Jian Yi immediately crawled in, pushing aside leaves at the cave entrance as she entered.
Being small, Jian Yi, with sheer willpower, quickly squeezed inside. It was much more spacious in there, but pitch black, rendering everything invisible.
Just as Fu Chen was fumbling around, a light flickered on. Fu Chen looked at the child in surprise. Jian Yi held a lighter in her hand.
"I picked it up, it fell from those people," Jian Yi explained.
Fu Chen looked at the little girl with surprise. "You're quite clever."
Jian Yi shook her head. "I just want to go home to my mom."
To find her mother, she would do everything to her advantage.
Fu Chen pursed his lips and remained silent. He took the lighter, reignited it, and swept his gaze across the cave. He discovered it was filled with many chestnuts. It appeared to be a squirrel's larder.
They had crawled into a squirrel's pantry.
Jian Yi noticed it too and immediately ran over, picked one up, bit into it, and said, "It's edible."
Fu Chen was also starving. He could no longer care about anything else. He rushed over, grabbed some chestnuts, and the two of them ate quickly, driven by hunger.
Feeling they had eaten enough, he finally stopped. He wondered when he, the young master of the prestigious Fu family, had ever been this down and out.
As he was feeling dejected, Jian Yi offered him a small piece of steamed bun.
"Brother, you eat," Jian Yi said, holding a small, white steamed bun in her hand.
"Where did you get that?" Fu Chen asked, looking at her with some surprise.
"I hid it. I have a few more. Eat it quickly, you need to regain your strength. After eating, we'll sleep. They probably won't be able to find us," Jian Yi said, thrusting the bun into Fu Chen's hand.
Fu Chen was starving. His stomach was not satisfied by the raw chestnuts. Looking at this carbohydrate, he desperately wanted to devour it in one bite.
But he shook his head. "I won't eat it first. You eat."
"No, brother eats. If we want to escape, we two must cooperate," Jian Yi said, looking at him with firm resolve.
Fu Chen swallowed hard. He didn't care that the bun was already soiled by his hand. He ate the small bun in two bites.
Seeing this, Jian Yi ate her small portion of the bun as well. After eating, she was so sleepy that she lay down on the ground and fell asleep.
Fu Chen was also tired, especially now that his stomach felt a little better. He leaned against the wall, held Jian Yi close, and let her sleep with her head on his lap.
Jian Yi's guess was correct. Less than half an hour later, the traffickers discovered that she and Fu Chen were missing. The traffickers immediately became alert. Only one person was left to guard the remaining children, while the rest began to pursue Fu Chen and Jian Yi.
Especially after learning that the missing children were two rather important individuals, the traffickers became even more frenzied in their search.
They had expected to recapture the children easily, but even after more than a dozen people searched all night, they couldn't find any trace of the two.
The person in charge was so anxious his eyes were practically burning. "I don't believe it, two living people can just vanish into thin air. Keep searching, those two little brats must be hiding! If all else fails, set the mountain on fire!"
"That's absolutely not an option. This is our lair. If we burn it, where will we find such a good hiding place? Wouldn't that be exposing ourselves?" someone objected.
The others agreed. The person in charge was just anxious. If he couldn't account for these two children, he wouldn't be able to explain himself to his superiors!
"Keep searching. Even if we have to dig up this entire mountain, we must find those two brats. Once found, we'll break their legs!"