Huo Yao left her grandma’s apartment, hailed a cab, and went back to the Huo Family.
After she arrived, she saw some shiny and formal male shoes by the door. Were her parents entertaining guests?
She thought for a few seconds and then put the house keys back in her bag. Hua Yao turned towards the elevator, and pushed the button. Since the elevator was still on this floor, the door opened at once, and Huo Yao went back in.
Reaching the ground floor, she took a seat on the bench kept outside. Her looks were spectacularly eye-catching and whoever went by her, even kids, could not stop sneaking repeated glances at her.
Huo Yao was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. To avoid becoming the center of attention, she put on the hood and took out her phone. Soon, no more people would stare at her.
Huo Yao played several rounds of a multiplayer online battle arena game which she had downloaded some time ago. She logged off from the game after a while because the game was not challenging enough. Suddenly, she remembered a certain someone and opened her WeChat.
She only had a few friends on WeChat. She browsed through the contact list and unblocked the person nicknamed [Y] whom she had once found annoying. She sent a message to that person after thinking for a bit.
Medicine Pill: [Be careful in the near future. Do not go out if you don’t have to.]
That person must be online right now because the moment her message was sent, Y had typed many replies already.
Y: [OMG, finally, the big shot has remembered me.]
Y: [You have no idea what I went through recently. I was in hell!]
Y: [I am always hungry, and I don’t have enough clothes to wear. I had to stay on my knees in the ancestral hall. So exhausting.]
Y: [Please, can you help me get out of here? I miss the air outside.]
Medicine Pill: [… You must not be worn out enough if you still have so much energy left to type these many words.]
Y: [???? Are you serious?]
Medicine Pill: [Logging off now.]
Y: [Hold on. What did you mean by telling me to be careful? Can you be a bit more specific?]
However, when the last message was sent, the reply that Y received was a red exclamation mark with the words, “Message delivery failed. Message delivery denied.”
Y: [???] #!
Again the same message.
Y: [(ΩДΩ)] #!
And again, the message delivery had failed, and been denied!
**
Huo Yao logged out of her WeChat. She looked up and saw a few bulky men in identical black suits stepping out of the lobby. The person leading the group carried a silver color, coded case.
These people looked like a bunch of hooligans who had just finished collecting their fees. They walked in an orderly array and created a vibe that warned everyone to stay away. The residents in the neighborhood walking by looked wary of them.
Huo Yao squinted, and by chance, she happened to notice their shining shoes. How intriguing.
But the men failed to notice Huo Yao. They headed straight to the garage from the lobby. They knew the way well, so they must be familiar with the neighborhood, and must have come often.
Huo Yao frowned. After those men were out of her sight, she stood up. She thought for a bit, and then went back to the building. Getting inside the elevator, she went home.
When she exited the elevator, she saw that those shining black leather shoes were gone from outside her house’s door.
Huo Yao made sure that she had wiped off the questions from her face before she took out her keys and opened the door.
