Mother Yan fell silent. He had convinced her.
Who could have imagined the boomerang would come back this way?
If she had known earlier, she would have...
Eh? It seemed that even if she had known earlier, she could not have changed anything. Never mind, then.
She let out a slow sigh. "Where did Dad get so much energy back then, running all over the country?"
The note in her hand listed more than a dozen addresses, all places whose locations could be clearly identified from the pile of paintings Old Master Yan had left behind.
Yan Yi'an still had a mountain of work at the company and truly could not get away. Retired Father Yan and Mother Yan were better suited for this task instead.
"We've already been to three places, and found nothing at all," Mother Yan said.
Father Yan comforted her. "Didn't Yi'an say we should just treat this as a trip? If we find clues, then we're lucky. If we don't, it's no big deal. This was only a guess to begin with."
Mother Yan shook her head. Today, she was not wearing the Chinese-style dresses she usually favored, so naturally she had not brought a round fan as an accessory.
Holding a small portable fan in one hand, she nodded. "A guess always involves an element of gambling. You're right, but I still hope we can make some progress. I don't want to keep deceiving Xian Jue."
Seeing his wife relax a little, Father Yan teased, "Anyway, that child won't settle the score with you. The ones who ought to be on guard are Yi'an and Yan Ci."
Mother Yan considered it. That possibility really was not small.
But when she spoke, she narrowed down the scope more precisely.
"Xian Jue has always been considerate