Chapter 104
Raspberries were known
scientifically as Rubus idaeus, but Veronica referred to them by theirmon name lest Matthew
didn‘t understand what she was referring to. “Is food all you have in mind?”
The two were each holding an umbre. As Matthew stared at her, the raindrops that fell between them fr
om the umbres looked like a thin curtain of rain that lent a beautiful touch to everything.
“It‘s not something to eat? Tsk, who knows what you‘re giving me? I can‘t read your mind, after all,” Vero
nica said. She felt that Matthew was deliberately keeping her in suspense, but she nheless took wha
t he handed to her, only to find that it was an exquisitely made small box. She lowered her head to take a
sniff at it, and it had a faint yet pleasant herbal scent,
Matthew said, “This is an ointment that I asked an old traditional medicine practitioner in the neighboring
vige to prepare. It speeds up
the healing of wounds and removes scars.” Women were rtively particr
about their appearance and disliked having scars left on their bodies, so Matthew went to a traditional m
edicine practitioner to ask for the ointment.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Veronica clicked her tongue while opening the box. Seeing the creamy white ointment insi
de the box that was giving off a refreshing scent, she couldn‘t help but ridicule, “Are you trying to be nice
to me? I‘ll take it then.” She closed the little disc–
shaped box and put it into her pocket before looking up at him. “Just spill it. What‘s the favor you‘d like to
ask of me?” Matthew can‘t be so attentive as to give me an ointment for no apparent
reason. He‘s definitely up to something.
Matthew was having a faint smile on his good–
looking face just a moment ago. The next instant, however, his expression turned somewhat chilly, and h
e gave off piercingly chilly vibes, as though he was covered with frost from head to toe. After darting a sid
elong nce at Veronica with chilly eyes, he went past her right away.
Veronica couldn‘t help feeling perplexed as she stood where she was while watching the man walk on in
the mud. “This is baffling. Why is he angry all of a sudden?” Is it because I didn‘t thank him? She hurriedl
y caught up to him as they headed for the school together.
It took the pair an hour to get to the school by foot due to the rtively long journey. The heavy rain patte
red down asrge raindrops
sttered down onto the earth with a loud pattering sound, but the sound couldn‘t drown out the voices o
f the kids reading aloud in school. The kids were reading aloud, as though they were entirely
oblivious to their surroundings with their minds focused on their studies.
The simple school building was made of mud bricks, whereas its roof was covered with uiles. As rainwat
er dripped from the eaves, a man in a blue raincoat climbed up thedder onto the roof
to fix the roof and prevent it from leaking.
“I also went to this kind of school when
I was little.” Veronica stood in the rain. As she looked at the scene before her, she felt like she was being
taken back to her childhood.
Matthew, on the other hand, was born into a wealthy family. Even
in childhood, he would never have experienced what it was
like to have the roof leaking in his ssroom all of a sudden while he was attending sses.
In order not to disturb the kids while they were in ss, the pair merely nced at them from a distance.
Then, they went to the newly vacated library in the school.
As they had expected, the library‘s roof was leaking badly. Some of the donated books were yet to be un
packed, whereas some were already unpacked, and there were a dozen books that had been drenched i
n rain. Veronica couldn‘t find anything to collect the rainwater, so she had no choice but to stand in front
of the bookshelf with her umbre to protect the books from the rain.
There were four sses in the school. The first–graders and the second–
graders were attending sses together, whereas there was a ss for the third–
graders, the fourth graders, and the fifth–
graders, respectively. However, there were only two teachers. In such a difficult environment, the two tea
chers gave a lot for the mere 40 to 50 students of the school. At the thought of this, Veronica was deeply
touched.
After a long time, the rain finally stopped, and the sky cleared up. The man in the raincoat rearranged the
tiles on the leaking roof. After everything was fine, he trotted up to Veronica and Matthew while panting f
or breath with an affable smile. “Sorry, I was fixing the roof just now because of the heavy rain.”
“It‘s okay, Mr. Pearson. We came here to take a look because we had nothing else to do. Anyway, it‘s rea
lly admirable of you and your wife to stay here in
the mountains to teach the kids,” Veronica praised sincerely.
“Haha! We‘re used to it already. These kids are the future of our nation, so it‘ll be a shame if nobody care
s about them,” Mr. Pearson replied while taking off his raincoat. Then, he hurriedly poured
Veronica and Matthew some drinking water.
“No, we‘re good. You don‘t have to do this.” Veronica quickly stepped forward and stopped Mr. Pearson.
Then, she took off her backpack, took 40,000 in cash out of it,
and handed the money to the dark–
skinned and skinny teacher. “What was given to te school earlier was donated to you guys by ourpa
ny, whereas this is a token of my regard. Please keep it and use it as living expenses for you and your wi
fe. The kids will only do better when you two are doing better.” Veronica had met Mr. –
Pearson and his wife aftering to Dawnpol Vige. They were an incredibly kind hearted couple who
taught students without expecting
anything in return, which was something that countless people were unable to do.
When Matthew saw the scene from the sidelines, his obsidian–
like eyes flickered with surprise. He had always thought of Veronica as a woman who cared for nothing b
ut money, but he never thought she would give away 40,000 to Mr. Pearson and
his wife at one go, especially because to the best of his knowledge, Veronica was not only hard up but al
so penniless.
Mr. Pearson refused the money, saying, “No, no, no, you don‘t have to. You‘ve given us a lot, so you reall
y don‘t have to give us the money.”
However, Veronica shoved the 40,000 into his hand in an upromising manner. “Just take it. It‘s a tok
en of my regard for you and the kids, so please don‘t refuse it.” With that, she took Matthew‘s hand and r
an away for fear that Mr. Pearson might give the money back to her again if she were a littlete.
The two‘s trouser legs were stained with yellow mud as they ran in the mud, but Veronica was in a very g
ood mood. Standing on the hill, she sniffed the fresh air after the rain before catching a glimpse of a rain
bow at the other end of the hill. “Look, Matthew! It‘s a rainbow! It‘s so beautiful. Come
on, Matthew,e and take a picture of me. Oh, forget it. Let‘s take a picture together as a memento of
our first time doing charity.”
Matthew didn‘t refuse her. “Okay.”
He came to Veronica‘s side, whereas Veronica took out her cell phone and held it up, only to find that the
Matthew‘s distinctly outlined face showed a hint of helplessness. “Are you ming me for your short statu
“In that case, can‘t you squat down a little?”
Matthew was rendered speechless. With his personality, he should‘ve ignored her unreasonable quibbling
beside her while bending his knees slightly.
Veronica held her cell phone up high and turned on the selfie mode. After looking at
Matthew and herself in the frame, she said to him, “Squat a little lower.”
Property of N?)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Matthew didn‘t say a word in response, though he obediently squatted down a little lower
Veronica wrapped her arm around his shoulder as they posed for an
intimate photo together. At the click of the shutter, the photo captured them standing before the hillside wit
looking and well–matched, too, making the photo even more beautiful.
“Nice! It looks pretty good. But Matthew, what‘s the matter with that look on your face?” Veronica stared at