Ghost of My Heart - Chapter 112

“Wake up, handsome boy! We have to get milk before grandpa wakes up!” A loud voice that was so cheerful along with a strong shook from a pair of strong hands, awoken the sleepy Hue.

That person shook him as if he was holding a piece of paper in mid-air. Hue was like Spongebob being dried and squished under the sun.

Hue saw a smiley looking man who had a strong build like a bodybuilder. Hue hasn’t seen him at the field and he had no idea who he might be. Hue was still in his sleepy state and his mind failed to process the event that happened around him.

“G-good morning…” Hue stuttered as he sat down while still wrapped nicely in the blanket. It was so cold and moving even an inch could already break the warmness that coat his body.

“Oh, by the way, I am Rory. I am Jennet’s cousin.” Rory introduced himself and extended his hand for a handshake.

“Man, your hand is freezing. Come here for a big hug from your cousin Rory!” The merry man said after they shook hands. Rory gave him a big and crushing hug. That hug nearly breaks all of Hue’s bones.

“N-nice to meet you, Rory! I-I’m warm enough!” Hue wheezed for a breather over the crushing hug from the man’s sturdy and massive arms.

The near-death hug has awoken Hue completely from his sleepiness. He sproings like a metal wire as strength surge to his entire loose joint.

“Thank you for waking me up.” Hue said with a super-wide smile. He suddenly remembered about the task that grandpa gave him. Fresh milk for breakfast!

The sun hasn’t risen yet and had time to get the milk ready. But, he had no idea how to milk the cows in the Realm of Reality. Will he needs a manual like how he learns to drive a car?

“Don’t worry, we will help you to get the milk. With your physique like this, I’m worried you would break even before you reach out for the cow.” Said Rory as he hid the blanket inside a big basket which he covered with another stack of hay.

“Better make sure grandpa knows nothing about the help you got from us otherwise, you will be punished together with us.” Rory reminded him to keep quiet about everything they did for him.

Hue thanked the bright young man and found four other men waiting outside the stable. All of the men were holding buckets and a few brought empty glass bottles.

“Good morning, Hue!” They greeted the awkward Hue as he made his way out of the stable.

“Good morning.” Hue answered, “I didn’t expect to see so many people here.” He added awkwardly. All of the men had handsome faces, though-looking bodies and they are also taller. They looked like soldiers at a training camp.

‘No wonder, Jennet wasn’t that tempt about a handsome man like me. She has been living around fine-looking men like these!’ He monologued inside his head.

Hue remembered all about their first meeting. His wife wasn’t crazy about his good look. It was because she has been used to seeing those with good looks. Even her family members didn’t go crazy by his handsomeness but they had a prejudice about him instead.

Rory patted his back and said, “We’re a family now. We have to help each other. All of us went through the same drills before. We have to make sure you pass his tests with high scores so you could stay together with our cute little Jennet.”

“Thank you!” Hue expressed his gratitude verbally. He was super thankful for their help and they are so welcoming!

“Don’t mention it,” Rory said and pulled him to meet the other four men.

“Meet Jennet’s other cousins, Tyrece, Evan, Sammy and Edward. These are the men that you will meet every day. There is aa lot more of our cousins but all of them are away for works.” Explained Rory as he introduced the men to Hue.

“Oh,” Hue exclaimed and nodded his head. “Nice to meet all of you.’

“Nice to meet you, too.” Each of the men shook hands with him. All of them talked nicely and so warm to an outsider like him. Hue didn’t feel alienated at all.

However, Hue didn’t expect to see the animals to be so muscular and looking strong like a fighting bull. Rory told him they were of the Holstein Friesian breed which produces lots of milk.

Well, even if Rory told him of their breeds, Hue didn’t know about them. Hue’s spirit drifted away just by looking at their muscles.

“How am I going to get milk from such animals?” Hue asked the men. Even if he approaches them nicely and slowly, he didn’t know if he could get milk from them.

“Easy, just challenge each of them. If any of them accept your challenge, then you have to fight it until it lets you milk it.” Explained Tyrece.

Hue wasn’t able to utter a single word. He was speechless because he found his words to be insane.

‘Challenge the cows? Isn’t that just courting death?’ He spoke in his head. Even the cows don’t look much like cows that he normally watched on the TV. These cows had massive muscles as if they are used to some drills.

Do the cows learnt about survival skills as well and learnt all about self-defence? Hue thought about that possibility in mind.

Evan nodded his head supporting the words of his cousin, “Yeah if all of them refuse the challenge, you have to go on the hard.”

“Hard way?” Hue wasn’t expecting to do anything the hard way. He had wanted to handle everything the gentle way.

“Yes! Kick and punch with a double combo in the air.” Said Sammy, smiling even more widely.

Again, Hue felt so guilty. He can’t even imagine to kick and punch those innocent animals just to get milk for breakfast. He had never hit any animals in his entire life.

“I…” Hue was about to say his mind but was interrupted with a stern glare from the boys.

“Are you telling us you are going to surrender? Do you not love our dear Jennet? Do you want to see grandpa getting mad if you cannot fulfil his request?” Edward intimidated him.

All eyes centred at Hue who was cornered from every direction. It seemed they won’t take ‘no’ as an answer.

“I am not surrendering. I’ll go get milk from the cows but in my own way.” Hue stated bravely.

Each and every one of the boys smiled widely. Edward gave him a bucket and he said, “Then, show us your skills.”

Hue took the bucket and made his way towards the fierce-looking cows while the Lockhart boys stood watching from behind.

“Edward, did you bring any first aid?” Sammy asked in a soft whisper. His eyes glued at Hue who was walking into the red zone.

“Inside one of the buckets.” Whispered Edward and he didn’t even avert his eyes from watching what’s going to happen with Hue.

Rory smiled and hugged himself, “Look at him carefully. Let’s see if he could fight our fighting bull before he could get to the barn.”

“Whose idea is this? Letting him go through the bulls? Plus, he didn’t know they are bull which isn’t a cow.” Said Tyrece. “I’m worried he could get hurt. Jennet won’t spare us.” He added.

“Tyrece, relax. If he knows what survival skills are, he won’t get hurt and knows what to do.” Evan said from the side. “We’re here to see his worth.” He added.

Meanwhile, inside the red zone or the area of the ‘cows’, Hue inhaled and exhaled repeatedly. After calming his mind and placed his focus towards the animals which now formed into a defensive formation, he smiled.

‘Ah, let it be. Whatever kind of animals you are, I won’t hurt you in front of humans. It isn’t what I wanted to do.’ He muttered in his head.

“Who didn’t love his family members, come and challenge me!” Hue said to the animals. “Who loves his family members, they will let me get milk for my family.”

“What is he talking about?” Sammy whispered.

“He’s challenging the animals.” Said Rory, getting excited.

“He’s dead.” Said, Edward with a shook of sympathy.

“Not yet. The bulls are clever. They will know what to do.” Said Tyrece.

Evan shook his head and kept silent while watching Hue challenging the animals.

The fierce bulls didn’t move even a muscle from their spots. After fifteen minutes of silence, which no one would expect it to be that long, the formation suddenly changed. The bulls made ways for Hue towards another barn.

“Thank you and I won’t hurt anyone!” Hue thanked the animals who understood his responsibility. Happy with his accomplishment, Hue walked leisurely into the barn.

The rest of the boys was shaken by unexpected situations. Their jaws dropped when Hue came back from the barn with a bucket full of milk. That was fast!

That morning, they managed to get freshly squeezed milk for breakfast and buckets of it no less because the Lockhart boys said they needed a lot of milk for every breakfast every day.

What kind of family are they again? Milk monster?

When Hue brought the milk to the kitchen, he bumped unto his wife and she was smiling widely at him. She happily approached him.

“You got approvals from the boys. Your marks are already higher.” Jennet whispered to him before landing a kiss on his cheek.

Hue rejoiced at the kiss he received and as he tried to kiss her back…

“Ahem!” Grandpa Ingell caught them in the act. The couple, shyly, moved away from each other.

“Get the milk ready for everyone!” The old man commanded sternly.

“Y-yes, sir!” Hue obeyed him and zoomed away with the bottles of milk.

Turning his head towards Jennet, he said, “Stop seducing your husband during the day or I’ll have to deduct his points.” He reminded her in a stern voice. But, Jennet wasn’t scared of him and smiled widely instead.

After breakfast and after having a nice bath, Hue spent his time sleeping to his heart’s content. He was already too tired after their long flight and as soon as they arrived, he had to work in the fields and spent his night at the stable. When morning came, he had to milk the cows to get milk for breakfast.

He was exhausted. Totally exhausted!

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