Chapter 1597 - 1568: Only the Strong Like Marcus Quinn Can Survive (2)

Marcus Quinn took the towel and carefully dried her hair. Seeing that she wore conservative long pants and sleeves, he nodded in satisfaction, and as he dried her hair, he said, "Maybe it’s just a chat."

"Then let’s hurry up." Ada pulled the towel back, threw it aside, and took Marcus Quinn’s hand to lead him outside. Marcus looked at her fair hand covering his and immediately smiled, happily following her.

Villagers had frozen the fish in the well water and delivered them. After eating a quick meal, they came over to chat. After a while, when Marcus and Ada came out, the villagers gratefully looked at them.

There are only sixteen households in the village. Apart from the young men who work outside and return home for a seven-day stay during New Year, the rest are the elderly, children, and women. Although old Marcus and old Mr. Shui’s family are kind enough to share the woods’ fruits, the lake’s fish, and the fields’ vegetables, how much energy can the elderly and children have?

Now, Marcus Quinn has returned, and every household has been renovated. The village looks like a Fairy Tale Town. Crates of fruit are brought home. In the past month, there have been several boxes of dates and ugly tangerines. Buckets of fish are brought home, not only to eat but also as gifts, and even then, each household still has over a hundred pounds. Everyone has agreed to sell to the county town tavern.

"Master Quinn, we all wanted to come and thank you," said a dark-skinned man in his thirties, who fished with Marcus Quinn, pushed forward as their representative.

The others nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, we’ve been under your family’s care all these years, and this past month we’ve taken advantage without helping much."

"Our kid earned 200 yuan in half a day’s work today, spent the rest of the day at home doing homework, and he’s ecstatic, saying it’s the perfect combination of learning and earning money."

"My mother-in-law sold tea eggs worth 320 yuan today. The tea leaves were picked from the tea garden on your mountain, and the eggs are from our chickens with no cost, and she sold so much in one day; she’s really happy."

Due to the help from many people today, Marcus Quinn doubled their pay based on the usual rate of 200 yuan, so every household was overjoyed.

"We’re all neighbors; helping each other is as it should be," Marcus Quinn spoke in his deep voice, only saying, before lapsing into silence.

The crowd, used to his quietness, instantly turned to Ada, showering her with praises. Usually, village mutual help doesn’t involve payment, but Marcus insisted on paying them, making them grateful.

Ada saw that most villagers were simple, grateful for favors, and felt comforted. These people earn over 200 yuan a day, sell some tea eggs, and carry home three buckets of fish, thrilled as if it were New Year’s. Once the Holiday Village’s reputation spreads, they’ll lead better lives. At present, discussing this seems like empty promises, so Ada didn’t bring it up.

During the chat, Ada arranged the following six days’ tasks. Tomorrow she planned for two people to pick ugly tangerines, pack, and ship them. She also arranged for the two youths selling fruit today, Calvin Zamora and Wang Gang, to sell fruit and pig trotters, along with selling pure water—every little bit helps.

Since everyone wants to help, Ada found two smart kids to lead tourists to the Holiday Village, while the remaining four aunties helped in the kitchen; the same four who helped today.

Once everything was arranged properly, everyone happily finished chatting and went home to sleep.

When Ada’s excitement wore off, she lay down on the bed, wanting Marcus Quinn’s juice. Thinking about it, she immediately jumped out of bed; she couldn’t believe she forgot—tomorrow she sells juice.

The man entering saw her run barefoot from the bed, frowned, and said, "Ada, you’re weak; you shouldn’t walk barefoot."

"Oh." Ada saw that he was holding the one thing she wanted to drink most at that moment—a Carman tangerine fruit tea—and ran happily over, shaking Marcus Quinn’s arm, saying, "Marcus Quinn, how did you know I wanted juice?"

"You’ve been eating only fish tonight, and since you ate too much spicy chopped pepper fish head, you must want to drink something." Marcus’s lips curled, seeing that after over three months, she finally let go of all her defenses against him and would willingly come closer to him, even speaking sweetly. He felt extremely pleased inside.

He had once worried whether past events would impact Ada’s life in the future. Seeing her now laughing and being playful, with a bright smile free of shadows, he felt living in Anfield Village was worthwhile.

Ada’s transformation began when she moved to Anfield Village.

"You’re so nice." Ada took the fruit tea from his hand, drank a big gulp swiftly, feeling like Marcus saved her life.

"Marcus Quinn, how come you never drink fruit tea? Do you have nothing you particularly love to eat or drink?" Ada saw him staring at her feet, and then she quickly got on the bed.

She felt Marcus Quinn’s life was too hard. Apart from meals, this man buried himself in work and seemed to have no personal hobbies. Probably his only enjoyment was making lots of delicious food and watching her eat, feeding her like a little pig.

The man said nothing, entered the bathroom, took a wet towel, returned to help her wipe her feet carefully. Seeing her little white feet look as lovely as jade, he found them endearing, but restrained himself to finish wiping and said, "Army habits, I’m not a picky eater."

Ada drew her foot back, saw him sitting on the bed, his chin showing a faint stubble, gaze sharp and bright, with clear-cut features. Even the scar on his face had a touch of heroic charm, making her a bit dazed. Unconsciously, she compared Marcus Quinn to the socialites she interacted with before, suddenly thinking, if one day the world ended, only someone strong like Marcus Quinn would survive.

While Ada was in a daze, she heard old Mr. Shui shouting outside, "Marcus Quinn, people from the provincial city are here, several cars."

Marcus Quinn frowned, not pleased that his time alone with Ada was interrupted; they had time together for less than half an hour today.

Ada hurried to find her shoes, pulling Marcus Quinn along, said, "Let’s go see. It’s so late, and people from the provincial city are coming; it must be something important."