Chapter 1436 Overly Concerned
Santiago’s bandages made him look like a poor imitation of a mummy. He pulled Raeleigh to him, though she jerked back her hand and gritted, “Do not touch me.”Exclusive © material by Nô(/v)elDrama.Org.
He stood behind her, hands on his hips. “Et tu, Raeleigh? You just had a fill of your touchy-feely time with my body and you say no when it’s my turn?”
She packed up her things, putting them under the bed and kicking it deep into the empty space. She raised her head and glared at him. “What’s the deal with you, huh?”
The moment she looked up, a rare expression of rage surfaced on her petite face.
Santiago went all scarecrow mode.
Looking at Raeleigh’s flickering eyes, he dared not meet her gaze.
She was so furious that her face had lost all blood color. She looked around and continued to clean up, squatting down and wiping the floor.
Santiago looked down at her. “It’s common for boys to fight. This is just a minor injury. No lives were lost in that essential teenage rite of passage.”
Slap!
Raeleigh threw the rag in her hand to the ground and got up suddenly. She turned around and scowled at his handsome face.
“If someone wants to die, no one can do anything about it or stop them, but would you be able to carry the weight of it?” Her menacing eyes were on Santiago, who frowned. He was speechless.
Xanthus pushed the door open and came in. The two of them looked at him. He put down the clothes and murmured, “Whoops, sorry, didn’t mean to disturb.”
Raeleigh stepped forward and threw the clothes towards Santiago. She jostled Xanthus away and went downstairs, took her keys and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Afraid that something would happen to her, Xanthus turned around and followed her out.
“This temper of hers…”
Standing inside the room, Santiago looked down at the clothes thrown at him and put them on one by one. He leaned over the railing outside and looked at the door, but Raeleigh had already left.
Xanthus was trying his best to stop Raeleigh, but having failed, he had no choice but to follow her outside.
She did not have her driver’s license on her, but she didn’t hold back on the speed. When she arrived at her destination, Xanthus breathed a sigh of relief and followed her into the market.
Raeleigh had brought nothing but money.
“How much is this?” Raeleigh asked a butcher for the price of meat. After he told her the price, she was bewildered for a moment. “Sounds rather expensive to me.”
There was no other way. Raeleigh couldn’t ask her parents for money, although both her parents and Xanthus had given her some in advance. She didn’t need to earn money at all.
Even so, Raeleigh still hoped that she could make enough money to support herself.
The man smiled and said, “Nah, this is already considered cheap. I got this one at two in the morning. If you were to look for one that I got at four in the morning, it’d be even more expensive. Around twice the amount.”
“Is there any difference?” Raeleigh asked, and the seller kindly explained, “There’s bone marrow inside. If too much time passes, it goes bad. The fresher it is, the better it is for the body, especially for growing children.”
Raeleigh thought for a moment. “Aside from these, is there anything fresher?”
“They’d be even more expensive than this one. Are you sure?” he asked. She nodded after contemplating for a while.
Xanthus, who was standing at the side, lowered his head and laughed. She had thought the one she had gone for at first was too expensive, but her principle didn’t apply when it was something high quality.
The seller quickly brought over something fresher. Looking at it, she did think it looked that way.
“Then I’ll take one, two, three… I’ll take six.”
Raeleigh felt that six was enough, while the seller was quite amused. He then got six bones for Raeleigh, who then took them and walked in another direction. Xanthus reached out and grabbed the bones from her. “So, these isn’t expensive, huh?”
She glanced at him. “I’m so freaking annoyed.”
“He sure is annoying, but I’m sure he feels lucky that someone is so angry on his behalf.” Xanthus laughed.
She turned around. “I don’t even know when he’ll grow up.”
“That’s just his personality. In what way do you want him to grow up? Maybe he’s already grown up and is just playful anyway.”
Raeleigh pursed her lips, fixed her gaze somewhere and exhaled. “I think he’s lived enough already.”
“No one has. You’re the one who thinks too much. He’s young, yes, but he’s not simple-minded. You’re the one who takes everything seriously and cares too much.”
“Just like that old butcher over there. You see how his hands have gauzes, and how he’s wearing gloves, don’t you?”
“He’s already so old, yet he’s out here making a living. Do you seriously think he doesn’t want to go home and enjoy himself?”
“But then, a lone man he is, and all he can do is live like that.”
“Tell me, do you think his hands would be infected from butchering meat?”
Raeleigh frowned slightly. “No matter how fresh the environment is, it’s normal for him to get infected.”
“Since getting infected is a normal thing, then why don’t I see you getting anxious at all? Santiago’s wound might have been huge, but he’s already fine after your treatment. So why are you still blowing up? Why are you so worried?”
Raeleigh was speechless, staring at the injured butcher who still had to work.
Xanthus continued, “Caring too much about someone messes with your sanity. Santiago’s injury is not your fault, nor could you have done anything about it. Even if you worry yourself sick, nothing will change.”
“This is Capital City. You don’t fit in with the people here, and Santiago is no exception.”
“It’s a prey-predator world. The reason why you hope for Santiago to be the one to live is because his encounters have always been unfair. Don’t get me wrong.”
“Having met you, Santiago’s been going around fighting his heart out. However, even if he hadn’t met you, he’d be the same.”
“It’s the same as the migration of animals. Nobody can change the direction they’re heading, all you can do is experience it.”
Raeleigh looked at Xanthus. “Every time I hear your word vomit, I feel like my brain short circuits.”
He wanted to laugh. “Your brain has no problem, it’s the world.”
She said nothing in reply. She went somewhere else and bought some nutritious ingredients. Before leaving, she bought a piece of liver for Santiago.
On the way back, she ended up saying, “Even so, I can’t watch him fight every single day.”
“He doesn’t do that. Why didn’t you ask him where his wound came from? You have to make sure what the cause of it was.”
Starting up the car, Xanthus was genuinely scared of Raeleigh. He would be worried if she was the one driving.
She sat in the front passenger seat, kneading her forehead. “It’s not like he does any physical work. If not a fight, then what else could it have been?”
“You’re jumping to conclusions. Santiago’s being treated so unfairly. You know, Raeleigh, looking at you now, you’re acting as if you’re Santiago’s mother. You don’t know what happened to him at school, and just assumed that he must have been disobedient and gotten into a fight with someone.”
“You lost your temper at him just like that. There’s nothing wrong with caring about him, but you have to believe him, give him a chance to explain. If you don’t even do that, don’t you think there won’t be any communication and trust between the two of you?”
Raeleigh thought for a moment. “You’re right.”
She looked elsewhere and continued, “Maybe someone wanted to hurt him and he got injured trying to escape.”
Xanthus felt helpless listening to her. “Raeleigh, why are you always such a glass half empty person?”
“You don’t understand. He’s gotten on the bad side of too many people. I’m worried for Jepherson too, but not many people would dare to do anything to him. His strength is enough to stop the people watching from making any rash movements.”
“But Santiago is different. In order to teach Jepherson a lesson, they’d strike at Santiago first. Over the years, Santiago doesn’t know when to surrender either. He’s always so arrogant when he does things. It’s not surprising that someone would want to get revenge on him.”
Raeleigh massaged her temples. That was why she was so worried. Her mind always wandered off to the negative side of things.