The first and second prizes for the photo contest were one hundred thousand and fifty thousand respectively. Erica won both for her entries, so the money was immediately transferred to her bank account. The certificates were also sent to the ZL Group. Matthew received them, but he couldn't celebrate her victory with her.
It had been one month and ten days since Erica left. Chantel received a call from Gifford. Before she could get the chance to greet him, he immediately asked, "You were with Rika for two days before she went to Cass, right?"
"Yes. Why?" she answered. Her voice was a little shaky as if afraid of something.
"Did she tell you anything about her plans, like where she wanted to go?" he asked again.
She heaved a sigh of relief first before she answered calmly, "No, she didn't." It was true. She knew that Erica was going to run away from home, but the latter didn't tell her exactly where she was going.
"Really?" He sounded unconvinced. If only he wasn't busy today, he would go back home to ask Chantel in person.
"Yes, really."
There was a moment of silence from the other end of the line before he spoke again. "If she contacts you, let me know immediately."
"Okay." But Erica had not contacted her yet since she left.
Then Gifford hung up the phone.
Chantel was in a daze as she stared at her phone. All of a sudden, her heart felt empty. It was as if she lost something important.
Meanwhile, in the slum located in the opposite direction to Cass, a skinny woman in plain clothes carried a bowl of freshly-cooked noodles into a shabby small room. She then said to the other woman, "Erma, I bought eggs and tomatoes to make these noodles. Eat them while they are still hot."
Erma was currently six months pregnant, but her belly was so big that some people thought she was about to give birth.
She was Erica. When she came to this slum, she decided to change her name into Erma Huo so people wouldn't recognize her. Without minding the shabby surroundings, she took the bowl of noodles and wolfed them down.
The woman who made the noodles for her was Tessie. Looking at her dirty face with a smile, she asked, "Are you leaving tonight?"
Erica stopped eating and nodded. "Yes. And you will go with me," she answered.
Tessie was stunned. "But... Mr. Huo won't allow me to go anywhere." Deep in her heart, she was hoping that Matthew would allow her to go back to Y City after she had been behaving well.
"Don't worry about it. As long as you help me now, I will personally take you back to Y City someday. Matthew won't mind it."
As the saying went, "The most dangerous place is the safest place." No one would ever think, especially Matthew, that Erica would come to this barren place to ask for Tessie's help.
But actually, Erica couldn't stand this place anymore. She couldn't even buy some fresh vegetables here. If she continued to live a life like this, the babies in her belly would become malnourished. So before that happened, she had to leave as soon as possible.
"Are you really going to help me if Mr. Huo blames me?" Tessie asked carefully.
"Yes, I will." Since Erica had lived with Tessie for quite a while now, she had seen the changes in her. Perhaps she had learned her lessons, so she had changed for the better.
"Great! Thank you."
That midnight, the two of them sneaked out of the slum and headed south.
At the Li family's house in A Country, Chantel had already given birth to a bouncing baby boy.
But the baby was already one month old when Blair remembered to inform Gifford about it.
She immediately called him to share the good news. "Gifford, your wife has already given birth to an eight-kilogram baby boy. When are you coming back home?"
Perplexity was written all over Gifford's face when he heard Blair's words. He was in a daze. It took a long while before he finally came back to his senses. "Whose wife?" he asked.
"Your wife, of course! Didn't you know that Chantel was pregnant?" Blair sensed something odd. 'Did Chantel not tell Gifford that she was pregnant?' she wondered.
She was right. Gifford had never known that his wife was pregnant. He was dumbstruck with the news that he now had a son. He hadn't seen Chantel in the past few months. When he called her before, she also didn't mention that she was pregnant. How could she give birth all of a sudden? An eight-kilogram baby boy? He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Did he get her pregnant when she set him up?
That was the only possibility he could think of. He rubbed his forehead and complained, "Why hadn't anyone told me that she was pregnant?"
Instead of answering her question, Blair chuckled and said, "You didn't even know that your wife was pregnant. No wonder you never cared for her since you got married.
But why are you blaming us now? Have you even asked her before?" He couldn't counter because his mother was right again. He never cared to ask how Chantel was during the past months that he wasn't able to come home.
One week later, Gifford went back home to see his son.
Finally, he was able to hold the chubby baby boy in the crib. He looked around but wasn't able to see Chantel there.
He had no idea that after giving birth, Chantel had signed a contract with Global Entertainment and was currently on training.
She named their son Hugo Li.
Blair suddenly came to the room with Gifford's baby picture. She put it beside Hugo Li's face and turned to him. "Gifford, look! He looks exactly like you. He's undeniably your son. People always say that sons look like their mothers. But why does Hugo look like you? His skin is dark like yours too."
Holding his son in his arms, he sighed helplessly. "Mom, I used to have a fair skin when I was a boy. I only got tanned because I've spent too much time under the sun during my training."
Blair thought for a while and agreed. She then took Hugo Li from his arms and said happily, "Finally, I am a grandmother now. I have waited for so long!"
She felt like this was the happiest moment of her life. After longing for a grandchild for a long time, finally, Gifford and Chantel granted her wish.
Looking around again, Gifford asked curiously, "Mom, where is she?"
Blair knew who he was referring to, so she answered casually, "She signed a contract with an entertainment company. She will be in closed training for six months."
"What? She will be in closed training for half a year? Which company is it?" He found it quite unusual.
"I don't know the name of the company. But I know that it's under ZL Group, so we have nothing to worry about."
He turned to look at Hugo Li, who already closed his eyes and asked again, "Mom, did Rika contact you?"
At the mention of Erica, the smile on Blair's face vanished in an instant. She sighed and said, "Rika is giving birth two months from now, right?"
Erica was about to give birth soon, but they still hadn't heard anything from her.
Anger surged in Gifford's heart as he thought inwardly, 'Rika is too thoughtless. If she doesn't want to tell us where she is, she should have at least called Mom and Dad from time to time to tell them she is alright.
But anyway, never mind. She is old enough to know the right thing to do. Instead of thinking about her, I better focus my attention on my son.' Finally, it dawned on him that he was now a father.
The next day, Gifford brought his son to his work. When they came back, the baby boy's chubby face was full of saliva, and his pockets were full of red envelopes.
Two days later, he finally got the address where Chantel was training. He went to see her, but he was stopped by the security guard at the entrance. He was told that outsiders were not allowed to enter the building.
He didn't force the security to let him in. Instead, he stayed at the entrance, smoked two sticks of cigarettes, and left.
Three years had passed by so quickly.
The results of the Twentieth International Photography Competition were already announced. A participant named EM won both the first and the second prizes.
The photo that won the first prize was called "Childhood in Tow Village." In the picture was a calm river surrounded by green trees and plants. There was a swing in one of the trees, and four boys were seated, showing only their backs.
The second prize was called "A Nanny in Tow Village." It was a black and white picture that emphasized the sweat and wrinkles on an old lady's smiling face. She was holding a tray in her hands, and there was a very eye-catching ancient porcelain bottle on it.