Dear Sweetheart

Chapter 83

Chapter 83 Uncle Curtis Calls Her Darling

Rayna learned from Curtis that Gabriel was the one who discovered the plant after obtaining a piece of paper with the location from a local citizen in Tyrandas by a stroke of luck.

When he had derived its value, he immediately reported it to Curtis. Alas, the location indicated on the paper was written in Uronian, which was close to extinction. Therefore, they expended tremendous effort to find someone who could read the language.

Nevertheless, she merely felt like snickering at all that.

Well, but of course, they’ve expended much effort. After all, I’ve had a taste of Uncle Curtis’ interlocked stratagems!

As the sky outside the window gradually darkened, the woman with the headscarf came in again and offered to bring them out for dinner. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

Unable to turn her down, Rayna left the house with Curtis.

Upon arriving at the courtyard, she found that it was exceedingly bright. It turned out that the huge rocks placed around the place had been coated with a layer of vegetable dye. At night, they were just like the moon.

Several blankets made of animal fur were laid out in the open space, with small tables on top of them. The men were sitting together and chatting, whereas the children sat at a table by themselves. Meanwhile, the women were preparing food.

The atmosphere was incredibly merry, and happiness was written on the face of every single individual.

“It’s really nice here.” Rayna could not help feeling envious of the scene before her that looked like a perfect picture, serene and heartwarming. Not only does one age slower here, but there’s also nothing to worry about.

“In that case, stay for a few more days,” the woman named Aisha urged smilingly.

She then led Rayna and Curtis over to a group of people. “Mr. Yildiz, this is Sumeyye and her husband, Zahar. They were out to do business when they accidentally got lost.”

The man she spoke to was the village chief, Murat Yildiz. He appeared to be about thirty years old with some wrinkles around his eyes, young and robust. If Rayna had not known about the plant, she would have mistaken him for a man in his prime.

Ever since she came out, she had noticed that there were basically no elderly people in the village.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Yildiz. Thank you for taking us in. We’re truly grateful,” Rayna gushed, having grown all the more proficient in the language. At the same time, she bowed to Murat.

Surprise flooded Murat. “Aisha was right. You can really speak our language. I thought no one else could converse in it besides those in this village of ours.”

He proceeded to arrange for Rayna and Curtis to sit beside him before talking up a storm.

Rayna had long since concocted a flawless background for herself and Curtis. She answered all the questions from Murat while acting pitifully from time to time. Throughout it all, Curtis sat at the side quietly since he was playing a “mute.”

A few minutes into their conversation, Murat suddenly asked, “So, what kind of business are you both involved in exactly?”

At that, Rayna plunged into a dilemma.

D*rn! I forgot to ask Uncle Curtis about this in the room earlier!

She promptly nudged Curtis with her elbow without turning to him. “He’s asking about our business, Mr. Faymon!”

Taking a piece of flatbread from the plate, Curtis fed it to her and replied in a low voice, “Vegetable and cotton seeds.”

His breath brushed against her ear, making her shudder. Rayna bit his finger in retaliation.

After hurriedly stuffing the flatbread into her mouth, she answered with a calm demeanor, “We sell vegetable and cotton seeds.”

“Vegetable seeds?” Murat’s interest was immediately piqued. The land in the village was suitable for cultivation, but they could not communicate with outsiders because of the language barrier. As such, they were unable to trade for those things.

Consequently, they lacked vegetables the most. All their food came from hunting.

Nodding, Rayna lamented sorrowfully, “My family is in such a business, but my father doesn’t like Zahar. I couldn’t sell off the seeds I took from home, so I could only bring them here to sell.”

“May God bless you richly. It so happens that we lack vegetables and cotton here. If you’re agreeable, I’ll trade for them with furs,” Murat proposed.

In response, she shook her head and uttered sincerely, “No, no, you’re behaving too much of a stranger with us, Mr. Yildiz. I’ll just give those seeds to you. If Ms. Aisha hadn’t given me some food, I would’ve probably lost my child. I owe you all a debt of gratitude. Regretfully, we lost our way, so I don’t know where the vehicle carrying the goods is.”

“It’s okay. Just have a good rest with Zahar tonight. I’ll send someone out to look for it tomorrow,” Murat declared.

“Thank you, Mr. Yildiz.”

When the conversation finally ended, Rayna breathed a long sigh of relief.

Seizing the opportunity while Murat turned to speak to someone else, she related the earlier exchange to Curtis.

After Curtis had listened to it all, admiration showed in his eyes.

Needless to say, they could not possibly agree to the trade. Ultimately, their goal was the plant, not the furs. If they were to give the vegetable seeds to the village for free, they would be doing them a great favor. At that time, the villagers naturally would not suspect their motive when they asked for the plant.

Hmm… The more I interact with her, the more I find her brilliant.

Soon, steaming hot food was served on the tables. It was all stewed meat, the fragrant aroma hitting them right in the face. However, there were hardly any vegetables.

Murat had someone carry out a few flasks of liquor they brewed themselves. He also poured a brimming glass for Curtis.

Picking up the glass, Curtis took a whiff of it. At once, his brows furrowed.

Noticing that, Rayna leaned over and inquired in a whisper, “Don’t tell me you can’t drink, Uncle Curtis?”

“No, but the alcohol content of this is very high. I rarely drink such type of liquor,” he explained.

In truth, it was because something would happen if he were to drink hard liquor. He had no idea what the aftereffects were, but Gabriel advised him against it.

“Then, I’ll drink it instead. It’s just a glass anyway.” Rayna picked up the glass before something occurred to her, and she voiced, “I told them I’m pregnant. Would I be giving the game away if I were to drink it?”

Hearing that, Curtis was rendered speechless.

At that precise moment, those at the other tables started cheering, raising the glasses in their hands one after another.

“How impressive, Ms. Garland. You’re even pregnant with my child.” Smirking, Curtis took the glass of liquor out of her hand and downed it in a single go.

A drop of liquor trickled down the corner of his mouth, running down his collarbone before disappearing into his shirt, rendering him sexy and seductive.

In a flash, the saying that went along the lines of “some people were the epitome of sexiness when they imbibed” flashed across Rayna’s mind.

At that moment, she was convinced of the veracity of that statement.

Curtis only drank that glass of liquor throughout the meal. The color of his face remained unchanged, but he seemed to be feeling unwell, massaging his temples every so often. His brows were also knitted together deeply.

“Mr. Yildiz, my husband isn’t feeling too well. I’ll help him back to Ms. Aisha’s house to rest first.”

“Sure! Go ahead.”

Rayna hastily supported Curtis. Upon seeing that his eyes were half-closed and he only seemed semi- conscious, she placed his hand across her shoulder. No sooner had she hoisted him up than she almost stumbled to her knees.

Oh gosh, how heavy!

Fortunately, Aisha’s house was merely a stone’s throw away, so she managed to help him back to their room. It was pitch-black inside. It took her groping around for a long time before she successfully removed the fur from atop the stone.

In an instant, the room turned as bright as day.

By the time she tossed him onto the bed, she was already panting heavily. Staring at the man who was dead asleep, she muttered, “I shouldn’t have said that I was pregnant. Otherwise, I could’ve drank that glass of liquor on your behalf.”

I’ve seen him drink liquor multiple times in the past, but he had always turned out fine. Why did he get drunk with just a single glass this time? Was it really because of the alcohol content?

While puzzling about the matter, Rayna went outside in search of water. After washing her face and arms, she retrieved a basin of water to wipe Curtis down.

As soon as she pushed open the door and stepped into the room, she was greeted by the sight of the initially slumbering man sitting on the bed with a blank expression on his face.

“Oh, you’re awake, Uncle Curtis?”

The moment Curtis spotted her, his eyes lit up. He instantly got off the bed and hurried over to her. Unlike before, he did not exude an oppressive aura as he stood before her at full height.

Rayna was wholly bewildered.

For some inexplicable reason, she felt as though the man standing in front of her was not Curtis. Instead, it was a massive dog.

His unfathomable eyes were locked onto her intently. As he had imbibed, his voice carried a trace of insobriety, and he looked incredibly docile with his downcast eyes.

“Darling.”

Rayna was so shocked that she loosened her grip on the basin, and the container filled with water crashed onto the ground with a clang.