Minutes kept passing, but the old couple that had occupied both of the bathrooms were not coming out.Jamie and Ivy, however, refused to go anywhere. They kept their watch even though it meant that they had to put their other works aside.Mollie felt her stomach loosening, so she came to the bathroom and was shocked to see that it was closed. She looked at Jamie. “Don’t tell me, they’re still inside? It’s been almost an hour, though.”Jamie shrugged his shoulders.Mollie then knocked on the door without hesitation. “Are you done?”“Ah, just a minute,” the old man replied from the inside.Mollie patiently waited, but a minute turned into three minutes. Mollie couldn’t help but be frustrated. “How long are you going to stay in there? Come out for a couple of minutes. I need to use the bathroom.”“Just a minute,” the old man replied, making Mollie grind her teeth.Again, one minute turned into three minutes. Mollie would have probably kicked the door open if she hadn’t grown old.“Do you
Mollie was old but had seen a lot of things in life and experienced many ordeals over the years. So, she put herself close to Amelie to understand her better and also make sure that nothing could go wrong.While Amelie’s grandparents were busy talking with Ben’s parents, Mollie spent time with Amelie.“Have you dated anyone before dating my grandson?” Mollie asked her.Amelie smiled somewhat before replying. “I have.”“How are young men during the dates these days?” Mollie curiously asked.“Uh, I think they either make the first move too fast or don’t make the first move at all,” Amelie said. “I believe things were more steady and gradual back in your time?”“When I was young, the concept of dating was seen as a farce,” Mollie said. “A man and a woman holding their hand in public would be considered a big deal. But nowadays, they are kissing each other on roads and in public spaces everywhere. The sensitivities of the past are slowly but surely getting lost. How is Ben, though? Is he
Amelie was roaming the house to find Ben. She couldn’t find him, so she went to the backyard where she saw Ulmer doing something strange. She went over to him only to realize that he was trying to pick up an animal. “Is that a turtle? It looks pretty young. How did it get here?”“Don’t look down on them just because it’s a baby,” Ulmer told her. “These baby turtles cross the seas and navigate through the dangerous oceans.”Amelie was surprised to hear that. “They do grow up in their parents’ care, right?”“No, most of them have to fend for themselves,” Ulmer said, speaking from his experience of traveling through the seas for more than forty years.Amelie slightly frowned. “It’s impossible for them to survive on their own. The babies don’t know anything.”“You’re underestimating them. We are all born with necessary information,” Ulmer replied. “Birds have been migrating from one continent to another for thousands of years. They travel to places they have never been to with precision b
Amelie returned to her grandparents and sat between them on the couch. Though she wanted to kiss them, she couldn’t do it because she was in Ben’s house.“Where is your fiance, Amelie?” Her grandfather, Calvin, asked. He had multiple moles on his face. “When are you going to introduce him to us?”“Ben went out to bring some food from the nearby restaurant,” Ivy said. “He will be back soon.”“My wife isn’t really feeling well,” Calvin said. “I don’t know if she can eat anything right now.”“Then I’ll make some buttermilk for her,” Ivy said and left in a hurry.“Buttermilk, huh…” Amelie’s grandmother, Fiona, smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve tasted buttermilk. Can she add some spice to the buttermilk?”“I’ll go and tell her,” Jamie said and hurriedly left.Now, only Amelie and her grandparents were present there, so they could talk freely.Fiona was looking around. “This house isn’t big. Are you sure you can live in this house in the future?”“Grandma, Ben and I are not going to sta
After talking with his grandmother, Ulmer decided to find a farmer as soon as possible. So, he was leaving the house.Though he saw Fiona and Calvin in the hall, he didn’t talk with them because neither Amelie nor Ivy introduced him.After Ulmer left, Fiona asked, “Who was that young man? Was he Ben?”“Of course, not,” Ivy quickly said. “He’s my nephew. Don’t mind him. He doesn’t have a job and doesn’t have a clue as to how to build a career. Because his family died, my husband is trying to help him and change him for good.”“Oh, that’s pretty nice of you,” Calvin said. “These days, families are easily breaking apart, so it’s quite heartwarming to see that you care about your nephew so much.”Ivy just smiled in return. (Who cares about that useless freeloader? I have to kick him out of this house as soon as possible! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to answer every time someone asks about him. It’s already getting annoying now.)The more the Richard family are going to be present at this
The driver stopped the taxi in front of a small house in a narrow street, where two cars wouldn’t fit.“This is the house, sir,” the driver said. “You can just go and talk to the owner, but I doubt you’ll find organic watermelons now since it’s not summer.”“Ugh, I can find other fruits, right?”“Sure.”“I’m Ulmer. What’s your name?”“Roger Moonsley. It’s nice meeting you, sir.”“You, too.”“I’ll park the car at the intersection there,” Roger said. “I’ll wait there for you.”“Got it,” Ulmer then gave him a hundred dollar note before entering through the gate. The fragrance of flowers filled the air, and it eased his mood after sitting in the car for so long.He knocked on the door twice.An old man in a tank top opened the door and looked at Ulmer from top to bottom. “Who the fuck are you?” He was holding a copper bottle in his hand.“I’m Ulmer. Roger Moonsley dropped me here,” Ulmer said.”He said you grow organic fruits and veggies. Will it be possible for you to deliver fruits and v
Nelson might be old, but his slap sure was fast. It made a resounding noise and was powerful enough to leave the gang leader stunned for a second.“How dare you hit our leader!” All the underlings of the gang immediately attacked Nelson.There were more than a dozen of them, and some of those men were tall and bulky. Their arms were bigger than Nelson’s two thighs put together. And they unhesitantly smacked Nelson and tried to smash him to the ground. It was like many bulls rampaged against a senile dog without a shred of mercy.It was brutal to watch, though it happened only for a few seconds.Ulmer, having recorded it on another person’s mobile, now stepped in and began thrashing the thugs left and right. He just simply punched and kicked the gangsters, and they were crying and cringing in immense pain. None of their bones were broken, but the pain they experienced was ten times worse than when bones were broken.Within a few seconds, all the underlings were on the ground.Ulmer sto
“This is where we use incense to ripen the bananas in 24 to 36 hours,” Nelson explained as Ulmer plucked a green banana. “Don’t peel it. Green ones don’t taste sweet at all.” He picked a decently ripened banana and put it in Ulmer’s hand.After tasting it, Ulmer nodded. “Mhm… it’s sweet.”“It’ll get much sweeter in two days,” Nelson said. “By that time it’ll end up in the customers’ hands. Everything you see in this place is grown as naturally as possible. The farmers I’ve partnered with don’t use chemicals at all.”“Then how do you get so much produce?” Ulmer couldn’t help but ask. “You can’t use manure for so many acres of farming land, right?”“Yes, we use all kinds of old techniques,” Nelson explained. “We put quartz crystals and copper rods in the farming lands. They boost production by electrifying the earth and keeping it nutrient rich. That’s just one of the techniques we use. I can’t tell you everything as we have to keep some things secret.”“I get it. I get it,” Ulmer finis