“Is this why you quit your former job and went to work at the Burton Group?” Janice looked at Rachel. “Did Justin ask you to look into it?”
Rachel averted her eyes in the face of Janice’s questioning. I have something else to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.
“Hey!” Since she was unable to stop Rachel, Janice could only watch as her car drove off into the distance.
When Rachel reached Nancy’s place, she pressed the doorbell several times, but nobody answered the door. Just then, the door of the opposite house suddenly opened, and a middle-aged woman poked her head out. “Are you Madam Tiller’s granddaughter?” She looked Rachel up and down with a look of puzzlement. “Madam Tiller has been sent to the hospital. Don’t you know that?”
Immediately, Rachel’s expression changed upon hearing the woman’s words.
When Rachel arrived at Tran-Q’s emergency department in a hurry, she nearly bumped into a nurse holding some medicine. She gesticulated at the medical staff at the nurses’ station for a long time, but no one understood what she meant.
Just then, a familiar male voice sounded from behind. “Rachel?”
Hi, Julian. Rachel turned around to see Julian. After she explained the situation to him, Julian asked the staff at the nurses’ station. Upon learning that Nancy was receiving emergency treatment, he hurriedly took Rachel there.
“Hi, Madam Tiller.”
“Hey.” Nancy, who was lying on the sickbed, was startled for a moment when she saw Julian and Rachel. “Why are you here, Rachel?”
Rachel’s eyes were red with worry. How are you, Grandma?
“Oh, I’m fine. I just took a tumble and grazed my skin; it will heal once I go home and apply some cream to it. But Victor was worried, and he insisted on sending me to the hospital.”
Rachel followed Nancy’s gaze and saw the young man standing nearby. It’s you?
The young man’s blond hair was particularly obtrusive in the white-painted emergency department. Isn’t he the young man who had a fit of epilepsy in the neighborhood that day? Rachel thought to herself.
At the sight of Rachel, the young man scratched his head with a look of embarrassment. He explained awkwardly. “Madam Tiller is old, and I was worried that it would be bad if she had a sprain or bone fracture, so I brought her here. I have probably overreacted.”
Rachel shook her head. Thank you.
After that, Nancy took Rachel’s hand. “I have to thank Victor for helping me catch the thief. Didn’t you say that you were coming over for dinner? I thought of going out to buy some fish, and I ended up having my handbag snatched. I went after the thief, but I fell while doing so.”
How could you go after a thief at such an old age? You shouldn’t have done that. Rachel was exasperated. What should I do if anything happens to you?
Julian comforted her at one side by saying, “It’s fine as long as Madam Tiller is okay. I have asked the doctor who applied medicine to her wound-it’s only a superficial wound, so she doesn’t need to be hospitalized.”
Only then did Rachel breathe a sigh of relief. Still, her heart ached a lot when she saw the gauze bandage on
Nancy’s knee.
Victor then carried Nancy piggyback to Rachel’s car, whereas Julian went out after them and handed the medicine to Rachel. “The dosage and directions for use have been written inside. I’ll find time to visit Madam
Tiller over the next few days, so you don’t have to be too worried.”
Thank you.
“Don’t mention it.” Julian took a glance at Rachel’s car. Then, he asked with a frown, “Do you know that young man?”
I guess so. We met once before.
“One should always be mindful of guarding against harm from others, Rachel. This young man seems-”
I know that. I’ll ask about it. Rachel also felt strange as Nancy seemed to be quite familiar with this young man. Besides, she felt somewhat disturbed upon recalling how he had previously stalked her in the neighborhood.
Following that, Rachel drove Nancy back to the latter’s place. After opening the door, she pointed toward the bedroom and signaled for the young man to help her grandmother inside. Please get some rest first, Grandma. I’ll go and prepare dinner.
“Oh, sure. Why don’t you stay for dinner as well, Victor? I have to thank you for what happened today.”
Victor immediately waved his hand, but Rachel nodded. I got it.
After leaving Nancy’s bedroom, Rachel poured the young man a cup of tea. Then, she keyed in a sentence on her phone’s screen and showed it to him. Thank you for what happened today!
The young man immediately shook his head. “It’s nothing-that’s what I should do. You saved my life before, and this is nothing compared to it. By the way…” He produced an envelope from his pocket. “This is for you.”
Rachel took the envelope and opened it to see a stack of banknotes contained inside. It was a thick stack consisting of banknotes in small denominations, including banknotes of 100, 50, 20, and even five bucks. Victor then explained, “This is for covering my medical expenses last time. I haven’t collected enough money yet, so I can only give you this much for the time being. I’ll work to return the rest of the money to you bit by
bit.”
Rachel was startled for a moment before she pushed the envelope back to him. ‘It’s not necessary.’
“No, you have to keep it,” the young man said stubbornly. “I never owe anyone favors.”
Rachel had no choice but to drop the subject for the time being. So you’ve been helping Grandma by her side these days?’ She had heard from Nancy several times that a young man often helped her around and scrambled to help with all the dirty and heavy work. At first, Rachel thought the young man was a volunteer serving the elderly in the community.
The young man nodded his head somewhat uneasily.
‘You were stalking me last time, weren’t you?’
Seeing what Rachel’s gestures meant, the young man suddenly turned pale. He looked like he wanted to explain, but he didn’t know where to start.
Rachel studied him closely for a long time and was helpless when she noticed that he was sweating profusely. ‘What’s your name?’
Only then did the young man come to his senses and suddenly stand up as straight as a ramrod. “I’m Victor Wade; it’s spelled as V-I-C-T-O-R. You may call me Victor.”
Rachel nodded. ‘It’s not a big deal, so you don’t have to overthink it. Since you’ve paid the money back to me, you no longer owe me anything.’ When she noticed that Victor’s expression was still somewhat strained, she offered him to stay. ‘Please stay around for dinner later!
Only then did Victor’s expression ease, and he immediately helped to carry the vegetables into the kitchen. “I’ll help you. Usually, I’m the one helping Madam Tiller to pluck the vegetables. According to your grandmother, the vegetables i pluck are very clean.”
Rachel smiled and nodded.
Victor appeared to be in his early twenties. Normally, a person at his age should still be a student, but he seemed to have entered the workforce for a while.
Later on, Rachel left after having dinner with Nancy. She asked Victor, ‘Where do you live? I’ll drive you home!
“It’s not necessary.” Victor immediately shook his head. “I live nearby, so I’ll go home on foot. Please go ahead with your affairs.”
Seeing how fast Victor had run away, Rachel failed to stop him, and her outstretched hand froze mid-air for a long time before she retracted it. She then drove her car around the neighborhood. When she saw from a distance that Victor had gotten on a bus, she followed him. Julian is right; one should always be mindful of guarding against harm from others, she thought to herself.
The night was dark, and Rachel drove for half an hour and waited until Victor got off the bus at the stop before the final stop. When she looked at her surroundings, she was surprised to find herself in the old district. The tailor’s shop owned by Janice’s family was nearby, and she had been there in the afternoon. The walls around her were marked with the words ‘To be demolished.’ Furthermore, Victor lived in a remote valley with low houses.
Since Rachel couldn’t drive her car into the alley, she could only get out of the car and follow him at a distance. After tailing him for a while, she suddenly lost sight of him.
“Have you been following me?” A male voice was heard from the darkness behind.
