After the loud-voiced man nodded his thanks, he quickly turned back to meticulously instruct his companions, "Hurry up and bring the mule carts over, everyone. Double-check that the oilcloth is securely covering everything. And also, everyone, tie your mule carts down properly. In this wilderness, if they run off, we won't know where to find them."
Those on the mule carts behind immediately replied, "Brother Wu, don't worry. We know what to do." For these traveling merchants, the goods on their mule carts represented their entire livelihood, so they wouldn't be careless.
Mule cart after mule cart, in an orderly fashion, navigated the narrow mountain path and arrived at the open space in front of the dilapidated temple.
Once most of the mule carts had passed, a rather inconspicuous donkey cart appeared at the very end of the procession.
A young couple sat on the donkey cart. The young man, wearing a bamboo hat and a straw cloak, sat at the front driving the donkey. The young woman, looking haggard, sat in the simple canopy, her gaze vacant and her mind troubled.
The young man, while carefully guiding the donkey cart along the mountain path, softly comforted his wife. "Xiao Yun, we've reached Beizhili. We should be able to catch up with your father and the others soon."
"Mm," the young woman replied softly, her eyes gazing at the rain that seemed to connect the sky and the earth, a pang of sadness in her heart. "In such heavy rain, I wonder where they are now, if they're getting wet." As the young woman spoke, her eyes reddened again.
"Xiao Yun, don't cry. We'll catch up with them very soon," the young man said, trying to persuade her, afraid his wife would hurt her eyes by crying.
The young woman did her best to hold back her tears, not wanting her husband to worry about her. But the thought of her two children traveling so far, possibly drenched to the bone and shivering in the heavy rain, made tears stream down her face uncontrollably.
Not wanting her husband to see, she buried her face between her knees and sobbed silently.
The young man didn't dare look back. Though he spoke words of comfort to his wife, his own eyes were red. He was also consumed by worry, thinking of his elderly father and their two young children.
...
In front of the dilapidated temple, Old Wu led his brothers in securing their mule carts as quickly as possible. He then called out to the young man trailing at the very end, "Brother Fu, you and your wife, hurry up and tie down your donkey cart. Let's take shelter in the temple; we'll be staying here for the night."
Because Brother Fu had brought his wife, he took a few more steps closer and cautiously reminded him, "Brother Fu, there are some constables who arrived at the temple before us."
"Ah, thank you, Brother Wu. We understand," the young man said. Although he frowned for a moment at the mention of constables, as if something flashed through his mind, he was too preoccupied with his elderly father and two children to think deeply about it.
With the curtain of rain obscuring the sound, the young man's voice was not very loud. However, Yu'er, who was nestled in his grandfather's arms, vaguely heard him. He shivered and sat up straighter in his grandfather's embrace, pointing towards the outside of the temple and exclaiming loudly, "Daddy!"
After speaking, the little one ignored his stunned grandfather, struggled to stand up from his embrace, and ran towards the temple entrance, shouting, "Daddy, Daddy!"
His soft, childish voice was like a gentle breeze that touched everyone's heart. Both the young man and the young woman heard Yu'er's call. The young woman thought she was hallucinating, and her tears flowed even more freely.
But the young man, through the misty rain, saw the small figure at the temple entrance waving at him. Tears immediately gushed out, and he called out to his son in a trembling voice, "Yu'er."
"Daddy," Yu'er, receiving his father's response, called out even louder. If Fu Xin Ci hadn't promptly caught up and held onto his clothes, the little one would have already run out.
At this moment, the young woman also saw the two children standing at the temple entrance. Her suppressed tears poured down, "Ci'er, Yu'er, my darlings."
"Mommy, Mommy," Yu'er's tear-filled eyes widened even further. His little feet bounced up and down restlessly. If his sister hadn't held him tightly, he would have already dashed out on his short legs to embrace his parents tightly and never let go.
Meng Qingping, standing behind the two children, watched the young couple drive the donkey cart towards them in the heavy rain, tears also streaming down his face. "Yu'er..." He never dreamed that heaven would be so kind to him; his son was alive, and his daughter-in-law was also alive.
At this moment, Meng Qingping truly understood what it meant to be alive.
"Father," Fu Yu, looking at his father's graying hair, choked up.
"Good, good, good, you..." Meng Qing said three "good"s in a trembling voice and could say no more.
Before Fu Yu could finish tying down the donkey cart, Fang Xiaoyun scrambled down herself and ran towards them with unsteady steps.
Once her slender body enveloped the two children, she could no longer hold back and sobbed uncontrollably. No one knew how terrified she had been these past few days.
She worried about her children. As she and her husband traveled north in pursuit, they inquired everywhere. Any news of their children, even a single word, would make her secretly weep.
She had lost count of how many times she had cried.
"Mommy," Yu'er nestled tightly in his mother's embrace, holding her neck and refusing to let go.
"Yes," At this moment, Fang Xiaoyun truly and genuinely felt the two children in her arms. The joy of finding what was lost, tightly enveloped her.
Although Fu Xin Ci felt a bit awkward, she didn't dislike Fang Xiaoyun's embrace and didn't struggle, allowing herself to be held.
After Fu Yu finished tying down the donkey cart and walked into the dilapidated temple, the first thing he did was lift his robe and kneel to Meng Qingping, kowtowing. "Father, your son has caused you worry."
"It's nothing, it's good that you're all here." Meng Qing reached out and pulled his son up from the ground. He held his son's slightly cool hand and was reluctant to let go for a long time.
The family's reunion was something they would all remember for a lifetime. Especially Fang Xiaoyun, who held the two children in her arms and never let go.
This scene made several young children in the dilapidated temple extremely envious, and they all followed suit, leaning into their mothers' embraces.
However, Ke'er also wanted to do the same, but her mother's gaze stopped her from approaching.
At this moment, all outsiders were superfluous. Jiang Tou'er and the others wisely kept their distance.
Without his father asking, Fu Yu, after embracing the two children, sat beside his father and recounted the entire sequence of events.
"The water kept rising, and I feared the embankment would break, so I told the yamen runners to quickly escort the villagers repairing the dam away. At that time..." Fu Yu didn't say that because of the continuous travel and exhaustion, his wife's body was too weak to walk. He had to half-drag, half-carry her to higher ground.