By six or seven in the morning, the sky was already completely bright.
Sheng Yan went into the bathroom to wash up. The face reflected in the mirror looked somewhat haggard, with dark circles beneath her eyes.
She had not slept at all the previous night, and her complexion was noticeably poor.
After washing up, Sheng Yan went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast before heading to her daughter’s room to wake her.
The little girl was still sleeping soundly.
Sheng Yan gently pinched her daughter’s soft cheek. “Yaoyao, it’s time to get up and have breakfast.”
Jiang Yueyao opened her eyes. “Mom, what time is it? Do we have to eat this early? I haven’t slept enough yet.”
“You have kindergarten today, so you need to get up and eat quickly.”
“Okay.”
The little girl was very obedient. As soon as she was told to get up, she climbed out of bed, went to the bathroom by herself, brushed her teeth, and washed her face.
Sheng Yan had taught her all these little things long ago, so she was perfectly capable of doing them herself.
Breakfast was both nutritious and plentiful, with milk, boiled eggs, and multigrain porridge, all of which were Jiang Yueyao’s favorites.
Even though she no longer had a job, Sheng Yan had no intention of depriving her daughter of anything. She would still make sure she had everything she needed to eat. After all, she was still growing.
As Jiang Yueyao sat on her chair peeling an egg, she asked, “Mom, how much longer is Daddy’s business trip going to last? Why hasn’t he come back yet?”
This was not the first time she had asked the question.
Sheng Yan could only explain once again, “Daddy’s company thinks very highly of him, so they’ve assigned him a very important project. That’s why he’ll be busy for quite a while. He even called me last night and told us to stay happy. Once he’s finished with work, he’ll come home.”
“Oh, then why didn’t you wake me when he called last night?”
“Because it was already very late and you were asleep, so I didn’t wake you. Besides, Daddy’s been very busy lately and doesn’t have much time to call us, so we should understand how hard he’s working.”
Jiang Yueyao believed every word without question and nodded obediently.
“Okay. I’ll be good. Then the next time he calls, can you tell him that I miss him very much and that he shouldn’t work so hard?”
“Of course! The next time he calls, I’ll definitely tell him exactly what you said.”
“Mhm.”
Holding a spoon in one hand, Jiang Yueyao scooped up some multigrain porridge from her small bowl and brought it to her mouth while slowly nibbling on the egg in her other hand.
“It’s yummy.”
“Then eat a little more. After breakfast, I’ll take you to kindergarten, and then I have to go to work.”
“Okay.”
Sheng Yan did not tell her daughter that she had been laid off.
The child was still too young to understand such things, and there was no need for her to know.
She only wanted her daughter to grow up happily, without the family’s troubles affecting her.
The kindergarten was not far from their residential community.
When Sheng Yan arrived at the school gate with her daughter, many other parents had already brought their children as well. Some were accompanied by both parents, while others were brought by their grandparents.
Jiang Yueyao looked up at her mother.
“Mom, I’m at school now. You should go and get busy.”
“Alright, go on inside. I’ll come pick you up this evening.”
“Okay.”
Only after watching her daughter walk through the kindergarten gates did Sheng Yan head back home.
She opened several job recruitment websites to check the responses. She had submitted applications to more than ten companies during the night.
By early morning, she had already received two interview invitations.
As for the remaining companies, they either had not looked at her résumé yet, or they had decided she was not a suitable candidate and therefore had not sent her an invitation.
Sheng Yan contacted the HR representatives from the two companies and arranged interview times.
One interview was scheduled for ten o’clock that morning, while the other was at two o’clock in the afternoon.
Checking the time, Sheng Yan sat down at her vanity and applied some light makeup to conceal the dark circles beneath her eyes.
Ever since Jiang Hongyan’s accident, she had hardly enjoyed a full night’s sleep. Her complexion had worsened, and she looked exhausted.
Since she was going to interviews today, she needed to pay attention to her appearance.
If she looked too drained, the interviewers might overlook her abilities, causing her interviews to fail.
After applying a layer of foundation, the dark circles beneath her eyes became much less noticeable. She then put on some lipstick, and her complexion immediately looked much healthier.
Once she had finished her makeup, Sheng Yan walked over to the wardrobe, chose a slightly more formal outfit, and changed into it.
At around nine o’clock, she picked up her handbag and left the house.