Chapter 241 - Losses 1

The desolate village was dilapidated. The three of them passed through endless fields and finally reached the village entrance. The old man dressed in coarse clothes was still farming in the field. He had put up a greenhouse tunnel in a small plot of land. What he grew inside, they did not know.

Harold walked forward and called, "Sir."

The old man ignored him, as if he didn't hear or see him. When he came out of the greenhouse tunnel, he noticed that there were more people coming this time. His eyes swept across the group and then his gaze froze.

Stephanie inherited her high nose and big eyes from her parents. At the corner of her eyes was a sesame-sized lacrimal mole. Usually, it was covered with foundation, but today, she didn't apply any. The old man froze the moment he saw the lacrimal mole.

Stephanie looked at the old man's weathered face and hesitantly called, "Grandpa?"

The old man suddenly turned around and ran away.

Emily and Harold were confused. What was going on?

Stephanie took off her scarf and gloves as she chased after him. Running too fast, she tripped and fell. Only then did the old man stop and look back.

Harold attempted to help her, but Emily grabbed his arm and shook her head at him.

Lying on the ground, Stephanie said in a low voice, "Sorry, I was mistaken." She gave a faint smile, tears streaming down her cheeks. "If my grandfather were alive, he would have looked for me! He wouldn't run away from me ..."

When the old man heard this, there was no emotion on his face. He turned around and left, nonchalant.

Judging from the old man's reaction, Emily was certain that he was Stephanie's grandfather, but there seemed to be some misunderstanding between the two of them.

Stephanie got up. Her hand was cut by stone on the ground. Blood was seeping out. She stood there and looked at the wound in her hand in a daze. Maybe out of pain or sorrow, tears gushed from her eyes.

Moments later, the old man returned, with something green in his hand. When he came closer, they saw it was mashed herbs. He applied them to Stephanie's wound, then left again without saying a word.

Harold whispered in Emily's ear, "He doesn't care about me even if I freeze to death. From the looks of it, he is indeed her granddaughter."

Emily kept observing without responding.

Stephanie put her hand on the herbs and suddenly said softly, "When I fell as a child, my grandpa stopped the bleeding just like this."

Emily looked at the old man's retreating figure and turned to Stephanie. "Come on, let's get out here."

"Why?" Stephanie finally remembered the reason Emily had brought her here. How could she leave without doing anything? Moreover, she wanted to ask her grandfather why he didn't look for her for so many years since he was alive.

Emily said, "We can come back when your grandfather is ready to see you."

Recalling how her grandfather ran away when he saw her, Stephanie nodded in agreement.

When the three of them were about to leave, a coarse-clothed figure walked out hesitantly. By the time the car started, he was already in the path, one of his feet bare. He kept walking as if he hadn't noticed he was only wearing one shoe. The car backed, and dust flew up. Just like that, the car drove off, with his granddaughter inside.

The old man waited for the car to completely disappear before he reached out his hand. Over ten years had passed. His little girl was all grown up.

**

"Jaquan, Randy said that you were on a date with a girl." Arabella sounded nervous, but she smiled to feign composure. "Is that true?"

Jaquan looked at the girl who was eating quietly, and said over the phone, "Yes, it's the girl who friended me on WeChat."

Until now, Jaquan still didn't know who this girl was. He only knew that her WeChat profile was a black kitten.

"Your ... your relationship develops so fast?" Arabella didn't seem to believe it. The night before, Jaquan had just told her he liked her. How could he be on a date with another woman the next day? She didn't understand or believe it even though Jaquan had personally admitted to it.

Jaquan took a sip of red wine and said, "It's just a meal."

The girl sitting opposite smiled sweetly at him.

After hanging up the phone, Jaquan ordered a warm drink when he noticed the girl didn't drink the wine.

The warm drink brought a big smile to her face. "Thank you," she said to him.

Jaquan still had customers to meet with in the afternoon. When he finished eating, he looked at his watch and said to the girl, "This meal is my way of making it up to you. I won't contact you again."

She was astonished for a moment. Then she smiled, "You like Arabella, don't you?"

Jaquan did not reply.

"I had guessed it, but seeing that you added my WeChat, I thought maybe I had a chance." She bit her lower lip and said, "I was so happy last night when you asked me out. I should have known that this meal was going to be a farewell dinner."

She seemed a little frustrated, but she wasn't really angry. She even joked, "You should have kept it from me. It doesn't matter whether you're using me as a coverup or for some other purpose. It's just what men do."

Jaquan shook his head. "I don't like it. It's disrespectful for women and irresponsible for myself."

The girl was surprised to hear that. "They say that Mr. Vincent and his buddies are decent men. I didn't believe it at the beginning, but now I know it's true."

When they had added each other's WeChat accounts, they didn't have much to say.

Now that things were clear, they felt more comfortable to talk. Jaquan had to meet a client. After the bill was paid, the two of them parted ways. Before the girl left, she took a picture of Jaquan's back and posted it in her WeChat moments.

"Goodbye, my dream man," it was captioned.

Arabella naturally saw it as well. She didn't know it was a farewell. She thought that Jaquan and that woman were seriously in love. The moment this thought came to her mind, she felt bad. She was distracted all afternoon. During the meeting, she even misread the market rate of return, causing everyone in the meeting room to look at her. In the end, the marketing manager had to take over and preside over the meeting.

When she turned on her phone that evening, there was no new request from Jaquan to friend her on WeChat, nor did he call her. It seemed that him saying he liked her last night was just a dream.

She called him, but after two rings, she quickly hung up and waited for Jaquan to call back.

But he didn't. Half an hour later, Jaquan still didn't call back.

Arabella was so angry that she smashed her phone.

Jaquan, in fact, was busy reading the client's files in the firm, preparing for the next day's court. Arabella called him. He happened to be in the bathroom when she called. After returning, he resumed reading the files and updating the data on the computer. After he finished processing all the materials needed for the next day's court, he picked up his jacket and went out.

He didn't even eat yet, but he didn't want to eat out alone. So, he decided to order takeout food. At the entrance of the community, the old lady who sold vegetable pancakes saw him. For the first time, she did not ask him to buy pancakes. "You came back so late," she just said.

Thanks to Emma, he seemed to be getting along with the people in the neighborhood.. The elders had never been so friendly to him.