Mrs Yuan remained terribly worried. Yuan Xi composed herself and made no attempt to ruin Yuan Huan’s image in her mother’s heart and simply said in a soft voice, “Mom, Dad, I’m heading back to my room.”
Mrs Yuan paused and looked at Yuan Xi. She noticed that Yuan Xi was completely unworried and could not help looking at Mr. Yuan.
Sure enough, Mr. Yuan looked furious.
Mrs Yuan promptly felt worried. She knew Yuan Xi had a problem with Yuan Huan and it was probably fine to show it any other day, but she should not have acted this way in front of her father.
Just when Mr. Yuan was about to throw a temper, Mrs Yuan hurriedly explained. “She has been sick for a long time. I’m sure she’s very worried about her older brother.”
Yuan Xi smiled sadly. She said nothing and slowly went upstairs.
**
After hanging up the phone, Huo Yao opened her WeChat.
She had sent Assistant Wang a text message in the afternoon and he had yet to reply.
Huo Yao rubbed the edge of her phone gently with her legs crossed. She wondered if it was inappropriate for her to keep taking Chinese herbs from the Apothecaries’ Association.
Min Yu walked over with a plate of fruit. He placed it on the coffee table and sat down beside her. “What’s on your mind?”
Huo Yao turned her head sideways, looked at Min Yu, and said, “It’s probably bad to keep taking advantage of others.”
“Huh?” Min Yu did not understand what she was driving at. He raised his brow and said, “It really depends who your target is.”
Huo Yao’s cheek twitched. She bent over to take a cherry from the coffee table and stuffed it into Min Yu’s mouth. “I think you talk too much.”
Min Yu laughed softly in response.
Huo Yao disregarded his laughter. After she was done eating the food, she checked the time and stood up. “I have something to handle, so I’m going home.”
She still had some Chinese herbs remaining at home and wanted to refine medicine for her third older brother.
Even though the Virus Research Institute had helped to cover up for her brother, it would not work forever.
She wondered what her third brother wanted from the academy.
Min Yu did not try to keep her. He stood up and took his jacket. “Okay.”
*
Meanwhile, at the Apothecaries’ Association.
When Assistant Wang came out of the medicine storage room, he ran into Deputy Chairman Qin. He was caught by surprise and automatically placed his hand on his coat pocket tightly.
Assistant Wang quickly nodded to Deputy Chairman Qin. “Hello, Deputy Chairman Qin.”
Deputy Chairman Qin pretended not to notice Assistant Wang’s reaction. He took a couple of steps forward and glanced at the documents in Assistant Wang’s hands. He said in an empathizing tone, “You have been working hard. You didn’t have to do an audit on the pills at this hour of the day.”
Assistant Wang replied softly with his head lowered. “This is my job. If I keep a close eye on them now, it will be easier for me to conduct the audit at the end of the month.”
Deputy Chairman Qin nodded. He looked at Assistant Wang and said, “It’s important to keep our books straight. If we make a mistake, we will have trouble answering to the chairman.”
Assistant Wang continued keeping his head lowered without saying a word.
Deputy Chairman Qin smiled and said, “We can’t afford to lose a single pill.”
Assistant Wang finally raised his head and looked at Deputy Chairman Qin.
The deputy chairman was warning him.
Assistant Wang loosened his grip on his coat pocket. After some time, he replied. “Don’t worry. Every single pill will be there.”
Deputy Chairman Qin nodded satisfactorily. He especially admired smart people, so he dropped the subject and turned to a new one. “Oh yes. I recall that Chairman Wang made someone an honorary deputy chairman of the association…”
