No one was in the mood any longer.
Marshall asked the villagers to go back home first, and those who were about to leave with him to brief
their families.
It was when the people in the courtyard left that Katherine eased off. She let out a sigh of relief and felt
a dull pain in her womb. The baby must be affected by her mood, so she took a seat immediately.
Marshall walked up to Katherine and took her in his arms, whispering, "Don’t worry. I’m here. You’ll be
alright."
Katherine didn’t push Marshall away but grabbed his clothes and said through clenched teeth, "How
did he get to be such a man?"
Katherine was disappointed that such a man should be her father. Her grandfather had used to be a
soldier. He was a man of integrity and honor, even when life was difficult. Besides, she had never hurt
anyone and always been kind to others, but why would her grandfather have such a son and she such
a father?
Marshall didn’t know how to comfort Katherine, but held her in his arms. After a while, he carried her
into the room.
Katherine curled up in bed, being a pitiful sight, while Marshall sat by her side for a while. He didn’t left
the room until she seemed to be asleep. Then he thought for a while in the courtyard before walking
outside.
There were only dozens of households in the village, and one could easily see the end of the village
when he looked straight.
Since Marshall just snapped his finger, Reuben must have gone out of the village to see a doctor, or to
somebody in the village for help. Marshall had no idea whether there was a clinic in the village, so he
went to the end of the village first to check the road leading to the outside world. It was a straight road,
and Reuben was nowhere to be seen, so Marshall turned around and passed from house to house.
Finally, he saw Reuben outside a house at the south of the village.
It was quite noisy. It turned out that all of the villagers who had been at Katherine’s were here, as if they
had expected that Reuben would come. They were shouting and yelling, saying that Ted shouldn’t treat
Reuben because he did all this to himself, and that it would have been better if all his ten fingers were
snapped.
Reuben, who was now a totally different person, exchanged words with the other villagers. Although he
was alone, he shouted back at the dozen villagers with rage.
Sitting on the wooden bench below the window, Ted, an elderly man, was puffing on his pipe, saying
nothing.
Reuben shouted abuse for a while before he got tired and turned to Ted. "Ted, check my finger. I can’t
feel it now. I think it needs to be dressed, doesn’t it?"
Ted took a puff and started to tell the story on his own. "About ten years ago, it was a bad year and we
had a poor harvest. There was scarcely enough food for ourselves, so we had nothing to sell. But your
dad wanted to send Katherine to school. He had no choice but to go into the mountain, trying to get
some mountain products to sell. Even though it was raining, he went regardless. It was so slippery that
he fell down the mountain accidentally and thus broke his legs. Did you know how badly he hurt? It was
much worse than your finger."
Ted took another puff and went on, "I told your dad that he had to go to the hospital because my herbs
were no cure for his injuries, and that he could get handicapped, but your dad wouldn’t go. He applied
herbal medicine to his legs for over a month, and from then on, he became lame."
Some of the villagers found the story so sad and began to swear at Reuben, while Reuben held his
finger and remained silent.
Ted glanced up at Reuben and continued, "It’s just a slight injury, and you should have the audacity to
come to me for help. Reuben, don’t blame me for being ruthless, but if I treat you, I’d be too ashamed
to face your dad when I die. You bastard don’t deserve my herbs."
Marshall, who was standing at the door, took a deep breath and left.
Before long, Reuben left Ted’s house because he didn’t want to delay the treatment. Now that the
villagers didn’t care about him, he left the village immediately for some other clinic out of the village.
But just as he reached the entrance of the village, he saw a man standing under the tree not far away
from him.
Reuben stared at Marshall for some time before he walked up to him. "Why are you here, Marshall?"
Marshall straightened himself up and looked Reuben up and down, asking, "Your youngest son must
be in junior high school now, isn’t he?"
Shocked, Reuben widened his eyes.
Marshall gave a snort. "It has been almost 20 years since you left the village, but you haven’t gone far
either. Your ex-wife and you are poorly educated, so you two had hung about outside for over a year
before you came back, but you didn’t come back to the village, am I right?"
Reuben compressed his lips, saying nothing.
Marshall continued, "You two got a divorce two years after you left the village. It’s said that you were
the one who had an affair first."
Reuben’s face darkened as Marshall spoke. The latter gave a smile. "Do you want me to go on?
Reuben, I know your address, your current wife’s information, as well as the school your boy is in."
Reuben stared at Marshall and wondered, "How, how do you know all this?"
Marshall smiled and replied, "I can find out anything I want to know. I also have the information on your
creditors. I know where they live now. I can call them whenever I want. Reuben, you’ve hidden yourself
for almost 20 years. Don’t you want to know how your creditors would react when they know you
haven’t gone far and to be more exact, you’ve been just under their noses?"
Reuben turned pale. "You can’t do this to me. I’m your father-in-law. I’m Katherine’s father."
Marshall clicked his tongue in disdain. "If you weren’t her father, you’d lose more than your finger."
Marshall turned away and continued, "But I’ll give you a chance. Leave Katherine alone, and I’ll just
pretend I know nothing about you. If you show up again, I promise I’ll tell your story to everyone. In that
case, you’ll never find a place to stay, no matter where you go."
Reuben stared at Marshall’s back for a long while before he took some deep breaths. He remained
quiet, but Marshall knew what his answer was, walking into the village. "Remember, don’t show up in
front of Katherine again. When you see her, avoid her."
Standing at the entrance of the village, Reuben watched Marshall walking away. He spat and cursed
when Marshall could no longer be seen. He had expected that he could benefit from Katherine since
she married a rich man, but it turned out that the rich were so stingy, even to their relatives.
After some time, Reuben took out his phone and made a call. Before long, the call was answered and
an impatient voice came from the other end of the line. "Why are you calling!"
Reuben also replied with an impatient tone, "I wouldn’t have called you if I had nothing to tell you. I just
want to say that I can do nothing about Katherine. I won’t talk to her anymore. I’ll leave the rest to you.
Besides, don’t contact me again."
"You won’t talk to her anymore? What happened? Was Katherine mean to you?"
'She was more than mean.' Reuben thought to himself and replied, "Stop asking questions. I’m just
filling you in. That’s it. I’m out of this."
After that, Reuben hung up and left the village, cursing.
Reuben also replied with an impatient tone, "| wouldn't have called you if | had nothing to tell you. | just
want to say that | can do nothing about Katherine. | won't talk to her anymore. I'll leave the rest to you.
Besides, don't contact me again."
"You won't talk to her anymore? What happened? Was Katherine mean to you?"
‘She was more than mean.’ Reuben thought to himself and replied, "Stop asking questions. I’m just
filling you in. That's it. I’m out of this."
After that, Reuben hung up and left the village, cursing.
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