Grandmother Sang’s heart tightened, and she glared at him again. “You old fool, what nonsense are you talking about? What could we possibly be hiding from you?”
Cowed by his wife’s glare, Grandfather Sang shrank back slightly, even lowering his voice.
“I was just saying.”
“Who knows if you’re all sneaking off to eat something delicious without me?”
Grandmother Sang exchanged a glance with Gu Jianing, both of them torn between laughter and exasperation.
Due to health issues, Grandfather Sang had to avoid certain foods and typically ate a light diet. But he had a sweet tooth and would sometimes sneak treats. Whenever Grandmother Sang caught him, she would scold him. And whenever she ate something he couldn’t have, he would stare at her longingly, like an old child—it often left her at a loss between laughter and frustration.
“Fine, if you want to come so badly, then come along,” Grandmother Sang finally relented.
Grandfather Sang immediately perked up.
She should have agreed long ago. Hmph, no way was he going to let them leave him behind to sneak off and eat good food.
But…
Actually, Grandfather Sang’s muttering hadn’t been without reason.
He just felt that his wife and grandson seemed to be hiding something from him.
His intuition was rarely wrong.
This trip to Yangcheng probably had some other purpose.
So he was determined to go along and find out.
But…
“Xingxing, come here.”
After Grandmother Sang and Gu Jianing had gone off to attend to their own matters, Grandfather Sang called Xingxing, who had just returned from school, over to a corner.
“Xingxing, do you know why your great-grandma and your parents are taking you all to Yangcheng?”
Xingxing looked at his great-grandfather and said, “Mom said we’re going to visit the Canton Fair.”
The Canton Fair?
Yes, that was what his wife and grandson’s wife had said.
“Is that all? Nothing else?”
“Xingxing, you’re the closest to your great-grandfather. I’m always good to you, right? You wouldn’t lie to your great-grandfather, would you?”
Xingxing: …
That’s not true, Great-Grandfather. The person I’m closest to is Mom.
Still…
Xingxing knew that Great-Grandfather was also very, very good to him.
Actually, Xingxing had been told beforehand not to mention anything about Grandma because Great-Grandfather had high blood pressure.
So naturally, Xingxing didn’t dare to reveal it.
But he also felt it wasn’t right to say nothing at all.
Xingxing thought, maybe he could share just a little.
He figured that while Great-Grandfather did have high blood pressure, knowing a little bit probably wouldn’t hurt.
Besides, it might be good for him to be mentally prepared.
What if they ran into Grandma during the trip to Yangcheng?
Wouldn’t that be too much of a shock?
Xingxing thought this reasoning made sense.
So, under Grandfather Sang’s expectant gaze, Xingxing leaned in and whispered, “I’ll tell you, Great-Grandfather, but you have to promise not to let anyone else know. And don’t say I told you.”
Grandfather Sang: I only asked casually—I didn’t expect there to actually be something going on.
“Alright, I promise. Go ahead.”
“Okay. This time, Dad and Great-Grandma are going to Yangcheng to find someone.”
Find someone?
“Who?”
Xingxing covered his mouth with both hands and shook his head, indicating he wouldn’t say.
Grandfather Sang: Well, that’s that, I suppose.
Xingxing said nothing more and ran off.
Having gotten this much out of him, Grandfather Sang didn’t press further.
Looking for someone… but who could it be?
He couldn’t recall them having any friends in Yangcheng.
After thinking for a while and coming up with nothing, he decided to let it go.
Oh well, since he was going along anyway, he’d find out when they got there.
—
After Sheng Zexi secured time off, they packed their bags simply and headed to the airport, ready to depart for Yangcheng.
But at the airport, they ran into someone who was both unexpected and yet not entirely surprising.
“What are you doing here?” Sheng Zexi raised an eyebrow at Sheng Xinhao, who stood before him with a guard carrying luggage behind him.
Sheng Xinhao replied matter-of-factly, “Since you’re all going, I, as… naturally, I should go too.”
He hesitated when he saw Grandfather and Grandmother Sang, swallowing the rest of his sentence.
Sheng Zexi sneered inwardly. As what? As his mother’s husband?
Hadn’t this man remarried just a year after his mother “died”?
Now he was pretending to be devoted?
Besides, back then, his mother’s “death”…
If this man had seen through that man Henry’s scheme, his mother wouldn’t have been “dead” for over a decade.
So naturally, Sheng Zexi wasn’t about to give him a warm welcome.
But if he wanted to tag along, Sheng Zexi wouldn’t stop him.
And so, Sheng Xinhao boarded the plane with them.
The others understood why Sheng Xinhao was coming along.
But Grandfather Sang was bewildered.
Why was this old fellow following them?
Like a shadow.
Still, he didn’t dwell on it, assuming Sheng Xinhao simply wanted to mend his relationship with his grandson.
Hmph, what good was that now?
When Xiao Xi was young and needed him, where was he?
He remarried and treated Xiao Xi poorly.
If only A Wan were alive—she’d give this man a piece of her mind!
But alas, his A Wan…
Gone at such a young age.
He knew it wasn’t entirely Sheng Xinhao’s fault. After all, Sheng Xinhao had tried to stop A Wan from going.
She was the one who insisted.
Ah, it was all fate.
Perhaps thinking of his daughter, who had passed too soon, Grandfather Sang’s mood also grew somber.
After a few hours of flying, the plane landed in Yangcheng.
Given their group’s status, their travel had to be reported in advance.
So, before their arrival, the local government in Yangcheng had already been notified.
As soon as they stepped off the plane, they were greeted by government officials from Yangcheng,
who arranged for them to stay at a top-tier hotel
and provided attendants to assist them.
After settling in, the children, exhausted from the flight,
fell asleep on the beds.
Sheng Zexi went out with his father, Sheng Xinhao, to discuss how to search for Sang Yuwen in Yangcheng.
Gu Jianing stayed in the room, unpacking their luggage while keeping an eye on the three sleeping children.
In her spare time, she browsed the system mall, searching for anything that might help locate her mother-in-law.
In fact, ever since she first suspected that her mother-in-law might still be alive, she had started looking through the system mall.
But the mall had so many items that she had to sift through them one by one.
She hadn’t found anything in the past few days.
But she didn’t give up.
Now that she had some time, she resumed her search.
She had thought this attempt would also come up empty.
But unexpectedly, as she browsed, she actually found something.
“Mother-Child Locator?”
Gu Jianing read the description of the so-called Mother-Child Locator. Just as its name suggested, it was designed for use between mother and child.
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