"Did anything come to mind?" Xiao Shuzhu asked while observing her expression.

"I seem to have some impression." Xiao Shuju said, furrowing her brows hard, but couldn’t figure it out.

Xiao Shuzhu reminded her: "If I’m not mistaken, Third Sister’s painting should be connected to mine."

"You mean to say, my painting and your painting are like a giant puzzle that has been taken apart?" Xiao Shuju deduced naturally from her words, "In that case, it’s possible that the four of us sisters each received a connected painting when we got married."

"There should be." Xiao Shuzhu said, "I noticed this because no matter how I looked at it, it felt like the painting was unfinished."

Xiao Shuju turned back to look at the painting again, and truth be told, only someone as meticulous as Xiao Shuzhu could notice the painting’s nuances. She, being the careless third sister, hadn’t noticed at all over the years.

"Fourth Sister, you’re saying this cloud could continue downward. This mountain can extend, and this river can flow further." Xiao Shuju pointed with her finger at the seemingly unfinished corners of the painting, following Fourth Sister’s logic, "What you’re saying seems right. I think there’s a problem."

Xiao Shuzhu nodded.

"The question is—" Xiao Shuju raised another query, "if this painting, when really combined with mine and Big Sister’s and Second Sister’s paintings, is it meant to indicate a place? Or something else?"

"I don’t know." Xiao Shuzhu said, "I can only think that only when the four paintings are pieced together can we possibly know where the truth lies."

Xiao Shuju turned to look at this sister, her questioning eyes flickering: "After you discovered this, did you ever think about going home to ask Dad?"

"I think, I don’t know if you all noticed. But for so many years, you see, Third Sister, you never seemed to mention this to me. Neither did Big Sister nor Second Sister. So, I can’t be sure if you all received a similar painting as part of your dowry like I did. If I outright went to ask Father, would he suspect I had some intentions? Father deliberately divided the painting into four parts and handed them to us separately, certainly not wanting us to seek the others’ paintings."

"If Father intended it, he’s done it so mysteriously, how could he casually reveal the secret to us. That’s possible." Xiao Shuju said, but at the same time she had another thought, "Do you think this idea was Dad’s?"

Xiao Shuzhu frowned.

Xiao Shuju glanced at her face and smiled, "Right? I heard that Big Sister’s dowry was completely arranged by Mom. Mom was still alive at that time. Your theory doesn’t really hold. I don’t know if Dad knows about this or not, maybe Dad doesn’t know about it at all."

"If it was left to us by Mom—" Actually, Xiao Shuzhu would prefer it wasn’t from their mother, even though deep down she longed more than anyone else for her mother to leave her something to remember her by. It didn’t need to have any value, as long as it was something her mother intentionally left for her. But if that were indeed the case, seeing how things have developed until now, the things Mom left behind, given their secrecy, must contain something unpleasant within them.