Huo Yao turned thoughtful the moment she heard the name. “The Nies?”


  Nie Su nodded. She glanced at the villa and asked. “Is this their place?”


  Nie Su had a scholarly aura and a genial voice, so it felt she meant it.

  Huo Yao contemplated for two seconds before she asked. “Are you in the right place?”


  Nie Su checked the unit number on the side and said, “Uh huh. Zone C, Unit 101. This is the place, isn’t it?”


  Huo Yao instantly realized that the lady was lost. “This is zone A. Zone C is the row behind.”


  Nie Su looked in the direction Huo Yao was pointing and instantly said awkwardly, “My bad. This is my first time here, so I didn’t realize I was in the wrong place.”


  Huo Yao shook her head and smiled. “Don’t worry about it. It is understandable for you to get confused since you are new here.”


  “Uh huh. Thank you so much. In that case, I’ll be on my way.” Nie Su wanted to chat more, but she did not want her cover to get blown, so she waved to Huo Yao and left.

  “You’re welcome,” answered Huo Yao. She turned to enter the password before going into the villa without thinking much of it.

  Shortly after getting into the car, Nie Su watched as the young woman disappeared through the door. Nie Su thought to herself that she was spot on as she rubbed the steering wheel with her hands.

  The girl was stunning and seemed nice. It was no wonder the girl did not fancy her son. If she were in the same position, she would not be interested in her son either.

  Nie Su contemplated quietly.

  She glanced at the villa once more before driving off happily.

  **

  Huo Yao came back to the dining room with the package. Min Yu walked out of the kitchen after he was done making one dish. He put down the food and looked at her. “What took you so long?”


  Huo Yao put the things down on the table and said candidly, “Someone lost her way, so I helped her.”


  “Lost her way?” Min Yu narrowed his eyes slightly.

  “Uh huh. She wanted to go to zone C, but ended up in zone A,” said Huo Yao as she returned the phone to him. “Oh yes. Someone was calling you earlier.”


  Min Yu did not continue asking about the person who had lost her way. Instead, he took the phone, checked the call history, and saw the caller was Madam Nie. He did nothing and simply put down his phone before going back into the kitchen.

  After dinner, Huo Yao thought about how temperamental Min Yu was today, so she volunteered to do the dishes.

  Huo Yao clapped her hands and walked out of the kitchen after placing the dishes inside the dishwasher.

  Min Yu was opening the package which Huo Yao had collected earlier. Inside the box, there was a lot of bubble wrap.

  Huo Yao glanced at the watch on her wrist and raised her head to walk over beside him. She casually glanced at the contents of the box and said, “I am going home. I have…”


  After Min Yu opened the bubble wrap, a pile of black unassembled metal components appeared inside the package. She paused mid-sentence before she continued a second later composedly. “… work to do.”


  Min Yu raised his head and failed to detect the brief pause in her sentence. He raised his brow and looked at her. “What work could you possibly have?”


  Huo Yao sighed. She thought about how she had inadvertently tapped on a bank notification on Min Yu’s phone earlier when she was collecting the package. Just thinking about Min Yu’s bank balance gave her low self-esteem.

  “You will never understand how hard it is for working-class people.” Huo Yao sighed miserably. She veered her eyes, waved to Min Yu, and headed for the door. “I’m leaving. I have work to do.”