But Sarah avoided my eyes and went to her husband, gently saying, “Mom, don’t get upset. It’s really easy for us in the city. We can buy anything we need just downstairs. You don’t have to go through so much trouble bringing things from the countryside next time. It’s tiring, and nobody at home really eats them anyway, so they just end up being thrown out.” Seeing her expression, my heart sank, yet I still explained, “
“I deliberately didn’t kill this goose first, just in case it wasn’t fresh enough. I thought I would slaughter it right away for you to eat immediately, so you could enjoy the freshest taste.”
“And these vegetables, they’re not dirty at all—they’re all homegrown and very fresh.” Halfway through my explanation, I noticed the feathers scattered across the floor and went to the kitchen to look for a rag to clean things up.
“Mrs. Adams, which rag is used for wiping the floor? I’ll clean this right now.”
I smiled and asked Mrs. Adams and David twice, yet both acted as if they hadn’t heard me. David stared out the window, while Mrs. Adams kept cracking sunflower seeds without even looking up.
I took a rag from the shelf by the kitchen door and was about to crouch down to wipe the floor when Mrs. Adams suddenly yelled, “Hey!” and hurried over, snatching the rag from my hand.
“This isn’t for wiping the floor, it’s for wiping the table! How could you use this for that?”
She turned around, took another rag from the bathroom, and tossed it to the floor near me.
“Use this one.”
I stood there for a second, the rag at my feet, feeling awkward but still determined to clean up the mess.
I picked it up just as the memory of earlier flashed through my mind—the phone call with Sarah, her voice rushed, laughter faintly drifting behind her words.
I had wanted to tell her that I was carrying too many things, that taking a taxi would be difficult.
But she simply said, “There are taxis everywhere at the station. Just take one yourself, I’ll send you the address on Instagram.” And before I could say another word, the call had already ended.
I stared at my dim phone screen, then at all the things I had brought for her, and finally sighed.
What if Sarah really had an urgent issue at home?
Thinking that, I forced myself to flag down a taxi, loaded all my things inside, and tried to ignore the cold wind soaking my clothes.