The bungalow became eerily quiet. Tang Nuan’s heart squeezed with fear. Like a thief, she became even more cautious in her movement. When she reached the steps of the porch, her phone in her bag suddenly rang, and it sounded particularly loud in the quiet surroundings.
Tang Nuan pulled her phone out in a hurry. When she switched it to silent mode, the woman’s voice drifted out from within the house. “Who is it?”
Tang Nuan was so spooked that her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t dare to reply as she rushed toward the outside gate. As she was running away from the house, all the lights came on in unison as the electronic gate slowly closed.
Tang Nuan looked around anxiously. Before waiting for the front door behind her to open, she turned rapidly around and took calm steps toward the front door. Since the woman inside the house had noticed her presence, if she persisted in running toward the gate, it would only tip the woman off to the fact that she had eavesdropped on her conversation. Therefore, the best solution was to pretend like nothing had happened and she had just arrived
Tang Nuan tried to calm herself down as she walked toward the house. When she reached the steps that she had zipped down earlier, the door was pushed open from within to reveal the woman’s carefully made-up face.
Before the woman said anything, Tang Nuan smiled at her and opened her lips to greet her in a tone that was as normal as possible. “Good evening.”
The woman stood at the door with one hand on the wall, staring at her face for a long time as if trying to figure out something. Tang Nuan tried to make her face seem as unaffected as possible. About half a minute later, the woman said gently, “Good evening.”
Tang Nuan smiled once more. The woman responded in kind as she took a step back to welcome Tang Nuan into the house. “Come in.”
Afraid that the woman might catch her weakness, Tang Nuan walked up the steps and into the house without hesitation. The woman dropped her a pair of slippers before walking into the kitchen. Two minutes later, she came out with two glasses of hot water. When she noticed that Tang Nuan was still standing at the front door, she pointed at the sofa and smiled lightly like a ripple across the surface of water. “Come, take a seat.”
“Thank you.” Tang Nuan paused for a few seconds before taking the seat. The woman placed one of the glasses before Tang Nuan. She invited Tang Nuan to take a sip before pointing at the bathroom door. She then stood up and walked into it.
The woman stayed in the bathroom for a long time before she came out. She walked to the sofa and glanced at the glass of water that had turned cold before Tang Nuan, then she asked, “Would you prefer another glass of water? Was it too hot?”
Tang Nuan curved her lips and shook her head. “It’s okay, I’m not thirsty.”
The woman smiled as if she believed her. She didn’t say anything as she sat down gracefully before Tang Nuan.
The room was quiet for about ten minutes before Tang Nuan said, “You called me here because of Song Qingchun?”
After a pause, Tang Nuan added, “Don’t worry, I guarantee you’ll hear the good news by tomorrow night.”
“That would be perfect.” The woman picked up the glass before her to take a reserved sip before putting the glass down and smiling at Tang Nuan again. She seemed pretty satisfied with Tang Nuan’s promise because her eyes were glowing gently and kindly.