If he had stopped his father that day, would he not have died, and his mother would not have cried tears of sorrow?
Now, encountering Nora, Howard has rediscovered a hint of the feelings he had back then. This long-lost warmth made him ponder for the first time what the meaning of his life was. Was it for money? Or was it for his godfather’s continuous killings…
He actually hated killing. At the moment when blood splattered on his hands, he felt so dirty.
Yet, he still fantasized about having a piece of pure and flawless winter snow. Regardless, he had to try. Even if the outcome led to his demise, it would be worth it!
Now, agreeing to find medicine for this woman could be considered as his attempt to change himself.
On the other side, Nora had been waiting at the door for Howard for a long time without seeing him come out. Just when she was about to lose patience, the man appeared with a delicate bamboo basket slung over his arm.
“Sorry, Nora, did I keep you waiting for long?” As he spoke, he put the straw hat he was holding on her head, and the large brim instantly covered half of her face.
“Um.” She felt uncomfortable and wanted to take it off but was stopped by Howard holding her hand.
“Be obedient, wear it. The sun in the mountains is strong, your skin is too delicate, you’ll get sunburnt in no time.” He, being a man, didn’t mind, but if his wife’s delicate skin got sunburnt, he would feel distressed.
Hearing this, Nora had no choice but to obediently wear the straw hat and reached out to hold his arm.
“Howard, look at the little lamb.” She was urging him to walk faster to see the sheep.
Howard felt she was just like a child, a very curious child. Just because he had mentioned last time that the mother sheep was about to give birth to a lamb, she was eager to go and see them every day. But how could it happen so quickly?
“Alright, let’s go.” The sheep were raised on the mountain. This mountain was all under the jurisdiction of the village chief, and wire nets were set up at the foot of the mountain. Apart from raising black mountain goats on the mountain on weekdays, it was more important to prevent those captured people from escaping.
The intelligent security system was installed on the wire net, which would sound an alarm as soon as any living creature approached. When the “militia” heard the alarm, they would immediately grab their weapons and chase after them.
By the way, Camren was the current captain of the “militia.”
Howard used to be one of them. The village chief even wanted Kiara to marry him and let him take up the position of captain first. When he got old and retired, he would hand over the position of village chief to Howard. However, Kiara didn’t like him and would rather let Camren be the captain than choose him.
Howard was young and proud, so he simply quit the “militia.”
Now, thinking about it, it’s good that he quit. If he had taken up that position, where would he find the time to accompany Nora to play on the mountain during the day?
After all, Nora grew up in a big city. Even though her family declined later, Sean took care of her. She had never walked such steep mountain roads before. She was already panting for breath before she climbed halfway up the mountain and refused to walk any further.
“Tired. I wanna rest, Howard, I’m tired.” She hadn’t walked much, but she wanted to climb the mountain to see the lambs.
Howard simply handed her the bamboo basket in his hand and took the initiative to bend down in front of her, patting her shoulder and saying, “Come on, I’ll carry you.”
“Hehe, okay… Howard, carry me.” Initially somewhat unhappy, she instantly smiled and jumped onto his back, holding onto the man’s neck tightly with her small hands.
She’s really light, Howard thought.
And it seemed like it was the first time Nora had been carried like this. She was very excited and even started singing along the way.
Her voice was very pleasant, but it was a nursery rhyme. Only children would sing such songs.
“I can sing too, Nora, do you want to listen?” “Yes!” Howard’s eyes lit up. “If you want to listen, then give me a kiss, and I’ll sing for you.”
“It’s my first time singing a love song to someone else.” She blushed shyly.
There’s a tradition in this village. On the third day of the third month, all the young men and women in the village dress up and attend an event. They stand separately on each side of the temple ditch, attracting the attention of their desired partners by singing songs. The women respond by singing back. If the young man wins, he can immediately hold the girl’s hand and dance.
Howard was already past the age of marriage, but he had never attended this event before. The previous song queen was Kiara, and the song king was was a village doctor.
Growing up in such an environment, Howard naturally learned a couple of lines.
Nora didn’t think too much about it. In her mind, if she sang to Howard, he should sing back to her.
“Why do you want me to kiss you?”
“I just sang for you, and you didn’t kiss me.”
Howard almost laughed. As long as she was willing, it didn’t matter how many kisses.
“Who said that? Haven’t I kissed you at home?”
Nora tilted her head for a moment, then nodded.
“It seems like that’s true. Well then… I’ll kiss you, and Howard, sing me a song.”
But her posture couldn’t reach Howard’s mouth, so she could only lower her head and kiss his cheek.
The warm sensation made Howard happy. Children are easily deceived.
“I kissed you, Howard… Sing.”
“Okay.”
After thinking for a while, Howard chose the classic song.
His voice was deep and magnetic, but this song should be sung by a soprano. Coming out of Howard’s mouth, it sounded a bit off-key, lacking the flowing beauty of emotion, instead it was somewhat-
Comical!
Howard just went through it cleanly with his eyes shut.
Nora was initially listening seriously, but she kept covering her mouth to stifle her laughter.
It’s really embarrassing…
The first time in his life singing a love song to the girl he loved, and she was just laughing the whole time.
Of course, he knew he didn’t sing well. Howard’s ears turned red, and he just shut up.
He swore-he would never sing again!
“Howard, it sounds nice.”
“You’re lying again. If it’s nice, why were you laughing the whole time? Is it really that bad?”
Before Nora could respond, a cold and sarcastic laugh came from behind them.
“Well said, at least you have some self-awareness.”
They saw Kiara, dressed in a dark blue wide-sleeved jacket, matching a floral skirt of the same color, walking proudly towards them.
When Kiara’s gaze landed on Nora’s face, she first felt jealous, then disdainfully curled her lips.
“Howard, even if I don’t want you, you don’t have to find a fool to be your wife. You really have no taste.”