Roseanne epted the money. "But I don''t think he''ll take it."
"Just tell him it''s from me. One doesn''t refuse a gift from an elder. He''ll ept it."
"Alright."
After handling these matters, Roseanne returned to her familiar routine: a steady circuit between theb, the university, and home. Once she immersed herself in her work, she found that time flew by. Even Mamie couldn''t help but sigh, "Roseanne is like the carrot dangling in front of me. Whenever I look up and see her, no matter how exhausted I am, I force myself to keep pace."
Scales chuckled at herparison.
Mamie frowned. "What''s so funny? Aren''t you the same?"
Scales replied, "I''m not a donkey."
Mamie was speechless. What was that supposed to mean? If he wasn''t the donkey, was she?
Things were also going smoothly for Carlson. Shortly after Roseanne''s group left, he and his parents moved out of the vige. The neighbors had all been buzzing about what would happen to the cherry orchard. Fabian and his brother weren''t the only ones who were jealous; others had simply been too cautious to make a move. But in their hearts, who didn''t covet it? That orchard was a gold mine.
Now that the Smiths were leaving and the Moores were in jail, everyone''s ambitions began to stir. People showed up at the Smith''s door every day, trying to pry information from Mr. Smith. As Carlson put it, their house hadn''t been this lively even during the New Year. One person even had the audacity to ask Mr. Smith if he could just have the orchard since they were leaving anyway. Mr. Smith could onlyugh at the nerve.
Even distant rtives from the next vige came sniffing around.
Finally, Mr. Smith gathered them. "Since everyone is here, I''ll say this once. I have no ns to transfer the cherry orchard, and I''m certainly not giving it away for free."
"Then who''s going to manage it after you leave? You can''t just let it go to waste! That would be a terrible shame!" someone protested.
"It won''t go to waste," Mr. Smith stated calmly. "I''ve already signed a contract and leased it to a contractingpany."
"A contractingpany? Are you joking? Who would want a tiny plot like this? If you don''t want to give it to us, just say so. You don''t have to make up such a ridiculous excuse."
With that, they all left in a huff, figuring that once the Smiths were gone, the orchard would belong to whoever got there first.
However, the day after the Smith family moved out, the vigers were stunned when representatives from the contractingpany arrived to officially take over the orchard.
"So he really did lease it to apany..."
"What kind of incredible luck have the Smiths hadtely? I heard they''re buying a house in the city! And those Moore brothers are in jail. It''s just....."
That''s how people are: they worry when you''re struggling, but they hate it when you seed.
Carlson found a pre-owned, three-bedroom apartment near Central Hospital. It was zoned for a good middle school in the Ashford
District and came fully furnford
He
paid the 1.3 million in full. With that, his mother''s medical care and his sister''s education were both secured. He gave the remaining money to his father to start a small business, telling him he didn''t have to if he felt it was too much. The choice was his.
After two days of thought, Mr. Smith decided to make and sell his specialty, a Coconut Lemongrass Tofu Curry, from a small food cart. He wouldn''t go far, just around the nearby residentialplexes, and would head home to cook dinner Once he sold out. This saved him the cost of rent, making it a
zero-overhead business.
Arkle''s recovery was also going well. After waking up, his vitals slowly returned to normal. Half a monthter, he was finally discharged from the hospital and returned to his sses three days after that He made a point to host a dinner to thank Owen Roseanne, Scales, and Mamie. "My dad told methad to thank the professor and Roseanne in person!"
...
Everything was heading in the right direction, including Roseanne''s new research
project. The only person who might have been less than thrilled was...