Female Novel
Chapter 625
Alongside the head of the village and his secretary, a few other families came for the meal as well.Although they got themselves some alcohol. John turned down their offer to drink, as he might need tobe driving later, which managed to stop the villagers from persuading him to drink.
Meanwhile, Sophia was shown to her seat, but her stomach was churning as soon as she smelled thearoma of the chicken dish. Considering the occasion, she decided she should push her queasinessdown even though all she wanted to do was throw up.
As soon as everybody had arrived, the feast began. The villagers were in a jolly mood while theychatted, telling John that they had been wanting to pave the roads, but with how poor and how fewpeople they had, they never managed to gather up enough funds to do that. Going with the flow of theconversation, John suggested that the younger men in the village should head out in search of otherjobs, as farming wouldn’t sustain them. novelbin
Upon hearing what he said, the people of the older generation heaved a sigh. “We wanted to do thingsthat way too, but there aren’t a lot of jobs for us around here. If the young’uns move too far away, therewon’t be anybody left to tend to the lands since the only ones left will be the children and old folks likeus. It would be a waste of time if we ended up not having any crops to sustain ourselves, nor were theyoung’uns earning enough while working away from the village.”
What the old man said reminded Sophia of those times when she used to help her grandfather farmtheir land, which was tough work, to say the least. After giving it some thought, she said, “Actually,there is something that I’ve been hesitating to tell you. If you’d like to do so, John and I can bring a fewpeople with us when we leave. I know a manager who needs some people to work on some manuallabor in a small company. Other than their salary, food and accommodation will also be provided to theworkers. If anybody is interested to come with us, they can bring their family along.”
John turned to look at Sophia with a smile. “Yeah, so you can think about it. Anybody who would like toleave can come with us.”
When they heard what Sophia and John said, the villagers were keen to go. Not only would they beprovided with food and accommodation, they could also bring their family along. Those without anelderly person in the family could just leave the village right away. Sophia heaved a sigh while recallingthose times when the villagers helped her out when her grandfather passed away, so she consideredthe gesture as repayment to their kindness.
The meal proceeded in an increasingly jolly atmosphere, but before they finished their meal, someonecame running in from outside. “Sophia, you have to hurry! You have a guest at home!”
Another guest? Sophia thought with a frown. It was Buddy who reported the news, but he had a glumlook on his face. “You should go check it out. It’s your father who came.”
Startled, Sophia didn’t grasp the full extent of the situation at first. Despite being tipsy from their drink,the villagers around the table shot up from their seats as soon as they heard that her sorry excuse of afather came back. They reacted even more violently than she did while flocking to her house.
Meanwhile, there was already a crowd gathered in front of Sophia’s house. As it wasn’t harvest seasonyet, the villagers weren’t as busy. Sophia and John arrived a little later, only to see a man standing inthe yard after squeezing past the crowd. With his hands behind him, the man was staring at the house.Although Mrs. Hensley had been cursing at him for a while, it didn’t incite any form of reaction fromhim, as if he had heard nothing.
Walking up to the man, Sophia asked, “Who are you looking for?”
The man turned around to look at her, but Sophia no longer remembered what her parents looked like,as their presence had long since faded from her memories. Therefore, she didn’t recognize the manbefore her at all, so she repeated herself, “Who are you looking for?”
After examining her for some time, the man finally said, “Sophia, it’s me, your father.”
Mrs. Hensley spat, “You shameless b*stard! You never contacted your daughter throughout the years,so why are you back now? Where were you when she needed you most?”
Ignoring everybody else, the man walked up to Sophia, but John stepped in between them before theman could reach her. “Don’t come any closer.”
The man stared at John for a while before saying, “You must be my son-in-law. Oh, look at you! Wenever got to meet each other despite the fact that you’ve gotten married such a long time ago. I amSophia’s father, and I came to pay her a visit now that I know she got married.”