Xu Nian'an lowered his eyes, blinking away the shimmer at the bottom of his eyes. He tipped his head back slightly and said, "It's nothing, I'm fine. Nothing happened. My little sister came to see me yesterday, brought a lot of tasty things."
Xu Nian'an tried to make his voice sound normal, even joyful, for fear that Ji Ying would notice something amiss.
"Is that so? That's good. As long as you and your sister are fine, I'm relieved," Ji Ying breathed a sigh of relief. She asked, "Nian'an, shouldn't you be in class at this time? How come you have time to call me?"
"Mom, I don't have classes now, I have classes in the afternoon."
Xu Nian'an explained, stammering, at a loss for what to say.
Ji Ying asked, "Is it because you're short on money? I'll go to the post office and send you some later."
"Mom, I accidentally broke the school's equipment, it'll cost a thousand yuan." Xu Nian'an's guilty voice came through the phone.
Ji Ying asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
