"Young Madam, Young Madam! Where are you going?" Chen Ma, just out of the kitchen, saw her rushing out and hurried to stop her.
Su Su had never been so scared. She wanted to get past Chen Ma and stammered, "I... I'm going to find Tianyi... He can't be hurt, he can't be!"
"What could have happened to Young Master?" Chen Ma asked, confused.
"He, I don't know... Don't stop me, I need to go to the train station, right now..." Su Su started looking for car keys.
Chen Ma followed her, not understanding what had suddenly come over her. She quickly called Xiao Mei and asked her to find the two bodyguards waiting outside.
Su Su finally remembered the car keys hanging on the wall near the door. She grabbed a set of keys and was about to head to the train station.
Chen Ma anxiously said, "Young Madam, where exactly are you going to find Young Master? And you want to take a train? But how can you travel by train dressed like this? You still need to bring changes of clothes, toiletries..."
"No need, there's no time. I have to find him quickly." Su Su had already rushed to the door, only to be stopped by the two bodyguards Xiao Mei had called.
Su Su became angry, "What do you think you're doing? Get out of the way! If you don't move, I'll fire all of you!"
Seeing that she couldn't be stopped, Chen Ma signaled to the two bodyguards and said with a hint of grievance, "Young Madam, please calm down. I'm thinking of you and the child in your belly. No matter what has happened to Young Master, he wouldn't want you to be in danger. If you must go find him, can you at least change your clothes and bring some essentials?"
Su Su calmed down a little and said, "Alright, I'll go change and pack some luggage."
With that, she immediately went upstairs, silently repeating, Tianyi, please be alright, and you absolutely must be alright!
Before leaving, Su Su worriedly instructed Chen Ma and Xiao Mei, "I'm entrusting Xiao Xing to you. Also, please keep your phones on 24 hours a day. If Tianyi calls your phones, inform me immediately."
Chen Ma and Xiao Mei repeatedly agreed. They still didn't know what had happened to Young Master, but they could sense it was something major, otherwise Young Madam wouldn't be so anxious and out of sorts.
Upon arriving at the train station, Su Su and the two bodyguards bought tickets at the last minute. After boarding, she noticed there were very few people in their carriage.
She then checked her phone and saw several missed calls and over a dozen text messages from Su Kangxi. It seemed Chen Ma had told Su Kangxi about her going to Eshan County.
She replied to Su Kangxi with just one message, "With such a big incident, I have to go find him."
At that moment, Su Su noticed a girl in her early twenties sitting opposite her, who had been crying. Su Su handed her a tissue.
The girl said thank you, but then couldn't control her sobs and cried uncontrollably.
Su Su asked, "What's wrong? If you need any help, please tell me."
The girl choked back her tears and shook her head, "My boyfriend might be in trouble... He was supposed to graduate this year. He said he wanted to go to the mountains to teach and train himself... I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. Before he went to teach in Eshan County, he proposed to me, saying we'd finalize our marriage after he returned from teaching. I was angry then and didn't agree, saying we'd talk about it after his teaching trip... But I never expected... I never expected that the village primary school where he was teaching was hit by a mudslide... I regret it so much, will he..."
Su Su immediately interrupted her, "He won't, he definitely won't be hurt!"
The girl, with red eyes, looked at Su Su and asked, "Will he still be alive?"
"He will definitely be alive. You will get married, have children, and live happily ever after." Su Su was comforting the girl, giving her hope, and also comforting herself.
The girl stopped crying, and hope returned to her eyes, "You're right, I shouldn't be so pessimistic. He's strong and good at sports. He'll be fine."
...
They arrived in Eshan County town late at night. They were led by specific personnel to an open area in the town.
The open space was brightly lit. Many family members who had heard the news had rushed over, so staff members assigned to comfort them had set up several open-air temporary tents. Su Su frantically searched for information among the tents, but most people didn't know the situation on the mountain.
These arriving family members were either friends of people working at the orphanage or relatives of villagers from the two villages.
They only heard that rescue teams and medical teams had gone up the mountain on foot, but there was no other concrete news.
The two bodyguards helped Su Su find a vacant spot in a tent for her to rest.
Su Su sat down and drank some water. She realized the girl she met on the train had gone to another tent, and they had gotten separated.
At this point, several people in rescue uniforms came around the tents, asking if there were any strong young people who could go up the mountain to help with the rescue.
Many young people stood up, willing to go with the rescue team. Su Su saw the girl also voluntarily join the rescue personnel.
She stood up, wanting to sign up for the rescue.
The two bodyguards stopped her. One said, "Mrs. Qin, you cannot go. You are pregnant, and walking on mountain paths blocked by rocks at night is very dangerous. You wait here. I will go with them. If there is any news about Mr. Qin, we will contact you immediately."
The other bodyguard echoed, "What if Mr. Qin is fine and comes down from the mountain, but something happens to you, Madam? We truly wouldn't be able to explain it."
Su Su touched her slightly bulging belly and did not insist. She nodded in agreement, saying, "Then, after you go up the mountain with them, as soon as you find Mr. Qin, contact me immediately."
"Don't worry," this bodyguard said, joining the rescue team.
Su Su sat down again. Fortunately, she had brought a blanket and two thick clothes. She gave the blanket to the bodyguard accompanying her.
She put on another thick coat herself and leaned in a corner of the tent, waiting for news.
Others in the tent were also too worried to sleep, discussing various unverified rumors.
"Did you hear? Many children from the orphanage were washed away by the mudslide. Some are missing, some are dead. It's such a pity for them to be gone."
"But I heard the most severely affected were the two villages built on the mountainside. The mudslide swept down and directly submerged the villages..."
Su Su listened, her heart pounding. She wrapped herself tighter in her thick coat, praying that neither the orphanage children, nor the villagers, nor Tianyi and Xiao Anjing would be harmed, and that everyone would be safe!
She could only stuff her ears, not wanting to listen to these fear-mongering words, as if only by transferring their anxiety to others could they themselves feel less anxious. It was truly immoral.
She quietly gazed at the distant mountains, dozing off for a short while in the latter half of the night.