Stella gritted her teeth tightly, wondering if he meant that she was not even a human in his opinion.
Before she retorted, Clarence said flatly, “Change your outfit. Have a walk with me.”
“Didn’t you walk around yesterday?”
“You had meals yesterday. Why would you have meals again today?”
Stella couldn’t find her tongue.
What a jerk!
She hurriedly turned around and smashed her door close. Then she locked it from the inside.
Clarence cast a glance at the lock, raising his head. As if he had thought about something, his Adam’s
apple bobbed.
He withdrew his gaze and cleared his throat, “I’ll wait for you downstairs. Hurry up.”
Stella’s unhappy voice was heard from the room, “Got it.”
Could he just stop urging her?
If he was in a hurry, why didn’t he just go himself?
Stella still put on another vintage dress from Dolores, the style of which wasn’t favored by Clarence.
In order to make the wretched man wait longer, she slowly put on makeup.
When Stella walked downstairs, Clarence was standing in the yard with his back towards her. With one
hand on the pocket of his suit trousers, he stood upright, talking on the phone in English.
His voice was deep and magnetic with traces of chill, quite pleasant to hear.
Sure enough, the wretched man would always look handsome whenever he was hard working.
Two minutes later, Clarence finished the call. He turned around and looked at Stella, who looked away
immediately, “Mr. Conrad, sorry for keeping you wait. I...” she said.
Stella thought that Clarence would mock at her again, but he only put the phone into his pocket and
said indifferently, “Let’s go.”
All the neighbors joined Evelyn’s tourist team. Usually, they would be sitting outside their houses or
along the rivers. Currently, they were all gone, so the whole street was extremely quiet.
The sunshine covered this ancient long street in peace.
Stella was walking by Clarence’s side, keeping a distance from him. From time to time, she kicked a
stone on the ground.
At the end of the street, there was a wide river.
Stella used to watch the sunset here every day.
Usually, a lot of neighbors of Anqiao Street would play chess or walk around with the caged birds
around here. Now since they were gone, it was quiet along the river with only a few passersby and
running children for fun.
Standing beside the river, Clarence stared at the scenery in distance, lost in thought.
Stella was standing behind him, yawning.
She was almost killed by the sleepiness.
How could he be so energetic?
When Stella was dizzy, she heard Clarence’s voice, “Come over.”
She looked in the direction of his voice, only to find that Clarence had walked down the steps. He was
standing next to a boat upright.
She tried to cheer up, walking down the steps.
However, when she reached the late level, she looked at the boat that was distanced from the last step,
hesitating.
When she wondered how she could get in, a knuckled hand was reached in front of her.
Stella was taken aback, looking up at him subconsciously.
Clarence seemed to be out of patience, “Why are you standing there motionlessly? Come get in.”
Stella hesitated and then put her hand in his palm.
When she got in, the boat slightly swayed. She lost her balance and fell into his arms.
Clarence wrapped his hands around her waist. After a few seconds, he said, “Done hugging me?”
Stella reacted immediately. She hurriedly took a few steps back. However, the boat was in the water,
and it swayed quite easily. She couldn’t help fall on her back.
While Stella thought that she might fall into the water, Clarence grabbed her waist and pulled her back.
He said, “Why are you acting so fiercely? Move slowly.”
Inwardly, Stella couldn’t help blaming him.
Watching the scene, the boatman smiled and said, “Mister and Ma’am, the wave is a bit bigger today.
Be careful. Don’t fall into the water.”
Stella parted her lips and wanted to explain. The boat swayed again, making her closer to Clarence.
Finally, they managed to sit down. Stella immediately moved away from him, trying her best to distance
from him as far as possible.
Clarence cast her a glance and snorted.
The boat was rickety and rowed slowly on the river. It was quiet all around. Only the sound of wind
blowing the branches could be heard occasionally.
The river was quite clear. They could see groups of little fishes swimming.
Stella was lying on her side of the boat, her hands gently skimming through the water. The cold water
made her feel quite cozy.
When she was enjoying herself, suddenly she heard the man’s indifferent voice, “Stella Radomil, you
should know - I’m working, not dating you.”
She withdrew her gaze, looking quite confused, “Mr. Conrad, what do you mean?”
“Didn’t you deliberately put on makeup for dating me?”
Stella couldn’t find the right word to answer.
“Haha, well, Mr. Conrad, you are truly...”
Clarence turned to look at her, his voice becoming colder, “What?”
Stella looked solemn, “You are truly a detail-oriented man. How could you read my mind through such
a small detail?”
Clarence ignored her, looking in another direction.
After the interruption, Stella couldn’t enjoy skimming the water any longer. She sat upright on the seat.
The boat was rowed on the river in silence. Nobody talked.
Shortly after, Stella started yawning again. The warm sunshine fell on her as if it was hypnotizing her.
Under the sways of the boat, Stella finally fell asleep.
Her head tilted, leaning against the shoulder of the man next to her.
Clarence looked down at her expressionlessly.
The boatman whispered, “Excuse me, Mister. Are you and your wife traveling here?”
After a few seconds, Clarence hummed in a low voice.
“Which places of interest have you been so far?”
“We arrived here last night. We haven’t been any of them.”
The boatman said, “Then may I recommend a few to you? Those places were favorites ones of the
young couples.”
...
When Stella woke up, the boat was almost approaching the bank.
She stretched and was about to move her stiffened neck, but she found that she was leaning against
something.
Upon realizing it, Stella suddenly sat upright, but she twisted her neck carelessly. She let out a small
cry in pain.
The man’s snort sounded out beside her.
It sounded that he was laughing at her for going for wool and coming home shorn.
Stella raised her hand and rubbed her neck. She asked, “Mr. Conrad, why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Nobody could wake up one who pretends to sleep.”
Stella was speechless.
It seemed that the wretched man meant she pretended to fall asleep so that she could lean against
him.
Before Stella retorted, Clarence stood up.
The boat was pulled in.
He lifted his long leg and strode to the riverbank.
Clarence reached his hand to her. As if he wasn’t in the mood to talk to her, he just raised his chin,
hinting at her to get onto the bank.
Stella curled her lips, putting her hand in his palm gently.
As soon as she got off the boat, she immediately withdrew her hand.
Hence, he wouldn’t think she was taking his advantage on purpose.
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