Emily, The Mute Girl
The Story of the Farmer

Hearing Jeremy's words that sounded like he suspected her, made Emily look at him while linking her eyebrows together. Does this guy think he's taking the opportunity to tease her? Thinking about it made Emily unable to bear to laugh. Jeremy cringing. What's so funny?

'*B*stop thinking bad about me. I have no taste for you at all. I just want to sleep comfortably and quietly tonight.

Jeremy was surprised to hear Emily say that. What does it mean to have no taste in her? What in his eyes, Jeremy was a completely unattractive man?

Jeremy felt inferior. Not even a single girl has been interested in him. But Emily?

Yeah, correct. All this time it was just his wife, Emily, the only girl who was so calm beside him. Like an old woman who has no interest in men anymore.

Jeremy wanted to say something but it turned out that Emily had fallen asleep next to him. His wife must have been so exhausted that she fell asleep so quickly.

Jeremy looked at Emily's face for a long time, and then he decided to lie down and follow Emily to dreamland.

*****

In the morning, Jeremy wakes up and finds that he is the only one in the room. Emily turned out to have woken up early in the morning and helped the same farmer to prepare the porridge.

Emily felt free in this place because she did not need to pretend to be a sick person. He can do what he wants to do. Emily goes back to her room and finds Jeremy awake. The man was sitting on the bed. Emily then offered the porridge she had brought Jeremy to eat.

'The farmer's grandfather will come and examine your wound and replace the bandage with a new one.' Emily's cue. He sighed. They had tried to ask the farmer's name but the farmer would not tell him his name, nor did they want to force him.

The farmer just wants to be called an old farmer. While Jeremy who heard Emily's words, spontaneously dropped his spoon. He remembered well how the old farmer took care of yesterday.

Jeremy swallowed his saliva with great difficulty.

"Don't trouble others for what you're supposed to do yourself. Don't you feel sorry for that farmer's grandfather? He's too old. Not to mention he still has to take care of his sick wife" Jeremy said.

Haaah? Emily looked at him. Did this guy just ask her to take care of him? Seeing Emily's questionable and incredulous gaze, Jeremy kept trying to maintain his calm demeanor.

"Anyway all others know is that we are husband and wife. Do you not feel ashamed as a wife if your duty to take care of your husband is done by someone else?" jeremy asked.

Emily blinked at him.

'But I'm a wife who doesn't know how to care for the sick. All people know is I'm a Young Miss. Just being able to cook it was already a miracle.' cue Emily. Jeremy swallowed his saliva. He was completely lost for words.

'Besides, your injuries are pretty bad. So let the experts treat it. Besides, the farmer's grandfather said he wouldn't mind taking care of you.

Hearing that, Jeremy couldn't say anything more. He knew the farmer was not an expert at all, but Emily seemed to believe him deeply. Jeremy then finished his meal feeling upset.

After the meal, Emily called the farmer while he was washing the dishes. From the outside, he heard Jeremy's screaming voice which made him unable to bear to not laugh.

Emily finished her work and went back to her room. He could see that the farmer was not an expert. The farmer did what he could. He was very rude and not careful, of course Jeremy was screaming in pain.

"Do you want to do it?" ask the farmer.

Emily then nodded.

"Haha... Alright. A wife must know how to care for her husband. Come on, sit here. I'll explain how." said the farmer, patting the bench beside him.

"You just need to clean the wound every morning and evening.Then give this medicine to him, and wrap it in a bandage" the farmer explained excitedly.

Emily noticed the herbs given by the farmer. The potion was made from foliage that Emily herself did not know what her name was. The leaves have been mashed to become smooth like porridge. After giving the potion bowl away, the very farmer immediately came out. Emily looked at Jeremy's pale face. Jeremy was panting and sweating coldly as if he had just finished running a marathon.

"Why haven't you done that since I asked you?" tanyanya with mada.

Emily chose to ignore him. Actually he did not want to do this, but hearing Jeremy's screams of pain, he could not pretend not to know anything. After all, he also felt sorry for the farmer who won having to take care of two sick people at once, his wife and also Jeremy.

Slowly and carefully, Emily cleaned Jeremy's wound with warm water and then placed the medicine on the wound. Because Emily did it so gently, Jeremy didn't feel as sick as the farmer did.

******

Jeremy was bored of continuing to be in the room, so he asked Emily to help him out.

'I still have trouble communicating with the farmer's grandfather. Sometimes he still doesn't understand what I'm saying. Can you ask him why he didn't bring his wife to town for treatment?' cue Emily when she and Jeremy are on the porch. They both looked at the farmer who was feeding his chickens.

Jeremy feels Emily is too curious about the farmer's life. But he didn't mind asking. So when the farmer approached them, Jeremy asked Emily a question.

The old farmer looked down with a face filled with sadness making Emily feel guilty.

"My wife's condition is greatly reduced because she is old. I don't want to take her to the city because I don't want to leave this peaceful place. We'll both stay here until we die" he said.

Emily was surprised to hear the answer. "Why doesn't grandpa want to leave this place?" ask Jeremy. He was curious as Emily.

The farmer kept smiling while reminiscing about the past.

"It's because our relationship is not accepted by the community" he said.

The farmer's grandfather then told him many things about his past life. About how he became in love with his stepmother who was 18 years older than him. The farmer's father was the village chief across the forest.

This farmer was once known as a very intelligent boy in his village and he was very much expected to be his father's successor. Her birth mother had died when the farmer was 6 years old. Since then, her father raised her alone.

When the farmer was 14, his father married again. Two years after her marriage, her father died without having any children with his new wife. Since then, the farmer only lives alone with his stepmother to make their relationship closer and eventually fall in love with each other.