After she hung up the call, another notification for a new message came in. It was Henry.
He wanted her to turn on real-time location so that he could see where he was. He did not want her to run around, and he might not have a way to locate her. He had always been that caring toward her; sometimes, it was as if she was his daughter. Sometimes, Elena even wondered about the nature of their relationship.
He had fallen out of favor with the man he called his brother for her, and he had suffered a beating from Michael for her as well. However, he had never acted inappropriately with her or pressured her into anything she did not want.
When she saw both of their locations on the map, she felt as if he had searched for her anxiously. Elena’s lips curved into a smile. Life might have handed her a few curveballs, but it was never a dead end. She put her phone away and was about to get out of that nasty place.
Suddenly she heard someone called out anxiously from the intersection not far ahead.
“Old Master! Old Master!”
It looked as though someone had fallen onto the ground, and a crowd had surrounded that person. Some of them stood guard, while some of them supported him. They looked flustered as if they had no idea what to do next. The man on the ground looked like an old man.
Elena’s heart tightened as she sped toward the scene. She went a little too fast, and the pain on her legs caused her to break out in a cold sweat.
She bit her lips to suppress the pain and staggered forward. Before she could get near to the old man, two men in black suits blocked her path.
“Stop! You’re not allowed to walk through here!”
“What’s the matter with the elderly man?” Elena’s eyes looked past them and landed on the fallen old man.
Through the weak lighting, she could see that the old man’s face was flushed, his eyes rolled backward, and he clearly had difficulty with his breathing!
“Put him down quickly!” Elena wanted to get to him.
The two men in black stood firmly in her way. “And we told you to go through another way!”
“He couldn’t breathe. Something is caught in his throat. Put him down!”
“You…”
“Let her come through!” The man beside the old man glanced at them, and anxiously asked, “Are you a doctor?”
“No, I’m not.” Elena walked toward them, but her words crushed their hopes.
Elena had no intention to argue with them. She said, “Don’t support him up like that. Let him sit up!”
The two men who held the old man exchanged looks with each other; they wondered if they should listen to her. However, the doctor had not arrived yet, and they had no other solution.
Elena immediately urged them, “I have learned first aid. Hurry up! Help him sit up!”
No one dared to say anything more. The two men lifted the old man and placed him down in a sitting position on the ground. Elena knelt behind the old man. She had one leg bent against the old man’s back, and she hugged the old man’s chest from behind, her hands slid down to his abdomen. She took a deep breath and pressed her hands downward!
The old man almost fainted, but the pressure seemed to have no effect at all. The old man’s face was still red, and it seemed like it had gotten redder as minutes ticked by. The man next to Elena was about to push her away, but she was not discouraged. She held her hand down on the old man’s abdomen and applied more pressure. A small thing flew out of the old man’s mouth with a loud puff, and it quickly went out of sight.
“What’s going on?” Besides the young man beside the old man, no one else could see what it was!
The old man’s complexion gradually improved after the thing flew out of his mouth. The old man gasped for breath. He seemed to be able to breathe again! He had recovered!
“Old Master…” Several bodyguards and housekeepers gathered around him.
Elena waved her hand. “Give way. Let him get some fresh air.”
The bodyguards retreated immediately; they feared that they would steal the oxygen from their master. Uncle Ding looked at the young man next to the old man. “Young Master Allen…”
“… peanuts.” Joseph Garcia felt inexplicably abashed.
What the heck had happened? A tiny peanut had caused everyone to be so fidgety. The old man was usually quite tough, so when he was in distress, everyone thought that he was ill.
Finally, Elena let go of the old man, stepped aside, and raised the back of her hand to wipe her forehead. She was relieved to see that the old man was alright. She smiled and said, “Grandfather, don’t be so greedy with such food in the future. It will cause indigestion.”
The old man lifted his eyes to look at her. Even though he had gotten better, he was still unable to speak. He wondered why the girl in front of him seemed so familiar?
He moved his fingers as he tried to raise his hand, but his grandson stopped him. “Don’t move, Grandfather. Wait until you’re better.”
The old man was embarrassed that a little peanut had caused such ruckus, so he obeyed his grandson’s instructions.
Elena looked at the young man next to the old man and smiled. “He should be fine. I should go.”
“Hold on.”
The young man asked her to wait. The butler turned to look at Elena and said with a smile, “Young Miss, you have saved our old master. We have not thanked you yet.”
“It’s alright. It’s enough that you have said thank you.”
Elena was about to turn around and leave, but the young man said, “Since you have saved my grandfather, I must, at least, do something for you.”
“It seems like you haven’t thanked me yet.” Elena’s words caught him by surprise.
The young man calmed down before he said, “Thank you, but I still want to…”
“Forget it, how do you want to thank me? Give me money?” She did not intend to hold herself aloof; she only wanted to avoid trouble. Henry was about to arrive, so she had to return to the hotel to wait for him.
“If you think that your grandfather’s life can be measured with money, then you can give me a sum of money. The amount depends on how much you think your grandfather is worth.
“If you think that grandfather is more important than money, then there is no need to think about repaying me with such a conventional method.”
Even though the girl was straightforward and her words might hurt the other’s feelings, she was absolutely right.
Elena smiled and said, “I have accepted your gratitude. I’ll go now.”
Then, she left them without any of her personal information. Everyone was bewildered at her action.
“Doesn’t she know who she had saved?” the housekeeper muttered.
Perhaps, she really had no idea. Otherwise, she would not have left in such a hurry. A monetary reward might seem tacky, but no one would refuse the money. Furthermore, if the young master decided to reward someone, he would pay them handsomely. The reward would usually be enough to sustain an average family for a few lifetimes.
“Grandfather, how are you?” After Elena had walked away, Joseph focused his attention on the old man.
“It’s okay; I’m okay. It is just a peanut. Can it kill me?”
Old Master Garcia sighed in relief. When he stood up, he had regained his usual spry and tough facade. Was he not embarrassed at what he had said just then? Who had just been nearly killed by a small peanut?