Chapter 305 A trap
In the photos, she had two cute pigtails, was being held in Grandma’s arms, and was smiling at the camera.
Stephan picked up one of them; the photo had been stored for so long that it was already quite blurry.
“Is that you in the photo...the girl missing two front teeth?”
Alana’s cheeks flushed slightly.
He really was observant, he noticed right away that she was missing two front teeth.
When the photo was taken, she was in the middle of losing her baby teeth; her two front teeth had fallen out first, and the new ones hadn’t come in yet.
Looking closely, it was a bit unflattering.
When Stephan saw Alana blush, he guessed it was her.
He curved his lips into a smile. “You were such a cute kid.”
Alana pouted. “No way, I looked awful.”
Plus, she was missing two front teeth.
Stephan raised an eyebrow. “I actually think it’s pretty cute. But you’re cuter now.”
Alana grumbled under her breath. What a smooth-talking man.
Stephan couldn’t take his eyes off the photos. He quietly slipped one into his pocket, intending to take it home and keep it as a treasure.
Alana continued sorting through the old items in the room and even found the drawings she’d made as a child.
“I never would have thought Grandma would have kept even the drawings I made as a child.”
He picked up one of the drawings; the writing on it had faded slightly over the years.
“What is this?”
“Oh, this is Grandma weeding in the field, and me catching fish in the river.”
Stephan found it amusing. “You know how to catch fish by hand?”
Alana pouted. “I can, but the little fish swim too fast...I almost never catch any.”
She almost always came back empty-handed.
Stephan couldn’t help but chuckle, involuntarily picturing a little girl running into the river and frantically grabbing and fumbling at the little fish.
“That’s so cute.”
After that, Alana chatted with Stephan in the room about many amusing childhood stories and took a tour of the house before remembering they had business to attend to.
After all, once they’d retrieved the wooden box, they’d have to hurry back.
Following her grandmother’s instructions, Alana went to the corner outside the house and picked up a hoe.
Stephan had never seen a hoe before.
“How do you use this?”
Alana raised an eyebrow. “Watch me.”
With that, she hoisted the hoe onto her shoulder, walked to the base of the peach tree, raised the hoe, and plunged it into the ground.
She was tiny and looked delicate, but with a single swing of the hoe, she dug deep and pulled out a clump of dirt.
She kept at it, stroke after stroke, humming softly to herself.
Stephan smiled. Watching her dig, he quickly got the hang of it.
“Let me do it.”
Alana had just gotten into the swing of things. “No, I’ll do it.”
Stephan walked over and, without waiting for a response, pressed his hand firmly on her shoulder.
“Be a good girl, let me try. I’ve been dying to.”
Alana looked up at him, her dark eyes blinking.
After just a few strokes of the hoe, beads of sweat had already formed on her forehead, a layer of glistening droplets.
A few strands of hair clung to her damp brow, looking soft and delicate.
Stephan raised his hand, gently sweeping the strands of hair from her forehead and tucking them behind her ear.
Only then did he take the hoe from her hands.
Alana didn’t stop him; she was actually quite curious to see how a man like Stephan, who had never handled farm tools before, would go about hoeing the soil.
After taking the hoe, Stephan took off his jacket, handed it to Alana to hold, and began to mimic the movements she had just used to hoe the ground, starting to dig.
At first, his movements were quite stiff, and several times, he nearly struck his own dress shoes with the hoe.
After all, he’d never hoed before, let alone seen it done. His initial clumsiness left him feeling a bit embarrassed.
Fortunately, Alana didn’t mock him.
Plus, he was a quick learner and got the hang of it in no time.
Don’t let the simple-looking motions fool you, it’s actually quite strenuous. At least more so than in bed.
Once Stephan got the hang of it, he couldn’t help but glance at Alana. “Is your man any good?”
That slightly smug expression was a bit like a big dog seeking its owner’s approval and praise.
Alana found herself unable to suppress a chuckle.
The man was wearing a shirt, black dress pants, and a pair of black leather shoes as he hoed the ground. He looked so refined, yet performing such a down-to-earth task made him look a bit comical.
Besides, in Alana’s eyes, hoeing was a simple task, she’d been doing it with her grandmother since she was a child.
However, since it was his first time, she offered some encouragement: “He’s great.”
Stephan curved his lips. “So, does your man look handsome when he’s hoeing?”
Sweat trickled down the man’s jawline, making him look incredibly sexy.
The muscles in his swinging arms were well-defined, firm, and powerful.
He exuded an undeniable masculine charm.
Alana nodded sincerely, “Yeah.”
The man began to press his advantage. “Then give me a reward...a kiss.”
Alana thought to herself, What a scheming man, he’d been secretly setting a trap for her all along.
Seeing how hot and sweaty he was, Alana walked over and kissed his thin lips.
She also took out a tissue and carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Stephan was thoroughly satisfied and felt even more energized; in no time, he had dug the wooden box out of the ground.
Alana seized the moment to lift the wooden box out of the mud.
The wooden box was wrapped in a red plastic bag. She tore open the bag to reveal the box inside, which was largely undamaged.
Alana brushed the dust off the wooden box, then took out the key her grandmother had given her and unlocked it.
Upon opening the wooden box, Alana was utterly astonished by the jewels hidden inside.
There was quite a lot of gold and jade.
The gold included chains, bracelets, earrings, and rings, all feeling heavy in her hands. There was also a fair amount of jade, a vibrant emerald green in color and appearing to be of good quality.
Stephan helped inspect the contents. Setting the gold aside for the moment, he remarked, “This jade bracelet looks quite old...it must have been passed down through the family. If we had it appraised, it could easily fetch several million.”
Alana blinked. “I never would have guessed Grandma was a hidden millionaire.”
Stephan smiled. “She probably doesn’t even realize how much these jade pieces are worth.”
“True.” Alana flipped through the passbook again.
Sure enough, there was over a hundred dollars in it.
It was all thanks to her grandmother, who had diligently saved every little bit over the years.
After saving for decades, she’d actually managed to accumulate so much money.
Alana had to say, the elderly are much better at saving money than young people. Besides the passbook, there were the property deeds.
Everything was kept in perfect condition, with no damage at all.
After checking the contents of the wooden box, Alana took out a pen and paper and recorded everything one by one, thinking she would take the list back to her grandmother to verify and see if anything was missing.
Now that she was back in her hometown, Alana decided to take Stephan to meet her grandfather.
In fact, she hadn’t seen her grandfather since she’d come to live with her grandmother.
Her grandfather had passed away too early, apparently, he had fallen ill and passed away when she was just two years old.
However, her grandmother had told her that her grandfather had held her when she was born.
If the man hadn’t passed away, he would likely have doted on her just as much as her grandmother did.
So, she planned to take Stephan to meet her grandfather and make him happy.
Her grandfather was buried on the hill behind the house, not far away.
Alana led Stephan to her grandfather’s grave.
Seeing that the headstone was dirty, she crouched down and gently wiped it clean with a wet wipe.
Then she placed a bouquet of small chrysanthemums in front of the headstone.
“Grandpa, I’ve come to see you.”
“Grandpa, Grandma just had surgery a couple of days ago and is very weak, so she couldn’t come see you. But please rest assured, Grandma is out of danger now and doing fine.”
“Perhaps, if you’re watching over us from heaven, you’re silently protecting Grandma too. Thank you for that.”