Chapter 429: This Is So Embarrassing

Chapter 429: Chapter 429: This Is So Embarrassing

"Miss Young, come take a look! Is this the key you dropped?"

Miss Young snapped out of her daze and rushed over to look. A delighted expression spread across her face. "Yes, yes, yes! This is our front door key!"

With that, she quickly took the key, opened the door, and rushed into the kitchen to turn off the stove.

Because she’d gotten back just in time, the large pot of chicken soup had been stewed to perfection. When she lifted the lid, the aroma was so rich that Arabella and the others could smell it from the yard.

Chloe Coleman’s stomach let out a RUMBLE, startling everyone there.

The little girl was shy, and her face instantly flushed red. She hugged Hector’s neck and hid her face, too embarrassed to look at anyone.

But just as she hid, an even louder RUMBLE echoed from below her.

In an instant, all eyes turned to Hector. The smile on his face froze.

Hector one second ago: Smirking.

Hector one second later: Not smirking.

The two adults and one child stared at each other for a long moment before bursting into laughter at the same time.

Just then, Miss Young—who had gone into the kitchen, turned off the stove, and checked on the soup—hurried back out. She gratefully grasped Arabella’s hand. "My dear, I really have you to thank for today. Otherwise, I could have turned this entire village upside down and still never have guessed the key was buried in my own yard. But how did you know it was in there? That’s just... incredible!"

This was the same question on the minds of the camera crew following them, as well as the viewers in the livestream chat.

Arabella didn’t keep them in suspense. She brought up the character Miss Young had given her earlier.

"The character you gave me for ’armor’ is composed of several parts. On the left, you have the radical for ’metal.’ Your key is a metal object, which matches the left side of the character. Since the key is lost and you gave me this word, it suggests the answer is within the character itself. The right side is composed of the character for ’mountain’ on top and the character for ’self’ on the bottom. The ’self’ refers to your own home, Miss Young. This means the key hasn’t left your property; it’s somewhere close by."

"You also mentioned that you used the key to lock the door when you left this morning. That narrows the search area to the space between your front door and the courtyard wall."

"But how did you know the key was buried in the dirt over there?"

"On the right side of the ’armor’ character, besides ’self,’ there is also ’mountain.’ Mountains are associated with earth or soil, and the character for ’mountain’ is positioned above the character for ’self’..."

Hector’s eyes lit up as he cut in, "So you’re saying the key must be buried in the dirt somewhere in this yard!"

Arabella gave a faint smile and nodded. Her simple nod sent a wave of shock through the yard, and the livestream chat completely exploded.

The screen was instantly flooded with comments like "HOLY SHIT," "MASTER," and "I WORSHIP THEE," scrolling by so fast it was dizzying. The topic and hype in the livestream chat went through the roof.

Miss Young was clearly stunned by Arabella’s chain of reasoning, but there was still one thing she didn’t understand.

"But... but even if we knew the key was buried in the dirt, my vegetable garden is pretty big. How did you know it was in that exact spot?"

"That’s why I looked at the specific orientation of your front gate relative to the garden. I figured you were probably in a rush this morning, Miss Young. After locking the door, you likely just shoved the key in your pocket. It must have fallen out, and you accidentally kicked it into the garden soil, leading to all this."

"That’s it, that’s it! I was in a big hurry this morning. You’re completely right! My dear, you’re not only brilliant but also so observant. Just wonderful."

After that explanation, Miss Young was thoroughly won over by Arabella’s skills. The more she looked at the young woman, the more she liked her.

"I really can’t thank you enough for today. My son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter are coming home tonight, and I was making this chicken soup for them. If I hadn’t found the key, I would’ve had to go to the village entrance and get the blacksmith to come pry the lock open. That whole ordeal would have wasted half the day. Now everything’s fine, and you’ve saved me a lot of trouble."

As she spoke, Miss Young glanced at Arabella and the others. A look of realization dawned on her, and she said with a warm smile, "It’s lunchtime, and you all must not have eaten yet, right? Why don’t you eat here? I’ll go whip up a couple more dishes for you. It’ll just take a minute, they’ll be ready in no time."

All their hard work this morning had been for this very invitation.

Arabella’s eyes lit up, and even the silly little tuft of hair on her head seemed to stand at attention. But she put on a show of modesty, saying, "Oh, but we wouldn’t want to impose."

Hector: "..."

The livestream viewers: "..."

’So fake! That’s way too fake!’

But Miss Young was a warm-hearted person and made the decision for them. "Nonsense, what’s there to be shy about? I’m going in to cook now, it’ll be quick. You can sit here in the yard, or go take a look next door. The house next door is the nicest one in our village, the most beautiful house, too. The flowers in their yard are in full bloom right now, and they’re gorgeous. A young lady like you would love them."

Arabella and Hector exchanged a look, sensing a hidden meaning in Miss Young’s words. They watched her pull a few handfuls of fresh greens from her garden before heading inside, then decided to take her advice and check out the house next door.

As soon as they stepped out of the yard and walked over, they saw a familiar, custom-made number plate from the production team hanging on the side wall of the house next door: No. 1.

Arabella: "..."

Hector: "..."

The production crew: "..."

The livestream viewers: "..."

And the sound of silence filled the little mountain village.

The real-time comments on the livestream went blank for a few seconds. After a long pause, a single, slow-moving comment in large, red, bold text drifted across the screen.

[WAIT, THEY FOUND THE HOUSE JUST LIKE THAT?!!]

The people who had witnessed everything firsthand: "..." ’Not only did they find it,’ they thought, ’but according to Miss Young, it’s the best house of the lot.’

Their luck was just insane!

After the initial shock wore off, Hector quickly recovered and turned to the camera crew to confirm, "This is the house you guys arranged for us?"

The camera operator, who was probably feeling pretty frustrated themselves, nodded the camera up and down, confirming it for Hector.

Arabella stood to the side, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Looks like my divination was right after all. Walking in this direction was the correct choice. We’ve got a house, we’ve got a meal... mission accomplished! Oh yeah!"

The little girl in Hector’s arms, perhaps realizing that this big brother and sister duo wouldn’t hurt her, was much more lively than she had been at the start, when she was too timid to even speak up. She now enthusiastically clapped her hands and cheered, "You’re so amazing, sister!"

Hector looked at Arabella, then at the little girl in his arms, and suddenly realized something was off.

"Hold on. I’m her temporary ’dad,’ but she’s calling you ’sister.’ Doesn’t that make our family relationship a little weird?"

"What’s weird about it? Her calling me ’sister’ just proves I look young. You’re not her real dad, anyway. Get over it. We’ll just have our own separate relationships with her, no need to connect the dots."

Hector: "..." ’Is that even allowed?’