Female Novel
Chapter 438
Since she had decided to go back to the Dickens' house, Christina stopped wandering on the street
and called a taxi immediately.
When Betty opened the door and saw her, her face showed an expression of surprise and joy.
"Just now, Patrick called to ask if you had returned to the Dickens‘ house... How did you get here so
fast?"
Betty quickly took her hand into the room and happily pushed her to the kitchen, where Grandma and
Donald were eating soup.
"Christina, welcome back."
Mrs. Dickens was overjoyed and quickly got up from her chair.
Betty complained in the kitchen, holding a bowl of soup. "Why didn't you tell me you are going home in
advance? I didn't do the grocery shopping today."
She put a bowl of ginseng conch soup on the table and said to Christina, "Go wash your hands and eat
it before it's cold."
As she spoke, Betty was busy rummaging through the fridge and lockers to see if there were any
ingredients to prepare a sumptuous dinner tonight.
Donald looked at her daughter who was still standing there and urged, "Are you in a daze? Didn't you
hear your aunt asking you to wash your hands? Hurry up." His tone was not gentle, as always a strict
father's style.
"Hey, Donald, it's been a long time for your daughter to come. Can you speak gently..." Mrs. Dickens
looked at him discontentedly.
"You're spoiling her."
Donald's expression was a little complicated and he turned to continue to eat the soup.
When a girl in a family grew up, got married, and occasionally went back to her family home, her family
would be very happy. The happiness of the elders was very simple.
Christina went to wash her hands and sat down to eat soup.
The soup Betty cooked tasted very good. Although she was not as professional as the cook of Dickens'
family, she liked it very much and her heart was warm.
Connie said she should hate her mother, but she didn't.
Whether what they said was true or not, even if her mother was an unforgivable woman, Donald and
Connie might be qualified to hate her, and Betty might be qualified to blame her.
But Christina thought that at least she thanked her for giving birth to her and letting her come to this
world as her daughter.
She was a contented girl.
After fiddling in the kitchen for a while, Betty decided to go out and buy groceries.
Grandma was in her eighties, still in very good health. The market was very near. Grandma and Betty
went out together with baskets.
Christina would like to join them and help pick up the baskets, but Betty didn't allow it. She said that
Christina might be tired and need a rest at home.
"As soon as she comes back, you all serve her like this. You hope her to be lazy in Hopkins family..."
Donald was usually serious at home. If the whole family had spoiled her since she was a child, she
would have become an unruly girl.
Christina had been used to it.
When there were only the father and daughter left in the house, Christina sat warmly beside her father,
took the ancient coin out of her pocket, and told him seriously, "Dad, let me tell you, this ancient coin is
a little weird."
Donald had never thought of her approaching him so warmly before, her relationship with him really
improved a lot.
He was old and no longer chased after fame. Seeing that his daughter was willing to be close to him,
his eyes were wet.
But no matter how old his daughter was, she was still like this to make him angry. "Weird? You're
talking nonsense."
"No, I'm serious. It has always been following me."
Christina knew that he didn't believe her and was in a hurry to explain, "Charles threw it into the lotus
pond in Hopkins family last night, but it appeared in front of me again when I came to C City today."
"Dad, what I said is the truth. I'm not lying."
Christina raised her head, and looked at him with sparkling eyes, and said firmly.
Donald looked at her serious face and thought that was funny.
He found that his daughter had lived for more than 20 years without increasing her IQ and EQ.
"Why don't you find a piece of gold? Then tell me that you used it to buy things, and it will come back
automatically." It was unusual for Donald to show a sense of humor.
Christina was very depressed. "I'm telling the truth."
"That must be Charles' mischief last night. He didn't throw the coin into the pool and secretly put it back
in your pocket."
"No, I saw him throwing the coin into the pool and heard a thud." Christina tried her best to defend
herself.
"Things are not what they seem, not to mention the big lotus pond in Hopkins family. If Charles threw a
stone, you wouldn't know."
Listening for a while, Christina also thought that her father had a point.
But she didn't understand, "Why did Charles tease me? He was very serious at the time, and he threw
it ..."
Donald sighed resignedly. He knew his daughter's obsessiveness very well. She would take one idea
and beat it to death since she was a child.
"Dad, when I grow up, can I catch the planes in the sky?"
Donald remembered that on the first day he sent her to kindergarten, a big plane happened to fly by.
She was wearing a small floral dress with two braids. She was small, only at the height of his knees,
holding his hand and asked.
"Will I grow very tall in the future? "
"No." He replied. She thought she would become a giant.
"Then how did this plane fly into the sky? "
As a father, it was really difficult for him to explain these complex principles to a little girl. So every time
he replied coldly, "I don't know." "
When he was young, he often answered 'I don't know' to her questions.
In retrospect, he thought his cold attitude at that time was really cruel to a child.
But his daughter always had a lot of strange ideas. She always liked to ask questions. He was glad that
she was not sensitive at that time. Even if he deliberately pushed her away and refused to talk to her,
she still called him "Dad."
Christina sat in the living room and continued to check the ancient coin on the table. She did not notice
that her father was recalling the past with emotion.
She still thought there was something wrong with the coin and continued to argue with her father.
"When I went to the prison to submit my cell phone and handbag, there was no such coin, but when I
left, there was a coin in that box..."
Donald did not care about the ancient coin but raised his voice and asked, "Did you go to jail?"
"Why did you come to C City and go to jail?" A strict father's style came out again.
"I, I just..." Christina revealed her secret. Seeing her father's burning eyes, she hesitated for a while. "I
went to jail to see Connie..." Her voice grew lower and lower.
Donald looked surprised and was in deep thought.
"I didn't trouble Connie. She was legally arrested and imprisoned for an old case..."
When Christina saw her father in silence, she suddenly became nervous and gibbered. She wanted to
explain that it was not Patrick who abused his power but Connie's own fault.
"I know."
It took Donald a while to speak.
"Dad, you have known that Connie was in jail?"
She found that his expression seemed to tell he had known it long ago.novelbin
"Patrick told me," Donald said calmly. After thinking for a while, he emphasized, "Don't tell Grandma
and Betty about Connie."
Christina nodded.
Her grandmother and aunt had always thought that Connie was still young and beautiful. Now that the
Dickens family had fallen, she did not want to come back.
"Dad, let me ask you, what kind of person is my mother?"
Christina remembered that Connie had scolded her mother in prison.
Donald knew Connie's hatred for Mary very well and taught her a lesson with a serious face. "No
matter what Connie told you, you just have to remember that she is your mother."
Every time she mentioned her mother, she was always so excited.
Christina curled her lips and stopped asking.
The dinner was very rich. The small round table was sitting around, and the family was in harmony.
Christina looked at her grandmother, her father and aunt's eyes were slightly wrinkled.
As her family grew old, she suddenly felt a little sad.
When she came to C City this time, she didn't want to come back to the Dickens family, but she only
spent half a day home to see. They were already so happy.
She really should go home and visit them often in the future.
"What are you thinking? Just looking at it and not eating it doesn't suit your appetite, does it?" Betty
gave her a few more pieces of stir-fried beef with green pepper.
"Yummy." Christina focused on eating.
"Look, you are not decently eating. When you're in the Hopkins family, haven't you got scolded for this
reason?" Donald seemed to be able to grab every opportunity to teach her a lesson at any moment.
Seeing that he had scolded her niece again, Betty immediately gave him a sharp look. "There is no
need to have so many rules at home. Just eat happily."
Now that Donald was suffering from a stroke and had a hemiplegia, although he was still recovering,
the progress of his recovery was relatively slow. As Mrs. Dickens was already in her eighties, Betty was
in charge of all the family business. Gradually, Betty had the final say in this family. She became more
assertive and tough because of the daily necessities.
Christina immediately giggled when she saw that her father was retorted and did not dare to make a
sound.
Since the family did not own a company to compete for fame and wealth, in spite of a less rich life, all
family members live a peaceful life.
After dinner, her aunt and grandmother led her to the living room to ask some questions, which were
always the same. "How are people of the Hopkins family treating you?"
"Did the people in the Hopkins family put you on the spot?"
Her grandmother was very worried because her family was in disadvantage in comparison to the
Hopkins family.
"Christina, you have to learn how to behave. Even if we don't bear insult in normal times, there are
some things that we should bear. Because you are the younger generation and their granddaughter-in-
law, you have many elders to respect there."
It had been a received wisdom that filial piety mattered.
Betty quickly gave her an analysis."Senior Mr. Hopkins has five daughters, and his youngest son,
Victor, died of illness in his early years. Although Patrick's five aunts are all married and some of them
have already been grandmothers, those women were all very sharp. Christina, if you meet them, first of
all, you have to be respectful and modest. Don't do anything out of line as they are all elders. Even if
you stand behind the truth, you still have to suffer sometime."
Grandma was also sincere. She picked up Christina's hand and patted it, reminding her.
"If you have a conflict with your relatives in the Hopkins family and get trapped in a dilemma, it will only
lead Patrick into another dilemma. As a woman, you have to think for your husband. We are all relieved
that Patrick is good to you, but he is from a giant family after all. We have to learn to be smart."
Christina nodded repeatedly.
Her aunt and grandmother continued to lecture her. They seemed to be always worried that she would
do something wrong and offend people in the Hopkins family. Although she did not think that Patrick
would be in such a difficult mood, it was good for her to be a quiet listener and be cared by her family.
That night, Christina slept soundly and comfortably in her childhood room. She had a good night's
sleep.