Realizing that her previous thought seemed to imply calling her sister a dog, Gu Yuqing silently repented.

She thought to herself, "My dear sister, I didn't mean you. My sister couldn't possibly have any issues. It's all Liang Rongrong's fault."

[We need to find Gu Yuqing's sister quickly. If I remember correctly, a few years ago, Gu Yulan's stepmother had a child and treated Gu Yulan poorly. The most infuriating part was that the stepfather wasn't a good person either. He had inappropriate thoughts about his teenage stepdaughter.]

Gu Yuqing heard Shi Li's inner thoughts and couldn't help but clench her fist.

She forgot that she was supporting her mother, and Gu's mother felt pain from her daughter's grip. She reminded her, "Yuqing, what's wrong?"

Gu Yuqing forced a smile, "Mom, I'm fine."

Gu's mother lifted her arm, "You're hurting me a bit."

Hearing this, Gu Yuqing quickly massaged the spot she had been holding, "I'm sorry, Mom. I was just focused on watching where we were going and didn't pay attention."

"Silly child, there's no need to apologize to your mother."

Gu Yuqing gradually closed the distance with the three people in front of her. She could now hear Shi Li's thoughts very clearly, so there was no need to quicken her pace further.

Shi Li and her mother were accompanying Feng's Mother for a walk. Occasionally, she had to say a few words, and during these times, her inner thoughts usually paused.

At such moments, Gu Yuqing felt particularly anxious, wanting to rush forward and shake Shi Li's head, urging her to think more about her sister's current situation.

But this was unrealistic; she obviously couldn't rush forward and risk exposing herself.

Gu Yuqing could only suppress her somewhat irritable nature and patiently accompany her mother on the walk behind the three.

Her daughter's prolonged silence made Gu's mother speak up, "Yuqing, do you have something on your mind? If you're busy, you don't have to come visit me every week."

Gu Yuqing couldn't possibly say that she was silent because she was carefully listening to Shi Li's thoughts, nor could she tell her mother about thinking of her sister.

She had already decided that although Shi Li's information was likely 70% true, she couldn't tell her mother in advance about possibly finding her sister. If they failed to find her, it would be too devastating for her mother.

Gu Yuqing casually said, "I'm thinking about school matters. That girl behind Mrs. Feng just now is my classmate."

This wasn't entirely a lie; her silence was indeed because she was thinking about Shi Li.

Gu's mother, having lived in various nursing homes for a long time, might not recognize her daughter's classmate, let alone the neighbor's children.

Knowing this was her daughter's classmate, Gu's mother was somewhat pleased.

"Oh my, that's your classmate? Why didn't you say so earlier? You should have greeted her. It's impolite not to."

"The lady next to Mrs. Feng must be Mrs. Shi, right? Your classmate is from the Shi family, isn't she?"

She hadn't been out socializing for a long time, but she could still recognize Huang Jie from her memories of years past.

How else could Gu Yuqing explain why she didn't greet them? Of course, it was because her relationship with Shi Li was just average.

[Gu Yulan is thirteen now, still relatively safe.]

[In two years, she'll be found by the Gu family. Before that, she'll kill her trash of a foster father, and the Gu family will step in to settle the matter.]

[The reason Gu Yulan kills her foster father is that he tries to force himself on her.]

[Although Gu Yulan is safe for these two years, it's still better to find her as soon as possible.]

Just hearing these few sentences about her sister's experiences made Gu Yuqing want to cry. What had her sister gone through when she didn't know?

[Let me think a bit more. Her foster father is a fisherman, and her foster mother is a pearl diver skilled in diving for pearls. Their village has a tradition of worshipping a pearl god. Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, they light an eternal lamp in the ancestral hall to pray for safe returns when diving for pearls.]

[This narrows down the range considerably.]

[We should ask cultural experts in J Province for information. That should give us a good idea of where to look.]

Shi Li had clearly thought ahead of Gu Yuqing. She mentally noted all the information Shi Li mentioned, planning to ask her father to send people to investigate when she got home.

But Shi Li had already told her exactly what to do.

Gu Yuqing thought that if she could find her sister early based on Shi Li's information, she would never contradict Shi Li again. Shi Li would be her only god. If Shi Li said east, she wouldn't go west. If Shi Li told her to chase dogs, she absolutely wouldn't catch chickens.

Shi Li wasn't thinking about telling Gu Yuqing; she was still pondering something else. [Who should I ask to find Gu Yulan, and what excuse should I use?]

[I certainly can't say I dreamed about Gu Yulan's location and ask my family to help find her. Gu Yulan isn't my real sister, and Gu Yuqing and I are just regular classmates. We're not related, so it's not like the Gu family ancestors would appear in my dreams to ask for help.]

Gu Yuqing: Thank you, I know how to tell Dad when I get home.

[What should I do? Hire a private investigator? I have enough money in my personal savings, but the problem is, how do I explain to the Gu family after finding Gu Yulan?]

[Never mind, I can't worry about all that now. I'll think of an excuse later. Finding her is the urgent matter at hand.]

Gu Yuqing had always believed that Shi Li was just idly thinking about her sister's location.

But for Gu Yuqing, who could hear Shi Li's thoughts, these idle musings were incredibly important. She could use Shi Li's novel ideas to try and find her sister.

What Gu Yuqing hadn't expected was that Shi Li actually planned to help her find her sister.

Although in the future, after finding her sister, she might face many speculations – some people like to overthink and mistake good intentions for ulterior motives – this was a common occurrence.

The farmer and the snake, Donggu and the wolf, so-and-so and the old lady...

In their social circle, she often saw people giving without receiving anything in return. So Shi Li's initiative to help was quite astonishing to Gu Yuqing.

What followed was an overwhelming sense of guilt.

All along, Gu Yuqing hadn't particularly liked Shi Li.

She couldn't pinpoint the exact reason.

If she had to say, it was probably jealousy – jealousy of Shi Li's loving parents who doted on their daughter.

Their families were of similar social standing, and both girls were exceptionally talented in looks and academics.

Gu Yuqing was very proud of herself, yet there was one person she could never surpass.

Therefore, whenever she saw Shi Li, she subconsciously wanted to compare herself to her, wanting to be able to outdo her.

But regrettably, she had never succeeded.

Shi Li: Huh? Are you talking about me?