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 atst!”
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‘te back even by midnight, so Matthew went searching for you with his men.” Melissa sat n
ext 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 mboyant 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 mo
untain, so he assumed that Veronica had done
the same while going up the mountainst night. It was just that she copsed near the steep mountain s
lope, so he thought she might have dropped her dagger down the mountain by ident.
“d to hear that you‘re alright.” Matthew‘s heart was finally put at rest when he saw that Veronica was fi
ne. 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 vige chief made a chicken stew to nourish Veronica‘s health. In the afternoon, the warmhearted vil
lagers came to visit her, bringing things like eggs, fish, chickens, ducks, and geese with them. After all, th
ese were the only things people had in rural areas.
Deeply moved by the vigers‘ simplicity and enthusiasm,
Veronica felt very d. 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 maske
d 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 trot
ted to the other side of the pond. Then, she walked up toOwned by N?velDrama.Org.
the masked man and questioned, “Why did you leave me on the mountain that day? I saved you!” She w
as 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 ungratef
ully run away.” She finally cast aside the displeasure that had been building up inside her over the past fe
w 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 vigers had told her about the masked man‘s family, Veronica learned that he was less t
han 30 years old. Since he was still young, he was supposed to be inclined to have fun, so she thought o
f 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 heire
ss 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 t
he pond. After all, life was dull without the inte 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 i
n order to save her that day. She said peremptorily, “Aw,e 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 mak
e light work, no?”
Crayfish was a popr hot–
selling food item in the city. In the mountains, however, the simple vigers mainly raised crops and work
ed 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 vige fields, making it very easy for them to fish for cra
yfish.
Seeing that Melissa and Veronica were having a great time, the masked man fished for crayfish by the p
ond without saying a word.
After Veronica lost consciousness that evening, he sat down beside her with the dagger in his hand alrea
dy aimed at her neck. However, recalling how thedy 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 co
uld only rely on her luck. s, 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 sto
ve in the rural vige, the crayfish tasted extraordinarily toothsome and delicious.
After dinner, Veronica, who felt
completely stuffed, took a stroll in the vige, while Matthew and Melissa followed her closely.
A few more dayster, a construction team of about 30 people and a team in charge of installing the signa
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
line telephones, televisions, and cell phones for the vigers.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn‘t cooperating. Just as the construction team was about to start constructi
The downpour hadn‘t stopped since the afternoon. Although Dawnpol Vige stood on slightly higher terra
Standing at the vige‘s entrance, Veronica and Matthew watched as the river swelled near the vige‘s e
was the farmers in the viges 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 p
“Things will get better when the new school building ispleted,” 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
“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 vige chie
After waiting for a while, Matthew saw Veronicaing back with her backpack. The more time he spent
many remarkable traits about her that were drawing him to her. “This is for you.” He walked over to her sid
Veronica couldn‘t see what was in Matthew‘s hand since she was merely holding it. She asked, “Don‘t tell