Chapter 398 Just Wait and See
Poppy nodded thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it, these things do seem to be for a child. You know what? Fatso often leaves the island. Dragon doesn’t let anyone leave the island, but those under him would secretly take some of the drugs in stock out of the island to sell them. It’s Fatso who takes them out of the island and brings them back every single time. Whenever he came back, the bag he carried on his back would bulge.”
“The bag was filled with stuff he bought for the kid, I suppose.”
“But why doesn’t he keep his child here if he has one?”
“Perhaps he can’t do so.” Courtney darted a glance at the second floor of the log cabin outside. “Since the kid’s on the island, I guess Fatso’s late wife used to be on the island too.”
The crux of the matter is how she died. Dragon trusts Buffy, the unsmiling, stony-faced guy, more than he trusts anyone else, but he seems to have a soft spot for Fatso, who look like a dumb fatty whose only merit is his strength. He can’t possibly be unaware for such a long time that Fatso has left the island without his permission, but he turns a blind eye to it. There must be a reason behind this, thought Courtney.
When Fatso brought her out of the small boat that day, she was tied up in the gunnysack and was barely conscious. However, she noticed that something was wrong with Fatso when Lil’ Mackaque mentioned his wife. “In any case, it’s absolutely right to start with Fatso first.” Courtney produced two gachapon capsules that were painted in bright colors from the pocket of her down coat. “Find an opportunity to give these to him.”
These capsules were originally bought for Tina. She liked this kind of thing the most, for one would never know what was in the capsule until they opened it. Every kid loved gacha capsules—just as every lady loved cosmetics.
Poppy took the capsules and studied them for a while with a curious expression. It seemed that she had never seen these before. “You townspeople really have had a lot of things to play with since childhood. Mountain people like us would never get to see these things in our lives unless we were shameless enough to leave our parents behind in the mountains.”
Courtney had mixed feelings when she heard Poppy’s words. Poppy had impersonated Belle and pretended to be Jordan’s mother, and she even seduced Alexander on purpose and set Courtney up afterward. Even so, Courtney couldn’t bring herself to hate her. In reality, Poppy was only in her twenties, and she came to stay with Britney without knowing anything. However, she didn’t expect her life would become a living hell that she had a hard time escaping.
Courtney promised, “Once we get out of here, I’ll definitely find a way to send you to a place where no one knows you. Once you’re there, live your life to the fullest and see everything you’ve never seen in the past, okay?”
“If only there’s such an opportunity.” Poppy sounded somewhat depressed while holding the two capsules. “I’m sorry about what has happened before, Courtney,” she said. Then, without waiting for Courtney’s response, she turned around, wiped her tears away, and took a deep breath. Then, she shouted at the figure outside the window, “I’m hungry, Fatso. Is there anything to eat?”
Courtney was saddened by the sight of this, but she knew she couldn’t be of much help at this moment, so she quietly stepped aside.
Fatso soon took two buns and handed them in through the window.
“Thank you, Fatso. Can you get me a glass of warm water as well?”
Poppy’s voice was very sweet, and it gave a natural feeling of innocence. She was even able to deceive Alexander back then, let alone Fatso, who had spent so many years on a desert island.
Fatso soon poured Poppy a mug of drinking water and handed it in through the window as before. Just then, Poppy took his hand. “Wait a minute, Fatso.”
Fatso, who was kind and affable at first, suddenly turned hostile. Pulling his hand out of Poppy’s grasp at once, he asked with a note of disgust and annoyance in his voice, “What are you doing?”
Poppy turned pale with fright; she tremblingly held out her other hand, revealing the two capsules in it. “P-Please don’t get the wrong idea, Fatso. I-I just wanted to give you these…”
Courtney was sitting in a corner of the cabin, and as it happened, she could see Fatso’s expression outside the window from her angle. The instant Poppy showed the capsules in her hand, a visible hint of surprise and regret flashed across Fatso’s face.
“Bring… Bring these to your kid.”
Fatso frowned. “How did you know that?”
“I saw what you made in the yard. They’re for the kid, aren’t they?” Poppy put out her hand stubbornly. She felt somewhat ill at ease, but she didn’t put her hand down.
After a long time, a word sounded through the window. “Thanks.”
Upon hearing this, Courtney let out a sigh of relief, knowing that they had finally made a move on Fatso’s side.
After Fatso left, Poppy came to Courtney with the two buns and drinking water. After giving Courtney a bun, she asked, “Courtney, is this really going to work? Do you still have any capsules?”
“No, I don’t have any capsules left.”
“What?” Poppy exclaimed. Then, she seemed to realize it was inappropriate for her to do so, so she covered her mouth with her bun and asked in a whisper, “Then what else are we gonna use in the future? Where are we supposed to get another capsule if he comes and asks us for another one? How are we going to speak with him if we don’t have one?”
Courtney was very calm, though. “Just wait and see.”
The two capsules were only a test on whether Fatso really had a child. If he really did, the child would’ve been raised in the depths of the jungle since little. It would be difficult enough for Fatso to feed and clothe the child, so things like toys had to be rare. Also, the child’s relationship with Fatso was probably strained. However, toys could bring the father and child closer together, so Fatso would come to Poppy again—not necessarily for the capsule, but definitely for the child’s sake.
When the sun was about to set, Fatso came back from the outside, and he looked visibly happier than usual. He delivered the meals today through the window, but instead of leaving quickly as usual, he stood at the window today.
Poppy’s voice was low, and she sounded somewhat apologetic. “I have nothing to give you this time, Fatso. The two capsules were the only ones I brought to the island with me.”
Fatso felt even more apologetic upon hearing her words. “No, I’m not asking you for anything. I, uh… I wanted to ask you where you bought the stuff that you gave me in the morning. Did you buy them in the city?”
Poppy was startled for a moment. “You mean the capsules? I bought them in the city. They’re sold in shopping centers.”
When Fatso heard this, his eyes dimmed somewhat, and he fell silent.
Just then, Poppy added, “There are more of them in the video arcade. Some shops sell them too.”
Fatso’s expression eased a little, but he still had an absent look on his face. “Uh-huh,” he replied, before walking away.
Poppy stared at Fatso’s figure, puzzled. Then, she looked back and asked Courtney, “I did everything as you said, so what’s with his response? Is he going to leave the island?”
Courtney took a stick and drew a timeline on the ground. “Nope, not so soon. You said that he had left the island twice this month, which is frequent enough. If he leaves the island again, Dragon will get suspicious, so I suppose he won’t be leaving the island for a while.” If one really can’t find a way to appease a child that has been at odds with them, the only way is to go to someone who has solved such problems before, she thought. “If he can’t leave the island, he’ll come to you again.”
“If that happens, what should I do?”
Courtney drew two little figures holding hands on the ground. After finishing the last stroke, she looked up and replied, “Ask him to take you to see the child.”
