Chapter 220 Returning Home

Seeing her son’s appearance, Kathryn felt her nose sore. Thinking back to when she first learned about Holly’s miscarriage, she could guess that her son must not have slept a wink that night.

“Christian...” Kathryn’s tears instantly fell. She wanted to persuade her son, but her heart was filled with so many thoughts that she couldn’t figure out what to do except crying.

But even her crying did not attract Christian’s attention. He remained motionless like a clay or wooden sculpture. Kathryn knew that this was the time when he was most sad, so she went downstairs sobbing.

When she got downstairs and looked at the deserted house, she felt a sense of melancholy in her heart. The bitterness in her heart surged up again, and tears fell unconsciously from her eyes.

Just when she was deeply immersed in her inner pain, the phone rang, startling her.

I took it and saw that it was a call from the gym. I looked at the time and found that it was time to go to the gym.

Kathryn had no intention of going to class today and simply refused, but Emma pitifully begged her to go even for the emergency today.

Kathryn’s tone was originally firm, but she couldn’t stand Emma’s constant pleading. That’s just how she is. Even if she is suffering from unspeakable pain, her heart is still soft. Besides, her heart is a mess now, so it might as well go and relax.

So her tone relaxed and she agreed to finish today’s class.

After hanging up the phone, she quickly packed up and took the things she needed for the gym. It was obvious that her son had no intention of going today, so she had to drive there alone.

The house fell into silence again. An hour later, Christian came down from upstairs with heavy steps. The tears on his face made him look very haggard. He had been thinking about the death of his child all night and had not slept at all. He didn’t know what he should do. He was in a daze, pacing downstairs with empty eyes.

After walking around a few times, he turned around and went upstairs again. He felt like a walking corpse. Apart from being able to walk normally, his mind was completely blank.

Louise and Martha Holly naturally had no mood to go to the gym today, and when Kathryn called them, all three of them looked worried.

Kathryn had no choice but to rush back to check on her son after class without even having time to take a shower.

As soon as she entered the house, she was still greeted by the same desolate atmosphere. Kathryn’s heart sank immediately, and she hurried upstairs to take a look.

When she entered the room, she found her son sitting there in a daze. The curtains were not open, but his eyes were staring at the curtains without moving. She didn’t know what he was thinking.

“Christian...” Kathryn called softly, but Christian didn’t respond.

So Kathryn called out softly again, and Christian’s head slowly turned around, but the turning was very stiff and mechanical. Kathryn was terrified by the scene, and felt like it was a scene from a horror movie.

Christian turned his head, his eyes dull and his face expressionless. He glanced at his mother and turned away again.

“Are you...are you hungry?” Kathryn asked tentatively, walking over. “Why are you just sitting there like this?”

Christian glanced at his mother again, still saying nothing.

“Christian...don’t scare your mother...you...you...” Kathryn stammered, not knowing what to say.

There was a long silence in the room.

“I’m not hungry...” After waiting, Christian replied with a hoarse voice, and added, “I want to be alone...”

Tears welled up in Kathryn’s eyes. She covered her mouth to hold back her tears, nodded with a sob, and left the room.

For two days, Christian stayed in his room except for going downstairs for a walk on Saturday morning. He did not eat or drink. Even when Kathryn cooked and brought the food to his bedside, he did not eat a single bite. It seemed that he wanted to punish himself in this way.

However, he was not the only one who felt punished in this way. Louise, Kathryn, Martha, and Holly also felt the same torment.

It was not until Monday morning that Christian came downstairs with a tired face. Kathryn wanted to say a few words to him, but he took a piece of bread and went out to work directly, as if he did not see his mother sitting at the table and looking at him eagerly.

Because he didn’t have to work overtime recently, when he came back, Kathryn was still waiting for him downstairs, but he went upstairs with an indifferent expression, just like in the morning.

Christian maintained this attitude for several days, which made Kathryn even more heartbroken. She communicated with Louise several times, but in the end she only came to the conclusion that time would dilute Christian’s pain.

They say good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly. Just when the women were all sad or lamenting, something new happened.

That day, after class, Kathryn was resting in the office when she suddenly received a call from Edwin, who seemed to have disappeared.

“Hello, Kathryn.” Edwin’s tone was a little sad and a little anxious, and he hurriedly finished the rest of his words.

It turned out that his uncle in his hometown had passed away and the funeral was to be held the day after tomorrow, but he was out of town and couldn’t make it back in time, so he wanted Christian to go in his place. Since he wasn’t at home, he could let his son go and his family wouldn’t say anything.

“Christian...” Thinking about her son’s condition these days, Kathryn was about to say, ‘Christian might not be willing to go,’ but Edwin said first, “I just talked to Christian, and he agreed.”

“Christian agreed?” This news shocked Kathryn. She thought her son would continue to be indifferent.

“Well, yes.” Edwin continued, “But he seldom goes to his hometown, and he doesn’t know many of his relatives, and they don’t know him either, so I want you to go with you to prevent him from being rude.” Although she didn’t know why her son agreed, Kathryn agreed after thinking about it.

When she got off work, she told Louise about this, and Louise couldn’t help but be stunned.

“I thought Christian wouldn’t agree, but I didn’t expect him to agree so easily.” Kathryn said with a happy look on her face. This might be a sign that her son is gradually coming to terms with his feelings.

Louise nodded slightly, and then said, “That’s good. A change of environment might be better. It’s good to relax after finishing the work.”

“Hmm...” Kathryn obviously didn’t expect this, and nodded after hearing what Louise said.

This has to do with Edwin’s hometown. On the outskirts of City C, there is a continuous mountain range that spans C and D. Both sides claim that the mountain range belongs to them, but for various reasons they have not been able to finalize the agreement and ultimately can only jointly develop it.

But precisely because of this, the two cities have not developed the mountains thoroughly enough, and there are still many natural villages in the mountains. These villages are not poor, as they have a decent life, but they are not rich either, as they rely on the mountains for their livelihood.

Edwin was born in one of these villages. He is not only the first college student in the village in decades, but also the only college student in the village who married a city girl. He is also the only college student in the village who has made a name for himself with his own abilities.

Moreover, Edwin did not forget his roots after he became rich. After he became wealthy, he gave back to the village and helped the village cultivate several promising younger generations.

Therefore, although Edwin is not of high seniority in the village, he has great prestige. Sometimes the villagers are willing to look for him for help when they encounter big or small matters, not to mention that this time it is his uncle who passed away, so it is even more appropriate for him to be present.

That’s why Louise said that. Precisely because it has not been thoroughly developed, the mountains have retained more of their original ecology, with lush trees and gurgling streams. Living in such a place for a while can indeed have a good effect on regulating your mood.

“Then I’ll go back and prepare tonight...” Kathryn continued: “Then you...”

Without waiting for Kathryn to finish her words, Louise shook her head and said, “If it’s a trip to relax, I would be happy to go with you, but this is because of family matters, it’s not appropriate for me to go with you.” After thinking for a while, she paused and continued, “If it wasn’t for Holly’s incident that made Christian sad, Martha should go back as her wife!” As she said that, she looked at Kathryn and smiled, “Let alone Christian’s behavior, I am also responsible. I find it difficult to face him for the time being. Step back, if you are not in school, someone has to go to class, right? Someone has to go to your classes at the gym, right? With me here, you don’t need to worry about these.” Although she said this, Louise seemed to have a little emotional desire to show up in public as Christian’s woman, even though she knew it was not realistic.

Catching Louise’s gaze, Kathryn nodded.

When she got home, Kathryn was surprised to find that her son had already prepared the things he wanted to bring and was sitting downstairs waiting for her.

“Christian...” He walked forward and called out, but Kathryn swallowed the question that was about to come to her lips.

Christian’s expression remained unchanged. He looked up at his mother, a complex light flashing in his eyes, and he said softly, “Mom, you should pack your things too. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”

“Hey! I’ll go make dinner first!” Kathryn felt even happier. Maybe Louise was right. This was a good opportunity for her son to relax. After the funeral was over, she would have to let him stay at his hometown for two more days even if she had to force him.

After dinner, Kathryn went upstairs to pack her things. In addition to normal daily necessities, she also brought a breast pump, not to mention a three-piece set of sanitary napkins, menstrual sticks, and nursing pads. She brought enough for a month’s use.

Early the next morning, the mother and son set out on the journey back to their hometown.

The main road was not difficult to walk on, but the difficult part was the road into the mountains. It had eight bends and nine ridges, and it crossed two small bridges. It was not until dark that the two of them arrived at the village.

The only consolation is that in recent years, all roads and villages have been connected, and there are cement roads all the way. Even in the villages, there are cement roads, so cars can drive in.

As soon as they entered the village, they saw the family holding a funeral without asking. They parked the car about a hundred meters away from the house and walked over.

Seeing someone coming, a man with a sad face hurried over to greet them and said sadly, “Kathryn, thank you for making such a trip.”

The visitor was none other than Edwin’s late uncle’s son, Leonard, his cousin. He had received an apologetic call from Edwin early in the morning and knew why Kathryn had come.

Kathryn said with a sad face, “Nothing.”

As she spoke, Kathryn asked Christian to greet this sixth uncle.

“Uncle...” Christian’s voice was hoarse and dry, and his face was decadent and miserable, which perfectly matched the current scene.

Without much idle talk, the mother and son went forward to pay their respects to the deceased old man, and were arranged to sit down and have dinner. As they were eating, a middle-aged woman came over, handed Kathryn a key and said, “Kathryn, this is the key to your old house. I cleaned it during the day, so you can rest assured to stay here at night. It will be clean.”

This woman’s child became a college student because of Edwin’s contribution to his hometown, so she is particularly grateful to Edwin’s family. Since Edwin’s old house has been uninhabited for a long time, she took the initiative to ask Edwin for the key and went to open the door to ventilate the house every once in a while. This afternoon, when she heard that Edwin’s wife and children were coming back, she immediately went to clean the house inside and out, and was so busy that she only came here now.

Kathryn quickly stood up and thanked her, but the woman waved her hands and turned away.

After a bumpy day, both mother and son had no appetite. They ate a little and said goodbye to Leonard and returned to the old house.

The village itself was built on the mountain. When people were poor, they had to raise chickens and ducks next to their houses. The distance between each household was quite far. Originally, Edwin’s house was at the foot of the mountain, but Edwin’s father had several brothers and he was the youngest. After the family split up, the old house could not be given to him, so he had to find another place to build a house. But at that time, the better places in the village had been occupied, so he had no choice but to look for a place on the mountain. In the end, Edwin’s house was settled near the mountainside. It was really empty when looking forward, and empty when looking back. Looking around, there was no neighbors or support.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this kind of environment that Edwin was able to concentrate on his studies since childhood without being disturbed by others, which ultimately led to his success.

Back at the old house, both mother and son were exhausted after a long day. Christian fell asleep quickly, but Kathryn insisted on sucking out all the milk before falling asleep.

In the middle of the night, there was a rumbling sound in the sky, and a loud thunder seemed to ring in her ears, waking Kathryn from her sleep.

Kathryn suddenly opened her eyes and took a moment to adjust herself before she remembered that she was still in the old house. Just as she lay down and was about to sleep, another thunderclap sounded, scaring her heart so much that it trembled several times, and the sleepiness she had just felt disappeared instantly.

After putting on her clothes, she walked slowly to the window, gently opened the curtains and looked out. She saw bright lightning appearing from time to time, illuminating the sky.

“Tada”, soon, the sound of raindrops falling on the window could be heard. It was a drizzle at first, but it turned into a heavy downpour in the blink of an eye.

Although Edwin later came back and rebuilt a three-story building, in such an environment and on such a rainy day, he always felt a little scared staying in such a cold, quiet and remote house.

Especially at this moment, the lightning and thunder in the clouds did not disappear, and they appeared from time to time to make their presence felt, making the surrounding environment even more eerie and terrifying.

She had never encountered rain when she came back before, and she was always with Edwin, so she naturally didn’t think the old house was scary. But now she was alone in the room, with lightning and thunder outside the window. Kathryn couldn’t help but think about it. Especially when she thought about the reason for her return this time, she felt even more scared from the bottom of her heart, and her back couldn’t stop getting cold.

‘Long! ! ! ‘

Another loud bang of thunder sounded, interrupting Kathryn’s thoughts and causing her to jump.

She instinctively jumped into the bed and wrapped herself tightly, but the chilling feeling on her back was like a maggot in her tarsal bones, which made her unable to sleep at all.

“Da da da da”, “Ba ba ba ba”, the heavy rain turned into a downpour. The sound of raindrops hitting the roof and windows made Kathryn even more unable to sleep. She didn’t even dare to close her eyes and stayed awake until dawn.

The rain actually lasted the entire night, and only slowly turned into moderate rain the next morning. However, it continued to rain continuously and never stopped.

The next day, before Edwin’s uncle’s funeral was over, the ground suddenly began to shake and a rumbling sound came from afar.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone present was stunned, and soon someone shouted: “Oh no! There’s an earthquake! Run!!”

When this shout came out, everyone was terrified and a riot broke out in the small village.

In a panic, Kathryn was swept by the out-of-control crowd to run to an open place. After being pushed and shoved several times, she lost contact with her son. She could only run and call out helplessly, looking for her son in the crowd from time to time.

When everyone ran to the open space, the rumbling sound and the shaking of the ground stopped, but no one dared to go back into the house for fear of aftershocks.

Kathryn was still in shock, feeling lost and helpless as she stood in the crowd. The rain poured down on her pretty face. She wiped it away and looked around for her son when a figure quickly ran up to her and grabbed her hand. His strong hands held her in his embrace and whispered, “Mom, are you okay?”

Upon hearing the voice, Kathryn felt relieved, knowing that her son was fine. She looked up and saw that his face was haggard, with rain running down his cheeks. He looked anxious and concerned, and it was really hard to fake it.

“Mom, it’s okay. I didn’t see you just now and I was so worried about you.” Kathryn was touched and a smile appeared on her face. She spoke in a gentle tone.

“I was separated from you by the crowd just now. I was worried about you all the way here.” Christian explained. Even though he was angry with his mother because of that incident, he still cared about her and there was no way he would abandon her at this time.

Chapter 221 Heavy Snow Covers the Mountain

Just as the crowd was in a state of confusion, a man came running from a distance. He rolled and crawled over, not caring about the mud all over his body, and shouted loudly: “No... No... It’s bad! There’s a landslide! There’s a landslide in Sandagou! The bridge has collapsed!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd became agitated again, but not as loud as before. Instead, under the leadership of the village chief, they quickly calmed down.

It turned out that because it was not easy to leave the village, the villagers had always had the custom of storing food in autumn to prepare for the winter. Now that winter had arrived, most villagers had enough food reserves at home, which was enough to survive until the spring even if the mountain was closed. Therefore, the landslide that destroyed the bridge was nothing more than entering winter a little earlier, and the impact on everyone’s life was really small, so calm was quickly restored.

Kathryn and Christian looked at each other involuntarily. The mountain collapsed and the bridge collapsed. They definitely couldn’t go out. They could only live back in the old house. For Kathryn, this was not a bad thing. She originally wanted her son to go back to his hometown to relax. Although the lush flowers and trees were gone now, at least he could change the environment. She was still thinking about what reason to use!

This time, God’s arrangement came down directly and I don’t have to worry about it at all.

However, this was an emergency, and it was definitely impossible for the family to store food, so what to eat became a problem.

After this incident, my uncle’s funeral was no longer a grand affair and he was buried soon.

Seeing that the matter was over, Kathryn and Christian, mother and son, prepared to return to the old house.

“Kathryn, wait!” Just as I was about to leave, Leonard’s voice came from behind me.

“Anything else?” Kathryn asked, turning around.

Leonard handed over a large plastic bag and said, “Looking at the situation, you can’t leave for the next two days, and there must be nothing to eat at home. These are not a lot, so eat them first. If you don’t have enough, come and get more anytime.”

“Yeah, okay, thank you.” There was no need to be polite about this matter, so Kathryn thanked him directly. Christian also took the things from Leonard’s hand and said in a deep voice, “Thank you, uncle.”

After returning home, Kathryn hurried into the bathroom. She had caught a cold and was frightened that day. Not only was her body wet, but her breasts were swollen like two hard rocks. Naturally, she had to deal with it quickly.

In the evening, there was news in the circle of friends that there was a mudslide in the mountains, and specifically which bridge and which ditch was washed away. Louise also sent a message to inquire, and she was relieved after knowing that the two were fine.

On the third day, the rain that had been falling for a day and two nights gradually began to subside, but in the morning, Kathryn was woken up by the cold.

Kathryn shivered as she opened the curtains. The scene in front of her shocked her. It was pouring rain yesterday, but now it turned into heavy snow in the blink of an eye.

“It’s snowing?” Kathryn was stunned looking at the snowflakes flying in the sky outside the window. She quickly took out her cell phone to check the weather. It turned out that the province was hit by a cold wave from Siberia, and heavy snowstorms hit many places.

The changes she encountered when she returned to her hometown this time were really hard for her to believe. In just two days, she encountered torrential rain, landslides, collapsed bridges, and heavy snow. The whole process seemed to be arranged by fate, just like a plot in a script. If she hadn’t experienced it herself, it would be unbelievable if she heard it from others.

Even though we were wearing thick clothes, no one knew how long the heavy snow would last. And how long it would take to leave the mountains after the snow stopped? These were all unknowns.

Among the four necessities of life, food, clothing, housing and transportation, the most urgent and most important issue at the moment is: food!

“Kathryn,! Kathryn!!!” Kathryn was shivering in the quilt when a woman’s voice came from downstairs.

Kathryn no longer cared about her image. She opened the door, went to the corridor, opened the window and looked outside.

She saw a woman holding an umbrella standing downstairs. She seemed to have heard the sound of the window opening, so she looked up and waved at her.

“Sister-in-law?” Kathryn knew the woman; she was Leonard’s wife, Katherine. She asked curiously, “What’s up so early?”

Katherine raised her hand and gestured, and Kathryn could see the bag she was holding.

“Sister-in-law, please wait a moment. I’ll open the door.” Kathryn said, turned around and went back to the house. She hurriedly put on her clothes and quickly went downstairs. “Whoosh~” As soon as she opened the door, the cold wind mixed with snowflakes blew into the house, making Kathryn shiver again.

“Sister-in-law, come in and sit down.” Kathryn hurriedly invited Katherine in.

Katherine walked in without hesitation, casually placed the bag on the ground, and grinned, “When we saw it snowing this morning, my wife said you guys must not have prepared any food, so she asked me to share some with you. So I prepared some and brought it to you now, didn’t I?”

Although she spoke carelessly, her eyes were looking straight at Kathryn, as if scanning her whole body, and the expression on her face revealed envy.

This is also very normal. Kathryn is like a person from two different worlds from her in terms of work, life and maintenance. Her skin, figure, appearance and temperament are all superior to hers in all aspects. Although the two are only five years apart in age, they can be said to be of the same age, but when standing together they look like mother and daughter. How can she not envy her?

“Ah? Thank you, sister-in-law! What are you going to do if we split up?” Kathryn said politely.

“Hey! We have nothing to be afraid of. We originally prepared food for our son and daughter-in-law when they come back. Now the bridge has collapsed, and it’s snowing so heavily, we can’t get in or out, and our son and daughter-in-law can’t come back for the New Year. After we give it to you, there will definitely be enough to eat!” Katherine spoke nonchalantly, but there was a hint of vigilance on her face. “I think you two should just stay at home and wait for the New Year!”

“Oh! Okay! I won’t be polite then. Thank you, brother and sister-in-law...” Kathryn thanked them hurriedly without noticing Katherine’s expression.

Katherine exchanged a few more polite words, and then said goodbye and left when she saw Christian coming down from upstairs.

Christian said nothing, staring at her back expressionlessly as she slowly walked down the stairs.

“Christian...” Kathryn called him, Christian’s expression changed and he sighed slightly.

“Mom, let me do it!” He hasn’t gotten over the impact of that incident yet, but the commotion caused by yesterday’s mudslide made him unable to let go of his concern for his mother, and his heart loosened a little.

He also knew when Katherine was calling for help downstairs just now, but he was not familiar with her, so he did not come down on his own initiative. However, he saw everything that happened after Katherine came in. He was so cunning that he saw every change in Katherine’s eyes and expression. He knew what was going on after a little thought.

You know, among men of the same generation as Edwin, Kathryn’s appearance is already far ahead of others just in terms of marrying a wife. Although so many years have passed, Kathryn, who never stops taking care of herself with the financial support, only looks more feminine, and is completely different from the women who have always lived in the village.

During normal holidays, Kathryn would only come back for a day or two, and she would always come back with Edwin. The men in the village could only watch her. But now, the road out of the mountain has been blocked, and the heavy snow has blocked the mountain. Now, with a beauty like Kathryn in the village, those men will definitely look down on their wives. Although all this is just their imagination, it does not prevent Katherine and others from subconsciously regarding Kathryn as a vixen who destroys family relationships.

“Haha...” Christian sneered in his heart. He was not very worried about this matter. After all, people like Leonard are all greedy but not brave enough. What’s more, a woman like Katherine will definitely have no problem looking at her husband. Besides, his mother is not left alone in her hometown. If someone is too bold to do anything, he will not just sit there and do nothing. He will let him know where the salt is salty and the vinegar is sour.

Thinking of this, he really couldn’t be depressed. Although he was heartbroken about the child, no matter how heartbroken he was, he couldn’t let the child go back into Holly’s belly. He had to look forward and protect the people around him as his top priority.

Thinking this in his mind, he carried all the things to the kitchen, and Kathryn followed him to prepare to cook. As a result, they were both dumbfounded. There was only a gas stove in the kitchen, but no gas!

Kathryn was also stunned. This matter made her feel embarrassed.

“I’ll go to your uncle’s house and ask if he has a gas tank.” After thinking for a while, Kathryn said to Christian.

“I’ll go with you.” Christian said immediately without hesitation.

Kathryn was stunned again, staring at the way her son looked at her again and again, a hint of joy appeared on her face, and even a little moist in the corners of her eyes. She nodded and said, “Okay, let’s go!”

“But we can’t go to uncle’s house.” Christian said again.

“Huh? Why?” Kathryn asked puzzledly.

Christian naturally couldn’t say that he noticed Katherine’s discomfort, so he made up an excuse and said, “It’s not appropriate to always bother my uncle’s family. Besides, I checked yesterday and they use a clay stove, not a gas stove. I guess they don’t have gas.”

Kathryn thought deeply and nodded slightly. She also knew that few families in the village used gas stoves.

“But we don’t even have a clay stove at home... I never thought about coming back to live here...” Kathryn sighed, “Then whose house do you think we should go to?”

“Hmm...” Christian thought for a moment and said, “How is the relationship between our family and the village chief’s family?”

Kathryn thought for a moment and nodded, “That’s good. Your father gave a lot of financial support to his son when he was in college.”

Kathryn couldn’t help but add, “There’s no family in this village that hasn’t benefited from our family.”

“Hmm...” Christian mused again, “Then let’s go see the village chief. Forget gas or anything, an induction cooker or a pot would be fine.”

After making up their minds, the two washed up, wrapped themselves tightly in their coats, and went out in the wind and snow.

It was still snowing heavily at this time, and the ground was very slippery due to both rain and snow. The two of them finally reached the village chief’s house, taking one step deep and one step shallow.

The village chief was surprised at the arrival of the mother and son, but also very enthusiastic.

After listening to the two people’s description, the village chief fell into thought and said, “You all know the situation in the village. Although there are cement roads leading to the village, it is still very inconvenient. So most people use brick stoves, and very few use gas.”

When Kathryn heard his words, she was immediately disappointed and frowned.

Christian, however, sensed something different in his words and asked, “Most people use clay stoves? Does that mean some families also use clay stoves and other stoves?”

“Yes!” the village chief nodded affirmatively. “We do have induction cookers, but they’re rare. Most of the people in the village are older and reluctant to use electricity, so they still rely on earthen stoves.”

“Village chief, could you help us borrow an induction cooker? We’re using our own electricity anyway, so even buying one would be fine,” Christian said without hesitation. He seemed to understand the village’s situation somewhat, and knowing that using money to pave the way was more practical than favors, “and we don’t have any food stored. Could someone in the village sell us some to get us through the New Year?”

“This...” The village chief was stunned, his expression suddenly changed. “What are you talking about! What money? Putting aside other things, Edwin has been helping the village for so many years. You are his son, and Kathryn is his wife. You are still talking about money for such a small favor? Are you still talking about brotherhood?”

He waved his hand and said, “Okay, don’t worry about it. I’ll put everything in order today.”

Seeing that he responded so readily, Christian and his mother had no idea how to argue and stood up to leave.

“Hey...wait!” The village chief stopped them and continued, “You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?!”

He shouted a few words outside the door, and a slightly plump woman walked in with a smile on her face.

“Go and bring breakfast.”

He said to the woman.

When the woman heard his words, the smile on her face disappeared immediately. She looked at Kathryn with a stern face, glared at the village chief, snorted, and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Christian frowned. He seldom went back to his hometown, and he never expected that his mother was still the public enemy of women in his hometown.

So he quickly said, “No, no, Village Chief, my uncle brought some instant noodles this morning. Can you see if you have a kettle at home and give us one?”

The village chief was about to speak when Christian interrupted him, saying, “Look, the snow is getting heavier outside. I’m afraid the roads will be even harder to walk on soon. It’s better for my mother and I to go home early.”

The village chief looked at the snowflakes outside, nodded slightly, and said, “That’s true. I have some instant noodles at home, I’ll give them to you. I also have an unused electric kettle, I’ll give that to you as well.”

After saying that, he walked into the inner room without hesitation, and immediately there was a sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets.

At this time, the woman also brought in breakfast. The mother and son were indeed hungry, so they didn’t refuse and started eating.

“Oh! What is he doing?” Hearing the noise in the inner room, the woman hurriedly followed in.

“Marvin!!” Less than a minute after entering, the woman’s voice became high-pitched, obviously very angry, and then became low again in an instant, but it was obvious that two people inside were arguing, and there was also the faint sound of throwing things.

The mother and son looked at each other outside and smiled awkwardly. Christian now understood how lethal his mother was in the eyes of the women in the village. No man could get close to her as long as she had anything to do with him!

Not long after, there was no movement in the inner room. Then there was a “click” sound, and the door of the inner room opened. The village chief Marvin came out with messy hair and a few fresh scratches on his face.

She handed the electric kettle to Christian, then a few boxes of instant noodles, and said, “Kathryn, use these first. I’ll definitely take care of the things I promised you. Now you can go!”

Christian looked at the scratches on his face and felt sympathy for him for no reason. He didn’t want to take the thing from his hand to avoid embarrassing him, but he had no choice but to take it because there was no hot water at home.

Just as the two were about to leave, Marvin said again, “Wait!”

Turning around, I saw Marvin handing me two down jackets, one for men and one for women, but the styles were obviously several years old.

“These clothes belong to my son and daughter-in-law. They may not be suitable for you, but you can put them on for now. It’s better than freezing.”

Christian was somewhat moved by Marvin’s words. He bowed to him, said nothing, took the things and left.

Now that I’m back home, I’m most thankful that the water and electricity have never been cut off at home, otherwise I really don’t know how I would have gotten through the day.

After a whole day of living on instant noodles, Marvin and Leonard came over in the evening, accompanied by their wives.

After entering the door, Kathryn hurriedly asked a few people to sit down, but they just stood by the door and didn’t come in. The expressions on their faces were very awkward. They looked at each other again and again, as if there was something difficult to say, and they looked like they wanted to say something but stopped.

Seeing this, Christian snorted inwardly. Seeing they came empty-handed, he knew they weren’t going to say anything nice. But since he needed help, he couldn’t be too obvious. So he gritted his teeth and still put on a warm smile, “Have you had dinner? If not, why not have some instant noodles at my place?”

Upon hearing his words, Marvin Leonard’s face became even more embarrassed. The two looked at each other and gestured to the other to speak first.

“Okay! Let me tell you, look at how cowardly you two are! And you still want to be the village chief!” Seeing that the two men were so cowardly, Marvin’s wife spoke first.

Chapter 222 Living in the Village Primary School

“Maisie!” Marvin reached out to stop her, but she twisted her body and took a step forward. She looked at Kathryn and Christian and said, “Kathryn, if there’s anything, I’ll just tell them what we’ve been discussing all day.”

Christian frowned again. It seemed like there was a village meeting today?

“Just tell me what you want to say!” Kathryn also realized that they were unfriendly to her, so she spoke in a very kind tone.

“Well, I won’t be polite then.” Maisie nodded and took Katherine two steps forward. “You two should move to the village primary school!”

She spoke in a firm and resolute tone, as if she could not refute it.

“Village primary school?” Christian felt a surge of anger rising to his head. “Why should we live in a village primary school? Why should we live in a village primary school? Isn’t this house my home? Do we have to be criticized for living at home?”

His eyes widened, his fists clenched, his whole body trembling. He gasped and looked at Marvin, gritted his teeth and frowned, saying fiercely: “Are you trying to isolate my mother and me? Aren’t my mother and I part of the village?”

Although there were four of them, Christian was tall and strong. Now with his anger rising up, he was like a bull, forcing the four men to take a step back.

“Christian, don’t be anxious. The village chief and Big Brother must have their reasons for making this decision. Let’s listen to what they have to say first.”

Kathryn quickly stepped forward to stop him, and she secretly sighed in her heart. Although this village is only about a hundred kilometers away from City C and City D, in Edwin’s era, in such mountains, not everyone knows like her father-in-law that going to school is the only way out, so both men and women tend to be more conservative in their thinking. From the moment she got married, she knew that she was not welcome in the village. The men were jealous of Edwin, and the women were jealous of her. This was inevitable.

However, after all, Edwin’s financial support for the village over the years is obvious to all, and they still expect Edwin to give more in return in the future, so they don’t think he will be so ruthless.

“Yes, yes, yes! Don’t get excited, listen to me, listen to me.” Marvin was the first to react and said hurriedly, “We definitely don’t want to...what’s that word, isolate you! That’s right! We definitely don’t want to isolate you! Listen to me! The village primary school is also an investment project that Edwin brought in. That primary school is really more convenient than your home!”

“Right, right, right!” Leonard seemed to have realized what was happening and agreed, “Look at your home, there’s nothing to eat or use, but at school, everything is fully stocked.”

“Huh?” Christian was stunned. Could it be that he really misunderstood them?

“Haha..., sit down and talk!” Kathryn hurried out to smooth things over and led a few people to sit at the table.

“Hey! Hey!” Marvin wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat down at the table with the others.

Christian, with a sullen expression, also sat down at the table. Kathryn said in a gentle tone, smiling, “You two can talk!”

Marvin was about to speak, but when he looked up and saw Kathryn’s smile, his words were choked in his throat.

“Hmph!” Maisie kicked him under the table, “Hurry up and tell me! When you finish, I’ll show you how I’ll deal with you when you get home!”

Marvin shuddered, then slowly explained the reason.

It turned out that the primary school was a project that Edwin had specially invested in after he became rich, with the purpose of allowing children in his village and surrounding villages to go to school.

However, in the first few years after the school was built, there would be incidents of theft of school teaching equipment at the end of every year. After all, there were still some idle and lazy people in the village. These people did not dare to go to the school to steal things on weekdays. When there was no one around during the New Year, you could never be sure who would steal things and sell them for money. There was even a case where a few lazy people fought over the equal distribution of the loot.

Therefore, every Chinese New Year, the villagers would select a few people to live in the school to look after the school’s things.

Moreover, the school’s living facilities are complete. Even the food is prepared and stored in the school one or two months in advance. At the beginning, there was a problem of inconvenient water, but later all tap water was connected, so there was no such trouble anymore. More importantly, the faculty and staff dormitories are equipped with air conditioners, which can be turned on at will, and someone will pay for the electricity bill.

You have to know that was twenty years ago. At that time, having an oil radiator, let alone air conditioning, was something to be envied. So, back then, no matter who was assigned to look after the school, they considered it a good job.

Christian listened to Marvin’s description without saying a word, and looked at his mother from time to time for confirmation.

“So... what you’re saying?” Christian hesitated. “You’re saying that there’s still food stored in the school?”

“Yes!” Marvin confirmed, “When the village bought winter rations at the beginning of winter, they included the school’s share in the food supply.”

Christian was incredulous. “So there are still people attending the school?”

“Yeah!” Leonard continued, “My grandson goes to school there!”

Christian was stunned, then he remembered that there seemed to be quite a lot of children in the village. At first he thought they had all returned from vacation, but now he thought that they should all be attending the village primary school!

He fell silent. It seemed that these two people really did it for his own good. Apart from anything else, the air conditioner alone was enough to make him excited. The old house was not considered to be inhabited back then, so air conditioning was not installed immediately after it was built. Now, neither he nor his mother brought thick clothes, and even thick quilts were difficult to come by. It would not be easy to just get through this.

After thinking it through, he was no longer so resistant and looked at his mother, as if to ask for her opinion.

Kathryn obviously had no better idea. She told Christian that she was talking about the villagers, but in reality, she didn’t know as much as the outsiders. She could only say that from their description, it was indeed much better than living in the old house. At least they didn’t have to suffer from the cold and hunger.

Suddenly, Christian thought of something and asked, “Isn’t there anyone watching over the school this year?”

Kathryn shuddered. Yeah, if this was really a lucrative job like they said, there would be people vying for it every year! How could it be her and her turn?

“Hmph!” Maisie snorted coldly, “It was Marvin who fought for you two, otherwise, would it be your turn?”

Hearing her sarcastic tone, Christian’s anger immediately rose again. Just as he was about to argue with her, he heard Marvin yell, “Enough!!”

His roar startled Maisie, and she raised her eyebrows and was about to get angry at him.

“Alright, alright, don’t be angry, and don’t be angry either.” Leonard was quite perceptive and stepped forward to mediate as soon as he saw that things were not going well. “Didn’t everyone agree on this during the day? You know that, sister-in-law.”

Maisie’s lips trembled with anger, and she glared at Marvin fiercely without moving away. Marvin was completely defeated by her glare, and turned his face away, not daring to look her in the eye.

“Kathryn, you’re right to ask this.” Leonard looked at Christian and Kathryn and said, “In the past few years, several families would each send a young person, and we would go together or take turns every few days, anyway, it was all young people who went. This year, the snow fell too fast, and no one could make it back. But the more times like this, the more someone needs to watch over the school. After everyone discussed it, you happened to be at home, so it was a coincidence, so we let you go.” He told the whole story in one breath, fearing that Christian would get angry again.

After listening to him, Christian did not express his opinion immediately. Leonard continued, “Of course, if you feel uncomfortable doing this, we can not go. Marvin and I can go and bring our own food rations to you.” Christian still did not speak. He looked up at the snowflakes outside, wondering what he was thinking.

“Mom, what do you think?” After a long moment, Christian looked at his mother and asked.

“You decide! I have no objection.” Kathryn has always been a man of few opinions, so she didn’t express any opinion.

“Hmm...” Christian pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, “My attitude was a bit rash just now. I hope you don’t mind. Now that I think about it carefully, I was indeed thinking about it for my mother and me. I was being petty.”

“Haha, it’s nothing. We came up with this during a collective meeting. It’s not our own idea,” Marvin said with a smile. “Then you should prepare to move there tomorrow morning! If it snows again overnight, the roads will be even more difficult to travel. To accommodate the surrounding area, the elementary school is not close enough!”

Christian nodded in agreement, and seeing that the matter was settled, the four of them said goodbye and left.

The heavy snow was falling, and the temperature dropped several degrees again at night. Both mother and son were woken up by the cold in the second half of the night. It was so cold that they quickly made a box of instant noodles to warm themselves up.

Just wasting time like this wasn’t a solution. Since they had already decided to move into the elementary school, the two of them packed up their things. There were only two very old cloth bags in the house. Now it had to be this, and if it wasn’t, it had to be this either. Christian stuffed everything he thought was usable from the trunk of the car into the bags.

When it was dawn, I opened the door and saw that the snow was still falling and the road in front of the door was frozen. I had no choice but to go back into the house, make another box of instant noodles, hold it to warm my hands, and occasionally eat a few bites.

At noon, the weather had warmed up a bit, and I saw Marvin and Leonard walking up from below in the heavy snow.

“Haha, Kathryn, let’s go?” Marvin said with a smile, patting the snow off his body. Seeing two bags in the living room, “Looks like you’re all ready. Shall we go?”

Kathryn exchanged a few polite words with them, and Christian silently picked up the cloth bag and followed the two of them up the mountain to the elementary school.

The primary school was indeed built on the mountain, but the two of them were not exaggerating. The roads were wide and it would not be difficult to walk if the roads were not blocked by heavy snow. At the same time, Christian understood why someone had to watch over it, because this primary school was not only for the village where Edwin’s family lived, but also for several surrounding villages. Relatively speaking, the distance between this location and these villages was not much different, and cement roads were built to facilitate the children.

After stumbling along for two hours, the group of four finally arrived at the gate of the primary school. Only then did Christian begin to believe what the two had said. It was clear at a glance that this school was designed by someone, and its architectural style was completely different from that of the village.

“Okay, we’re here.” Marvin said as he took out his key and opened the door. “I’ll show you around and let you know what’s going on. Then Leonard and I will go back.”

As he said that, he handed the key to the front door to Christian and led them inside.

Christian quietly put away the keys, threw the cloth bag with the guard, and quietly reached into his clothes, tightly grasping the baseball bat hidden inside his clothes. After all, he didn’t completely trust these two people, especially at the school, where there were so few people around. Who knows if they would do anything bad. So, when he was taking things out of the trunk, he slipped the baseball bat that had been there into his clothes through his trouser leg. It couldn’t be seen at all because of the thick down jacket.

The two men were walking in front, and Christian and Kathryn followed silently. The school was not very big, with three floors and not many classrooms, only about a dozen or so. The only things that needed to be looked after were multimedia equipment and some things with a high copper content, and they finished their inspection in a short while.

“Bang”, after locking the door at the stairwell, Marvin and Leonard led them to the dormitory. Since it was not easy to go out of the mountains and the teachers were not young anymore, the school specially equipped them with dormitories.

Similarly, there are not many dormitories, only two. After opening the door and taking a look, I found that they were at least clean and tidy, with all the necessary facilities, such as TV and air conditioner.

After walking around for another ten minutes, Christian memorized the layout of the school. In the middle was a three-story teaching building, to the west of the building was a guardhouse, and to the east were staff dormitories. The guardhouse and dormitories were connected by a wall, forming a rectangle with the teaching building. The school gate was next to the guardhouse, and in the middle was the student playground.

“That’s it?” Leonard brushed off the snowflakes on his body again. “Marvin and I will leave first?”

Christian nodded, and with a sincere smile on his face, he said, “Thank you both for the preferential treatment you’ve secured for my mother and me. When this winter is over, I, your nephew, will definitely come to visit you with generous gifts.”

Only then did he truly laugh. He had always thought that these two elders had some purpose, but now it seemed that he had been a villain in vain.

As soon as he said this, Marvin and Leonard’s eyes lit up. They waved their hands and said, “We’re all family. It’s too polite of you to say that. It’s our duty to take care of you and your daughter.”

“Then I’ll see you off.” Christian didn’t waste any more time talking to them and immediately ordered them to leave. He then added, “I won’t forget the proper etiquette.”

Leonard Marvin didn’t refuse this time and pretended to agree.

After seeing the two off, Christian locked the door with a bang, turned around, and went back to the dormitory carrying the two bags.

It was getting dark, and the mother and son had nothing to eat, relying solely on instant noodles. They were hungry, sleepy and tired, so they hurried to the classroom where supplies were stored. There were only fast foods, and the refrigerator was filled with a lot of frozen meat.

Kathryn didn’t care about anything anymore. She found some ingredients and quickly cooked a meal. She and her son sat at the simple table and started eating. Neither of them spoke. They just focused on eating because they were so hungry.

After eating, Kathryn forced herself to make the bed. Christian couldn’t bear to see his mother working alone, so he helped.

After finishing, the two returned to their respective dormitories, and almost at the same time, as if they had used up the last bit of electricity, they lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

The next day, when Christian woke up, he heard some noise outside the dormitory. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and opened the door. A cold wind mixed with snowflakes blew towards him, blowing away all his tiredness.

“Hiss~~” He couldn’t help but take a breath of cold air, and quickly retreated back to the room, closed the door, and put on his clothes while rubbing his arms.

The air conditioner was on so high last night that he almost forgot it was snowing outside.

When he opened the door again, he was still greeted by an icy wind full of snowflakes, but he still strode out.

“It’s been snowing all night again?” Christian couldn’t help but sigh as he looked at the snowflakes falling all over the sky.

A frying sound was heard, and the aroma that followed attracted Christian’s attention.

He then trotted towards the kitchen. It was called a kitchen, but it was actually just a small room built next to the staff dormitory.

Kathryn was frying eggs when she suddenly felt the light dim. When she looked sideways, she saw her son’s tall figure leaning towards her.

“Mom, good morning...” Christian spoke first, “Did you sleep well last night?”

Kathryn looked at him and smiled slightly. “Not bad. I’m usually very particular about my bed. Maybe I was tired last night, so I lay down and didn’t know anything. When I woke up, it was already daybreak. So why don’t you hurry up and make dinner?”

“Yeah...” Christian nodded. “I’ll go sweep the snow from under the eaves...it’ll be just in time for dinner...”

As he said that, he turned and walked out of the kitchen. Kathryn looked at his back and suddenly said, “Christian...about that...”

Christian paused, turned around, and asked with a smile, “What?”

Kathryn paused for a moment, then slowly shook her head and said, “Nothing... Be careful, it’s slippery...”

Christian nodded slightly and continued walking out. He could guess what his mother wanted to say. She probably wanted to tell him about the child.

To be honest, he did resent his mother for the past two days regarding this matter. Given her status, she had no reason to follow Louise and the others in hiding the truth from him. However, when he mistakenly thought it was an earthquake that day, his first thought was to care for her and protect her. No matter what, she held an important place in his heart. Once she was gone, she was truly gone...

“Oh...” He sighed softly, picked up the broom and swept away the snow under the eaves.

After nearly half an hour of hard work, Christian had already finished sweeping the snow. He sat under the eaves, staring at the snow in a daze, when he heard Kathryn call out, “Christian, it’s time for dinner.”

Sitting at the table, both of them silently took their bowls and ate, no one spoke. After eating, Christian took the initiative to wash the bowl and turned around to go back to his dormitory.

Chapter 223 Alone Time

“Christian...wait...” Kathryn called out to him.

Christian sighed secretly and slowly sat down again.

“Christian……”Kathryn再次开口。

“Mom...” Christian interrupted her, “If you want to talk about that... I’m really not in the mood right now...”

Kathryn bit her lower lip and said slowly, “I know... I mean... but...”

She looked up at her son and said firmly, “But we’ve been in our hometown for four days already. No matter what... I think we should at least let Edwin and... Louise know we’re safe... After all, she’s always been concerned about you...”

Christian didn’t say anything. He looked at his mother with a strange look, then slowly lowered his head. After a long silence, he nodded and said softly, “Yes... We should let them know that I’m safe...”

Kathryn didn’t seem to realize why her son was looking at her so strangely. When she heard his agreement, the sadness on her face eased a little, and she took out her cell phone and called Louise.

“Kathryn, how is the situation over there now? Has the bridge been repaired? Can we get out?” Louise asked several questions in a row as soon as the call was connected. She knew that Kathryn had returned to her hometown. She had spoken to Kathryn on the first day of the mudslide, so she naturally knew that the bridge had collapsed.

“No...” Kathryn shook her head with a wry smile and asked, “Is it snowing heavily in the city?”

“It’s not too big, not too small, and it never stops. How are you?” After not seeing each other for a few days, Louise still cared about her old friend.

“Not optimistic...” Kathryn smiled bitterly again, looking at the snowflakes still falling outside, “In fact, it’s even getting heavier...”

“Well... the temperature is lower in the mountains... that’s normal...” Louise said, then paused slightly before asking cautiously, “Christian... is he still angry about that incident?”

“He...” Kathryn hesitated and looked at Christian.

Christian was staring at his mother at first, but when he saw her looking at him, he probably guessed that Louise had asked a question about him. He shook his head slightly and mouthed, “Give me some more time...” and then looked away.

This is understandable. After what happened in the past few days, most of his resentment towards his mother has disappeared, but for Louise and the others, the grudge will probably take time to slowly eliminate.

“There are still some... Much better than before...” Kathryn didn’t want Louise to worry, so she made up a lie.

Louise was silent for a moment. She suspected Kathryn wasn’t telling the truth, but she had no way of verifying it. After a moment’s pause, she changed the subject and asked, “Are you guys used to living in your hometown?”

Kathryn shook her head and said, “We don’t live at home...we live in the village primary school...”

As she spoke, she recounted to Louise what had happened. During this time, Christian gestured to her, opened the door, and returned to his dormitory.

“You mean... there are only two of you in the school?” This was the first question Louise asked after hearing Kathryn’s description.

“Yeah...” Kathryn smiled wryly and said worriedly, “I just don’t know how long this snow will last... Although there’s nothing to worry about, it feels like being trapped in a cage...”

Louise didn’t say anything for a while before saying, “It shouldn’t be too long... But this cold front came so suddenly and violently, it’s hard to say...”

“Hmm...” Kathryn nodded worriedly. “I’m just worried that if I don’t exercise every day, I’ll gain weight...”

“You’re right...” Louise said jokingly, her tone uneasy, “By then, it won’t be a fawn, it’ll be a fat deer...”

“Look, you’re still making fun of me!” Kathryn spoke more freely when her son was not around. What’s more, the topic she was talking about now was her figure and weight, which she was particularly sensitive about. There was a hint of blame in her half-joking tone.

“Then why don’t you take some time out to practice yoga...” Louise didn’t mind her attitude and directly offered her suggestion, “With the door closed and the air conditioner on, hot yoga is perfect!”

“Huh?” Kathryn’s eyes lit up. She was so influenced by the surrounding environment that her mind couldn’t wrap its head around it. Louise was right!

Where can’t you practice yoga?

Does yoga have to be practiced in a yoga studio?

“That’s right! My mind was so focused that I forgot about it.” Kathryn nodded.

“And...” Louise lowered her voice, “It will also make it easier for you to express the milk...”

Hearing this, Kathryn’s brows immediately relaxed. In the past two days, she had to suck milk in the morning before her son woke up, and at night when he was asleep. She lived secretly like a thief. After sucking milk, she had to quickly suppress the restless sexual desire in her body. As a result, her sleep quality was poor, and she was under great mental pressure. She felt very listless.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I finished explaining the matter, my best friend immediately realized my biggest problem and gave me a way to deal with it. I couldn’t help but sigh that she was quick-witted. I really thought she was making fun of me, but I didn’t expect that she was actually giving me advice.

“Well... I thought you were really going to make fun of me...” Kathryn said angrily.

“How could that be? As soon as you mentioned that you and your son were the only ones in school, I thought of this.” Louise explained, “Let’s do this for now. If Christian feels more open-minded...you...you call us and let us know...they...Martha and Holly...are both very worried about him...”

She said ‘we’ sometimes and ‘they’ sometimes. In fact, she was just worried about herself, but she wanted to exclude herself from the discussion.

“Well...” Kathryn said with a deep voice.

After hanging up the phone, Kathryn looked at the snowflakes outside the house in a daze: “I wonder how many days it will last...” Snowflakes were flying and the wind was howling. No one had expected that this heavy snow, which turned into rain, would remain in the form of snowflakes as big as goose feathers. It fell for three or four days until the hilltops, villages, woods, and paths were all covered with snow. It was like a snowstorm, and the mother and son were completely trapped in the elementary school.

During these three or four days, the mother and son experienced what boredom was. It was not a pleasant life in the mountains. Apart from browsing their phones, eating and sleeping, they spent most of their time staring at the falling snow. At night, Christian was also loyal to his duty and would walk around every floor of the school before going to bed.

By the time the snow had completely stopped, a week had already passed. That morning, after breakfast, Kathryn called out to Christian, “Christian...”

“Huh?” Christian was stunned. The mother and son had not spoken much in the past two days, or even very little, but his attitude had obviously softened, and Kathryn could sense it.

Kathryn hesitated twice, sighed, stood up, and slowly turned around before saying, “It’s only been a few days, have you noticed that Mom has gained a lot of weight?”

“Huh?” Christian was stunned again. He carefully observed his mother’s figure, looking at her plump, curvy and well-proportioned body. After a long moment, he said, “No, I don’t see anything at all...”

Kathryn rolled her eyes at him, but the smile on her face was obvious. Her tone was half proud and half scolding, “You can’t tell, that’s because Mom has a good foundation, so a little weight gain wouldn’t be that obvious. But I can feel it myself. I’m probably at least a pound or two heavier.”

“Uh...” Christian was speechless for a moment, and admired his mother’s figure again. He felt that no matter how he looked at it, it was round and perfect, without a trace of excess. He really didn’t know how she could feel the difference of one or two pounds in weight.

“So, Mom, what are your plans?” Christian asked.

“Yeah.” Kathryn nodded. “I have to practice yoga in the dorm starting today...”

“Oh, then let’s practice!” Christian nodded. “Just don’t catch a cold.”

Then he added, “Mom, I agree, but that doesn’t mean I think you’re fat. You’re not fat at all. I don’t see any signs of fatness at all. It’s purely your decision, and I’m just agreeing with you.”

Seeing her son’s serious face, Kathryn felt happy inside, but she just smiled. She turned her head and looked out the window and said, “It’s snowing so heavily. I don’t know how long it will take before we can go out. I’ve gained weight in just a few days. If I wait until I can go out, I’m afraid I’ll be so fat that I won’t be able to dance.”

Christian laughed speechlessly, followed her gaze out the window, and said, “That’s right... It would be better if this snow fell in the city, but if it falls in the mountains, I don’t know how long it will last...”

“Well...actually, what I wanted to say...” Kathryn hesitated, then saw her son looking at her, and continued, “I mean, if I practice yoga in this situation, I’m bound to sweat, and the dormitory will definitely smell bad...Don’t be surprised if there’s any strange smell...”

“Strange smell?” Christian was starting to feel strange now, frowning slightly, but still nodded and said, “That’s right, the dormitory is too small, and if the sweat smell can’t be dissipated, it will smell a bit strange...”

“Well... I’ll go then.” As if she felt she had said everything she needed to say, Kathryn immediately stood up and left the kitchen.

“Mom, did you bring your yoga clothes?” Christian suddenly asked.

“Ah? Oh, no.” Kathryn was stunned and said subconsciously. Her original purpose was not to practice yoga. When asked so suddenly, she didn’t know how to answer.

“Then what do you wear when you practice? Long-sleeved shirt or long-legged underwear?” Christian continued to ask.

“Ah? Right!” Kathryn quickly chimed in, “Your aunt and the others gave me two new sets, so I can rotate them.”

“Oh... okay.” Christian nodded and didn’t ask any more questions.

Kathryn was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded, “Look, if you hadn’t reminded me, I would have forgotten. I have something else to tell you.”

Christian looked up at her in confusion. Kathryn blushed and stammered, “I have new autumn clothes and long johns... but I don’t have any new ones for those two skin-tight clothes...”

This time when she came back, she had considered everything she should have, but she forgot to bring two more sets of long-sleeved shirts, long-pants and underwear. If Katherine hadn’t happened to have two new sets, she wouldn’t know what to do.

Whenever she thought about it, she wanted to slap herself twice. She only changed three pieces of clothing for breast pumping, but forgot to change her underwear, long-sleeved shirt and long trousers as well.

“Uh...” Christian’s voice also paused. Of course he knew this situation. He only had one pair of underwear. These days he washed it before going to bed and then used the air conditioner to blow dry it all night. He slept naked every day.

“So...” Seeing her son remained silent, Kathryn gritted her teeth and continued, “I might only wear long underwear when I practice... You... you must knock before entering...”

“Huh?” Christian didn’t know how to respond for a moment, so he sneered, “Mom, you’re saying that...I always knock before entering the house. And I could have waited until you were done with yoga, so why did I have to come during your practice?”

“I... I know... I was just saying... I’m going to practice!” After saying that, Kathryn turned around and went back to the dormitory.

Looking at his mother’s back, Christian began to have fantasies in his mind, especially when he thought about his mother being naked inside, wearing only tight-fitting autumn clothes and autumn pants, and the outline of the clothes when she was practicing yoga, his cock couldn’t help but react.

As he was thinking, a thought suddenly popped up in his mind: ‘Now it’s just me and my mother here... and it’s a closed environment... this... is actually an opportunity...’ “It is indeed an opportunity...” The thought was so strong that he actually muttered it again. Suddenly, he shuddered all over, checked to make sure his mother didn’t hear him, and then got up to wash the dishes.

Back to Kathryn, as soon as she returned to the dormitory, she hurriedly locked the door, turned up the music on her phone to the maximum, and frantically found the breast pump.

The air conditioner was always on so that she could go to the dormitory to express her milk at any time. In the past few days, she obviously felt that her milk supply had increased. Although she had already expressed her milk once when she got up in the morning, her milk supply immediately increased again after she had breakfast just now.

She herself didn’t know why. After thinking about it, she thought that maybe it was because she was trapped in the mountains and had nothing to do except eating and sleeping. The cold season is the time when it is easy to gain weight, and her milk supply also increased. The pain when her milk was engorged was more than before. In the middle of the night, the pain was so severe that she couldn’t sleep and had to get up to pump the milk.

Therefore, she decided to tell her son today that she was going to practice yoga. Otherwise, if she secretly pumped breast milk with the door closed, it would only make him more suspicious. Besides, she also needed time to calm her sexual desire. It would be better to find a plausible reason as Louise said.

Opening the window a crack, she quickly poured out the full bottle of milk, closed it again and continued sucking. She came out in a hurry this time and didn’t expect to stay so long, let alone increase her milk supply. She only brought two bottles with her, so after sucking them full, she had to pour them out before continuing to suck. In just a short while, the milk splashing from her nipple soaked her clothes, and a strong fishy smell spread in the room.

“Oh...” Kathryn sighed softly. She was not without thinking, because she knew that milk smelled strange when it diffused, so she said everything just now to dispel her son’s groundless suspicion.

With this reason, Kathryn had a legitimate reason to lock the door every day, turn on the maximum volume of her cell phone to cover the sound of the breast pump, and it was not strange at all if she took a shower in the middle of the night.

Another day passed. Early in the morning, Kathryn returned to her room after breakfast last night. She turned on her phone to play music and then pumped milk. Halfway through, she heard a heated argument coming from her son’s room, and she quickly put on her clothes.

When she opened the door, a cold wind blew in. It was snowing outside again. Kathryn was stunned and walked out of the room slowly.

“Bang”, the door of the son’s room next door suddenly opened.

“Look at it yourself! How can I go to work in this state?” He was very emotional and his words were very fierce. “I’ve already told you the situation. The snow has started falling again. I’m afraid I’ll have to spend the New Year in the mountains this year! You can give me this leave if you want. If you don’t want to, just fire me. We’ll see in arbitration then!”

He snorted and hung up the phone. He tilted his head and saw his mother. His expression suddenly relaxed a little. He sniffed and asked curiously, “Mom, are you practicing yoga?”

“Yes!” Kathryn nodded, then suddenly remembered how hurriedly she had left, leaving the breast pump and bottles on the table. She quickly took two steps back, blocking her son’s view of the doorway and saying, “Who are you talking to on the phone so excitedly?”

Christian didn’t think much of his mother’s actions. He angrily said, “It’s all because of that rip-off company of mine...”

It turned out that early in the morning, the company’s HR department called to inquire about Christian’s unexplained absence. After Christian explained the situation, the HR department said they would report it to their superiors. But after a while, they called again and said that the boss asked him to go, even if he had to fly.

This made Christian very dissatisfied, so he said those words just now.

“Hmm...” Kathryn’s eyes showed worry, but she soon said with relief: “You’ve worked there for so many years... It would be a pity to leave rashly... But...”

She looked up at her son and said in a firm tone, “Mom also supports your decision. Working overtime recently has been too much for you...”

Christian nodded slightly and smiled, “Well, Mom, I’m relieved that you support my decision. Then you can continue practicing!”

Kathryn nodded again and backed into the room, closing the door while continuing to block his view.

Standing in the corridor, Christian looked at the snowflakes dancing again and began to think.

He had every reason to say this to HR today. Freya had invested so much time and effort in him, so she must have her own reasons. She wouldn’t let him resign so easily. He just wanted to take advantage of this time to recover. Perhaps this was a chance God had given him to recover, and he couldn’t let it go to waste...

Thinking of this, he looked back at his mother’s dormitory door, patted his belly, and thought to himself:

“Mom started losing weight as soon as she gained a little weight... I should also exercise... but what should I exercise?” Thinking of this, he moved his gaze to the teaching building, and his eyes suddenly lit up. That’s right!

You can climb the stairs by yourself...and there are some horizontal bars and the like on the playground, so it’s no problem to do some simple exercises!

Having made up his mind, he no longer hesitated. He quickly ate some breakfast and immediately started exercising.

However, there is always an adaptation process when starting to exercise rashly. After running up and down the teaching building several times, his physical strength could not keep up. He had to reduce the amount of exercise and leaned on the railing on the second floor to rest. He was sweating all over and it was really not suitable for him to rest in such a cold place. He hurried downstairs to the dormitory.

At this moment, my mother’s dormitory door opened, and I saw a large wet area on her chest, obviously she had been exercising a lot.

“Mom, are you done with your exercise too?” Christian asked. He looked over his mother’s body without leaving any trace. It was just as he thought. The long-sleeved shirt and long-legged pants fit her body well, making her curves more delicate. He couldn’t help swallowing.

Chapter 224 My mom has milk?

“Yeah.” Kathryn seemed a little nervous, holding the clothes in her hands tighter, her expression unnatural. She looked at the white steam coming out of her son’s body and suddenly said, “Are you exercising too?”

“Yeah.” Christian nodded. “I don’t know how long it will take for the snow to melt, and I’m worried I’ll keep getting fatter. Maybe climbing the stairs would be helpful.”

“Then take a shower first!” Kathryn said this before her son could finish his words and closed the door again.

Christian was also stunned for a moment, but the sweat all over his body made him feel even colder in the winter. He hurried back to the dormitory, got his clothes and rushed into the bathroom.

Christian turned on the hot air and finished washing quickly. After informing his mother, he returned to the dormitory.

After a while, Kathryn heard no more noise outside, so she went to the bathroom to take a shower and wash her clothes.

After taking a shower, Kathryn took her clothes back to her room and put them on the air conditioner, then went to the kitchen to make lunch. Then she knocked on her son’s door and asked him to eat.

Christian hadn’t exercised for a long time, and he was very tired after running a few times in the morning. After taking a shower, he took a nap for a while and only got up when he heard his mother calling him to eat.

While eating, Christian received another call from the company. Although the tone of the HR representative on the other end was still unfriendly, it was much better than before. He was informed that his leave had been approved and the days would be calculated when he returned to work after the New Year. He would not be fired.

Christian had expected this result, otherwise he would not have responded to her in such an arrogant tone. After politely thanking the personnel department, he hung up the phone without hesitation.

After taking another nap, when Christian woke up, the falling snow had stopped. The door of his mother’s dormitory next door was closed, and the sound of music came from inside. He knew she was practicing yoga again.

I looked at the sky and saw that it was still some time before evening, so I had to find something to do.

As he scanned the area, all he saw was white snow. There was a thick layer of snow on the school playground. When he saw the horizontal and parallel bars in the snow, his eyes lit up. He looked around and found the snow removal tools. He cleared a path from the dormitory to the horizontal and parallel bars, and then simply pushed the snow on the playground to the sides.

Although it was simple, the workload was not too big. Moreover, after a few nights of freezing, the snow was particularly hard and required a lot of effort to push it away. Christian just treated it as exercise and ended up covered in white steam.

Just as he was busy clearing the snow, Kathryn’s dormitory door opened. Seeing her son clearing the snow, she hugged her clothes to her chest and smiled as she walked over, saying, “You’re making so much noise that I can hear you even with my music turned up high.”

“Hehe...” Christian didn’t stop what he was doing, laughing as he said, “Just think of it as exercise! Mom, please hurry up and cook, I’m starving.”

“Okay! Mom will make you some more food later.” Kathryn answered without saying much. She walked without stopping and reached the bathroom in a few steps. She didn’t notice that her son’s eyes were always on her.

Turning on the heater and hot water, Kathryn washed the clothes covered in milk stains first, and then took a hurried shower.

After taking a shower, she hung her clothes in the dormitory to dry, then went to the kitchen to cook wrapped in her coat.

As it was getting dark, Christian had almost finished his snow removal work. At least the snow on the parallel bars of the playground had been cleared.

After Christian finished taking a shower, the mother and son sat down to eat. They were both very hungry and ate everything on the table without saying a word.

After eating, Christian took the initiative to take on the task of washing the dishes, and Kathryn went back to her room.

Christian was also very tired that day, but he still cheered up and took a flashlight to walk around the teaching building before returning to the dormitory.

He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, but tossed and turned and couldn’t fall asleep. Ever since he realized at noon that the current situation was an opportunity, his mother’s curvy figure kept lingering in his mind. His cock stood up uncontrollably, making it even more impossible for him to fall asleep.

Under normal circumstances, he would have called Louise to inquire about the situation, but now, thinking of his attitude towards Louise in that matter, he felt too embarrassed to contact her.

“Oh...” Christian sighed, closed his eyes, and quickly fell into a state of half-sleep.

‘Buzz~Buzz~Buzz~’ Between half asleep and half awake, he seemed to hear some sound, like some kind of machine running, but the sound was vague and not clear. Moreover, he was in a state where he could hear the sound but could not open his eyes. In addition, the sound disappeared after a while, so he just thought he was dreaming and fell asleep again.

The next day, when he woke up and went out, he saw that his mother’s dormitory door was closed and music was coming from inside. He knew that his mother was practicing yoga again. He went into the kitchen and saw that breakfast was already ready.

After breakfast, he knocked on his mother’s door and said, “Mom, I’m going to take a walk around the teaching building and climb the stairs.”

“Got it,” Kathryn replied.

Without further ado, a few days passed with the mountain blocked by heavy snow. Christian thought about it for several days but still couldn’t figure out how to get close to his mother.

Now that the snow has stopped, even in the mountains, this closed state cannot last long. No one knows when the mother and son can leave school. By then, it would be extremely difficult to create a similar situation again.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became, and the more anxious he became, the more he couldn’t think of any solution. He scratched his head and ears every day and couldn’t sleep well at night. As a result, he discovered that the “buzzing” sound he heard that time was not a dream. Every late night, this sound would really come from his mother’s room. He couldn’t guess what it was, he just waited for the sound to stop and then his mother would go to the bathroom to take a shower after about ten minutes.

“Could it be... that she carries a vibrator with her? My mom can’t have such a strong libido, right? Even if she does, she wouldn’t masturbate at this time every day...” Christian was suspicious. Deep down, he naturally hoped this was true. In this closed environment, if his mom really had a strong libido that was difficult to relieve, it would be his best chance to take advantage of her. However, this was just speculation, because this kind of sound was not only made by vibrators, many massagers could also make similar sounds.

Even though he had made a plan with Louise, he had always resisted the idea of ​​’forcing himself on her’. Besides, she was his biological mother, and she would not accept it with just one forceful insertion. If it were that simple, the mother and son would have been having sex long ago. Why bother thinking about it here?

He was depressed for several days, and the sense of urgency was getting stronger and stronger. The double blow of mudslides and snowstorms was unprecedented in a hundred years. Local news had follow-up reports almost every day, so Christian could always know the situation outside.

Now the snow has stopped, and according to the forecast of the weather station, there will be no more blizzards. Therefore, people outside the mountain have started to rebuild the bridge that was washed away. As long as the bridge is opened, it will be easy to enter the mountain and clear the snow.

Christian was so anxious after seeing this message that he almost jumped up and down. He wanted to contact Louise immediately to discuss specific countermeasures, but it was still bright outside. Even though his mother was practicing yoga, he didn’t want to increase the risk of her finding out. So he sent Louise a text message first: “Wait for my call tonight. It’s urgent.”

It was a really long day. Christian didn’t dare to exercise too vigorously for fear that he would be too tired and fall asleep.

Finally making it to the late night, Christian sent a message to Louise on WeChat: ‘? ‘ Louise replied quickly with a gesture indicating ‘OK’.

Christian put his ear to the wall and listened, but there was no movement from his mother’s side. Then he hid under the covers again and called Louise.

Louise answered the WeChat call almost immediately without waiting for it to ring.

“……”

“...” However, this time, the two people who were usually active did not speak first, but just listened quietly to each other’s breathing.

Gradually, the breathing of both of them became disordered, and it seemed that both of them were about to speak.

“…”

“I’m sorry, Louise.” Louise was about to speak when she was interrupted by Christian, “That matter...”

“Don’t say anything more, Christian... Let’s not talk about this anymore, okay? Let’s not talk about who’s right or wrong... just...”

Recently, Martha and Holly were both frowning, Christian was in a low mood, and Louise herself was not feeling well. Although Christian was the first to apologize, she knew in her heart that she was not in the right in that matter, and the best way was to let it go as soon as possible.

Christian remained silent for a long time before he sighed, “Alas...we owe her so much...”

Louise was also silent. She naturally knew who Christian was talking about. She nodded and said, “I’ll find a chance to make it up to you later... What’s the urgent matter you mentioned?”

Christian was even more touched. He had been acting like a complete scumbag for a while, but Louise was actually the first person to care about what the ‘urgent matter’ he mentioned was. This made him feel that he owed her a lot and he should be able to compensate her more!

Thinking this in his mind, he hesitated for a while before telling the whole story.

Louise was overjoyed when she heard this and thought to herself:

“You idiot, you only realized it now... I knew this was an opportunity back then. If you had contacted me earlier, I’m afraid it would have been done by now.” Seeing that he had finished explaining his story and Louise hadn’t expressed her opinion, Christian became anxious and asked hurriedly, “Louise?”

“Ah!” Louise responded, and after a pause, she continued, “Well, you’re right. Now is indeed the best opportunity...”

Christian was speechless and said softly, “Louise, I understand...”

“Actually, I thought of it when Kathryn told me...” Louise whispered, “It’s just... you hadn’t gotten over it at the time... I thought... maybe you didn’t have those thoughts... I’ll tell you when you’ve calmed down...”

“This...” Upon hearing this, Christian knew that Louise was teasing him on purpose. How could she not know that the current situation was caused by many coincidences and that the opportunity was fleeting. If he really waited until he had completely gotten over that incident, the sky would probably have cleared up, the snow would have melted, the person would have run away, and the opportunity would have been gone.

While he was thinking about it, Louise continued, “But it’s not too late now... It’s impossible for you to figure it out before the New Year... There’s still plenty of time...”

“Hmm...” Christian nodded. He had thought of this, but his problem now was not time, but that he couldn’t think of a direct and effective way to implement it.

“You know what?” Louise seemed to understand his predicament and continued without stopping, “In a closed environment, people’s ability to withstand pressure will decrease...”

Christian listened quietly as she continued.

“If something happens, the weaker party will become dependent on the stronger party...” Louise said, arranging her words.

“Hmm?” A flash of inspiration came to Christian’s mind. This sentence seemed to give him some ideas, but the idea was fleeting and he couldn’t grasp it in time.

“I think I understand what you mean...” Christian continued, “But what could happen?”

Louise was stunned for a moment, then slowly said, “Think about it, why did you end up living in school?”

Christian thought for a moment and immediately understood what she meant: “You want me to...direct and act in it myself?”

Although Christian couldn’t see, Louise nodded: “Yes...”

“Hmm... not that it’s impossible...” Christian nodded, “Then I’ll have to figure out how to do it.”

He thought about it for several days but couldn’t figure out what to do, but that was only because he had no ideas. As soon as Louise gave him a hint, he immediately knew which direction to work in. As for the specific strategy, as long as he followed the ideas, there would always be a way.

‘Buzz~Buzz~Buzz~’ Christian was thinking when he heard the sound of the machine working again.

“My mom’s awake...” Christian said.

“Huh?” Louise was stunned. “How did you know?”

“Let’s talk about it later...” Christian immediately lowered his voice and said, “Wait for my call...”

After hanging up the phone, Christian sat by the bed and waited quietly. The sound disappeared several times, but he did not get impatient and continued to wait patiently. After about half an hour, the intermittent “buzzing” sound finally stopped completely. After waiting for about ten minutes, he heard the sound of his mother tiptoeing to open the door and the sound of the shower in the bathroom.

After waiting for a long time, there was no movement from his mother. He waited patiently for another half an hour. Only when he was sure that his mother was asleep did he take out his cell phone and call Louise.

When Louise answered the phone, Christian described to her the reason why he hung up the phone and the sound he heard, and expressed his own speculation.

“…” Louise was silent again.

“Louise, do you know something?” Christian was not stupid. As soon as he finished speaking, Louise remained silent. He knew that there must be something she didn’t know.

Louise was silent again for a long time before she said softly, “Yes, I wanted to tell you this after I came back that time, but that incident delayed me. Now that you’ve brought it up, and you two are in that kind of situation, you’ll find out sooner or later. Rather than letting your imagination run wild and causing unnecessary misunderstandings, why not I give you a heads-up first.”

“What’s the matter? It seems serious?” Christian suddenly became nervous.

“Speak softly,” Louise instructed. “Remember I told you about the side effects of the medicine Kathryn took?”

“Side effects?” Christian was stunned for a moment, thinking carefully. “Isn’t it just that it increases libido... and... huh?”

He seemed to remember something and said in disbelief, “No way?”

“Yes! That’s it!” Louise knew that he had remembered it and gave a direct affirmative answer.

“So she already has... breast milk?” Suddenly thinking of another side effect, Christian’s voice dropped even lower. “But...but...since it’s already like this, I don’t see that her libido has increased...”

“Ah...” Louise sighed, “Actually, there was... but... she just relied on her willpower to suppress it...”

“Huh?” Christian’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Then... what’s making that sound?”

“It’s a breast pump.” Louise said without hesitation: “I’ve seen how much milk Kathryn produces. It’s really... I’m afraid the amount in two days is enough for you to take a bath...”

“Huh?” Christian was shocked again. “So many?”

“Yeah.” Louise confirmed again.

“Did this happen during this period?” Christian asked again.

“No,” Louise denied. “It’s been a while. During my last academic research, I lived in the same room with her for so many days. I found out about it later, and she begged me not to tell anyone...”

“Then she... doesn’t have any doubts?” Christian felt very strange. Logically, shouldn’t one see a doctor in this situation?

“Of course she did, but I brushed it off with the excuse of menopause,” Louise said. “I even promised her that after the New Year I’d go to the hospital with her to get this handled!”

Louise thought:

“It’s so hard for me... I have to lie to you, lie to Kathryn, and lie to my sister again. I’m really worried that I’ll have schizophrenia one day...” Christian fell into deep thought again, and his mind suddenly flashed back to the abnormal behavior of his mother some time ago.

Why did she suddenly feel unwell, going upstairs after dinner every day and never coming out; why did she suddenly buy a lot of milk-flavored odor purifiers.

However, with this prerequisite, a lot of things make sense, everything is about having enough time to use a breast pump to express milk.

In an instant, he also figured out how his mother managed to suck out so much milk and throw it away in such a closed environment. Practicing yoga was just a cover, and the real purpose was to suck milk. She even emphasized that the smell was bad when she told him that she wanted to lose weight through yoga. It was not because of the bad smell of sweat, but because she was worried that he would smell the strong smell of milk and become suspicious.

“And...” Just as Christian was thinking, Louise suddenly lowered her voice and whispered, “I also discovered something very important...”

“What?” Christian was immediately confused and asked quickly.

Chapter 225 Kathryn is frightened

“Kathryn’s sexual desire is strongest when she is sucking milk,” Louise said firmly.

Since Louise clearly knew that sexual desire would increase when breastfeeding, how could she not make a fuss about it?

Upon hearing the news, Christian’s first reaction wasn’t surprise, but astonishment. He asked, “Is this news reliable? My mom wouldn’t tell you something like this, would she?”

“Of course she wouldn’t tell me on her own initiative.” Louise naturally wouldn’t tell him the truth. “This is all what I observed when we lived together while studying away from home... Sometimes after sucking her breasts in the middle of the night, she would secretly masturbate... What? Are you doubting my observation skills?”

Louise’s question made Christian’s brows light up instantly. He said happily, “How could that be? Of course I believe you. This news comes at the perfect time. If I don’t take advantage of it, wouldn’t it be a waste?”

“Hmm...” Louise nodded and offered a suggestion, “Time is tight, so try to make use of what you have. Pay attention, it’s been so long, she probably doesn’t have many feminine products with her... Didn’t you say she doesn’t have many sets of long underwear?”

“Hmm...” Christian nodded. “I already have a general idea. I can combine it with the information you provided and revise it. Let me hear it and see if it works.”

“Well, go ahead,” Louise said.

So Christian briefly explained his idea, and Louise listened and offered suggestions, but the two did not dare to talk for too long. As soon as the sound of Kathryn taking a shower stopped, they hung up the phone. But at this time, the plan had been basically finalized, and it was just waiting for Christian to take action.

But before the plan started, he had something more important to do.

The next day, while the mother and son were having lunch, Kathryn’s phone rang. She picked it up and saw it was Louise calling. She subconsciously glanced at Christian.

Christian was slightly startled and asked in a low voice, “My mother-in-law?”

Kathryn nodded, and Christian sighed, “That’s good. I shouldn’t be confined to one thing forever.”

“Yeah!” Kathryn’s eyes lit up and she answered the phone excitedly: “Louise!”

Louise was shocked by her attitude. She and Christian had planned to reconcile in front of Kathryn, but Kathryn’s behavior really confused her.

“Hehe...Kathryn...you’re so jumpy, it’s not the first time you answered my call.” Louise said with a smile. Kathryn would call her whenever she encountered a problem, and they had talked on the phone quite a lot during this period.

“You haven’t contacted me these days, it seems you haven’t encountered any trouble...” She didn’t dwell on this for long and went straight to the next step.

“Hey... sort of!” Kathryn gave a rare chuckle, then said, “Louise... um... Christian wants to tell you something.”

As she spoke, she handed the phone to her son beside her.

“Huh? Hello? Hello?” Louise pretended to be surprised and said ‘Hello’ twice in a row.

Christian was also shocked. He thought his mother would just talk back and forth for a while, but he didn’t expect his mother to be so decisive and get straight to the point without any hesitation.