423 The Secret About The Past 41 (2/2)
”Miss, you're not that old yourself either, are you?”
”I'm not very young actually. I'm already 29 years old.”
”Twenty-nine? You barely look a day over 23, seriously. You look so young and pretty. I thought you were about my daughter's age. She's 23 years old this year.”
Twenty-nine isn't that old either… An Xiaoning thought to herself.
Soon, they arrived at Mrs. Bu's doorstep. An Xiaoning took a look to see that it was a house made of stones and rocks piled atop one another.
”Auntie, did you use to live near the beach too?”
”Yes. We moved here to the mountains ever since the tsunami. Although it's a remote area and pretty hard to get around, it's at least safer here. We lived in a tent when we first settled down here. Not long after, my husband and I began moving stones and rocks here one by one to build a house. We still have two more rooms to build actually, but my arm is injured…”
An Xiaoning took a look around the dilapidated house, which did not even have a proper bathroom.
”You may leave the things here.”
An Xiaoning removed the bag from her shoulders and put it down onto the ground.
”Miss, come in and have a seat. Thank you so much.”
”It's alright, I'll take my leave first.”
”No worries, don't be in such a hurry to go. Come in and have a seat. Take a rest before you go,” Mrs. Bu insisted, dragging her into the stone house enthusiastically.
An Xiaoning had no choice but to sit down. She scanned her surroundings to see that there were no proper furniture in sight and there were several items scattered around the ground. The things in the house were poorly organized, with pots, pans, and crockery lying around. The entire place was extremely cluttered and seemed just like a warehouse.
This was what natural disasters brought to its poor victims.
An Xiaoning took the cup of water Mrs. Bu handed her and said, ”Thank you, Auntie.”
”I should be the one thanking you instead. But, are you searching alone for your brother?”
”Yes.”
Mrs. Bu sat down and said, ”Oh dear, it must be tough for such a pretty girl like you to be searching for your family alone in a foreign land. But you have to be very careful. There are more and more crooks around now because of how little people there are left here. I don't allow my daughter to go out at night either.”
”It's alright, I can defend myself. I've trained in martial arts,” An Xiaoning said smilingly.
”That's at least better, but you still ought to be on your guard at all times. It's not quite safe out there,” Mrs. Bu cautioned. There had been many people coming forth to search for missing persons, and they've actually come by on several occasions,” she added.
”I heard about that from the lady boss of the hotel inn. I even heard that someone is offering a hefty reward to find a missing person,” An Xiaoning said agitatedly.
”Yes, that's true. They're offering five million dollars! I've never seen so much money before. In fact, I've never even dared to imagine having that much money.”
”Five million? Who's the person they're looking for?” An Xiaoning asked, pretending to be shocked.
”I heard he's the young sir of some family,” Mrs. Bu said with a smile.
”This used to be a popular tourist attraction. There's bound to be many tourists, most of which come from wealthy families. The people who offered five million dollars must be searching for someone from an extremely wealthy family. His family must be worried sick. I can't even sleep well at night because my brother's missing, let alone those whose husbands and sons are missing.”
”Yeah, they must be worried sick and looking for him eagerly, but sadly, there's nothing much they can do. Are you living in an inn now?” Mrs. Bu asked.
”Yes, it costs 100 dollars a day.”
”That's so expensive!”
”It's not too bad. Um, Auntie, I shall take my leave now.” An Xiaoning stood up slowly and bade Mrs. Bu goodbye.
”Alright, be careful.” Mrs. Bu then sent her to the door.
An Xiaoning made her way down the mountain slowly.
Just as she left, Bu Xianxian and Jin Qingyan returned to the house.
”Mother, why are you standing there?”
”A kind-hearted lady saw that my arm was injured and offered to help me carry the things here. She just left not long ago. Where did you guys go to gather herbs?” Mrs. Bu asked.
”We went to the peak, but we've almost retrieved all the herbs there. I'm planning to go to another mountain tomorrow.”
Mrs. Bu turned around and said, ”Alright, it's up to you. Xianxian, come here and help me cook.”
”Okay!” Bu Xianxian said to Jin Qingyan smilingly, ”Nick, leave the herbs over there then go get some rest in the tent.”
Jin Qingyan nodded in agreement.
”You know, that lady just now was much older than you, but she was really gorgeous. She came here alone to search for her missing brother.”