VIP Volume Chapter 044: A Strange Case

From the moment they fell into the whirlpool, entered the cave, climbed up to Fragrant Sand Island, and had Little Green bring them back to the village, neither of them had had any real rest—just the briefest moments with their eyes closed. Now that Ye Xiaoxuan claimed four or five days had already passed, Wen Xiaoyu simply couldn't believe it!

But the scene before her defied explanation. Although not many people had come this time—at most a hundred—the tents and supplies they had brought were plentiful. And now, everything had vanished. Could it be that, after just one sleepless night, everything had been moved away? That hardly made sense. Surely, once the Fortunate had set sail, those left behind at the camp wouldn’t have immediately started packing up and leaving, would they? Zhao Yanping might not have been the best of men, but he was unquestionably the leader of this expedition. Those left behind would never have abandoned him at Daxian Lake without a thought!

Seeing the confusion on her face, Ye Xiaoxuan smiled wryly. “Don’t get hung up on it. Once we’re back in the village, everything will make sense.”

It was already dusk; by Wen Xiaoyu’s memory, it was at this time yesterday that they had set out. It shouldn’t have been more than twenty-four hours. And yet, so many incredible things had happened in just that day and night!

As soon as they entered the village, they sensed something was off. It was just too quiet. Every household had its doors tightly shut, as if they were afraid of enemy soldiers sweeping through the streets.

When they reached Ye Xiaoxuan’s home, they found the door barred from the inside, which struck him as even stranger—his family never locked up unless they were going to bed.

Just as he raised his hand to knock, the sound of a bicycle approached from behind, followed by an excited voice: “Xiao San, you’re back?”

Ye Xiaoxuan turned and saw it was Jia Ran, just back from school. He immediately went over and took her hand. “Jia Ran, has big brother come home? What’s wrong with everyone? Why are all the doors shut?”

Jia Ran’s expression was grave. “Big brother’s been back for a while. After what happened, he was badly shaken. The police told us not to leave or wander about—they said it’s to secure the area. They all said something had happened to you, but I never believed it. I knew you were alive—I could feel it! Xiao San, if you hadn’t come back soon, I might have lost faith myself…”

Ye Xiaoxuan was left even more puzzled, holding her hand as he questioned her. “Wait a second! Big brother’s been back a while? How long? What happened? What’s this big incident?”

Jia Ran glanced around before saying, “Let’s go inside first. We’ll talk at home. And this girl is…” She looked at Wen Xiaoyu, who was standing behind Ye Xiaoxuan, then bit her lip and said with some surprise, “I remember you—we’ve met before!”

Wen Xiaoyu came up to Ye Xiaoxuan, affectionately taking his arm. “Cousin, my name is Wen Xiaoyu. I’m Ye Xiaoxuan’s girlfriend!”

Ye Xiaoxuan looked sheepishly at Jia Ran, trying to slip his arm free, but Wen Xiaoyu held him tightly.

Jia Ran, however, showed no sign of surprise. Seeing that Wen Xiaoyu was wearing Ye Xiaoxuan’s jacket, she already understood the nature of their relationship. She smiled warmly. “Sister Xiaoyu, you’re lovely. Xiaoxuan is lucky to have such an outstanding girlfriend. From now on, we’re all family—there’s no need for formality.”

Seeing that Jia Ran wasn’t upset at all, Ye Xiaoxuan breathed a long sigh of relief—though deep down, he felt a faint disappointment. Was Jia Ran really not jealous at all?

Her graciousness made Wen Xiaoyu feel a little embarrassed. She clung to Ye Xiaoxuan’s arm with one hand, and took Jia Ran’s hand with the other. “Sister, you’re beautiful too! Let’s go inside first, shall we?”

Jia Ran nodded and said to Ye Xiaoxuan, “Xiao San, take your girlfriend inside. I’ll put away my bike and join you in a moment.”

As she watched Ye Xiaoxuan lead Wen Xiaoyu inside, Jia Ran wheeled her bicycle home. She found Ye Dajun in the courtyard, munching on sugarcane. “Brother, Xiao San is back. Go see him—I’ll wash up and join you soon.”

At the news of his younger brother’s return, Ye Dajun immediately dropped his bundle of sugarcane and hurried over. Jia Ran put away her bicycle and went to her room, closing the door behind her. Looking at herself in the mirror, she suddenly found tears streaming down her face.

“Didn’t you promise me I should wait for you? Didn’t you say that, no matter what happened between us, you’d never give up on me? Why do you have a girlfriend so soon?”

The two brothers sat in the courtyard, each gnawing on a piece of sugarcane. Wen Xiaoyu, having changed into Jia Ran’s clothes, came out of the house blushing, crouched beside Ye Xiaoxuan, and whispered, “Xiaoxuan, your mother gave me a pair of silver bracelets…”

Ye Xiaoxuan gave a nonchalant “Oh,” handed her a piece of sugarcane, and said, “If she gave them to you, keep them. Brother, you said you came back a week ago?”

Ye Dajun nodded. “Today is the seventh day. Where on earth have you two been all week?”

Ye Xiaoxuan and Wen Xiaoyu exchanged glances. It seemed their suspicions were true—they had really been in Daxian Lake for a whole week!

But who would ever believe such a story? The two of them shared a tacit smile and gave a vague answer to Ye Dajun. “We got sucked in by the whirlpool and ended up on Fragrant Sand Island.”

Wen Xiaoyu sat on the little bench Ye Xiaoxuan had brought over and asked Ye Dajun, “Brother Dajun, after we fell into the water, what happened on the boat?”

Ye Dajun looked frustrated. “That’s what bothers me most! After you fell in, the waves calmed down pretty quickly. We searched all night but couldn’t find you—though we did pull up quite a bit of stuff. Later, Liu Zhi and I both fell asleep. When we woke up and ran out of the lower cabin, there were hardly any people left on the boat! By then, we’d already returned to the village. Honestly, I have no idea what happened.”

Ye Xiaoxuan asked in exasperation, “You and Liu Zhi both fell asleep?”

Ye Dajun nodded, embarrassed. “We slept like babies…”

Ye Xiaoxuan could only shake his head. “Brother, get Liu Zhi over here. This whole thing is too strange—a real mystery for the ages. My head’s a mess; we need everyone together to sort this out!”

Ye Dajun stood up. “All right. You two start making dinner. I’ll get Liu Zhi and we’ll all eat together. Sister-in-law, can you cook a couple of dishes?”

Wen Xiaoyu blushed to the roots of her ears, bowing her head. “I can’t…”

Jia Ran walked in from the doorway. “I’ll cook. I heard Xiao San came home, and Old Huang brought some vegetables over again—he refused to take any money!”

Ye Xiaoxuan looked toward the door, puzzled. “Where is he?”

Jia Ran replied, “He left. Never mind, we’ll pay him after dinner—it’s not urgent.”

Ye Xiaoxuan sat back down. “I wasn’t going to pay him, I just wanted to remind him that next time, he shouldn’t just bring vegetables—wouldn’t it be better to add some pork as well?”

Everyone: “…”

Wen Xiaoyu trailed after Jia Ran. “Cousin, let me help in the kitchen. I want to learn how to cook, so I can make meals for Xiaoxuan in the future.”

Jia Ran turned, smiling as she gently pressed Wen Xiaoyu down onto the bench. “There’ll be plenty of chances in the future. But today, let’s not—this is your first time in our house; how could we let you do chores?”