Female Novel
Chapter 631
John told the villagers to go back and get some rest, as well as instructing those who would leave withhim to settle things with their family during the next few days. After the crowd dispersed, Sophia finallyrelaxed her shoulders. Upon heaving a sigh, she noticed that her stomach was a little upset. Shequickly surmised that her tantrum must’ve affected her child, which prompted her to sit down hastily toget some rest. novelbin
Meanwhile, John went over to hold her in his arms before consoling her in a soothing voice. “I am here,so you have nothing to worry about. Nothing will go wrong.”
Instead of pushing him away, Sophia squeezed his shirt in her palms while gritting her teeth. “Why is helike that?” She didn’t understand why someone as lowly as Walter was her father. Furthermore, shewas extremely disappointed in him.
Her grandfather used to serve in the military, which shaped him into a fair and just man. Even duringthe harsh times, never once did his morals sway. Also, she never committed any outrageous crimes inthe course of her life, so she should count as a good citizen. However, both instances only served tofurther confuse her as to why her grandfather and her would have someone like Walter as a son and afather respectively.
In the meantime, John wasn’t quite sure how to console her, so he could only keep her company whileholding her in his arms. After a while, he carried her into the house. Lying in bed, Sophia curled herselfup into a ball, seemingly in low spirits. John waited until she dozed off before leaving for the yard,where he brooded for a while, then left the house altogether.
There were only dozens of households within the village, and with how small it was, one could see from
one end of the village to the other end. Seeing that he broke Walter’s finger, he guessed that the lattershould either be seeking a doctor outside the village, or have someone check on it within the village.He wasn’t sure if there was a clinic in the village, so he headed toward the entrance to check on theroad that would lead outside the village.
Seeing that Walter was nowhere to be seen on the straight road, he checked on the other roads one byone before finally finding Walter outside a house at the south side of the village. As if having predictedWalter’s course of action, the villagers who were outside Sophia’s house were now gathered there, sothe site was now buzzing with activity.
Jeering, the crowd told Oscar to not treat Walter’s wounds as the latter brought it upon himself, andthat he should have all of his fingers broken. Meanwhile, Walter seemed to have sprang back to life ashe shot insults back at the villagers. Despite being alone, he was so ferocious that he could easily holdhimself against a bunch of people in a verbal fight.
All the while, old Oscar was plopped on the stool under the window while smoking on his tobacco insilence. Walter seemed to be exhausted after lashing out non-stop, so he turned to look at Oscar. “Mr.Wilde, please check on my finger! It’s already numb, so do you think I should bandage it up with someherbs?”
Seemingly unaware of Walter’s predicament, Oscar puffed on his tobacco before saying, “Ten yearsago, we had a poor harvest because of bad weather. Our village didn’t have a lot of crops that we couldsell, as we only had enough to sustain ourselves. However, your father wanted to send little Sophia toschool, so he had to go foraging in the mountains to find things that he could sell. Even the storm didn’tdeter him, but he fell off a slippery slope and broke his leg. It was way worse than the injury on yourfinger.”
Still puffing on his tobacco, Oscar continued, “I told him that he needed to go to the hospital, as myherbal medicine wouldn’t be of help. If he wasn’t careful about it, he might end up becoming disabled.However, your father didn’t want to pay for the medical bills, so I wound up having to treat him for amonth using herbs. Although he healed, he was left with a limp ever since then.”
A few of the villagers were so riled up upon hearing about it, so they were starting to lash out at Walteragain, while the latter clutched onto his hand in silence. Lifting his head to glance at Walter, Oscarmade his decision. “Your wound is nothing compared to his, so don’t even come to me for treatment.Walter, I am not trying to be cruel, but if I treated you, I wouldn’t be able to face your father when I seehim in the afterlife. Don’t expect me to waste my precious herbs on you, you piece of trash.”