Chapter 101
Melissa stamped her foot in anger. Just as she was flying into a rage, she suddenly saw Matthew walking toward Veronica. Her eyes lit up, and she brightened up instantly.
Dressed in black casual clothes, Matthew was wearing a black sports headband on his forehead, which made him look appealingly younger and more handsome while lending him the athletic air of a basketball player on the basketball court. However, Veronica knew that he was only wearing a sports headband to keep the sweat on his forehead from dripping into his eyes and affecting his work. After all, he couldn‘t free up his hand to wipe his sweat away while moving things up and down the mountain all the time.
Walking up to Veronica, Matthew‘spread his hand and held out to her what he was holding. “Here, this is for you.”
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“What is it?” Veronica asked, before noticing the bright red raspberries in Matthew‘s palm. These were a kind of red fruit that grew on the ridges between fields in rural areas, and they tasted great with a sweet and sour flavor, “Where did you get them? I love these!” Delighted at the sight of raspberries, she took them from Matthew and stuffed a few into her mouth right away. “They taste just right; they‘re sweet and sour. Thanks,” she said, thanking Matthew while tasting the raspberries.
When she looked up, she saw Melissa looking at the raspberries greedily with eager eyes. She gave her a few raspberries, saying, “Try them. They taste great.”
“Sure! Thanks, Roni.” Melissa took a few raspberries and tasted them before nodding vigorously. “Gosh! They taste so good! Thank you so much, Matthew.”
Veronica was rendered speechless. Damn it, I‘m the one who gave them to you, okay?
Matthew took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. Then, he began smoking the cigarette while standing aside.
It was now afternoon, and those who had been busy all morning were sitting at the village‘s entrance for a rest. Leaning against a tree, Matthew put one hand in his trouser pocket while holding his cigarette with another. With his right leg slightly bent, he put his foot on the tree trunk to support himself. Even when he was just
standing there, his casual and laid–back posture gave the impression of a handsome and energetic young hunk that would sweep anyone off their feet.
Melissa was totally taken with Matthew. While Veronica was talking to him, she took out her cell phone and secretly photographed the scene.
“We‘ve finished moving all the stuff here. What we‘ve got to do next is to distribute things to the people in the villages nearby and learn about their situation while we‘re at it,” Mathew said. “We still need to get busy for the next few days.”
“I heard that many of the villagers don‘t let their kids attend school because the school is far away and they can‘t afford their schooling. Do we need to persuade them otherwise too?”
“Uh–huh,” Matthew replied.
“Sigh, life isn‘t easy,” Veronica lamented..
Veronica had time to rest in the afternoon after she finished moving things. However, she was constantly pestered by Melissa, who kept badgering her to help her ask Matthew out on a date. Just when she was at the end of her rope, Melissa used her “superpowers” again, saying, “Here, I‘m paying you another 10,000. Just ask my Prince Charming out for me. If you get it done, I‘ll pay you another 10,000.”
With the “superpowers,” Veronica‘s eyes lit up, and her spirits rose at once. “Haha! Sure, no problem! Since you‘re so generous to me, I‘ll give you the opportunity to watch the sunset with him. What do you think?”
“What? Really?” Overwhelmed with excitement, Melissa flung her arms around Veronica. “You really are my bestie! I love you so much!” she said while trying to kiss Veronica on the cheek again.
Veronica shoved her away, though. “Ugh, get off me! That‘s disgusting.”
“Hahaha!” Melissa was amused by Veronica‘s response.
Veronica said, “I‘ll be going up the mountain at the end of the village first. You tell Matthew later that I‘ve gone up the mountain to look for raspberries and watch the sunset. Tell him that I couldn‘t find that kind of wild fruit and ask him to help me look for them.”
“Okay.” Melissa nodded vigorously.
Veronica rested for a while before going up the mountain at about five in the afternoon. She walked alone from the foot of the mountain to the top, picking all the raspberries she could see by the side of the road. As she went up the mountain, she hummed a little tune.
Sitting on the top of the mountain, she enjoyed the breeze while looking down at Dawnpol Village. From a distance, she saw Matthew and Melissa at the village‘s
entrance as they headed her way. Matthew was dressed in black sportswear, whereas Melissa was wearing light blue casual clothes. Even though Veronica couldn‘t make out their faces from a distance, she was able to identify them based on their clothes.
Just when she was gazing at the foot of the mountain, a voice suddenly sounded nearby. “Ouch…”
Veronica turned to look at where the voice had come from, only to find that it was the masked man she had seen at the rice field on the southern end of the village a few days ago. She had asked the villagers about him, and they said he was the son of Henry, one of the villagers. He had been working outside the village before this, but he came back half a month ago after getting injured and disfigured in a car accident.
To her surprise, she didn‘t notice it when this man walked with a stick at such a close distance from her.
In an instant, something flickered across Veronica‘s mind. However, she couldn‘t bear to see a disabled man fall, so she ran up to him and helped him up right away. “Are you alright? Let me help you up.“.
The masked man grabbed Veronica‘s wrist while picking himself up with great difficulty. “Thanks,” he said in an unusually deep and hoarse voice that gave a sense of old age.
“You‘re welcome.” Veronica smiled, “Why did you come up the mountain? Here. Would you like to try these?” She took out a handful of raspberries from her pocket and handed them to the masked man.
At the sight of the raspberries in Veronica‘s hand, the masked man was stunned for a moment. He seemed to be lost in thought.
Thinking that he was shy of taking the raspberries, Veronica took his hand to shove the raspberries into his hand. However, the masked man happened to take a sidelong glance in Matthew and Melissa‘s direction not far away.
“These are very delicious. They‘re sweet,” Veronica said as she was about to put the raspberries in the masked man‘s hand.
Just then, however, the mysterious man suddenly retracted his hand. “I don‘t like these,” he said. With that, he turned around and left.
“Hey, wait a minute! I’ll go down the mountain with you.” Veronica noticed that Matthew and Melissa were about to go up the mountain. As an honest and trustworthy “business person,” she couldn‘t play gooseberry in front of Matthew and
Melissa, of course, so she decided to go down the mountain with the masked man.
The masked man didn‘t answer her.
Matthew and Melissa were going up the mountain from the south, whereas Veronica and the mysterious man were going down the mountain from the north, so the two parties happened to miss each other. However, the path down the mountain was very steep, forcing the mysterious man to walk very slowly with the aid of his stick. At the sight of this, Veronica got somewhat anxious. The man stumbled every now and then, which was worrying.
Seeing how the man had difficulty walking, Veronica stepped forward and took his arm right away, helping him down the mountain slowly. “Let me help you down the mountain.”
The masked man darted a look at Veronica, saying, “But I‘m dirty.”
“What are you talking about? I‘m dirty too.” Veronica didn‘t mind these at all. Then, she said, “Since you have difficulty walking, you should avoid going up the mountains in the future. We‘ve brought a lot of stuff here. I‘ll have someone deliver some basic food ingredients to you later so that it‘s more convenient for you.”
The masked man fell silent at her words. After a long time, he said, “You‘re very kind
