Chapter 1573 - 1555: The Farm Must Be Desolate

When A-tan saw that he was asking about her tutoring schedule at the Leighton Family, she initially wanted to refuse. But it was her first time working outside, going to someone else’s house, and she was truly a bit frightened, so she nodded and shared details about the Leighton Family.

She had only met Julian Leighton and his 7-year-old daughter Candy Leighton and only knew the location of the Leighton Family’s villa, nothing else.

Marcus Quinn nodded and took note.

In the evening, as usual, he prepared thirty pounds of braised pig trotters, and then the man carefully washed the new clothes A-tan had bought for him and hung them up to dry. Standing on the balcony looking at his new clothes, the seven-foot-tall man grinned foolishly.

The next day, Marcus did not go for odd jobs but instead made breakfast for A-tan. While delivering the pig trotters, he ran into the manager of the Qingfeng Building. Seeing him come to take the pig trotters, Marcus saved himself the daily delivery effort and handed over the trotters, then headed to Chester Walker’s Military District Guest House.

Because Fountain City is small and neither near mountains nor the sea, it doesn’t have any military base, only ordinary armed police. Chester Walker lived in the sole Military District Guest House, which is next to the armed police battalion.

By the time Marcus arrived, Chester Walker had already gotten up, run ten laps around the armed police training grounds, and when he returned, he saw the tall man in a vest and long pants waiting at the guest house.

"Brother Marcus, you came over so early in the morning? Why didn’t you call me?" Chester Walker was delighted to see Marcus, firing off questions like a machine gun, "Brother, have you had breakfast? The beef buns next door to the guest house are said to be super tasty."

As he spoke, he slung an arm around Marcus’s shoulder, trying to drag him to eat beef buns.

Marcus glanced at him with disdain, noticing Chester’s sweaty appearance, and then entered the bun shop next door.

"Why are you so disdainful? This sweat is my youthful sweat." Chester Walker laughed as he followed into the bun shop, noticing Marcus’s somewhat worn vest and long pants, ordered 20 beef buns, then lowered his voice, asking, "How come you’re living like this, Brother Marcus? Are you really that short on money? Yesterday, your Mrs. said you go out every day for manual jobs, and she was really worried."

Marcus naturally knew his gaze was on his clothes. As a man, what can reveal quality of life most are clothes and shoes. He never cared about appearances; A-tan bought him new clothes, but he hadn’t had the heart to wear them.

"It’s more or less fine, as long as I’m alone it doesn’t matter how I live. Recently, with A-tan, I’ve been motivated to earn more money." Marcus said blandly. Seeing the beef buns served, he also ordered two bowls of spicy broth and ate the beef buns dipping them into it.

Chester was at a loss for words, though Marcus was always low-key at the Military District. Having known him for years, he’d never seen Marcus worried about money. It was said Marcus was a wealthy young master sent to the Military District for training. Later, Marcus was supposed to get promoted to regimental commander but suddenly disappeared for two years, followed by rumors of his sacrifice or retirement. If not for receiving his call a week ago, Chester would have thought he was truly gone, often shedding tears during holidays.

"The commander learned you retired but knows nothing else. I understand some military secrets can’t be mentioned, but seeing you alive puts us at ease."

Marcus nodded, handed Chester a beef bun, and said calmly, "Let’s not talk about past events. I did retire, and I won’t be going back. I want to live an ordinary life with A-tan."

"Why don’t you do some profitable work? I remember you have a master’s in optoelectronics. You were a decathlon in the Military District. If you don’t want to use those skills, didn’t you say your maternal grandfather left you a farm? When you mentioned it years ago, we were envious to death." Chester said hurriedly.

Marcus rarely spoke about his family background but often mentioned his maternal grandfather, including his grandfather’s farm. These men were foodies; while family background isn’t enviable, such a large farm with everything made them dream of having Marcus take them to his farm to eat pure natural food.

Marcus was silent for a moment. His grandfather left him not just a farm, but also imparted all his life’s knowledge — culinary skills, ideals, ways of dealing with people.

"It’s been over ten years since I returned. After grandfather passed away, the farm is likely abandoned." Marcus said quietly.

"Even if you don’t think of yourself, you should think of Mrs. I don’t think she is the kind of girl who’s used to living rough." Chester didn’t ask about the significant matters Marcus had in recent years, since the commander couldn’t inquire either. Yet Chester didn’t want to see such an excellent person doing manual work, so he tried hard to persuade him.

Marcus nodded, showing he’d consider it, and then he changed the subject.

"Let’s go for a walk after breakfast."

"Where are we going?" Chester became excited. When Marcus led them for two years before being transferred, those were the years of special training with wild vegetable rabbit stew, going up mountains and down seas. Their company loved following Marcus around.

After breakfast, Chester naturally paid. Marcus didn’t even have a dime in his pocket, leaving Chester staring in disbelief, his brother really pampered his wife to such an extent.

"Brother, what if you suddenly need money? You don’t even have a phone."

"If short on money, just go earn some. There are money-making opportunities all over the street, pick any of them."

Chester: "..."

The two men drove a Military District SUV directly to the wealthy area of Fountain City. Using Chester’s vehicle and credentials, Marcus collected all the information about the district where A-tan tutored, including details about the Leighton Family and even Julian Leighton’s lifestyle habits, in under half an hour.

The district’s property manager even specifically accompanied the two officers for an inspection around the area.

"Brother, if you’re not comfortable with Mrs. going out, just let her stay home. With her looks, anyone would be uneasy." Chester was dumbfounded seeing Marcus go to such lengths for investigation — using officers of this level to investigate a wealthy citizen was over the top.

"Whatever she wants to do, let her do. I’ll handle other things." Marcus said in a deep voice. In a short while, he obtained the layout of the district, all information about the Leighton Family, the surveillance situation of the district, etc. Although Julian Leighton didn’t appear to have much scandal, Marcus still felt uneasy. For someone with his firm mindset, seeing A-tan, he found her adorable; other men would only feel so even more.

"Let’s go back to your place. I’ll make some pig trotters for you to take home, A-tan also asked me to make a jar of honey grapefruit tea for you." Seeing the task completed, Marcus clapped Chester’s shoulder and quickly sent him off, lest he disrupt Marcus’s time with A-tan.