When it came to Yi Xinyi's mother, Yi Anguo really didn't want to bring her up.

But his daughter was gradually growing up, becoming sensible. Though Hu Jing was so good to her, treating her as if she were her own daughter, she ultimately wasn't her biological mother.

It was normal for a daughter to miss her own mother, to want to know about her own mother. Was there anything wrong with that?

Even though Yi Anguo didn't really want to talk about that woman, as she was his daughter's mother, he couldn't avoid the issue.

The daughter wanted to know about her mother's situation, and she had that right. As her father, he also had the obligation to tell her some things about her mother.

If he forcibly stopped his daughter from inquiring about her mother, the situation would only backfire, which would be a very unwise move.

"Dad! I know you definitely don't want me to bring up my mother, but I'm grown up now. I want to know about her, I want to know why she abandoned me, didn't care about me, and hasn't even come to see me once all these years," Yi Xinyi said with great unwillingness.

"Perhaps she hasn't come to see you because she can't find us, doesn't know where we went, and can't contact us, so she couldn't come to see you," Yi Anguo explained.

In fact, that was the truth. If the previous life's progress was any indication, Yi Xinyi's mother seemed to have once called the eldest sister's home and talked to Yi Xinyi on the phone.

After Yi Xinyi grew up, it seemed she kept in touch with her mother, but Yi Anguo never asked about what they talked about during their contact.

And Yi Xinyi hadn't proactively said anything to him, after all, their father-daughter communication wasn't much, and Yi Xinyi didn't seem very close to him as a father.

"It's not like she doesn't know where our old home at Xijiang is. If she wanted to find me, she could have inquired there, called you, or called the elder aunt's home," Yi Xinyi said.

"If she really wanted to find us, there would always be a way."

"She has already abandoned us, so why do you still speak up for her?"

Yi Anguo shook his head and said, "I'm not speaking up for her, I'm just stating the facts."

"No matter what, she's your biological mother; you're a piece of flesh that came from her, and that's an unchangeable fact."

"Even if she forgot about Dad completely, it's impossible for her to completely forget about you."

After finishing his words, Yi Anguo thought for a moment, then wrote down a phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to his daughter.

"This is the phone number of the convenience store in your grandmother's village. Dad doesn't know if it's still reachable, but you can try. Just say you want to speak to Wang Liping's mother, and you should be able to find your grandmother. Once you find your grandmother, you should be able to find your mother."

Regarding Zhang Liping, Yi Anguo didn't want to say much, nor did he want to comment on her in front of his daughter, or say anything unpleasant about her.

But to force himself to say nice things about her in front of his daughter was also hard for Yi Anguo, something he couldn't bring himself to do.

He didn't want to deceive his daughter, but he also did not want to deceive himself.

"Dad! I want to know about my mother not because I want to find her, much less because I don't love Dad. I just... just really want to know what I did wrong for Mom to abandon me," Yi Xinyi hadn't finished her words before she couldn't help but cry, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't cry! Dad isn't blaming you. She's your mother; it's natural for you to want to understand her, know her, and even find her. How could Dad blame you for that?" Yi Anguo hurriedly embraced his eldest daughter and comforted her.

Soon after, filled with apprehension and excitement, Yi Xinyi dialed the number her father had given her from her home landline.

"Hello! Who's there?" An old voice answered on the other side, speaking in the local dialect that Yi Xinyi couldn't understand.

But Yi Xinyi still replied in Mandarin, "Hello, Grandpa! I'm looking for Zhang Liping's mother. Could you help me ask her to take the call?"

"Oh! You're looking for Zhang Liping's mother! She's not home; she went to Huadu with her grandson," the old man said.

"Who are you? Why are you looking for Zhang Liping's mother? Is there something important?"

"Zhang Liping's second brother is home. If there's anything, you can find her second brother; he has a cell phone, so you can directly call his cell phone," he continued.

"Grandpa, I don't have her second brother's cell phone number. Could you help me get him to take the call?" Yi Xinyi said.

"I'm Zhang Liping's daughter; my name is Yi Xinyi. I'm looking for my mother, Grandpa! Can you help me?"

"Zhang Liping's daughter? Yi Xinyi?" the old man asked curiously.

"Oh! So you're little Xijiang girl! You must be around 10 years old now, right?" the old man suddenly remembered.

Back then, when Yi Xinyi was just 40 days old, Yi Anguo and her mother took her from Xijiang to her grandmother's home to celebrate the New Year and held a few banquet tables, inviting the whole village to a meal.

Yi Xinyi lived at her grandmother's house for about eight or nine months, so the whole village knew her, and everyone affectionately called her little Xijiang girl.