novelraw Chapter 445: Dragon Boat Festival at the Old Mansion
Chapter 445: Dragon Boat Festival at the Old Mansion
"I’ve entrusted Peach Bell’s matters to the housekeeper and my aunt. They will be responsible for her going forward. Arrangements have been made for her to study at a university next month and visit the old house twice a month. We will avoid her during our visits to see Grandma. Nora, is this arrangement acceptable?"
Nora Northwood softened upon hearing Jasper Sinclair’s almost pleading tone.
She understood that he had already compromised, so she nodded in acknowledgment.
However, a problem remained: "The day after tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival, we’ll have to go back, right?"
For a moment, her thoughts drifted back to this time last year, when she was still in the kitchen helping to make rice dumplings, and she seemed to have cut her hand... It was a bit hazy to recall.
"If you don’t want to go back, we can celebrate here, or is there somewhere else you’d like to go?"
"Let’s go back."
Since Jasper had already made concessions, Nora didn’t want to appear overly forceful.
On the day they returned to the old house, Grandma Sinclair was at the desk transcribing Buddhist scriptures.
Nora adjusted her blue top, leaned over for a look, and sincerely admired, "Grandma, your calligraphy is on par with the great masters."
Strong and vigorous, it was not at all the handwriting one would expect from a senior over fifty years of age.
"You sweet-talking girl, always finding ways to delight me," Grandma Sinclair put down the ink-covered brush and turned her gaze to Nora and the person behind her.
"No way, I’m speaking from the heart."
"Come with grandma to the room and pick up your festival gift."
The elderly lady ignored her own grandson and led Nora into the house. Despite nearing seventy, she seemed more and more like a child, possibly influenced by Peach Bell.
Thinking of Peach Bell, Jasper Sinclair confirmed once more with the housekeeper: "Before dinner, try to keep Peach Bell in her room."
As he wished, Peach Bell only appeared during dinner.
Jasper Sinclair intended to take Nora back to the villa area, but Grandma Sinclair insisted they stay the night.
In the end, it was Nora who agreed, "Then tonight we can count the stars with grandma again."
The back garden.
An old and a young figure sat on the swing chair, gently swaying and chatting idly.
"When do you and Jasper plan to let me hold my great-grandchild?"
"Snap—"
Until a sound from the second floor drew their attention, Grandma Sinclair and Nora simultaneously looked upstairs. Through the glass, two figures tangled together were visible.
It was easy to recognize that it was Jasper Sinclair and Peach Bell.
Why was Peach Bell in their bedroom? At that moment, Nora could only think of this.
When she rushed upstairs, she found Peach Bell crying her eyes out in Jasper’s arms, her high ponytail shaking as she incoherently pleaded, "Brother Sinclair, please don’t send me away."
On the floor, a glass cup shattered, milk spilled everywhere, and some random books lay scattered, looking like a chaotic mess, unclear who had thrown them.
"What happened here, Little Bell? Come to grandma’s side to talk." Grandma Sinclair, quick to react, attempted to separate them vocally.
Unfortunately, the elderly woman lacked the strength to physically intervene, only able to voice her command.
Jasper Sinclair frowned deeply—being a grown man, handling a young girl was awkward, and somehow Peach Bell gathered unfamiliar strength that made him at a loss on what to do.
Currently, Peach Bell was sobbing so hard she seemed about to faint at any moment.
"Brother Sinclair, I don’t want to go to school. Did I do something wrong for you to send me away? You’re just like Mr. Sinclair, both of you are liars."