...
Head Manager Han pulled the old woman out of the hotel and signaled the guards to take her away.
"Xiao Xuan, please. Just this one request!"
Head Manager Han gave her a cold glare as he said to the guards, "Please take this old lady away from here."
The old woman cried and tried to reach out for Head Manager Han but the guards pulled her hand back. She then beat her heart and knelt on the floor as she cried, "Xiao Xuan, can't you do this for your mother?"
"You mistook me for someone else. I don't have a mother," said Head Manager Han in his usual professional tone as he adjusted his suit. He then turned around and walked back into the hotel.
When he walked into the hotel, he saw Han Ye who was still chatting with the receptionist at the reception counter.
Usually, he would frown upon a staff chatting senselessly during working hours, but since there were not that many people around at this time, he decided to let it slide.
With that in mind, Head Manager Han walked away and went on with his usual business.
….
When Xiao Lei finally met Han Ye at the lobby, her overnight bag was packed full to the brim, and it seemed to weigh a ton.
"Erm? Ms. Xiao Lei?" Han Ye said as he looked curiously at the bag behind her back.
Xiao Lei blushed slightly before she murmured, "I-I only took the food in the fridge! You don't think that the hotel would still need it for the later guests, right?"
She took all the remaining cold cuts, fruits, and vegetables that she did not use last night. Xiao Lei looked at him with big, watery eyes as if she was pleading for him not to tell anyone about it.
Han Ye smiled. He shook his head and said, "Well… No. I don't think the hotel would be reusing those perishable goods. I'm just wondering if you need help with that."
When he offered his hand, Xiao Lei shrugged and took a step back. "I can carry this much weight. Let's go."
Her childhood traumatic experience of having her food stolen by the other homeless people and had to go through multiple days without food made her protective toward her stash of food. It was something that her husband used to tease her about. Other people would hoard money, she would hoard food.
On the drive back home, they did not talk much. When they arrived at her home, Han Ye walked her to the door.
"Alright, this is it…" Xiao Lei turned around. She offered her hand and smiled at Han Ye. "It is nice knowing you."
With a smile, Han Ye shook her hand as he said, "It's nice to be your acquaintance, Xiao Lei. I hope we can meet again soon."
When he was walking to his car, Xiao Lei leaned against the door with her arms folded. She smiled as she watched him got into the car and she murmured sadly under her breath, "Goodbye, Coward Ye."
After he drove off, Xiao Lei's bright, innocent eyes turned sharp and she turned around. She placed her hands into her jacket and rummaged for her house keys. Once she found it, she removed the lock on the door. But as she slowly turned the knob, her eyes narrowed.
Everything looked fine and nothing was amiss… except for the little carpet that was right in front of the door for guests to wipe the sole of their shoes. The carpet was placed in a perfectly neat manner and was straight and aligned with the door. It would be normal for others, but for Xiao Lei, it was suspicious.
Why? It was because Xiao Lei was never the type to keep things tidy.
When she left yesterday, she kept the carpet a little askew.
"Someone was here?" thought Xiao Lei as she slowly walked in. Placing her overnight bag on the small dining desk in the living room, she looked around the house.
Everything else was still in the state where she left them.
She then plugged her phone into a speaker that her husband bought from a flea market. Loud rap music soon blasted loudly.
Xiao Lei walked to the stairs and when she walked past her son's room which was near the stairs, a hand reached out for her from behind.
She felt the killing intent and immediately turned to grab the hand, and in a split second, she released a punch for the person's throat. However, the person blocked her punch and tried to grab her hand that was holding his.
Xiao Lei immediately snaked her hand away from his and jumped a step back.
A man with an ugly scar across his face sneered, "Xiao Lei? Boss wants you to come back."
Xiao Lei raised a brow. "Which one?"
The man said, "Boss said, 'if you ask which one, then you deserve a spanking'."
Before he finished his sentence, he did a back kick but Xiao Lei saw it and duck before his leg connected with her head. His leg then smashed into the wall behind her, but from his calm expression, it was as if he had kicked a wall made out of cotton.
Before he could steady himself, Xiao Lei did a quick side kick to his knee, causing to buckle forward.
"ARGH!"
The man yelled as he fell on one knee. Xiao Lei aimed a right kick at his head but he blocked it by grabbing her leg.
Xiao Lei moved quickly. When he caught her right leg, without any hesitation, she turned and aimed a vicious kick at his head with her left leg. She moved too fast for him and before he even realized it, her left leg had connected with the side of his head.
PAP!
The man realized her right leg the second before her left leg hit him. The kick caused him to sprawl down on the floor with blood flowing out from his nose and ear. His ear had split open from the impact and when he was holding his ear in pain, she did another quick back kick.
However, her kick was blocked by another leg that came out of nowhere.
"F*ck! Another one!" Xiao Lei cursed as she stared at another man, a bald one this time, who was right in front of her. She glanced at her son's room and cursed herself.
"Damn it, Xiao Xiao Lei! You're such a disgrace! How can you not notice him?! Where's all your training?!" she cursed inwardly.
She then charged toward him. When she kicked at him with her right leg, the man swiftly caught her leg and in a split second, he grabbed her shirt and threw him across the floor.
"URGH!" Xiao Lei groaned as she bounced off the floor. The impact had knocked the breath out of her, and she could see stars in front of her as well as three blurred versions of the bald man.