On the other side, far away in the Luo Family residence in Ningzhou City.
"Father, what did you say?"
Luo Shiyan was surprised to hear his father's words.
"Where are you going? Perhaps I should go in your place."
He didn't think he could handle Lady Qian at that time.
Not to mention, his status in this family was low.
When the time came, his wife and children would stand with his mother, how could he deal with that?
No, he couldn't handle it, it would be better for his father to go instead.
After all, he was always away from home throughout the year, no one would question him much.
His father was usually with Lady Qian, but if he suddenly left for ten days or half a month, how could he make excuses for that?
He couldn't handle it.
"Tsk." Hearing this, Luo Juan's face darkened, and he slapped Luo Shiyan on the head.
He couldn't handle even a trivial matter, what use was a son to him? Just like what he had told his daughter-in-law, he was as useless as a daughter.
Thinking of this, Luo Juan's expression became gloomy.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, just be reliable," he said with a frown.
Little did he expect that before Luo Shiyan could speak, Lady Qian's voice rang out.
"Back soon? Where are you going?"
Hearing this voice, Luo Juan was stunned, and Luo Shiyan stiffened, immediately being pointed at by his father.
That look seemed to say, 'I knew you couldn't handle it, you couldn't even keep your voice down and pay attention, now she's here and you don't even know.'
"Ahem, my lady, why did you come out? The wind is strong outside, be careful of catching a cold."
Seeing Luo Juan changing the subject, Lady Qian frowned, looking at him and then at Luo Shiyan.
"What were you two talking about just now? Where are you going?"
At first, there was nothing unusual, but seeing Luo Juan trying to change the subject, she felt something was amiss and couldn't help but furrow her brow.
Her voice, like Luo Ge's, was soft and gentle, but those familiar with her knew she was becoming serious.
Seeing this, Luo Shiyan instinctively turned to look at Luo Juan.
"My lady..." Luo Juan opened his mouth, but before he could try to divert her attention again, Lady Qian interrupted him.
"I'm asking you, where are you going!"
Luo Juan had never hidden anything from her, except matters concerning Nuo Nuo.
Seeing this situation, she seemed to have realized something, and her emotions became uncontrollable, her usually gentle face showing anger.
Luo Shiyan fell silent upon seeing this, shrinking his head and not daring to speak, turning to look at his father.
"Alas." Luo Juan opened his mouth when he saw her like this, but in the end, he could only sigh.
He knew he couldn't hide it from her.
"Did you find a lead? Did you get some news about her?"
Looking at him, Lady Qian's eyes reddened, and she choked out her words, her trembling hand gripping his arm.
Hearing this, Luo Shiyan was puzzled, looking blankly at his father. He had only heard his father say that he was going out for a while and asked him to help deal with his mother and the others.
As for the specifics, his father had brushed him off with a 'you can't keep your mouth shut, don't ask too much.'
Now, hearing Lady Qian's words, he seemed to understand what was going on, and he too looked at his father with a dazed expression.
Seeing Lady Qian's reaction, Luo Juan couldn't bear it any longer and had to tell the truth since he couldn't hide it.
"Yes, I got some news. They found out that a hot pot restaurant suddenly became popular somewhere, so I thought I'd go and take a look."
"I didn't mean to hide it from you, I just didn't know the exact situation yet, and I was afraid it would turn out to be nothing and get your hopes up for no reason..."
Before he could finish his words, he felt the hot tears rolling down onto his hand, and he couldn't help but take a deep breath and sigh.
"I'll take you with me, let's go together, don't cry anymore."
Hearing his words, Lady Qian nodded, tears rolling down her face as she smiled, unable to tell if she was crying or laughing.
"Can we leave immediately? Let's go now."
Her trembling voice couldn't conceal her excitement.
"...Alright." Seeing her like this, Luo Juan sighed and nodded.
He hoped the heavens would open their eyes and let them find her.
Over these years, she had suffered enough, more than enough to atone for anything.
Hearing this, Luo Shiyan didn't come back to his senses until after the couple had left, turning blankly towards the direction of the Buddha hall.
Recalling the small memorial tablet in the Buddha hall.
Were they going to find his sister?
Had they finally found her?
Others might not know about this, but he knew. When his sister went missing those years ago, he already had memories of it.
It was him and his father who accompanied his mother in burying his sister, and it was him and his mother who witnessed her disappearance from the coffin with their own eyes.
Just like a wisp of smoke, his sister lying in the coffin gradually became transparent until she completely vanished without a trace.
He remembered his mother acting as if she had heard something at that time, choking out the words that his sister was not dead, that she had gone back.
He didn't know where his mother meant by 'gone back,' but over the years, from the occasional words of his parents, he had pieced together some answers.
He knew his mother was different from them, and the place his sister went might have been where his mother came from before arriving here.
His mother said his sister would come back.
He believed her.
He too hoped his sister could return.
He had held his soft, chubby sister before, and he wanted to hear her call him 'brother.'
This time, they would be able to bring his sister back, right?
They had to.
They had waited for her for twenty-two long years, she surely couldn't bear to make them wait any longer.
