After picking up the phone, Cai meiwen immediately heard little celery’s voice. Although the tone of the voice had changed after being transmitted, how could she not recognize her daughter’s voice?
She knew that she should be patient and calm. She shouldn’t yell at her daughter. Even an adult like her was frightened in the face of a Typhoon, and this was only the edge of the typhoon, let alone an elementary school student like her daughter. However, she was too anxious and eager to know her daughter’s condition. The worry, panic, despair, and regret from before were like an uncontrollable volcano eruption, and they were released in an instant.
She scared her daughter so much that she couldn’t speak. A strange male voice took the phone and told her where little celery was.
A pet shop?
She remembered the cartoon-shaped pet shop on the route map. At first, the logo of the Pet Shop was a cat head, but later, when she cleaned up her daughter’s room, she found the map that was no longer needed. She found that little celery had been adding details to the route map, even adding colors, such as where a new snack shop was opened, and where people often walked their dogs on the road when they went to school. The logo of the Pet Shop had also changed from a cat’s head to a rabbit’s head. The rabbit ears were easy to recognize, and there was a red carrot drawn next to it.
She didn’t think much of it at the time. She smiled and put the map back in its original place.
She couldn’t completely trust the strange man who answered the phone. There were too many perverts in the world. She couldn’t be completely at ease until she saw her daughter safe and sound with her own eyes.
Little celery didn’t have a cell phone, but in order to prevent her from getting lost, she wore a children’s GPS watch on her wrist, which allowed her to check the time. Cai meiwen had checked it several times today, but the app always showed that it was busy and couldn’t connect to the server. She didn’t know if it was because of the poor network signal or because too many parents were logging in at the same time. Otherwise, she would have known little celery’s location long ago.
She was usually not a rude and violent person, but she acted like a middle-aged woman with a gunpowder barrel on the phone. Because she was a single mother with no one to rely on, she could only pretend to be rude and unreasonable, like a female cat that would explode at any time, to better protect herself and her daughter. After all, society was sometimes unreasonable.
Cai meiwen’s mood calmed down a little. At least, from her daughter’s voice, she didn’t sound like she was injured or abused. After she relaxed, her whole body began to hurt. Her calves had been soaking in the cold, dirty water, and she had a faint cramp. The soles of her feet must have been worn out. She was already very lucky that she didn’t step on broken glass. What made her even more uneasy was that there seemed to be something with scales sliding across her calves. She could only pray that it was a fish that had escaped from the fish pond. It was not a snake or other animals.
She put the phone back into the plastic bag and changed her route, taking a shortcut to the Pet Shop.
She had slipped and fallen countless times, and the water was getting stronger and stronger. It was still slightly better for her to hold on to the wall and walk. The branches that were blown down by the strong wind kept hitting her body and head. Some of the branches were even as thick as her arms. Fortunately, she was quick to react and dodged her head, only hitting her shoulder. The thin branches scratched a few bloody marks on her face. Otherwise, she might have been knocked unconscious on the spot and then washed away by the water. She might have even been washed into the sea …
There were a lot fewer people on the streets. Many people chose to take refuge nearby. Many cars were abandoned in the middle of the road, probably because their engines had died due to water, and the owners were missing.
She even saw a Mini floating in the road like a toy, washed by the filthy water, and finally blocked by another abandoned car.
Dongcheng Area was an Laocheng District, and the infrastructure was relatively backward. Some low-lying areas had accumulated a deep pool of water, which might be one or two meters deep or even deeper. She saw a couple-like couple squatting on the roof of the car at a loss. The car’s sunroof was open, but the engine had died long ago. The water had not passed through the windshield wipers. As long as a wave hit, they would be washed away along with the car.
They probably didn’t have much driving experience and were unfamiliar with the nearby terrain. All they wanted to do was to drive home as soon as possible. They followed an off-road vehicle or SUV in front of them, but the vehicle’s chassis was high, so they were trapped when they drove through the depression.
There were more than two people who were trapped like this. They could be seen in almost every low-lying area.
Cai meiwen didn’t have the time or the mood to care about other people’s business. She walked mechanically in the direction of the Pet Shop, wondering why little celery didn’t listen to the teacher and go home after school, but went to the Pet Shop instead. Although the result seemed to be a good thing, it was a matter of principle. This time, she was lucky, but she might not be so lucky next time. She might even end up in a Tiger’s Den.
So, when she saw that little celery was safe and sound in the Pet Shop, she was relieved and immediately began to blame little celery for not listening to the teacher.
Little celery was still immersed in the joy of seeing her mother again, but she didn’t expect her mother to suddenly turn hostile and speak in a very stern tone. Usually, her mother would only be like this when she made a very serious mistake.
She didn’t know how to answer. There were many things she wanted to say, but the more anxious she was, the more she couldn’t say them. The more she didn’t speak, the worse her mother’s expression became.
It was Zhang Zian who spoke up for little celery,””Ms. Cai, don’t worry. You’ll scare her. Let me explain. I suggested that she stay here to take refuge because I heard that there was no one at home. In such bad weather, I think it’s very dangerous to let a child go home alone.”
The shop assistants also tried to prove that the weather had worsened very quickly and the traffic was extremely chaotic. They should not have let the child go home alone.
How could Cai meiwen not know the situation at that time? however, there was still a thorn in her heart-the key point of her struggle was why her daughter agreed to his suggestion? Where was the daughter who was usually very alert to strangers? If she agreed to any random stranger’s invitation to take shelter from the rain, how could Cai meiwen be at ease letting her go to and from school alone?
As the saying goes, no one knows their daughter better than their mother, and no one knows their mother better than their daughter. After all, she was a close-fitting cotton-padded jacket.
Little celery guessed what Cai meiwen was thinking earlier than anyone else. She finally mustered up her courage and said,””Mom … I’m sorry, there’s something I didn’t tell you. Brother store manager is my friend, not a stranger, so … So I came here to take shelter from the rain …”
The more she spoke, the softer her voice became. In the end, it was so soft that it could barely be heard.
“I wanted to tell mom a long time ago, but she was very busy and tired. I couldn’t find a suitable opportunity to tell her, and I was afraid that she would scold me after telling her …”
