The General Who Hates Me Chapter 332 - Already A Man

May and Riley arrived just before dusk. It was a good thing that the car that they brought was a four-wheel-drive because to reach Riley's place, they had to go off-road.  Well, it was not his place, but his deceased master's house, as Riley would always correct her.

The place was very secluded deep in the mountains, of which dwellings still had a thatched roof, and of which walls were still made of mud and sun-dried bricks.

"Riley!" Greeted an old man, who was running to Riley. 

"Uncle Ben!" Riley exclaimed, and the old man burst into tears as he hugged Riley tightly. It was a very touching moment because Riley had gone missing for years.

Riley had already informed his uncle of their visit in advance. The village had only one landline telephone, which was placed in the community hall. Luckily, his uncle was the chief of the village, so it was not difficult to reach him at all. 

"Oh, you've grown so much, Boy… I can't believe you're still alive. Did you know that I almost had a heart attack when I received your phone call? It is a good thing that I can see you in person now because otherwise, I would have thought I was only dreaming or hallucinating about your ghost. We all thought you were dead. Oh, God, but look at you… Thank God you're alive, Riley! If only your master were still here..." Uncle Ben said as he broke the hug and looked at Riley from head to toe. He was still crying tears of joy from seeing Riley alive and well.

"Yeah, a lot has happened, Uncle… I will tell you the whole story… I would also like to visit Master Foo's grave…" murmured Riley. Uncle Ben nodded and said, "Yes, I'll bring you there tomorrow. It's almost dark now, and you just had a long trip. You should go rest for now."

Uncle Ben finally noticed May, who was standing behind Riley all this while. The old man then looked at Riley with questioning eyes...

"Uncle, this is my boss, Miss May. She has been helping me to start a new life. I told you about her coming with me when we talked on the phone." Riley introduced May to his uncle, smiling as he wiped his own tears.

"Nice to meet you, Uncle," greeted May with a charming smile as she extended her hand, which Riley's uncle accepted warmly before he threw a meaningful glance at Riley.

Riley smiled bashfully, and his face reddened. Uncle Ben just smiled and shook his head upon seeing Riley's reaction. The boy he knew was not a boy anymore. He was already a man.

"I had the house all cleaned up as you requested. It's a good thing that I did it, despite my doubt that it was really you talking to me on the phone... Wait, are you sure you want to stay here? The house is too… Uhm, how should I say this? It may not be suitable for your boss to stay in." Uncle Ben voiced out his doubts before he suggested, "I think both of you should just stay at my house. It has been renovated, and it's better than staying here." 

Riley laughed and said, "It's really okay, Uncle... My boss is well prepared." If only his uncle knew of all the stuff that his boss had filled their car in...

May smiled at Riley's uncle as she seconded, "Yes, Uncle, it's really fine. I have brought a lot of things that we may need, and I'm sure Riley has missed this house so much, so we should stay here."

Then she added in jest, "Thank you so much, Uncle, for being so thoughtful, but rest assured this woman is highly adaptable. I think I can even survive in a jungle..."

Uncle Ben laughed and nodded before giving Riley another meaningful gaze, which Riley ignored this time.

"Alright, I will take my leave now, so you both can rest. I already made sure that you have at least basic things inside, but call me if you need anything else..." said Uncle Ben, grinning. He still could not believe how Riley had grown up so much that he even brought a cute young lady with him to visit his hometown. Riley told him that he was only working for the young lady, but by merely looking at them, Uncle Ben could feel that there was something more between them than just being colleagues. 

"Thank you so much, Uncle Ben," Riley said, and immediately excused himself to May so he could see his uncle off.

May went inside to check out the house. It was neat and tidy, and it looked exactly like how she had expected it to be; modest and simple, just like most houses in remote areas. There were two bedrooms with a bamboo divan bed in each of them. She was glad that she had brought two rolled mattresses for her and Riley.

She started to get their things out of the car and moved them inside the house. She was startled when Riley took the luggage from her. "I'll handle everything, Boss. Just sit over there and relax. If you want, you can start working on your laptop. The electric outlet is here," Riley said as he took out May's laptop and prepared it for her.

May puckered her lips and countered, "No, it's okay. I will prepare dinner instead." She immediately looked for the kitchen.

Riley scratched his head and said with a timid look, "We use a wood-burning stove. Hold on, I will prepare it for you." Riley walked outside the house, and May followed. Just a few meters away from the back of the house, she saw a rudimentary wood-burning stove.

May knew how to cook over a wood fire. Well, she had the theoretical knowledge, based on the cooking books she read, but she had never done it for real. After observing how Riley make the fire, she went on to prepare all the things she would need for cooking. 

She was fast in gathering and chopping all the ingredients while Riley was still busy preparing the fire. When she was done, she said, "I'm fine… I can manage here. It's getting dark soon, so go get our stuff from the car and move them into the house."

Riley did as he was told. Cooking over a wood fire produced a lot of smoke, so May would cough from it every now and then as she cooked. But she was happy that she got to experience something like this. She did not notice the smudge she smeared on her face as she maintained the fire during her cooking. 

She had prepared a simple dish and was satisfied with the result. It was a ginger-flavored chicken dish, mixed with papaya and fresh spinach. 

"Wow, I'm such a great cook! Urgh, I feel so sticky, though," May complimented herself as soon as she was done cooking, but was feeling uncomfortable from all the perspiration on her body. Her nose itched, and she scratched it without realizing that she was smearing her face even more.

She went back inside the house, without knowing how she looked…

As soon as Riley saw her, he burst into laughter.

"What?" May asked a bit confused.

Riley did not say a word. He just walked toward her and wiped the smudge off her nose and cheeks. May's face blushed and murmured, "The food was ready. I will just wash first…"

Inside the bathroom, May's heart was still beating very fast. She quickly removed all of her clothes and splashed herself with buckets of water.  The water was rather cold, but she braced it by closing her eyes.

As soon as she opened her eyes again, she suddenly screamed, "Ahhhhhh!!!"

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Chapter end