"Beep... beep..."
At last, a voice came through the receiver.
But it wasn't Little Zhou's voice. It was a sweet female voice—
"The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
Old Zhou frowned and dialed again.
This time, the call connected quickly.
"Dad, what is it?"
"I'm a little busy right now. If it's important, wait until I get back—"
"Come back right now!"
Old Zhou cut his son off.
His tone grew sharper, and his words carried a sternness that was hard to miss.
"..."
Silence fell on the other end of the line.
"Dad, what happened?"
The man finally spoke again, his expression a mix of confusion and bewilderment.
He was playing games with his friends at an internet cafe.
If it wasn't anything important, he didn't want to deal with it.
"It's important."
Old Zhou enunciated every word.
Then he frowned. "Don't ask what it is."
"Just hurry back."
"I'll wait for you at the shop."
With that, Old Zhou hung up.
He looked across the table. "Old Wood, Ying, let's sit and wait a while."
"He'll be back soon."
"Mm."
The two elders from the Mu family nodded.
Master Mu picked up the teacup in front of him and drained it.
He'd just said so much that his mouth was parched.
The old woman didn't drink any water.
After all, she'd barely said a word since they entered the shop.
There was no need for her to replenish her fluids.
"Dad, why'd you close the shop?"
Little Zhou hurried back, though he didn't look too pleased. "Dad, what's going on? Why the rush?"
"I've got things to do too..."
"Didn't you even think about whether it was convenient for me..."
The young man grumbled under his breath, clearly unhappy.
"Bang!"