Huo Yao told Min Yu to take a seat in the living room before she went to the storeroom on the ground floor.
When the maid came over with a glass of water, she could not help looking at Min Yu curiously. He was obviously very good-looking. More importantly, she wondered how he was related to Huo Yao.
Despite her curiosity, the maid did not dare to ask Min Yu any questions. After serving the water, she quickly left the living room.
Before long, Huo Yao came back with a box of incense. “This is for your grandfather.”
Min Yu took the incense without any hesitation. “He keeps nagging me to bring you over for dinner.”
“Huh?” Huo Yao promptly added. “I probably can’t make it. I’ve already booked flight tickets to go back to my grandmother’s place tomorrow morning. Maybe some other time.”
Min Yu nodded automatically before he paused and asked in astonishment. “Aren’t you leaving the day after? Why did the dates change?”
“I called her, but she didn’t answer the phone personally, so I’m a little worried.” Huo Yao sat down and answered with a frown on her face.
Min Yu knew Huo Yao cared about Old Madam Yang a lot. “Stop worrying. She’s always been healthy, so I’m sure she’s perfectly fine.”
Huo Yao leaned into the couch’s backrest and looked up at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling. Moments later, she sighed and said, “I certainly hope so.”
She really hoped that she was overthinking it.
The two of them changed the subject and chatted about something else. Min Yu did not linger for long since he kept receiving phone calls. Before long, he left the residence.
**
The next day, Huo Yao turned down Min Yu’s offer to send her to the airport and took a ride from her third older brother.
Chen Ming went to put the luggage away. Huo Yao and Huo Yulin chatted briefly before he left as well. Huo Yao went over to the VIP lounge area and took a seat.
They had over 40 minutes to go before they could check-in.
Huo Yao pulled her hoodie over her head. She took out her earphones and put them on before she listened to her fourth older brother’s latest album. She was playing the music rather loudly in her earphones.
The VIP lounge area was relatively empty and only four or five people were sitting there with their heads lowered looking at their phones.
A cleaning lady wearing a mask and gloves approached her with her cleaning trolley.
She did not push her cleaning trolley all the way in. Instead, she placed the trolley outside and started cleaning the section.
Huo Yao was plugged in and listening to music using her earphones, so she did not open her eyes when the cleaning lady went past her. She simply kept massaging her brows as she sat there.
She failed to notice right away when something fell out of the cleaning lady’s pocket and landed near her feet.
After Chen Ming came back, he picked up something from beside her feet. “Miss Huo, did you drop this?”
Even though Huo Yao was playing music at a high volume, she could detect Chen Ming’s presence. She opened her eyes and saw him holding a worn-out white bag.
Huo Yao was stunned when she saw the bag. She quickly sat up, removed her earphones, and asked. “Uncle Ming, where did you find that?”
“It was sitting right by your feet. I assumed it was yours.” Chen Ming could sense something crisp and light inside the bag as he held it.
He opened the pouch and noticed that it contained some dry leaves and could not help feeling puzzled.
After taking a whiff of it, he realized they were no ordinary dry leaves. Instead, they were tobacco leaves.
