Xia Ran spoke, tears welled up in his eyes. He truly felt sorry for the child.
Gu Zheng: "Of course I'm worried, but if something happens to you too, how am I supposed to explain it to the child when he comes back?"
"Don't worry, I've already sent people to look for it, and they'll find it soon."
Xia Ran glanced at Gu Zheng, but ultimately remained silent and pushed Xuan Yuancheng away. She sat on a nearby bench for a moment before continuing her search.
Around 7 o'clock, Grandpa Xia finally returned from the square, and he opened the door guiltily.
Actually, he originally wanted to come back earlier, but he didn't expect that Old Li insisted on having a match with him, even though his chess skills were clearly a little better than Old Li's.
So, the two got so excited that they kept fighting. If it weren't for the Li family calling Old Li back, they could have fought for even longer.
But Grandpa Xia was a little puzzled. Why didn't Xia Ran call him to come home for dinner today?
Seeing that his house was completely dark, he was even more puzzled. Moreover, there were several neighbors whispering at the door, and their eyes looked at him strangely when he arrived.
Chapter 217 The Child's Whereabouts
"Why aren't you eating? What are you doing here?" Grandpa Xia walked over with some suspicion. "Or is there some news? Tell me about it."
The old man spoke with a smile, and when he smiled like that, the aunties looked at him with even stranger expressions.
Finally, one of the older women couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up.
"Old Xia, how can you still be laughing? Your adorable little grandson has probably been kidnapped by human traffickers. The police have been searching for hours and still can't find him. Xiao Ran has been looking for him for a long time. Aren't you worried at all?"
Then another auntie continued,
"Oh dear, what do you know? I asked Xiaoran, and he's already divorced, so the child isn't their child anymore. Of course he's not in a hurry."
Hearing what the aunties said, Grandpa Xia's expression changed instantly, and he hurriedly asked,
"What happened? Who's missing? Which one is missing? How could the child be missing?"
The women looked at the old man's face and were unsure of his mood.
"Hey... Old Xia? You really don't know? Your adorable grandson has disappeared. People are looking for him everywhere, and it's even on the news."
An older woman even showed the old man a local news website, where the photos were ones Xia Ran had secretly saved on her phone.
Upon seeing the photos and missing person notice, Grandpa Xia's face turned extremely pale, his eyes filled with worry.
"I...I was playing chess with Lao Li in the square today and I forgot the time."
As the old man spoke, he made a phone call to Xia, his hands trembling slightly, probably from being frightened.
Seeing the old man's expression, several of the older women couldn't help but offer words of comfort.
"Old Xia, don't worry. With so many people helping to search, we'll definitely find the child."
Grandpa Xia didn't listen to the aunties at all; he just kept looking at his phone.
Xia Ran only realized he had forgotten about his grandfather when he received a call from his grandfather.
"grandfather……"
"Xia Ran, is the child missing? How could the child be missing?"
Grandpa Xia interrupted Xia Ran immediately, his tone clearly filled with anxiety and worry.
Xia Ran's mouth was full of bitterness. "Yes, Grandpa, the child is missing. We can't find him now. I... I'm still looking for him outside. You should eat something outside. I can't go back to cook for you."
"What are you saying?" Grandpa Xia scolded. "How can you eat when you can't find the child? Also, why does your voice sound so off? Come back now, and I'll discuss with you how to find the child."
"Grandpa, I..." Xia Ran didn't want to go back yet, but Grandpa Xia immediately knew what was going on.
"Xia Ran! If you don't come back soon, I'm going to find the child myself!"
Upon hearing Grandpa Xia's words, Xia Ran immediately fell silent and could only helplessly agree.
Grandpa is so old, it's easy for something to happen if he goes out to look for the child alone.
After hanging up with Grandpa Xia, Xia Ran planned to go back.
Gu Zheng, who was standing nearby, had also overheard Xia Ran's conversation with her grandfather. Seeing Xia Ran hang up the phone, he quickly said...
"Let's go back first, you don't look well."
Xia Ran didn't even glance at Gu Zheng before heading straight to the roadside to flag down a car.
Gu Zheng felt a bitter taste in his mouth and could only get into the car with Xia Ran.
When they arrived home, Grandpa Xia was already pacing back and forth in the living room.
"Grandpa..." Xia Ran called out weakly, "Have you eaten? I'll go find you something to eat."
Xia Ran was probably too worried about the child, so she didn't pay attention to Gu Zheng coming in.
"No need! Have you found any clues about the child yet?" Grandpa Xia was so anxious that he had no appetite.
Xia Ran shook her head and sat down on the sofa.
Gu Zheng didn't dare to speak, so he went to pour Xia Ran a cup of hot water.
"Drink some hot water first, your voice is hoarse."
Xia Ran didn't even look at Gu Zheng; she just kept her eyes closed, lost in thought.
Grandpa Xia looked at Gu Zheng and was furious again.
"You sit down and rest for a bit, I'll go call the police and ask them to help look for it."