Chapter 103
li was 8:00AM the next day when Veronica regained consciousness. Besides Melissa, Maithew was also in the room; the two had kept watch over her the entire night.
Veronica came round and opened her eyes, only to feel a little weak all over.
Seeing that she had regained consciousness, Melissa cried out, “Veronica! You‘re awake at last!”
Matthew immediately stood up, walked over, and put a hand on Veronica‘s forehead. Seeing that her fever had gone down, he asked, “How are you feeling?”
“How did I get back here?” Veronica asked subconsciously, before raising her wounded hand as her wrist hurt.
“You didn‘t come back even by midnight, so Matthew went searching for you with his men.” Melissa sat next to Veronica, her eyes red with hurt. “Luckily, you‘re alright. Otherwise, I‘d feel very sorry toward you.”
Born in a wealthy and distinguished family, Melissa was usually arrogant and domineering. However, she was crazy about Matthew, and Veronica, who was on friendly terms with him, could help her date him, so she liked Veronica very much as well. Despite her domineering disposition, beneath that flamboyant exterior, she was a kind-hearted person.
When Veronica recalled the masked man yesterday, her eyes darkened. “Did he bring me back?”
“Was there anything wrong?” Matthew sensed that something was amiss. He asked, “Who treated your wound?”
“Me. I did it myself,” Veronica replied.
Matthew didn‘t ask any further questions. He always brought a dagger with him when he went up the mountain, so he assumed that Veronica had done the same while going up the mountain last night. It was just that she collapsed near the steep mountain slope, so he thought she might have dropped her dagger down the mountain by accident.
“Glad to hear that you‘re alright.” Matthew‘s heart was finally put at rest when he saw that Veronica was fine. He said, “Just rest well for the next few days. You don‘t have to take part in the rest of the work.”
“Oh, okay.” Having lost quite an amount of blood, Veronica felt somewhat weak, and she didn‘t feel like moving either.
The village chief made a chicken stew to nourish Veronica‘s health. In the afternoon, the warmhearted villagers came to visit her, bringing things like eggs, fish, chickens, ducks, and geese with them. After all, these were the only things people had in rural areas.
Deeply moved by the villagers‘ simplicity and enthusiasm, Veronica felt very glad. She rested for two days, during which time Melissa followed her around and attended to her more eagerly than before, which she enjoyed very much.
That day, when she was fishing for crayfish by the pond near the doorway, she chanced upon the masked man again. Seeing the masked man walking past the other side of the pond with his stick, she yelled, “Hey, you! Stop right there!” Laying aside the stick she was using to fish for crayfish, she stood up and trotted to the other side of the pond. Then, she walked up to the masked man and questioned, “Why did you leave me on the mountain that day? I saved you!” She was really pissed off. To think that my kindness was reciprocated with ingratitude! Just what f*cking kind of a person is he?
Supporting himself with his stick, the masked man stooped without looking at Veronica. He merely rolled up his sleeve and pointed at the bruises and grazes on his arm. “I–I fell down the slope while hurrying down the mountain to get somebody to save you that day.”
Veronica looked at the bruises on the masked man‘s right arm. Then, seeing him rolling up his left sleeve to reveal the bruises on his left arm, she decided to believe his story. “Alright. I thought you had ungratefully run away.” She finally cast aside the displeasure that had been building up inside her over the past few days. Then, she said to the man, “Let‘s go and fish for some crayfish. We‘re gonna have spicy crayfish this evening.”
From what the villagers had told her about the masked man‘s family, Veronica learned that he was less than 30 years old. Since he was still young, he was supposed to be inclined to have fun, so she thought of doing some crayfish fishing with him and having spicy crayfish for dinner.
With Veronica‘s injured arm, she couldn‘t do heavy work. On the other hand, Melissa was a wealthy heiress who only came to Almeida for the sake of formality, so there was no way she could do any work. With plenty of free time on their hands and nothing else to do, the two passed the time fishing for crayfish by the pond. After all, life was dull without the internet or TV.
“No, I‘ll pass,” the masked man refused right away.
However, Veronica was somewhat moved when she saw that he had tumbled down the mountain slope in order to save her that day. She said peremptorily, “Aw, come on let‘s go! I‘m not good at crayfish fishing, so I only managed to catch less than half a bucketful of them after a whole afternoon. Many hands make light work, no?”
Crayfish was a popular hot–selling food item in the city. In the mountains, however, the simple villagers mainly raised crops and worked in fields, so they weren‘t interested in crayfish at all. Because of that, there was an overabundance of crayfish in the pond near the doorway and in the village fields, making it very easy for them to fish for crayfish.
Seeing that Melissa and Veronica were having a great time, the masked man fished for crayfish by the pond without saying a word.
After Veronica lost consciousness that evening, he sat down beside her with the dagger in his hand already aimed at her neck. However, recalling how the lady had gotten poisoned in order to save him, he put his dagger away and went down the mountain in the end. One‘s life or death was predestined, so she could only rely on her luck. Alas, she survived!
In the evening, the masked man left before Matthew came. Veronica repeatedly pleaded with him to stay, but to no avail.
After Matthew came back with Quincy and the few others, they began prepping the crayfish and peeling garlic to make crayfish with garlic. Cooked using the earthen stove in the rural village, the crayfish tasted extraordinarily toothsome and delicious.
After dinner, Veronica, who felt completely stuffed, took a stroll in the village, while Matthew and Melissa followed her closely.
A few more days later, a construction team of about 30 people and a team in charge of installing the signal tower arrived from the outside.
The construction team was sent here by the Bloomstead Public Welfare Foundation to select a site for the construction of a school that the foundation had raised money to build. On the other hand, the team in charge of installing the signal tower was planning to connect the villages to the internet. Consequently, everyone got rushed off their feet, buying fixed–line telephones, televisions, and cell phones for the villagers.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn‘t cooperating. Just as the construction team was about to start construction for the school, a heavy downpour swept in. The downpour happened swiftly all of a sudden. As they couldn‘t get in touch with the outside world, those in the mountains were totally unaware of the situation outside.
The downpour hadn‘t stopped since the afternoon. Although Dawnpol Village stood on slightly higher terrain, it was located at the foot of the mountain, which was more or less worrying
Standing at the village‘s entrance, Veronica and Matthew watched as the river swelled near the village‘s entrance. At the sight of the gurgling, muddy, and yellowish river water, Veronica said with a sigh, “When is the rain gonna stop? The kids are attending classes at school. The school‘s roof is leaking at the moment, I‘m afraid.” Located in remote mountains, the school was decrepit. It was the farmers in the villages who helped maintain the school building. The school was a simple tile–roofed building, and its roof leaked everywhere whenever it rained, making the kids unable to study with peace of mind. .
“Things will get better when the new school building is completed,” Matthew replied.
Veronica suggested, “Let‘s go to the school to take a look. We‘ve donated lots of books to the school these days, so let‘s not let the rain wet the books.”
“Okay.” Murmuring a reply, Matthew turned around to head for the school with Veronica.
“Give me a minute. I‘m going back to get something,” Veronica said to him before going to the village chief‘s home, where she currently stayed.
After waiting for a while, Matthew saw Veronica coming back with her backpack. The more time he spent with her, the more he felt that this woman, who seemed ordinary at first, had too many remarkable traits about her that were drawing him to her. “This is for you.” He walked over to her side and handed her something.
Veronica couldn‘t see what was in Matthew‘s hand since she was merely holding it. She asked, “Don‘t tell me it‘s raspberries again?”
