And so it began; Erica began to fold stars every moment of the day she got.
Except for when she was in class, she would always carry those plastic straws with her and fold stars whenever she got the chance.
After folding about 200 stars, her fingers began to turn red due to the effort. By the time Matthew noticed her red fingers, Erica had already made 519 pieces.
He took her hands into his own and looked at her fingers carefully. Without hesitation, he took away all the remaining plastic tubes from her. "That's enough. You don't need to fold the rest," he said.
"But I've already made more than 500 of them. I am at 519 now. If I don't complete the set, my efforts will be wasted."
Hearing that, Matthew took two plastic tubes and handed them to her. "Alright. Then you can fold only two more. But that's it!"
"Why two?"
"Then they'll be 521."
'521? The number means "I love you." Is he finally going to confess his love to his goddess?' she thought.
Anyway, whatever was going on had nothing to do with her. He was just going to give them to his goddess, and most likely, that mysterious woman was Phoebe. All Erica needed to do was finish her task.
To be more considerate, before handing over the stars to him, Erica even went out and bought a glass jar. She put all the folded stars into it, and they looked really beautiful.
Satisfied, she ran to the study to find Matthew with the glass jar in her hands.
She could see very clearly that Matthew was very satisfied with the finished work. There was even a trace of smile in his eyes.
"Leave it here. You can go get some rest now."
'He didn't even thank me! He just said go away?' Erica pouted her lips.
After the door of the study was finally closed behind her, Matthew looked at the glass jar Erica had brought with tenderness in his eyes. He opened the safe and carefully put it in.
But instead of locking the safe after it, he took out a photo from it. It was a photo of a girl with her hair tied in a ponytail; her face was a bit baby fat and she appeared to be a teenager. In this particular photo, she could be seen standing in the sun with her hands on her hips and laughing wildly at the sky.
The bright and lovely smile went straight into his heart.
At that moment, the door of the study, was suddenly opened once again. A little head stuck out from the crack. "Hey, I have something else to ask you," Erica called out with a mischievous smile.
Matthew calmly covered the photo with his big palm and indifferently said, "Fire away!"
"Didn't you say you know how to make macarons? If you are free tomorrow, could you make some macarons for me? I mean I did fold so many stars for you!" She raised her still red hands. She wanted to eat a dessert cooked by him.
The man's eyes were full of incomprehensible emotions in response, and he merely snorted, "You're gonna bargain with me for your own mistakes?"
Erica was always so confident of herself. Matthew wondered what had made her think he would agree as soon as she said it.
"What? So there's no room for discussion?"
"No!"
Erica walked in, fully raised her red fingers and looked at the man pitifully. "Forget it. I'll just go to the manor and ask your dad's chef to cook them for me." She looked so pitiful and aggrieved while saying this. Her voice seemed soft, and it would have easily made people feel sorry for her.
Matthew's face darkened a bit. "There's no one in the manor these days." Carlos and Debbie had gone on a trip again; Evelyn and Sheffield were living in a nearby villa; Terilynn and Joshua were at their own home.
Erica sighed, "Well. Looks like I'll have to go out and buy some macarons myself from some random dessert shop!" Why was it so hard for her to ask Matthew for something?
Anyway, she put down her hands, turned around and slowly walked towards the door with slumped shoulders. She looked pitiful and dejected in her retreat.
"Stop!" the man said abruptly.
Unknown to him, Erica opened her mouth wide and laughed silently instead of turning. She didn't dare to look back at the moment, fearing that her facial expressions would betray her. She tried her best to control her emotions and make her voice sound normal. "Anything else?"
"Don't randomly eat anything from outside." His voice was a little stiff.
"Why do you have to make things so hard for me? You don't cook for me and you also don't allow me to eat anything outside. Do you think everyone can survive without snacks like you? Maybe some people can, but not me!" When Erica turned around, her expressions had returned back to normal.
Rubbing his eyebrows, Matthew finally agreed, "I'll come back early tomorrow night." He couldn't do anything else!
"Really? Hahaha!" Erica finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into laughter.
Matthew's face darkened when he saw her reaction. "What are you laughing at?" he demanded.
"You're so gullible! I mean I'm really happy. I'm laughing because you're kind and nice to your wife!" Erica kept on laughing wildly in her heart, unable to close her lips.
Matthew rolled his eyes at her. Could he believe her words? This woman was impossible! But he didn't want to argue with her. "Just go and get some rest. It's too late now. Don't watch a movie tonight!"
Erica immediately stood up and saluted him. "Yes, Mr. Huo!" He was a bit amused by her look.
When Matthew finally came back to his room from the study, Erica had already fallen asleep.
She was sprawled out slap-bang in the middle of the bed, and there was a one-meter-tall Wuba doll clutched into her arms.
Matthew didn't want to wake up the sleeping girl, but if he didn't move her, he would have to sleep on the edge of the bed.
Therefore, he gently picked her up and moved her to one side.
Unexpectedly, Erica wrapped her arms around his neck and said in her sleep, "Don't touch me. I want to sleep with Matthew in my arms!"
He smiled and asked, "Tell me who you want to hug?" His voice sounded unusually gentle in the dark night.
Erica yawned and whispered a name. "Matthew..."
Matthew lay down on the bed, held her closer and let her head rest on his arm. He then lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "Good night."
Erica turned over and pulled him into her arms tightly as if he were the Wuba doll. Then she continued to sleep soundly.
In A Country
In a remote village, a large number of criminals had just been taken away. At the crime scene, only a group of policemen and a little girl were left at the spot. The entire place was in a mess.
"Chief, what about her?" one of the uniformed officers pointed at the girl who was sitting on the stone bench by the side and asked.
Gifford glanced at the girl. She seemed to be in her early twenties. Her clothes were torn and disheveled after being held hostage by the gangsters for three days.
Her face was covered with mud, and her face could not be seen clearly, but the stubbornness in her clean and clear eyes would have reminded anyone of Erica, if they knew the latter.
Gifford stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, exhaled the last smoke and asked the girl, "What's your name?"
The girl was drawing circles on the ground with a branch. Hearing his question, she looked up at him and said, "Chantel Ye."
"How old are you?"
Chantel Ye frowned slightly, but still answered, "20."
Gifford noticed her impatience. He smirked. She looked exactly like his little sister. "Where is your family?"
Thanks to Erica, he had developed quite an understanding of dealing with little girls. In his opinion, there was no other girl in the world more difficult to deal with than Erica.
This time, after a pause, she replied expressionlessly, "Dead."
"Dead? All of them?"
"Yes."
After a short silence, Gifford asked, "What are you going to do now?"
Staring at the green military uniform he was wearing, Chantel Ye said softly, "Bury my grandfather first; then feed his chickens at home."
"Your grandpa just died?"
"Two days ago."
"Are you going to feed the chickens for the rest of your life?"