Song Ning was tidying up some cartons in the living room when Huo Yao’s unexpected coming back startled her. The account book slipped off from her hand and fell to the ground.
Song Ning’s face froze in genuine surprise. She quickly picked up the accounts book and stuffed it into one of the cartons and said, “Yaoyao… why are you back so soon? Didn’t you say you were going to spend the day with Grandma Yang?”
Huo Jinyan was wearing glasses and holding a calculator. He looked at his watch and asked Huo Jinyan in confusion, as well. “Honey, you’ve only been out for a couple of hours. Did you forget something?”
Huo Yao gave a fleeting glance towards the paper carton placed in front of Song Ning and replied with a straight face as if she had not noticed anything out of place. “Grandma Yang had visitors, so I came back.”
Song Ning answered. “Oh, I see…”
“Then you haven’t had lunch yet, right? Your dad and I didn’t know that you were coming home for lunch, so I haven’t cooked anything yet. Wait a moment. I am going to clean this up and make lunch.” Song Ning added quickly.
Having said so, Song Ning placed a few accounting books into the carton quickly, along with her husband’s calculator.
“Put those things back in our bedroom. I’ll go and cook lunch.” Song Ning said to Huo Jinyan.
“Right away.” Huo Jinyan replied as he put down his glasses.
He picked up the cartons, and went upstairs.
Huo Yao stared at his back, for a moment, in wonder. Then, Huo Yao followed Song Ning to the kitchen.
She helped Song Ning trim some vegetables and, at the same time, asked a seemingly random question. “Did you have any guests over today?”
Song Ning shook her head. “Nope. Why do you ask?” Did her daughter run into their accountants? Song Ning thought to herself.
Huo Yao kept her eyes down, and replied in a calm tone. “I saw some clean slippers in the shoe cabinet just now.”
There was nothing out of the ordinary in her voice.
Song Ning’s hand trembled slightly. “I cleaned the shoe cabinet this morning. Your dad interrupted me in the middle of it. I might have forgotten to put those extra slippers back because of that.” She explained, smilingly.
“Mm.” Huo Yao said. A few seconds later, she brought up another topic. “Mom, I met a group of guys dressed in dark suits, downstairs.”
Again, Song Ning’s hand trembled. She was about to give another explanation when she heard Huo Yao’s voice, one more time.
Huo Yao looked at Song Ning with a solemn look and said, “Those people looked fierce and violent, the kind of people who give threatening calls. Mom, do we owe someone money?”
Song Ning felt guilty in her heart and shook her head in negative. “No, we don’t owe anyone money!”
After a pause, she asked in a quiet voice. “The people whom you mentioned, do they really look scary?”
“Yes. They don’t look like good people.” Huo Yao gave an honest answer.
Song Ning was going to say, “They are just our company’s accountants, not someone pressing us for money.”
But she swallowed back those words after Huo Yao’s reaction.
Indeed, her husband was right. The people from their company had a terrifying look. Song Ning believed that Huo Yao would be scared even if she were to tell her that they were simply accountants. Maybe, Huo Yao would even wonder if her parents were running some illegal business.
No. I cannot let Huo Yao find out the truth.
Song Ning made up her mind in that minute. Her countenance betrayed nothing unusual as she said, “I think probably someone living on this floor has borrowed money from a loan shark. Remember to avoid those people next time when you see them.”
Huo Yao turned around to look at Song Ning. Huo Yao’s long eyelashes cast a faint shadow over her eyelids, hiding her expressions. She didn’t ask any more questions and pulled out the last batch of the vegetables from the basket.
