After picking up the phone, Cai Meiwen immediately heard Little Celery's voice. Although the timbre of the voice had been altered by the transmission, how could she not recognize her daughter's voice?
She knew that she should be patient and not yell at her daughter. Even an adult like her would be frightened in front of a typhoon, and this was only the edge of a typhoon, let alone a primary school student like her. However, she was too anxious and anxious to know her daughter's condition. The worry, panic, despair, and regret from before were like an uncontrollable volcano eruption, and they were instantly released.
She scared her daughter so much that she couldn't speak. A strange male voice picked up the phone and told her Little Celery's location.
Pet shop?
She remembered the cartoon-style pet shop drawn on the road map. At first, the pet shop's logo was a cat's head, but later, when she was cleaning up her daughter's room, she found the road map that was no longer needed. She found that Little Celery had been adding things on the road map. She added a lot of details that weren't there at the beginning, and she even colored them. For example, a new snack bar had opened, and she also saw people walking their dogs on the way to school. The pet shop's logo had also been changed from a cat's head to a rabbit's head. The rabbit's ears were very easy to recognize, and there was also a red carrot next to it.
She didn't think much at that time. She smiled and put the road map back in its original place.
She couldn't completely trust the strange man who answered the phone. There were too many perverts in this world. Before seeing her daughter safe and sound with her own eyes, she couldn't be completely at ease.
Little Celery didn't have a mobile phone, but in order to prevent getting lost, she wore a children's GPS watch on her wrist, which could conveniently check the time. However, Cai Meiwen had checked the app several times today. She didn't know whether it was because the network signal was too bad, or because there were too many parents logging in at the same time, but the app was always busy and could not connect to the server. Otherwise, she would have known Little Celery's location.
She was usually not a rude and irascible person, but on the phone, she behaved like a middle-aged auntie. Because she was a helpless single mother, she could only pretend to be rude and unruly, like a female cat that would explode at any time. Only then could she better protect herself and her daughter. After all, this society was sometimes unreasonable.
Cai Meiwen felt a little calmer. At least her daughter's voice didn't sound like she was injured or abused. As soon as she relaxed, she began to feel pain all over her body. Her calves had been soaked in the cold sewage, and she had a faint cramp. The soles of her feet must have been abraded. She was 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 fish that escaped from the fish pond, not snakes or other animals.
She put the phone back into the plastic bag and put it in her bag. She changed her route and waded through the water in the direction of the pet shop.
From the beginning until now, she had slipped countless times. The current was getting stronger and stronger, and it was slightly better for her to walk while holding the wall. 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 an arm. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and avoided hitting her head, only hitting her shoulder. The thin branches scratched a few bloody scratches on her face. Otherwise, she might have fainted on the spot and then be washed away by the water, perhaps all the way to the sea …
There were a lot less people on the street. Many people chose to take refuge nearby. Many cars were abandoned in the middle of the road. Maybe the engine was turned off by the water, and the owners were nowhere to be found.
She even saw a Mini, washed by the surging sewage like a toy, floating in the driveway, and finally blocked and stuck by another abandoned car.
As an old city, the infrastructure in Dongcheng District was relatively backward. There were some low-lying areas with very deep water, maybe one or two meters or even more. She saw a couple who looked like a couple squatting on the roof of a car. The car's sunroof was open, and the engine had been turned off long ago. The water had already passed the windshield wipers, and if a wave came, they would be washed away together with the car.
They probably had no driving experience and were not familiar with the nearby terrain. They just wanted to drive home quickly, so they followed an SUV or SUV in front of them. As a result, the chassis of the SUV was high, and they were trapped when they waded through the low-lying areas.
There were more than two people who were trapped like this, and 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 from school. Although the result seemed to be a good thing, it was a matter of principle. This time, she was lucky, but next time, she might not be so lucky. She might even accidentally go into a tiger's den.
So, when she saw that Little Celery was safe and sound in the pet shop, she immediately began to ask Little Celery why she didn't listen to the teacher's words.
Little Celery was still immersed in the joy of meeting her mother. She didn't expect her mother to suddenly turn hostile and speak in a very strict tone. Usually, her mother would only act like this when she made a very serious mistake.
She didn't know how to answer. There were a lot of 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 more her mother's face became.
It was Zhang Zian who spoke up for Little Celery. "Ms. Cai, don't worry. You will scare her. Let me explain. I was the one who suggested for her to stay because I heard from her that there was no one at home. In such bad weather, I think it is very dangerous for a child to go home alone and stay at home.
The shop assistants also testified that the weather was deteriorating quickly, and the traffic on the streets was extremely chaotic. They really shouldn't have let a child go home alone.
How could Cai Meiwen not know the situation at that time? However, there was always a thorn in his heart. The key point of the dilemma was — why did his daughter agree to his suggestion? Where was her daughter, who was usually very vigilant towards strangers? If she agreed to a random stranger's invitation to take shelter from the rain, how could Cai Meiwen feel at ease letting her go to and from school alone?
As the saying goes, no one knows a daughter better than her mother, and conversely, no one knows a mother better than her daughter.
Little Celery guessed what Cai Meiwen was thinking earlier than anyone else. She finally plucked up her courage and said, "Mom … I'm sorry, there's something I haven't told 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 lower her voice became, and in the end, it was almost inaudible.
"I wanted to tell you a long time ago, but you were very busy and very tired. I couldn't find the right opportunity to tell you. After I told you, I was afraid that you would scold me …"
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