‘I’ll help you. He doesn’t know anything about this.”
“Oh, is that so? I see. No wonder he ignored me when I kept calling him. Okay, then. You can come and help me out,” the elderly woman replied with a grin that revealed she did not have many teeth left.
Susan bent down immediately and was about to take off her shoes to go onto the field when Ian took notice and finally turned toward her.
“What are you doing?”
Susan gestured toward the field and explained simply, “I’m helping her with the pollination. You don’t know what that is, do you? They’re pollinating the crops. This tall one is the stamen, and the shorter one is the pistil. The crops are in the flowering stage now, and they have to pollinate them by hand”
Ian fell silent.
Indeed, he had not seen that before.
I’ve been to the countryside with Mom, Matt, and Vivi. In fact, I’ve been there several times. However, the climate and environment there were unlike where we are now. I really haven’t heard of this.
He gazed at Susan as she took off her shoes and socks, revealing her fair feet. Suddenly, the sight triggered something within him, and he recalled a scene of being in the fields with his parents when he was little…
“Ian! What are you doing? You can’t come down here!”
Ian looked at her impassively as he kicked off his shoes and socks in seconds. “Why not? I used to go out to the fields with my parents when I was little. Who knows where you were or what you were doing then?”
He gave a contemptuous snort before stepping forward among the flowering crops.
Susan was dumbstruck.
All right, then. I was only worrying about where to get clean socks and shoes for him later.
Hence, both of them started working in the field. During the time Susan had been there, she had done such work before and had become accustomed to it. However, it was a different story for Ian. Soon, he felt his arms start to ache and his face sting.
The leaves of the seedlings were actually very sharp with serrated edges. Those unaccustomed to handling the seedlings would easily cut themselves on them and even find that their skin would itch.
Susan watched as Ian’s fair and handsome face quickly turned red as he scratched at it.
“That’s it, Ian. You can’t stay in this field any longer. Let’s hurry up and go back. Your skin isn’t used to this. If you continue, you’ll ruin your face.”
Tossing aside the bamboo pole, Susan hurried over to him and pulled him out of the field.
It was not long before they were back in front of the faucet.
But this time, Ian found the familiar coolness of the water that gushed forth when Susan removed the plug soothing and refreshing.
Finally feeling better, he asked Susan, “Doesn’t it make you itch?”
She was in the middle of wringing a towel to wipe his arm. When she heard his question, she answered casually, “I’m already used to it. I was just like you in the beginning.”
In the beginning?
Ian’s gaze fell upon her face, and it was then that he noticed her skin was indeed a little darker than it had been when she was in university.
Her skin used to be fair and smooth, but now, he could see at a glance that her cheeks were red as if smeared with blusher.
Is that really sunburn?
Before he realized what he was doing, he had already stretched out his hand and pinched her cheek, which looked as pink and plump as a juicy peach.
Susan stared at him wordlessly, and everything seemed to come to a standstill.
They stood unmoving as if rooted to the spot, and the only sound was the gurgling of the water as it continued gushing out.
Only their eyes moved as they stared at each other.
“Ms. Jadeson! Ms. Jadeson!”
Suddenly, someone from the Villagers’ Committee’s Finance Department came rushing down from the mountain, his yells shattering the peaceful stillness.
The sound jolted Susan to her senses.
“Huh… What is it?”
She looked away hastily as if electrocuted, her bright red face betraying her panic and embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Ian was equally flustered.
After withdrawing his hand mechanically, he grabbed the towel and hurriedly wiped his body with it.
By the time the person from the Finance Department ran over, Ian had already gone upstairs to his room.
After a while, Susan followed the man uphill to record the number of pears, leaving Ian alone upstairs. Even after a long time had passed, he could not calm down.
What did I just do? Is she angry? Did I give her a shock?
His frustration continued burgeoning, and he became so upset that he ended up ripping a book he had brought with him to shreds.
Just then, Vivian sent a text message: What are you doing, Ian?
Ian ignored the message.
Vivian: How are things with your Aunt Susan? Are you having a lot of fun? You should send me some photos.
Ian reckoned that Vivian was probably so bored at Oceanic Estate that she resorted to pestering him for photos.
As a result, his already foul mood only worsened when he saw that text message.
Ian: I didn’t take any photos.
Vivian: Why not? Is it no fun there? Then why did you run all the way there? If you don’t feel like staying at SteelFort, you can come and find me. We can look for Kurt and have a blast together.
Ian did not reply after that.
Her text had rendered him speechless.
