Chapter 176: The Return
Three years later in July, the international airport of City B in Country H.
A silver Boeing 747 lands smoothly on the airport runway, and after a smooth taxi into the tarmac.
The hatch opens and a team of medical professionals, who have travelled to Africa to provide free medical treatment to the local population, descend the spiral staircase one by one.
Lindsey, wearing a white shirt and washed-out jeans, with short, sharply cut hair, walked leisurely with Edward at the end of the line. As they exit the cabin, they smile at each other as usual and walk down the gangway with their feet up.
Boarding the airport ferry, Lindsey looked out at the familiar foggy blue sky and sighed softly.
“It’s you who’s coming back, why are you upset again.” Edward’s voice was soft, with a vague hint of laughter. “I can go with you for another three years.”
Lindsey narrowed her eyes and gave him a nonchalant cross look without saying a word.
I don’t know who it was that was whispering in her ear every day that she wanted noodles, shabu-shabu, and roast duck.
Now that she’s finally back, she has the nerve to take a backhanded jab.
Edward was bored, silently rubbed his nose and smiled again, “What do you want to eat later?”
Lindsey looked at him with a grimace. “Why do you keep talking about food when you can’t even look at your fat, it’s all going sideways?”
Edward ducked his head in defiance and took a quick look at his bronzed skin, his eyes sulking. “Where have I grown horizontally, I’ve obviously developed abs.”
Lindsey was speechless. “You don’t call that abs, you call that a belly.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the medical team members on the same bus all burst out laughing and joking around.
Edward was completely defenseless by the crowd and had to throw up his hands and beg for mercy. “Well, I’ve got a belly on this one, and to make it thicker, I’ll treat everyone to shabu-shabu ”
Lindsey couldn’t help but laugh at the look of resignation on his face.
Once outside the terminal, Lindsey was in a trance for a moment, but quickly recovered and got into his car with Edward.
Edward leaned back in his seat, listening to his assistant’s report on recent developments, while quietly observing Lindsey’s expression.
The calmer she was, the more uncertain his mind became. Just as three years ago, she suddenly called him and simply said, “I’m leaving town.”
At first he thought her departure would be, at best, to find a nice place with a nice view and take a nice holiday. Instead, she signed up for a free medical volunteer programme organised by the International Red Cross and dove headlong into Africa.
In their haste to leave, they didn’t know that a month later, the film starring her would become the only film in history to be promoted without a female lead, but to break $2 billion at the box office.
This record has not been broken by a single film in three years. And her mysterious disappearance has made her the most topical star in the media circle of B City.
In the past, when an artist was banned, more or less photos would be circulated during the process to occasionally brush up their presence. But once Lindsey left, no one knew when she left, not to mention the photos, let alone where she had actually gone.
And of course, his presence on the scene adds to the mystery.
The Grant family’s eldest son was married to the daughter of The Palvin family when his ex-girlfriend abruptly eloped with her boss on the eve of the wedding. The gossip that had the media abuzz for so long back then had the world misunderstanding that Lindsey was really the woman for him.
In fact, he had been with her for three years and still hadn’t managed to win her heart.
After almost an hour’s drive, the car entered the city and went straight to the villa at Plum Court, where Lindsey got out of the car and went upstairs to the guest house.
Edward then got out of the car and arranged for the maid to help her take her luggage up and greeted his assistant as she sat down. “How’s it going, how’s the promotion of the new film going.”
“It’s going well, but since you’ve been gone, so many films are copying Lindsey and making the heroine disappear at every turn.” The assistant smiled and poured him a cup of tea, adding, “I’ve kept the news under wraps this time you guys are back, so I’ll wait until her charity fund is set up and the painting exhibition is held in a couple of days before announcing it.”
“Very well.” Edward smiled, his eyes moving in the direction of the stairwell, and asked casually, “How’s Bruce doing these days.”
“Back in the army and basically rarely seen. miss Aurora is now living in The Grant family’s old house, alone.” The assistant said, glancing in the direction of the stairs as well. “They haven’t had a wedding until now, and I’m told there’s no formalities.”
Edward narrowed his eyebrows, a look of intense confusion surfacing on his face. “Didn’t they already do it.”
“I don’t know. I heard Bruce went to Nine Lakes and then left The Palvin family behind and went straight back to the army.” The assistant told the truth. “That’s all I’ve been able to find out.”
For the past three years, Edward had deliberately refrained from asking about Bruce, in order to put Lindsey out of her misery, but once again, he had not expected anything.
After a few moments of contemplation, he asked his assistant to go back and he went back to his bedroom.
Lindsey went to her room, took a shower, went out past Edward’s room, found him asleep, shook her head, went downstairs and ordered the driver to arrange for a car and set off for Nine Lakes Hill.
Old Mr. Gregor had fallen ill and was in a bad way. If it wasn’t for Jimmy’s brother’s repeated calls, she might have been in Africa for a while.
When the car arrived at the bottom of the mountain, Lindsey underwent her usual identity check and went up a different road.
She glanced through the car window in the direction of Old Mr. Grant’s small building and sighed silently.
She had been calling Jack every month while she was away, fearing that Old Mr. Grant might have gotten angry.
He was in good health, but he was always nagging her about the distance she had travelled.
As she was lost in thought, the car pulled up to the door of the small building where Old Mr. Gregor lived and Lindsey got out and laughed when she saw Jimmy standing outside the door. “You don’t seem to be able to change that cowardly streak.”
“Don’t say that, Master Roy is here too, and knowing you’re back, he specifically asked me to come out and welcome you.” Jimmy was in a sweat. “Follow me.”
Lindsey’s face sank and she followed him into the room with a quickened pace.
Old Mr. Gregor’s ward was on the first floor and Lindsey saluted Master Roy as soon as she entered. “Greetings, Master.”
Master Roy turned his head and nodded at her with a smile. “I’m blind, otherwise there would be no need to bother you.”
” Blind?” Lindsey’s eyes welled up and she hurried over to him, crouching down to check his pulse.
In a few moments Lindsey withdrew her hand and stepped aside. “Whether you see him or not, your heart is clear.
Master Roy waved his hand and gestured for her to sit down. He briefly described Old Mr. Gregor’s condition and then ordered his apprentice to fetch silver needles.
When Lindsey saw that Old Mr. Gregor’s breath was weak, she didn’t dare to hesitate to follow his instructions and apply the needles one by one.
After applying the needles to several major points on his body, Lindsey sat down quietly and watched the movement of the end of the needles.
Jimmy watched from the sidelines, his eyes blinking, once again admiring Lindsey, but not understanding what Lindsey meant by what she had just said to Master Roy.
Once she had been gone for three years, her whole aura had changed and become somewhat stern.
The Lindsey of old was mischievous and quick-witted, but her gaze was clear and lucid. Today, she felt a little strange.
After about an hour or so, Lindsey began to start the needles, followed by leaving a prescription for Jimmy, as dictated by Master Roy, “Take the medicine and decoction as prescribed, no need for long stitches for the next two days, you can just have Old Mr. Gregor’s health practitioner place the needles.”
“Good.” Jimmy took over the prescriptions and, along with the guard, escorted Lindsey and Master Roy out.
Once outside, Lindsey waved her hand at Jimmy and assisted Master Roy to his car. “Lindsey will not see Master off, but will visit the temple again some day.”
“As fate would have it, you Lord take care.” The Master pronounced a Buddhist verse and waved his hand to signal the driver to drive.
Lindsey rubbed the corner of her forehead and subconsciously looked towards the small building where Old Mr. Grant lived.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
Was the Master talking about her and Bruce?
Tired of getting back into the car, Lindsey closed her eyes and told the driver to go back to the Mayfair apartment.
After waking up from jet lag, it was the next morning and Lindsey woke up to see that Edward was still up, so she went downstairs to practice her boxing.
Edward slept until almost 8am, got up and went to wash up, then knocked on Lindsey’s door as a matter of habit.
After looking around downstairs, he saw Lindsey practising boxing in the courtyard and was relieved to walk over to her with a gentle smile on his lips. “You haven’t had breakfast yet, where did you get all that strength.”
Edward looked at her slim back with some concern.
Lindsey went back upstairs, and the moment the door to her room closed, a hard-to-hide crack appeared vaguely in her always calm and bland expression.
There was not a moment when she did not think of him, knowing that he was safe and sound and that Aurora had moved into the Grant Residence.
She was no longer the young lady of The Grant family, and Bruce and she were not from the same world, so it was good that it had come to this, wasn’t it?
He had been married for three years, and even though his love for her was still intact, so what?
If she hadn’t left three years ago, she might have done so.
There is a custom in the family circles in B. Whenever you get married, you have to go to the tailor’s shop to get a new dress made, otherwise it’s not a marriage.
Bruce went, and the person he went with to have his clothes made was Aurora.