“Yes!” Sheng Zexi gave a firm answer.
“But back then, I watched your mother take her last breath with my own eyes.”
Gu Jianing responded, “Under certain conditions, or under the influence of medication, a person can fall into a state of false death.”
Sheng Xinhao’s heart pounded wildly.
He could hear the frantic beating of his own heart.
His breathing became rapid.
His eyes gleamed brightly in the night.
He looked at Sheng Zexi and asked, “So, what are you suggesting?”
Sheng Zexi voiced his speculation. “I’m thinking that although my mother was critically ill back then, that doctor named Henry probably could have cured her.”
“But for some reason, he didn’t.”
“Not only that, but he may have faked her death. Even though the person sent into the crematorium was my mother, the one actually cremated may not have been her.”
“My mother was likely taken away by that doctor named Henry, who then cured her of the infectious disease.”
Sheng Xinhao’s heart surged with excitement.
He paced back and forth in the living room. “Yes, yes, it has to be that. It has to be that.”
Sheng Zexi continued, “But why did that doctor named Henry take my mother away? And why didn’t she reappear in all these years?”
This was indeed a major question.
Gu Jianing offered a guess. “I’m thinking… maybe Mother lost her memory.”
“Lost her memory?!” Sheng Zexi and Sheng Xinhao exclaimed in unison.
Gu Jianing nodded. “Yes, amnesia. Otherwise, how could we explain why she never came back? I think if she still had her memories, she wouldn’t have been able to stay away.”
Sheng Xinhao nodded. Yes, if A Wan had remembered everything, how could she have abandoned Axi… and him.
But then, it struck Sheng Xinhao—he had remarried just a year after A Wan’s death.
If A Wan came back and regained her memories, wouldn’t she be deeply disappointed in him?
At that thought, Sheng Xinhao’s heart turned cold.
Still…
Sheng Xinhao pushed the thought aside. That was something to deal with later.
What mattered now was confirming whether A Wan was truly alive.
Her being alive was the most important thing.
Then, the three of them began analyzing where Sang Yuwen might be now, assuming the woman Xingxing saw today was indeed her.
“Xingxing met her at the airport.”
“And A Wan was with that A Country man named Henry.”
“So is it possible that they just arrived in China on a flight from A Country? And that they landed around the same time as Xiao Gu’s brother’s flight?” Sheng Xinhao was sharp and quickly pieced this together.
Gu Jianing and Sheng Zexi nodded, agreeing that his reasoning was sound.
The woman named A Wan had also given Xingxing a pack of biscuits with A Country labeling.
It was highly likely they had come from A Country.
“So all these years, Mother never returned because she was in A Country,” Gu Jianing continued.
Regardless of the reason she had stayed in A Country,
the fact was that she had been there for over a decade, which was why she never came back.
And now, for some reason, she had returned from A Country.
“I’ll contact the airport staff right now. I’ll have them check today’s flights from A Country and see if there’s a passenger named A Wan or Henry!” Sheng Xinhao became energized.
“Alright.”
They had to investigate.
No matter what, they had to get to the bottom of this.
If they left things unresolved like this, both father and son might never find peace in their lives.
Now that everything had been said, Sheng Zexi and Gu Jianing prepared to leave.
“We’ll head back now. If you find out anything, give me a call,” Sheng Zexi said as they were about to go.
“Alright.”
With that, Sheng Zexi took Gu Jianing and left the old residence.
Back at the residence, Sheng Xinhao immediately contacted someone to help him get in touch with airport staff and look up the passenger information for the flights arriving from Country A that day.
Given Sheng Xinhao’s status and connections, it was easy for him to find information on people.
So, not long after Sheng Zexi and Gu Jianing returned to the courtyard house,
Sheng Xinhao called.
Sheng Zexi answered the phone.
On the other end, Sheng Xinhao’s voice was full of excitement.
“Axi, I found them, I found them.”
“They did come from Country A, just as we thought, on that exact flight.”
“Among the passengers on that flight, there was a man named Henry and a woman named Aviva.”
“And the airline staff mentioned that Henry would call Aviva ‘A Wan.’”
One A Wan, one Henry—it matched exactly what Xingxing had told them about the people he encountered.
The only issue was that there were no photos or surveillance footage, so they still couldn’t confirm whether A Wan was Sang Yuwen or whether Henry was the same doctor from the border back then.
“I have people looking into more details about these two, including where they are now.”
“But it might take some time.”
“Alright, I understand. Keep me updated.”
Sheng Zexi considered looking into it himself as well, but since the old man was already on it, he decided not to.
Even though the old man had retired,
with his connections and resources, he would definitely get results faster and more thoroughly than Sheng Zexi could.
Over at the old Sheng residence, Sheng Xinhao hung up the phone.
Despite his excitement, his expression turned somewhat grim.
Because the airline staff had mentioned that Henry and Aviva appeared to be husband and wife!
Husband and wife!
If that woman really was A Wan, then she was his wife!
Who did this Henry think he was?
If that doctor really had taken A Wan away, Sheng Xinhao felt like he could tear Henry apart.
That night, Sheng Xinhao sat alone on the living room sofa, staring at the photo album, unable to sleep.
“A Wan, is it really you? Are you still alive?”
“What really happened back then?”
“If it is you, why haven’t you come back all these years?”
“If it really is you, how have you been all this time? And why have you returned now?”
“Do you still remember me? If you found out I remarried just a year after you left, would you blame me?”
“A Wan, A Wan…”
Sheng Xinhao sat there, from the dead of night until dawn broke.
He turned to look outside.
Daylight had come, but there was still no news.
Left with no choice, Sheng Xinhao could only wait.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when suddenly, the phone rang.
Sheng Xinhao immediately got up to answer it.
A voice came through from the other end.
“Sir, all the information on Henry and A Wan has been found…”
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