Oddly enough, she felt an air of melancholy surrounding her home.
Hai Xiaotangâs gaze flickered, then she rang the doorbell.
The door quickly swung open. The housemaid, Zhang Ma, lit up in surprise and delight at seeing Hai Xiaotang, âMiss, youâre back!â
Seeing her, Hai Xiaotang felt a sudden pang of distress.
Fighting back tears, she nodded, âYes Zhang Ma, Iâve returned!â
Zhang Ma, tears welling up in her eyes too, said, âMiss, itâs so good to have you back. But the old master⦠heâ¦â
âZhang Ma, I came back because I heard Grandpa disappeared! Why would he suddenly vanish? What happened?â Hai Xiaotang asked anxiously.
âWeâre not sure. All I know is that the day after young Master Dongfang came to see him, the old master drove away and never returned!â
Hai Xiaotang looked shocked, âYou mean, Dongfang Yu visited him and then he disappeared?â
Zhang Ma nodded, âYes. But there was a photo left in the old masterâs study room that none of us can understand.â
âWhat photo?!â
âYouâll know when you go to the study room, Miss.â
Hai Xiaotang immediately went to her grandfatherâs study and found a photo on his desk.
Picking it up in confusion, she was shocked to find she couldnât make out anything in the photo.
It was darker than night, as if it had been taken in a very dark place.
There was a faint outline of a person in the photo, but she couldnât tell who it was.
Hai Xiaotang was puzzled, âWhy would he leave this kind of photo behind?â
Zhang Ma shook her head: âWe donât know. No one knows what this photo represents.â
Hai Xiaotang asked again: âDo you know what Dongfang Yu came to see Grandpa about?â
Zhang Ma shook her head again: âWe donât know. The old master had asked young Master Dongfang about it, but he didnât say anything. The police have also investigated, but they havenât found anything.â
Hai Xiaotang felt a sudden twinge of fear.
She worried that Dongfang Yu still believed her grandfather had wronged their family, forcing her grandfather to disappear to conceal the truth.
This cannot continue. She needs to clear thing up; she canât let her grandfather carry these false charges.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Hai Xiaotang immediately took out her phone and dialed Dongfang Yuâs number.
Initially, she felt nervous and didnât know how to start the conversation, but his mobile phone was turned off.
She tried dialing his other number.
The number that was supposedly dedicated solely to her.
However, the call didnât go throughâ¦
Dongfang Yu had once said that this number was reserved for her, and she could reach him at any time.
But now, the fact that she couldnât get through meant that he had taken back his promise.
Perhaps, after she chose not to meet him that day, he had given up on her and decided to forget her.
Hai Xiaotang had anticipated this possibility long ago, so she was not too affected.
She felt a slight sense of confusion, though it didnât linger.
She didnât regret how their relationship had ended.
After being sent away by her grandfather, she knew it was time for them to part ways. She assumed they would never cross paths again for the rest of their lives.
She had determined never to appear in front of him of her own accord again.
But the unpredictable nature of the world left her with no choice but to seek him out nowâ¦