A man had just finished pulling an all-nighter conducting experiments at a graduate school in the capital. The moment he took out his phone, he saw a text message from [Medicine Pill]. He instantly woke up from his daze.
The Education Association?
Was it not the association set up by a bunch of idealistic academics with nothing better to do?
The man had no clue why she asked about it, but he quickly composed a reply: [The Education Association is a talent training ground that recruits talent from all colleges. In terms of status… they are considered pretty respectable. After all, they do contribute to society.]
Huo Yao was suddenly enlightened after reading the message. Then she slowly replied with a single word: [Thanks.]
Oh! She had been wondering how formidable it was. In the end, it turned out to be just a licensed Ponzi scheme.
[Do you have any kids attending school? A senior of mine works as a director at the Education Association. I can help by getting in touch with him.]
The man sent Huo Yao another text message.
Huo Yao went into a protracted silence for a long time with her phone in her hand.
[Miss Big Shot?]
Huo Yao sighed gently and replied: […No, thanks.]
The man sensed something amiss when he saw the reply. Then he decided that she herself could not possibly be a student.
[Oh yes, a major black market auction is taking place in the capital in a few days. I heard high-grade Seven Leaf Lotus would be up for sale. Didn’t you say you were looking for this herb? I have an invitation for the black market auction. If you want to go, I can mail you my invite.]
Huo Yao pondered for a while before her fingers moved again as she typed: [No thanks. I’m too busy with schoolwork.]
The man had sipped some water while he waited for a reply. He got such a shock when he saw the message that water sprayed right out of his mouth.
School?
No time?
Did he hallucinate?
Was Miss Big Shot not an elderly person?
**
Perhaps due to Huo Yao and Huo Yanxi’s conflict earlier in the morning, Huo Yanxi changed his plans about living at home for now and left without staying even for a single day.
Huo Yanxi looked at Huo Yao somewhat disappointedly before he left.
But Huo Yao was unaffected and continued studying. Song Ning could not help feeling annoyed with her son’s actions when she saw how quiet and diligent Huo Yao was.
Song Ning ordered her son not to come back for the time being, out of the fear that Huo Yanxi and Huo Yao’s relationship would become even tenser. She did not want it to affect the atmosphere at home.
In the afternoon, Song Ning suffered from a bout of headache, and planned on heading to a traditional Chinese medicine club, which she frequented to get a massage. But Huo Yao stopped her and said, “Mom, let me give you a massage.”
Song Ning waved her away as she rubbed her temples and said, “It’s okay. Go on and study. I’ll get an experienced traditional Chinese medicine physician to give me a massage and apply some acupuncture.”
Huo Yao frowned when she heard this. Then she said gravely, “You can’t treat your headache randomly. If the physician doesn’t get the acupuncture point right, it will only make your headache worse.”
Song Ning was surprised. Then she smiled and said, “It’ll be fine. This physician has been giving me massages for years, and he’s pretty good, so don’t worry.”
Huo Yao went quiet. Then she said, “Why don’t you let me try? If the headache persists, you can go to your usual physician later.”
Song Ning thought her daughter was just trying to be filial, so she didn’t turn her down. She went ahead and sat down in the armchair nearby.
At worst, Song Ning would claim that it had stopped hurting and sneak off to visit the physician later when Huo Yao was not looking.
