“Where did you get all this revision material from?” asked Meng Ying inexplicably.
Judging from Huo Yao’s grades, did she have any use for this revision material?
Huo Yao glanced at her. “Don’t ask.”
Meng Ying went quiet.
Before long, Meng Ying’s mother came over to invite them for dinner. The moment she learned that Huo Yao had sent the box of study material over, her impression of the girl soared even higher.
After all, it was rare to encounter a classmate willing to take the effort to help a friend pick out revision material in this day and age.
Meng Ying almost lost her breath and passed out when she saw her mother’s reaction.
She was in such a spot.
Even though Huo Yao had hurt her, her parents sang praises about Huo Yao.
After dinner, Huo Yao left on the pretext that she was busy and had to go home. On her way out, Meng Ying’s father gave her a gift. Since she was unable to turn him down, she accepted it politely.
It was packed in a wooden box, and she did not open it while she was at the Meng residence. After she got home, she casually placed it on the table and went to the fridge to get a bottle of water before heading upstairs.
Huo Jinyan came out of the room when it was past 10:00 pm and noticed a wooden box on the table. He paused and picked it up.
The wooden box had quaint carvings on it and resembled the boxes that Huo Jinyan used for storing Chinese calligraphy and brush painting. Sure enough, he found a brush painting lying inside when he opened it.
Huo Jinyan removed it from the box and opened it slowly. His eyes opened wide when he saw the contents of the painting. It was “Playing Zither under the Pine” by Zhao Mengfu from the Yuan dynasty.
Since Huo Jinyan was a connoisseur in Chinese calligraphy and brush painting, he knew it was an original the moment he saw it. In an instant, he became excited.
“What are you looking at,” Song Ning walked over and glanced at the painting before she looked at the wooden box on the table. “Did Yao give this to you?”
Her daughter had been holding this box when she came home earlier.
Huo Jinyan had yet to recover from his shock. He raised his head in surprise. “Does this belong to Yao?”
“Uh huh.” Song Ning nodded her head.
Huo Jinyan went into a daze. Why did his daughter keep bringing home such extraordinary things?
Song Ning noticed something amiss with his expression. She could not help looking at the painting, which looked rather old. “Whose work is it?”
“It’s a Zhao Mengfu original!” Huo Jinyan deeply inhaled before he rolled the painting back up and replaced it in the box carefully.
Song Ning pursed her lips thoughtfully. Anything that her husband treated with such care and attention ought to be a real treasure.
**
The next day.
Huo Yao saw her father sitting in the living room when she went downstairs. He did not look good. He had dark circles beneath his eyes and looked like he had not slept well last night.
She walked up to him. “Didn’t sleep well last night, Dad?”
“It’s worse than that. He didn’t sleep a wink all night.” Song Ning brought a glass of milk over and gave it to Huo Yao.
Huo Yao’s lips twitched. “What happened?”
She noticed that her father was holding something. It was the gift Meng Ying’s father insisted on giving her last night.
“Where did you get this from?” Huo Jinyan placed the wooden box cautiously on the coffee table.
“Oh. My classmate’s father gave it to me. What’s inside? I haven’t looked at it yet,” said Huo Yao calmly.
Huo Jinyan’s lips twitched in disbelief. Again? It was a gift from someone again...
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