Chapter 1024 Almost Lost It
“Really?” Sonia looked at Toby with wide eyes.
He nodded. “Yes. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you let me try?”
She handed the carving knife over without saying anything. After he took it, he took two steps forward and stood where she had just stood before he picked up the mud-like pumpkin she had carved and inspected it carefully, as if he was wondering where he should start from.
Sonia didn’t know what he was thinking. As she watched him remain motionless with the knife in one hand and her carved pumpkin in the other, she thought that he finally realized that things were not as simple and easy as he had said they were at the beginning. Just as she was about to laugh at him for boasting, she saw him move all of a sudden. With his long fingers wrapped around the carving knife, he carved onto the pumpkin little by little. His movements were deft, and he didn’t seem like a novice at all, more like a master with many years of carving experience.
Her red lips opened slightly in surprise. “You’re so good at this. When did you learn how to carve? Did you pick it up when you learned to cook?”
Even though food carving was a part of culinary arts, there were not many people who would learn it, and it was mostly those who dreamed of being a hotel chef or a chef in some high-end restaurant who would learn it. After all, it was only in a situation like this that food carving would come in handy. The average chef in a small restaurant would only know some simple dishes, but there was no need for any complicated food carvings in those dishes. Although Toby had been learning cooking recently, he was mostly learning home-cooked dishes from major cuisines instead of any exquisite and beautiful dishes. Therefore, it surprised her greatly that he knew food carving.
“I never learned it.” Unexpectedly, Toby’s answer was that he hadn’t learned it.
Sonia walked to his side in surprise. Looking at the movements in his hands, she looked even more astonished. “You never learned it? Then how did you know how to do this? You even look so good at it!”
Toby focused on his carving and did not look up. He only replied with a chuckle, “I studied jade carving for a bit during high school.”
“Jade carving?”
“Yeah.” Toby raised his chin slightly. “At that time, I wanted to give my grandmother something special for her birthday, but I didn’t know what to give her. Later, Tom suggested that I give her a carved statue.”
“Oh, I get it now.” Sonia clapped her hands. “Grandma likes these things, so it’s a good gift for her.”
Toby hummed in assent. “Yes, but Grandma has many statues that were all made by famous sculptors. If I gave her another one, it wouldn’t be anything new to her, and she wouldn’t be amazed by it.”
“So, you went to learn jade carving just to make Grandma surprised by your gift?” Sonia guessed, touching her chin.
Toby smiled. “Something like that. Besides, I couldn’t do many things because of my heart condition back then, and I felt useless. Because of that, I was always angry and depressed. Learning jade carving was not only for Grandma’s gift, but it was also a form of self care. It requires great patience and carefulness, so if I wasn’t in a good mental state, I wouldn’t be able to pick it up at all.”
“In other words, if you hadn’t learned jade carving, your heart might take a bigger burden due to your anger issues to the point where you might not have held on long enough to replace your heart?” Sonia bit her lip and asked.
Toby nodded. “That’s right.”
Sonia felt her heart stop. Then, she slowly took a step back and went behind him to embrace him, burying her head on his sturdy back.
Toby’s body jolted and his hand stopped carving; he was obviously shocked by her sudden behavior. He placed down the carving knife in his hand and turned his head slightly to look at the woman behind him.
As she was hugging him, he couldn’t turn much, so he couldn’t see her entire body and only saw a part of her body and her side profile. Even so, his gaze was still gentle and doting as he asked, “What’s the matter? Why are you so affectionate today?”
“I’m not.” Sonia lifted her head to roll her eyes at him, before she lowered her head again and rested her head on the middle of his back, her red lips opening as she spoke in a sad yet grateful tone. “I was just glad that Tom recommended you to give Grandma a statue back then. If not, you wouldn’t learn jade carving, and if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to calm your heart down, and then…”
She couldn’t continue. Her voice trembled and choked with fear. She was afraid that if he had not studied jade carving to calm his mind, he wouldn’t be able to last long enough to find a suitable heart and would’ve died back then.
Sensing that she was feeling down, Toby placed the pumpkin in his hand down and turned around to hug her tightly, rubbing his chin against the top of her head as he softly comforted, “All right, I’m fine now, aren’t I? Don’t be scared. That’s all in the past. I’m all better now.”
Saying that, he caressed the woman’s hair. He put in more strength than usual to let her know that he really was fine at the moment, that he was right in front of her, and he wasn’t an illusion. He wanted her to stop overthinking and stop being afraid.
When Sonia raised her head, her eyes were a little red. “I know you’re fine now, but what happened back then was still really scary and dangerous. It was such a close call. If Tom hadn’t advised you back then, or if you hadn’t accepted his suggestion, you… you wouldn’t be here now!”
Toby’s face was filled with a smile as he said, “But what happened was that Tom made a suggestion, and I accepted his suggestion, right?”
“What if you didn’t?”
“There is no what if,” he replied seriously.
She pursed her lips. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t forget that you and I were already pen pals back then.” Toby pinched her face gently. “I remember that at that time, we had been pen pals for two years. Although I hadn’t fallen in love with you, I was already interested in you. I always knew that I needed to calm my mental state instead of being angry all the time, so when Tom suggested that to me, I immediately thought of learning jade carving and fixing my anger issues. Only then would I be able to live longer and hold on long enough to find the right replacement for my heart in order to meet you in the future.”
“So, what you’re saying is that because you wanted to meet me, you wouldn’t refuse Tom’s suggestion, right?” Sonia sniffled as she looked at him.
He lowered his head and dropped an extremely gentle kiss on her wet eyes, replying in a low and pleasant voice, “Of course. So, do you feel better now?”
Sonia huffed and rested her forehead against his chest, falling silent in tacit agreement. Toby chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist while he placed the other on the back of her head and caressed her gently as if he were coaxing a child. Sonia leaned in his embrace with a slight smile, enjoying his doting actions. After all, which woman wouldn’t want to live like a child and be spoiled like one by their lover? In any case, she liked it.
However, she knew that she couldn’t keep hugging him like this. Hence, after he had embraced her for about two minutes, she took the initiative to come out of Toby’s arms and looked at the man who was still a little startled with a smile. He seemed to be wondering why she wasn’t letting him hug her anymore.
