“Oh yes. I have something for you.” After placing the food on the table, Fu Ya retrieved a porcelain bottle from her pocket. “I don’t know if you will have any use for it, but better to be safe than sorry, right?”
She handed the porcelain bottle to Huo Yao as she spoke.
Huo Yao glanced at her lightly before she took the bottle. Huo Yao opened it and inspected its contents. She spoke up in astonishment after a moment. “Did you make this using poppy leaves?”
Fu Ya nodded. “This medicinal powder is tasteless and odorless. The moment it is applied to the skin, it enters the system and can paralyze the central nervous system. Even though it isn’t lethal poison, it might come in handy when you are in danger.”
Huo Yao knew why Fu Ya had given her this powder. She paused before putting the cap back on the bottle and placing it in her coat pocket. “Thanks then.”
She could give the medicinal powder to Shangguan Yun. He probably needed it more than her.
When Huo Yao accepted the gift, Fu Ya finally relaxed. She had worked hard to concoct this, and was afraid that Huo Yao might not be impressed.
“Oh yes. What happened to your friend from the Apothecaries’ Association? Did he make things difficult for you?” Huo Yao recalled the cheating incident during the Apothecaries’ exam, so she asked Fu Ya about it.
“No, he didn’t.” Fu Ya’s expression turned cold the moment she spoke about Fu Cheng. “Just ignore him. He asked for it.”
Huo Yao nodded without probing further. She picked up the fruit tea and took a sip of its contents. A couple of minutes later, she said mildly, “I heard that the National Academy of Medicine is trying to find people with special physical conditions.”
Fu Ya was startled to hear this. Her hands were under the table and they trembled slightly.
Huo Yao put down the cup and looked at Fu Ya. “You have to watch your back.”
**
When they left the restaurant, the sky was starting to turn dark. The weather was visibly turning bad and starting to fog up. It was a sign of rain.
Huo Yao flagged a taxi from the roadside.
Before she even made it home, it started pouring halfway. It continued raining with no signs of slowing down and became even heavier by the time she got home.
When Huo Yao entered the villa, her down jacket was already wet, but the rain did not soak right through the jacket.
Song Ning told her to take a hot shower the moment she saw her daughter coming home wet.
She spent 30 minutes washing up.
When Huo Yao came downstairs, she saw her parents and third older brother sitting in the living room chatting, so she walked over to them.
Song Ning was holding a stack of documents in her hand. She handed it to Huo Yao. “What do you think about this?”
Huo Yao was handed over a big stack of documents the moment she sat down. Also, her mother was giving her a deadly stare. She held onto the stack of documents without reading them right away. She raised her head and look at her mother, acting dumb. “What do you mean?”
Song Ning pointed at the documents. “Just read it.”
Huo Yao lowered her head and spent a few minutes going through the documents. She said solemnly, “Everything seems to be in order with this asset transfer agreement. Congrats. You are now a step closer to becoming a rich woman!”
Song Ning went speechless.
Huo Yulin’s lips twitched. It sounded really typical of his little sister to something like this.
Song Ning rubbed her forehead. “Stop joking.”
Huo Yao straightened her back. She placed the asset transfer agreement from the Song family on the coffee table. “Okay, Mom. You have my complete attention.”
She looked particularly obedient.
When Song Ning suddenly had her daughter’s full focus, she did not know what to say. She simply asked annoyingly. “How much did Uncle Changfeng tell you about the Huo family?”
