The room was silent. She stood at the door, and it was quite a while before she heard any sound inside.
"Who is it?"
"Mom, relax, it's me, not a debt collector."
Upon hearing Shen Lan's voice, Mother Shen slowly moved to open the door.
She only opened it a crack, still casting wary glances towards the back for a while.
Seeing her daughter standing there with a beaming smile, she quickly pulled Shen Lan inside.
Shen Lan's heart ached at her mother's cautious demeanor.
"Mom, relax. That man has been taken away by the police. Nobody is going to come here to collect debts anymore. They won't disrupt your peaceful life."
"Sweetheart, aren't you supposed to be at school? How did you come back on your own? You know your father; better safe than sorry. You don't know how savage these debt collectors are. Look at our home, the home where you grew up, is practically bare now. Everything that could be taken away or destroyed was."
