The middle-aged man barely reacted to Gao Ming's choice, as though he had expected it all, as though it had happened many times before.
Gao Ming opened his schoolbag and searched for a long time, then suddenly raised his head in confusion. "Where did it go?"
"What are you looking for?" The middle-aged man sat down beside the sofa too.
"I'm looking for..." Gao Ming felt around his head. "Something very important, but somehow I can't remember what it was. I should have brought it with me!"
Growing agitated, Gao Ming refused to give up. He picked up his schoolbag and shook it upside down several times. Stationery and books spilled onto the floor, but even after the bag was empty, he still hadn't found what he was looking for.
"Oh no, I must have left it in that tunnel!" A trace of panic appeared in Gao Ming's eyes. "It must still be in that tunnel!"
"All right, all right. Let's eat first. Don't think so much." After reassuring him, the middle-aged man sat down at the dining table with Gao Ming.
Luo Dong, hiding behind the shower curtain in the bathroom, was also full of questions. What exactly had this deeply unsettling Gao Ming lost in the tunnel?
The sound of chopping meat finally stopped in the kitchen, and the tap turned on. A long time later, Gao Ming's mother emerged in an apron. With a somewhat stiff smile on her face, she set plate after plate on the dining table.
"You came home so late. Your mother was worried sick." The middle-aged man put some food on Gao Ming's plate, but Gao Ming, still wearing his school uniform, only smiled and never touched his chopsticks.
The middle-aged man paid it no mind and began eating, praising his wife's