Chapter 76: Meeting Ox’s Wife, Speculations Taking Shape

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Meeting Ox’s Wife, Speculations Taking Shape

Rian Sinclair nodded. "Fiona, bring the things up. Aiden, wait for us here."

The two agreed with a nod. Fiona Sinclair picked up the items and followed. Rian walked up beside her and whispered, "Find a way to get Uncle Landon to call Auntie Landon away later. I need to speak with Ox’s wife alone."

Fiona nodded, while Rian followed at a leisurely pace.

Walking ahead, Old Man Landon smiled and said, "At first, I thought you’d be upset, Ms. Sinclair, when I mentioned Ox’s wife was doing her postpartum confinement."

"Why would you say that?" Rian asked, walking behind Old Man Landon.

Old Man Landon gave an honest, good-natured smile and scratched the back of his head. "Well, isn’t there a superstition that women in confinement are bad luck? I see a lot of rich people on TV who think that way."

Rian didn’t answer directly, but asked instead, "So do you think your wife’s confinement was bad luck?"

Hearing this, Old Man Landon shook his head vigorously. "That’s absolute nonsense! It’s an awful old custom! Who says women in confinement are bad luck? Giving birth takes half a woman’s life away. Of course she needs proper rest and recovery. There’s nothing unlucky about it!"

Rian smiled. "Exactly. That’s why I don’t think confinement is unlucky. On the contrary, I believe every mother who has just given birth deserves a proper confinement period. Her family needs to take good care of her to prevent a weakened body from catching outside infections."

Old Man Landon nodded. "When my wife gave birth to Eggsy, she didn’t even want to rest. I had to force her to do her confinement. One minute she was worried Eggsy would go hungry, the next she was fretting about the chickens, ducks, and geese not being fed. When I told her not to lift a finger, she complained she felt restless. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to stay put."

His eyes were filled with happiness when he mentioned his wife, which made Rian smile. Old Man Landon stopped at a room near the window and knocked on the door. "Wife, I brought Ms. Sinclair to see Daisy. Is it a good time?"

Shortly after Old Man Landon spoke, the door opened. Auntie Landon greeted them with a smile. "You have impeccable timing. Daisy just woke up. Come on in."

Fiona handed over the items she was carrying and remained standing at the doorway. "Auntie Landon, I won’t go in. I’ll wait for you all out here."

Old Man Landon smiled as well. "Just go in and have a look with Ms. Sinclair. These are the postpartum supplies Ms. Sinclair bought for Daisy. Hurry and bring them inside for her."

Auntie Landon accepted the items with a beaming smile, praising Rian. "Ms. Sinclair, you truly are a wonderful person!"

"It’s just a small token of my regard."

Auntie Landon cheerfully led Rian inside. As soon as Rian entered the room, she saw an emaciated woman lying in bed.

Frowning, Rian approached and sat on a nearby chair. Auntie Landon chattered away as she set the things down. "Daisy, this is the Ms. Sinclair I was telling you about. Now that you’ve met her, doesn’t she just have a beautiful face and a heart of gold?"

The woman on the bed merely glanced at Rian before looking away. Rian caught her eye in that brief moment; the woman’s eyes were utterly lifeless. Her entire face looked malnourished, with deeply sunken cheeks.

Auntie Landon brought over a bowl of chicken soup for Daisy, saying, "Daisy, Ms. Sinclair is here to help your village out. You two can chat about how things are over there, just to give her an idea of what to expect."

Daisy took the soup and picked up a spoon, slowly taking sips. Auntie Landon was just about to say something else when she heard her husband’s voice from outside the door. "Wife, Eggsy just came back covered in dirt! I’m going to go check on him first."

Sitting by the edge of the bed, Auntie Landon called back to her husband, "Got it!"

She muttered to herself, "That little brat. Who knows where he’s been running wild this time?" She then stood up. "Ms. Sinclair, Daisy, you two sit tight. I’ll go check on Eggsy and be right back."

With that, Auntie Landon hurriedly opened the door and left.

Rian remained seated on the chair, listening to the loud BANG of the door shutting.

She shifted her gaze back to the woman on the bed. Daisy was mechanically repeating the motion of scooping chicken soup into her mouth.

Observing the woman’s state, Rian realized it was highly unlikely she would speak first. She broke the silence. "I’d like to ask you a bit about the situation in Stonecreek Village."

The woman’s hands didn’t pause for even a second. She just kept repeating the same mechanical motion, continuing to drink her soup as if she hadn’t heard a word.

Rian wasn’t in a hurry. "Do you know about your village applying for the foundation grant online?"

Hearing this, the woman on the bed finally paused her movements. She let out a disdainful laugh. "I can’t believe someone actually fell for it."

"You know what’s really going on."

The woman looked up and scoffed. "I don’t know how many women like you have come here to offer financial aid or volunteer to teach. And the end result..."

Her voice grew softer and softer, as if she were murmuring to herself. In the end, she fell silent and went back to mechanically drinking her soup.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to get the answers she sought, Rian left the room.

The moment she stepped out, she ran into Auntie Landon coming down the hall. "Ms. Sinclair, why did you come out?"

"She didn’t look like she was feeling well, so I gave her some space."

Auntie Landon didn’t say much else, simply inviting the boss downstairs to take a seat.

Upon reaching the ground floor, Rian found Fiona already sitting on the sofa.

"Where is Old Man Landon?"

Fiona pointed toward the kitchen. Aiden came over and handed Rian a glass of water.

Rian took it and took a small sip.

"Say goodbye to Old Man Landon, and let’s head back to the guesthouse. If Ox shows up, we’ll make another trip back here."

Hearing the order, Fiona stood up immediately to deliver the message. A moment later, Old Man Landon came rushing over in a panic. "Are you heading back to the guesthouse, Ms. Sinclair? Let me pack up my things, and we can leave right away."

"Just stay home for now. Consider it paid time off. You can come lead the way tomorrow. We remember the route back to the guesthouse."

Old Man Landon rubbed his hands together sheepishly, bowing in gratitude. "Thank you, Ms. Sinclair! Thank you!"

Rian smiled and waved dismissively, then led Fiona and Aiden out of the Landon home.

Back at the guesthouse.

"Miss, how did your chat with Ox’s wife go upstairs? What’s the situation in Stonecreek Village?"

Rian leaned back in her bamboo chair, frowning. "She’s very thin. It completely contradicts Auntie Landon’s claim that Stonecreek Village is wealthier than Sweetbriar Village. However, if she’s being abused, her physical condition makes perfect sense.

"Moreover, she had obvious signs of trauma. There were several scars on her exposed arms. Some had already healed and turned light pink. The marks around her wrists were particularly distinct, indicating she might have been tied up. Her mental state was also extremely poor; she looked like someone who had lost all will to live.

"She brought up the subject of financial aid. That means she, and likely everyone else in her village, knew a benefactor was coming to inspect the area. But we didn’t announce our arrival beforehand. That means our identities were likely exposed while staying here at the guesthouse.

"Remember the night of the heavy rainstorm? A stranger knocked on our door and only left after Aiden came upstairs. That was highly likely a probe to test if I was the wealthy boss they were expecting. Or perhaps they had other illicit activities planned that night and knocked to ensure we wouldn’t stumble upon them.

"Finally, she mentioned the fate of those who came to offer financial aid and volunteer teaching. I didn’t catch the rest of her sentence, but it’s clear the outcome was grim. This proves they’ve pulled this fraudulent grant application scheme before. The people who answered their call either met with foul play or were illegally detained in the village."

Rian’s frown deepened. "Looking at it this way, absolutely everything about that village is highly suspicious."