"Um, if it’s about the cost of meals, I actually do have some money on me..." Luo Qianqian said, feeling somewhat embarrassed. She felt truly useless, easily agitated, and unable to help others.
Ji Xun rolled his eyes and remained silent.
Luo Qianqian didn’t understand the situation here and stopped talking, just seeing Hu Si’s peculiar expressions. She couldn’t cook, but she definitely had enough money for takeout.
Uncle Zhuang sighed, "There’s no need for a kid like you to pay; I’m just sick of eating that guy’s food."
Feng was smiling on the side, his eyes sparkling with an enigmatic light that chilled Luo Qianqian to the core.
She always felt that Feng was up to something. He seemed gentle and harmless, but deep down, Luo Qianqian had the feeling that he was not as mild as he appeared. Instinctively, she took a step back to put some distance between herself and Feng.
Feng’s gaze towards Luo Qianqian was filled with obscure meaning, making her increasingly uneasy. As soon as Feng looked away, Luo Qianqian took the chance to breathe a sigh of relief. Watching the scene, Hu Si couldn’t help but shake his head and smile, thinking that Luo Qianqian was being too obvious and that Feng would remember it.
Realizing this, Luo Qianqian felt stuck, not knowing whether to advance or retreat. She drooped her head, wishing she could just crawl into a hole.
Fortunately, Luo Qianqian’s phone rang at this moment. Seeing the caller ID, she frowned slightly. Why was Tang Chen calling her? Yet, she was thankful for this call rescuing her from a dire situation.
With a nod from Hu Si, she walked to the door and answered the phone, "What’s up?"
Tang Chen’s voice came through, sounding shocked, "Have you checked your results?"
"Results? Are they out? I didn’t know." Luo Qianqian rolled her eyes. It didn’t matter to her; all she wanted was to find a hole to crawl into.
"Well, I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
"Your mom called your grandparents’ house... She got the phone number from Xiao Yu, who gave it up under pressure."
Luo Qianqian didn’t know how to react. Her mom had called her grandparents’ house? What would her grandparents say? Would they reveal her whereabouts? She hoped her grandmother, who knew she had kept her mother in the dark about her leaving, would understand and cover for her. Luo Qianqian was just unsure if her mother would ask her brother...
"So, what’s the good news?" With such bad news, she couldn’t take in any good news...
"You’ve become the top science student in the city. The principal just came to deliver a scholarship..." Tang Chen sounded uncertain about how to describe the siblings of this family; it seemed like all his years of schooling were for naught. "And because of this, your mother asked for the phone number."
She had thought this matter would come to light, but not until next month when the admission letters arrived, not now. That didn’t make sense.
...Luo Qianqian didn’t know what to say. Was her mother calling to scold her for being too conspicuous or was she angry because she didn’t know about her daughter’s decision? But her own phone was right there; instead of calling her, why would her mother call the Luo Family? It was puzzling.
"So, how did my mom react?"
"How did she react?" Tang Chen paused, surprised. Shouldn’t she hurry up and hang up to call home?
"I mean, what did she do after the call?" Luo Qianqian glanced at the calendar. It was Saturday. No wonder Tang Chen was free. But why was her mother at home?
"I wasn’t paying attention. She might have gone to work?"
Going to work so late??? What kind of international joke is this?
Luo Qianqian took a moment to check the time before saying slowly, "Thanks for your help. I’ll call my grandparents first. Please keep an eye on my mother for me."
Tang Chen looked at the messages on his phone and hesitated for a long time whether to tell Luo Qianqian that he actually found out through a message and that someone else was keeping watch. After thinking it over, he decided to drop it. It was more important to find out who else was watching and how they got his contact info. He would tell her everything later.
After hanging up, Luo Qianqian immediately called the Luo Family.
Listening to the stern voice of Old Master Luo, Luo Qianqian felt wronged, "Grandpa..."
"Hmph, I knew you would call." Old Master Luo’s voice carried a hint of smugness.
Upon hearing Old Master Luo’s voice, Yue Tingyu also came closer to the phone. Old Master Luo nodded, then watched as the phone was snatched away, feeling like crying without tears. Did she have to be so overbearing? He only said one sentence...
"Qianqian, don’t worry, I was the one who answered the call. I didn’t tell your mom about you and your brother. Just said you went out to play," said Yue Tingyu in her tender voice, "But you should still call your mother when you can. She sounded quite worried and choked up, as if she’s been crying."
Luo Qianqian agreed, exchanged a few words of greeting with her grandparents, informed them of her current location without mentioning a word about her injury, and then hung up.
Looking at the well-memorized phone number in the contact list, Luo Qianqian finally gathered her courage and made the call.
The phone rang only once before being answered, and the voice on the other end was choked as Grandmother had said, "Qianqian?"
Without any hesitation, Luo Qianqian responded, "Mom, what’s up?"
Listening to her daughter’s voice caused An Zilan to cry uncontrollably. Luo Qianqian, hearing the sobbing over the phone, quickly said, "Mom, please don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry too, and crying during pregnancy isn’t good for my little brother or sister."
As she spoke, tears started to fall. It had been almost a year since she had seen or spoken to her mother. She thought her mother would scold her, labeling her unfilial, but that didn’t happen.
Startled, An Zilan almost forgot to cry, "How did you know?"
Luo Qianqian blinked, "I know everything about you, Mom. I didn’t contact you because I didn’t want to miss home and then run back." And that was the truth, Luo Qianqian was very clear about that.