Huo Xiang reached his hands out and embraced Huo Yao. The moment he sensed how much thinner she felt, he was sorry for her. “You have lost a lot of weight.”
“I might have put on weight in the right places,” replied Huo Yao.
Huo Xiang’s throat felt dry looking at Huo Yao. He patted her on the back and said, “I’ll be on leave for some time. We can go out and have some fun.”
Tong Yu came running after Huo Xiang pushing the luggage trolley and happened to overhear Huo Xiang’s last sentence. After greeting Huo Yao, Tong Yu said annoyingly, “Your older brother is such a wilful little princess.”
Huo Yao’s lips twitched. “Huh?”
“We were offered brand ambassadorship, but he refused to take it. Do you know how much money he threw away?” Tong Yu did a quick count and gestured a number in the air. “It was enough money to pay for a three-room flat in the capital.”
Huo Yao halted in her steps abruptly.
She had received so many red packets for the Chinese New Year that she could afford the downpayment of an apartment in the capital. However, Tong Yu had just told her that the money Huo Xiang had thrown away was enough to buy a three bedroom flat in the capital in full.
Huo Yao sighed and said to Tong Yu, “Is it too late to change my mind about joining the entertainment industry?”
Huo Xiang went quiet.
Tong Yu smiled. “I’m more than happy to help you, but I feel bad about distracting you from school.”
Huo Xiang made up his mind not to let Huo Yao speak to his talent agent in future. He took the luggage trolley from Tong Yu. “Yu, why don’t you go back and have an early night? I can take my little sister home.”
The moment he finished his sentence, he pulled Huo Yao’s arm and walked off.
Tong Yu stood where he was and felt completely puzzled.
Huo Xiang could have given Tong Yu a ride home.
**
The two of them got back home from the airport slightly after 5:00 pm.
Dinner was not yet ready by the time they got home. Huo Yao’s phone rang, so she retrieved it from her pocket. She raised her head and glanced at her family members chatting in the living room before taking out her phone.
J asked: [Are you free? Can you help me with my program?]
Huo Yao glanced at the text message and replied that she was not free.
J promptly wrote: [I know you’re free.]
Huo Yao: […]
J continued: [I’ve already sent it to your mailbox.]
Huo Yao thought about what Tong Yu had shared at the airport about Huo Xiang’s potential brand ambassador deal, so she typed: [I don’t work for free. You have to pay me.]
J retorted: [I thought we were friends.]
Huo Yao pursed her lips and composed another text message expressionlessly: [Don’t you keep calling me Daddy? If you’re my son, you should treat me with respect and be good to me, right?]
J went speechless: [Fine. You win.]
Before long, Huo Yao received a text message notifying her of a bank transfer consisting of a six-figure sum. She could not help sighing to herself. Every now and then, people could pay large sums without so much as batting an eye.
She accepted the money and replied courteously: [I will turn on my laptop and check it out later. If you have any other questions in the future, feel free to get in touch.]
J felt exasperated: […]
Huo Yao put away her phone happily.
Before long, the maid informed them that dinner was ready.
Other than Huo Yulin, the rest of the family was here, so it was turning out to be a happy gathering. The atmosphere over dinner felt good.
When Huo Yao was done eating, she went upstairs.
She turned on her laptop after returning to the room.
She could see an encrypted zipped file attached to an email and quickly downloaded its contents.
Huo Yao did not even bother asking for the password. She simply opened a program to crack the password. In just ten seconds, she managed to decrypt the code.
The file contained an AI program.
When she saw the program, Huo Yao suddenly recalled Liu Qian mentioning that DO Corporation had reached out to him last year.
