The moment Winnie opened the door to the ward, she saw Jacinta walking in her direction.When Jacinta saw Winnie, she hurriedly asked the latter, âAre you done already? Can we go now?ââYes.â
Winnie nodded as she picked up her pace to approach her grandmother. âAre you hungry, Granny? We havenât eaten lunch yet.âJacinta said, âI was so hungry that my stomach hurt at the police station just now, but I donât feel that hungry now. Why donât we head home? I feel safer eating at home.ââAll right.
Letâs eat at home.âWinnie thought that she was too careless that day. Even without the appearance of Shania and Nateâs crazy fans, she might bump into Harold any time. I shouldnât have put Grannyâs life in danger by bringing her with me, but I think Iâd better show myself in public more often.As Winnie pondered about the dayâs events, Josiah suddenly called.She answered her phone immediately. âDr.
Houghton, whatâs the matter?âJosiah sounded lethargic on the phone. âAre you not at home this weekend?ââYeah, why? Do you need to see me?â As Winnie spoke, it suddenly dawned upon her that Josiah might be at her home. âYouâre not at my house right now, are you?âJosiah sighed. âYes, I am.
Iâve been ringing the doorbell for a few minutes because I thought you were home, but no one came to get the door for me.âWinnie explained, âIâm out with my grandmother. Whatâs the matter? Can we settle it over the phone?ââOh, we canât. I just left the hospital, and this morning, a patient gifted me a box of pomegranates before getting discharged. I didnât want it, but he insisted that I accept it. Since Xavier told me to look after you before he left, here I am sending you a box of fresh fruits! This is probably one of the few times Iâll drop by your house, but itâs too bad youâre not home.â Josiahâs tone sounded somewhat amused and exasperated as he related what happened.Winnie chuckled. âThatâs it? Itâs just a box of pomegranates. Just leave them at the hospital and split them with the others.âJosiah sighed in annoyance. âOh, shut up. Iâve already brought it here. How long more till you get back?ââWhy? Donât tell me youâre planning to wait until I reach home?ââYou wish. I was on the night shift yesterday, and Iâm so tired that I need to get some sleep. Iâll leave the pomegranates at the property management office.
You can collect it later when youâre back.ââOkay. Thank you, Dr. Houghton.ââYouâre welcome, Ms.
Garland. Just think of me when you have something nice to share next time.âSince Winnie and Jacinta werenât planning on hanging around outside any longer, they quickly returned to Aqua Moana.When Winnie passed by the reception counter of the property management office, she collected the pomegranates and opened the box after she reached home.The pomegranates were twice the size of a knuckle, and their reddish skin was appetizing.Winnie took a picture of the pomegranates and sent it to Josiah with a text message that read: The pomegranates look good. Seems like your effort in carrying them isnât wasted.She didnât expect Josiah to reply to her message because she surmised that he must be sleeping at that moment. To her surprise, he replied: If only I get to have a taste of itâ¦Winnie immediately sent Josiah a voice message. âHow are you not asleep?ââIâm less drowsy after taking a shower, but I still need to sleep. Iâm going to sleep until seven oâclock in the evening, then Iâll have dinner,â Josiah replied right away, his voice sounding a lot more energetic than when he called Winnie earlier. âAll right then. I wonât disturb you any further.âAfter Winnie sent her last voice message, she started peeling the pomegranates.Not long after, she was summoned to the kitchen by Jacinta to help out.When the grandmother-granddaughter duo finished their dinner, it was already half past seven at night.As Jacinta washed the dishes, Winnie continued peeling the pomegranates.Jacinta peeked out of the kitchen to look at Winnie. âDidnât you peel quite a lot of pomegranates already? Itâs enough for us. If you peel too many, they will turn bad easily.ââIâm sending some over to Josiah as a token of appreciation,â Winnie explained.âOh!â Jacinta exclaimed at the mention of Josiah. âYou should have told me earlier! Heâs staying alone, isnât he? I should have asked him to come over for dinner.ââItâs fine, Grandma. I think he may have just woken up. Besides, he has plans. Our dinner time may be too early for him. Donât worry, he wonât starve himself to death,â Winnie said, âBut, Grandmaâ¦âTurning around, Jacinta urged, âWhatâs wrong? Why did you stop halfway? Spill it.âAfter a moment of silence, Winnie turned around to face Jacinta. âIf only you were as nice to Xavier as you are to Josiah,â she said with a slight frown.Jacinta, who was busying around in the kitchen, froze in response.How could I be nice to Xavier? Every time Jacinta thought of how Rufus mistreated her son and her grandson and was biased toward Xavier and his father instead, she would be filled with fury and hatred.How could I ever be nice to Xavier? Thatâs practically impossible!The mere thought of that was enough to make her hand tremble with rage.However, she couldnât show her anger to Winnie.When she finally regained her composure, she said to Winnie, âAll right. You can bring him over for dinner once heâs back from his business trip. Iâll prepare delicious food for both of you every day.âWinnie flashed a faint smile. âOkay.
Letâs take it slow. We still have a long way to go.âJacinta gave a perfunctory reply, âRight.âHowever, she believed that Xavierâs days were numbered.After peeling the last pomegranate, Winnie washed her hands and called Xavier.Although they didnât spend every minute together while he was in Avenport, it felt quite different after he went overseas.Even though he was only gone for two days, she still felt like it had been ages since she saw him. The long distance between them made her feel far apart from him.However, Xavier could not be reached because his line was busy.After two tries, Winnie stopped calling him. He must be busy right now. When heâs done with his work, heâll call me back.She called Josiah next to tell him she was going to send him some of the pomegranates.Coincidentally, Josiah couldnât be reached as well because someone else was on the line.Winnie didnât overthink it and sent Josiah a message: Are you at home? Iâll drop by later. Text me back once you receive this.However, it didnât occur to Winnie that Xavierâs and Josiahâs lines were both busy because they were calling each other to discuss their investigation on Jacinta.Xavier began, âThe people Iâve sent to investigate Jacinta have achieved significant progress. They found out that Jacinta may have had a history with my grandfather when she was young. Itâs better that we talk about the details face-to-face, but I wonât be back for a while. Can you go on my behalf?â