Avoiding Gus, Debbie found a quiet corner and sat down, looking blankly into the distance. She was immersed in deep thoughts. 'What's Carlos doing right now? I've been away for a few days. Has he been missing me?'
Since she was on a trip far away from the city, Debbie had left her diamond ring behind.
"Debbie."
Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a voice again and she snapped back into reality.
Debbie turned to look at the person and gave him a friendly smile. "Hi, Gregory." Gregory had helped her several times in the past few days and she felt the need to be polite to him though she did want to stay alone and allow herself to indulge in Carlos' memories.
Gregory sat down next to Debbie. "Why are you sitting here alone? Are you feeling cold?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"No, I'm okay."
She thought about her quarrel with Carlos a few days ago, so she wasn't in the mood to talk much. Gregory was a man of few words, so he didn't know what to say next either. Awkward silence filled the air.
He unwittingly stole glances at Debbie, who had loneliness written all over her face. Finally, he broke the silence and asked, "Debbie, you look upset. What happened?"
"Oh...Um... It's nothing, really." Not knowing how to explain what had happened, Debbie gave him an embarrassed smile and then suggested quickly, "Let's go and find the others!" Being alone with someone who had nothing in common with her made Debbie feel uncomfortable.
Gregory stood still, watching his favorite girl walk away from him. He had a lot of questions for her, but they were all stuck in his throat.
He wanted to ask her about her relationship with Carlos. But he knew that he wasn't in a position to ask such a private question. Left with no choice, he hurried to catch up with her to find their other schoolmates.
On their way, they bumped into Gail, who was complaining to another girl about how dirty the village was. She was telling the girl that she was afraid of catching some infectious disease.
Debbie had been hearing Gail's constant complaint ever since the day they had arrived at Southon Village. Every time she felt like rambling, she would complain to the same girl. But in front of others, she would pretend to be tender and sweet.
And once again, Debbie got to witness Gail's instant change in character. A boy approached Gail and called her name while she was talking to the other girl. She instantly stopped wearing her long face. Forcing a tender smile, she turned around and said, "Hello, Tim. What's up?"
The boy named Tim Zhang sheepishly handed a hot-water bag to Gail and said, "Hi, Gail...Um... I filled this bag with hot water for you. Please use it and keep warm." His heart ached when he saw Gail's reddened face due to the cold.
Gail accepted his kindness with a sweet smile. Tilting her head down shyly, she took the hot-water bag from Tim Zhang. He jogged away with his face flushing red.
As soon as the boy was out of sight, Gail looked at the bag in her hands with contempt in her eyes. Debbie noticed it.
She wanted to reveal Gail's true face to everyone so badly. Yet, she held back her anger. There were times that she felt helpless. If she and Gail were to be really considered as enemies, then Debbie would have lost the game the moment they had been born.
Since Debbie was the elder cousin, she had to concede to Gail no matter what.
And taking into consideration her uncle and aunt, Debbie just couldn't get even with Gail, no matter how bad her behavior was. She sighed inwardly and then walked up to her. "Wow! It's so nice to be such a beauty. You even get hot-water bags from your dear classmates."
Gail snorted at Debbie's teasing. "Of course, I do. But what about you? Does a tomboy like you get anything at all from anyone? Boys never treat you well and now even Gus hates you to the bone."
As she was taunting Debbie, she caught a glimpse of Gregory tagging along with her. A pang of jealousy stung her heart. She wondered why there were so many men around a tomboy like Debbie. Did all of the men have such bad taste in women? Shifting her gaze from Gregory to Debbie, Gail mocked, "You usually have a stupid puppet in tow, and now there is a weak lamb following you around. Debbie, where did you find such men of low qualities?"
'A stupid puppet? Is she referring to Jared? Then the weak lamb must be... Gregory?' Debbie thought and looked at the emotionless Gregory for a moment.
A retort was on the tip of Debbie's tongue, but Gregory forestalled her. Without even sparing a glance at Gail, he said, "Being a tomboy means that the girl has a cute, honest and forthright personality. She is what she appears to be. And it's better to be a stupid puppet or a weak lamb than be a hypocritical bitch. Some people appear to be innocent and tender on the surface, but deep inside, they are dirty and vicious. I could never regard that sort of person as a human being."
Unlike the shy and quiet boy that Debbie was used to, Gregory was now provoking Gail aggressively. Even though he didn't spell out Gail's name, everyone knew clearly who the hypocritical bitch he was referring to.
His words irritated Gail and stunned Debbie. Debbie had thought that Gregory was like a cute, docile pup which would never bite anyone. But now, he wasn't just biting. He was viciously tearing someone apart. Debbie had never seen Gregory this way, and she was taken aback.
With her teeth clenched tight, and her face flushing red in anger, Gail pointed at Gregory with a trembling finger, unable to utter a single word. It took her a moment to find her voice again. "You...You! How dare you say that I'm not a human being!"
Gregory smirked. "Miss Gail Mu, I never said that I was talking about you. Don't get me wrong. Or do you actually think that you are one of those people I was talking about?"
"You... You..." Her voice trailed off.
Gail was seething in anger, while Gregory stayed calm. Seeing the exchange between them, Debbie burst into laughter. She walked closer to Gregory and whispered something in his ears, "Gregory, thank you for the compliment. But this girl is my cousin. Could you let her go, please?" Gregory was suddenly lost in a trace as he breathed in her scent and gaze at her delicate face. He couldn't say anything in return.
Hearing no response from him, Debbie misinterpreted his expression and thought that he was angry with her too. Embarrassed, she stepped back and stood at a distance from him.
Her gesture snapped Gregory back to his senses. Recalling what Debbie had asked, he said in a haste, "Rest assured, Debbie. I'm not petty enough to try and get even with a girl. I'm going back now."
He quickly turned around and ran into the courtyard of one of the villager's house.
Soon after Gregory left, Jared showed up and slowly walked towards her. With obvious worry in his eyes, he shouted, "Debbie, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you since noon. Why are you just standing here? Aren't you cold? There's a stove inside the house. Come and warm yourself up."
Debbie sniffled lightly. She felt touched by what all her friends did for her.
Gregory had defended her in front of Gail and now Jared was worried about her health. But somewhere in her heart, she felt like something was lacking. She wondered what it was.
But she soon realized what she had been missing.
When Debbie was closed enough to him, Jared whispered, "Hey, I got some interesting new for you. Mr. Huo had apparently arranged for someone to tell the village head to give you special care. Did you know about this? Okay, no need to answer that. I just saw a huge question mark pop up on ur face. You had no idea, did you? Your husband is really warm and caring." Jared was so envious of Debbie at that moment. She had received some electric appliances to keep her warm at night, but he had nothing. He only had a man to sleep together with in the same bed to keep warm, yet, the man wouldn't allow Jared to hug him.
Debbie blinked her eyes, unable to process the information. "Who told you this?" She had no idea at all. She couldn't believe that Carlos' influence could reach such a remote village.