Mrs. Yan watched from behind, feeling quite gratified by the scene.

However, she couldn’t help but think, if only An Ning could be half as close to An Yu as she is to Xiaoniu.

She could see that although An Yu and An Ning didn’t grow up together, An Yu deeply cherishes An Ning.

Conversely, An Ning doesn’t seem to care much for An Yu.

Today was better, she even called him brother, but in the past, she wouldn’t even call him that.

Reflecting on this, Mrs. Yan felt even more uneasy.

Still, to avoid upsetting An Ning, she could only comfort herself, thinking she was overreacting.

After all, An Yu is An Ning’s brother. If anything were to happen, she believes her daughter wouldn’t let anything happen to An Yu.

After reassuring herself, Mrs. Yan finally relaxed a bit.

For three consecutive days, An Yu didn’t return, and Mrs. Yan dared not ask.

Even An Ning started to feel anxious.

This An Yu is indeed quite unreliable.

Initially, she used the excuse that he had matters to attend to in the county to mislead Mrs. Yan, but clearly, this reason couldn’t hold any longer as he didn’t show up for several days.

Although Mrs. Yan didn’t ask these past two days, her restless pacing showed just how anxious she was inside.

Mrs. Yan’s tension made An Ning feel anxious herself.

An Ning took Xiaoniu for a walk around the hillside, and the previously wooded and overgrown nearby hills had been cleared, leaving them bare, with dug and still-being-dug tree pits.

Fruit trees from the orchard had been planted by An Ning via telekinesis in the space. In just a few days, they had taken root and sprouted leaves.

Yet, given the current speed, rapidly propagating the number of fruit trees needed externally proved challenging.

For now, she could only take things one step at a time; there’s no need to plant all the hillsides with fruit trees immediately.

They could only gradually propagate them.

After wandering with Xiaoniu for some time, upon returning home, they still found Mrs. Yan sitting on a stool in the courtyard just as when they left, gazing blankly into the distance, her eyes seeming unfocused, as if entirely detached.

An Ning knew what she was thinking, but she was genuinely afraid, afraid she might hold renewed hope for An Bingfeng.

"Mom..."

An Ning walked over and called to her, yet Mrs. Yan remained unresponsive.

An Ning, feeling helpless, moved closer and tapped her shoulder, "Mom..."

"Ah, what’s the matter?" Mrs. Yan turned her head blankly and asked An Ning.

An Ning placed Xiaoniu in her arms, "You take care of Xiaoniu for a bit; I’m going out to check on something."

An Ning merely intended to give her something to do.

The more idle she was, the more she’d overthink.

An Ning thought having Xiaoniu by her side would make her state somewhat better.

However, unexpectedly, when An Ning returned from a turn outside, she saw Xiaoniu playing alone in the corner of the courtyard, pulling out grass, while Mrs. Yan remained seated, still unresponsive, not doing anything.

Lan Ru walked over from the side, "Miss, Auntie has been sitting here in the courtyard these past few days, her state seems somewhat off; do you think we should call a doctor to check on her?"