Summer passed slowly, at least for Clement. After gathering all his luggage and putting it in the suitcase, he walked to the window and looked into the distance. Tomorrow, he would return to J province to prepare for his final year of school.
During his time living and working here, many beautiful and charming girls expressed their desire to accompany him. However, the image of a girl wearing a crimson flower in her long black hair sitting next to a waterfall with white foam was deeply imprinted in his mind, becoming a wall that no one could overcome.
All night long, his heart was restless. Unable to prolong his fitful sleep, he stood up, lifted the curtain, and looked outside. Sporadic lights turned on in the apartment building opposite, signaling that a busy day was coming.
After checking out, Clement took his suitcase and left the hotel, leaning against a tree on the sidewalk waiting for the car. Because it was still early, the road was not crowded yet, and only at this time, the air of the splendid city was fresh and pure.
As the gentle morning sunlight gradually spread over the top of the buildings, Mabel drove up. Seeing the tall man in a simple shirt and trousers tapping his feet, her heart suddenly fluttered. She never expected that just looking at him from afar would make her feel so happy.
“Hi brother, I'm here to pick you up.” Mabel winked mischievously.
Clement smiled and nodded, quickly getting into the car. Mabel turned the car around, heading straight for the airport.
Today, Ryder returned from Country B after a rather long vacation. Normally, he would only go there for a month.
Knowing that Clement was studying here and that the day Clement left the city was also the day he returned, he asked Clement to pretend to come to the airport to pick him up and go home together.
Before, he always took a taxi himself, so now he wanted to know what it felt like when someone was eagerly waiting to pick him up.
Ryder's parents divorced when he was a child, his mother raised him alone and then remarried, his father settled in country B, and is still single but not cheerful.
Ryder's connections in the underworld were all introduced by his father. It was because his mother discovered that her husband had an obscure identity that she proposed to break up. As a lawyer, she did not accept that her husband was at risk of becoming a criminal.
When Ryder entered college, his mother allowed him to freely visit his father because she saw that he was now mature enough to distinguish between right and wrong, light and dark, and no longer needed to be constrained or controlled. So every summer he would get on a plane to go to country B and return home when the first day of school was near.
At seven-thirty, Ryder appeared and leisurely walked out of the international arrivals gate. His tall figure and handsome face with trendy black glasses made many people stare at him.
There was a girl who had a lover standing next to her but she still didn't know it, just staring at Ryder in fascination.
“How do you see my friend? If he wore a white shirt, he would stand out even more.” Clement turned to Mabel and said.
“This guy is already handsome, so I think even though he's wearing a torn sack, he's still handsome as usual.” She replied with a smile.
Seeing the couple keep looking at him and then at each other, giggling, Ryder suddenly became curious.
He adjusted the backpack on his shoulder, ran quickly in front of them, and pulled his glasses up to his head.
“Are you two speaking ill of me?”
“She said you're so handsome, even if you wear a torn sack, you're still handsome.”
As soon as Clement finished speaking, Mabel immediately burst out laughing. He also burst out laughing with her.
“Girl, why do you impress others like that?” Ryder crossed his arms, and tilted his head to look at Mabel.
Seeing him sulking, the two of them shut their mouths at the same time. Clement quickly regained his composure and spoke solemnly.
“Ryder, let me introduce you, this is Mabel. This time we will hitchhike her car to J province.”
“Hello, my name is Ryder, nice to meet you, I'll be bothering you later.” Ryder also transformed into a polite person, holding out his hand in front of Mabel.
“No problem, I'm happy to have two handsome guys with me.” She shook his hand and smiled politely.
Then, the three of them quickly went to the parking lot. Mabel got into the back seat and let Clement hold the steering wheel, while Ryder sat in the co-pilot's seat next to him.
Following Ryder's wish to immediately enjoy a bowl of noodles to fill his stomach, Clement drove to a nearby restaurant as soon as he left the airport.
For more than two months, he had been traveling around the city with Mabel every night, so he was very familiar with these places to eat, knowing which places were good and which were not.
After eating and drinking, Clement continued to drive the luxury car towards the highway. Although Ryder wondered because Clement had never been close to any girl other than Erina, he still did not ask. He guessed that when people become adults, they will be more open in relationships.
When the car reached J province, it was already noon. After dropping Ryder off in front of his house, Clement continued driving back to the farm. As far as he knew, Erina had to go down the mountain today to register for her class schedule.
Looking at the road getting shorter and shorter, Mabel felt extremely sad. She knew that when he returned here, he would limit his meetings with her, maybe even not see her anymore.
The car slowed down and turned into the yard in front of the farm gate. Clement quickly unbuckled his seat belt and opened the car door. Mabel also hurriedly got out, approached him, and spoke softly.
“Next semester, will you register for morning or afternoon classes?”
“I will register for morning classes according to the president's wishes, and go to the company headquarters to help in the afternoon.”
“You work so hard. Henry's father really knows how to take advantage of your labor. You're not his son, so he doesn't care.” Mabel frowned.
“It's better to practice first. In the future, I won't be clumsy when I go to work officially.”
Hearing him say that, Mabel could only nod. Because he was like that, she loved him even more. She had never heard a word of reproach from him. Whatever Hubert told him to do, he would do it.
Even on Sundays, Hubert forced him to take the documents back to the hotel to check, not giving him a chance to visit his lover. It seemed that as long as he depended on Hubert, every day would be International Labor Day for him.
“Goodbye.”
Mabel bowed slightly and got back into the driver's seat. Seeing that the oncoming car was intentionally giving way, she quickly stepped on the accelerator and sped away.
In the moment of shifting his gaze from Mabel to the other car, Clement was stunned when he saw that the girl sitting behind the slowly raised windshield was not a stranger but the person he missed day and night. The eyes like autumn lake water carried a sadness that quickly left him.
Through the rearview mirror, Henry recognized the changes on Erina's face. Just now when she went down the mountain, she was still smiling and talking happily, greeting Venn, but now seeing this scene, she was sad. He was afraid that she would wash her face with tears later.
As soon as Venn turned the car into the main gate, Lucia and the maids warmly lined up to welcome Henry and Erina. Because Venn was in the car, his mood was as excited as if he was valuable and appreciated by them.
“The young master and mistress have returned. Lunch is ready, please eat it while it's hot.”
After saying that, Lucia smiled widely and told the maids to take the bags of vegetables from Venn's hand. She knew that these were collected by Henry and Erina on the mountain, so she treasured them very much.
Even though Erina didn't want to eat, when she saw the meal full of dishes she liked, she still sat down. She understood that everyone had spent a lot of effort to cook them. Furthermore, Henry once said that eating alone would make him sad. Usually, Hubert was rarely home at noon.
Neither of them spoke to each other, just eating in silence. Henry thought that when he returned home, he could eat a whole cow, but now he couldn't swallow the food. Her sad expression made his mood drop and he didn't want to eat.
“I'm full, I'll go to my room and rest first.” Erina put down the chopsticks in her hand and said softly.
“Yes, you go.” He nodded slightly.
Waiting for Erina's footsteps to fade away, Henry stood up. Seeing Lucia's face slightly sad, he smiled lightly, using the excuse that he and Eriana had just come down the mountain so they were too tired and had eaten a little, and told her to put away all the food and reheat it for him tonight.
The harsh noon sunlight shone directly on the glass window, but Erina did not pull the curtains. Her eyes were fixed on the distant mountains, then she occasionally turned her head to look at the phone on the table that was charging and not turned on.
Erina realized that the girl standing next to Clement earlier was the one she met at Henry's birthday party a few months ago, Mabel.
While going down the mountain, she picked a bunch of wild vegetables and asked Venn to stop by the farm to give Nelly some, but she unexpectedly saw Clement chatting with Mabel. Because she was so angry, she urged him to drive away. As a result, because of Clement, Nelly didn't have any wild vegetables to eat.
Up until now, except for her, Clement had never made friends with any girl, let alone laughed and joked happily. So, telling her to see that scene without thinking would be difficult.