The first thing she noticed the following day was the basket on the floor by the door. It contained several fruits that she said were delicious yesterday. She picked it up and looked around. Chelsea had gone out hunting, so could it be that he deliberately went to collect it for her, just because she said it was delicious yesterday? Moussa was a little unsure of her guess. Then she remembered that he had called her a fool yesterday and had not given her a good look these days.
Moussa was very puzzled by Chelsea’s behavior and did not dare to accept the fruits. She placed the basket on the table and went out to find Ivy to pick wild fruits and herbs.
When Ivy and Moussa were about to leave the village, they happened to run into Philo and Mela, who also wanted to pick wild fruits. So the case of two people walking together turned into four people.
Moussa recognized Mela as the female whom Ryan had refused yesterday at the welcoming event. However, looking at her today, she appeared to have not yet come out of the shadow of yesterday’s rejection. Keeping the courtesy of not disclosing people’s shortcomings, Moussa and Ivy did not mention yesterday’s incident. They listened to Philo’s enthusiastic questions to Moussa on the way. Moussa was somewhat tired in dealing with the matter. Fortunately, Ivy did not dare to take them too far from the village, so the four of them stopped to start picking wild fruits.
Ivy, Philo, and the depressed Mela were of the physically fit type. It was easy for them to climb a tree and pick the fruit.
Moussa was scared of the tree’s height and did not bother to climb up the tree. She went to the nearby grass to find some herbs and familiar seedlings to pick.
On the way back to the village, Philo was very ‘kind’ to share what she had picked that Moussa hadn’t. Moussa politely declined because there were only two people at home anyway. Chelsea had already stored enough fruits, and she couldn’t eat them if she took them back.
When they heard Moussa say this, Philo and Mela had a flash of contempt in their eyes towards Moussa, but they quickly covered it up.
Philo also pretended to be envious and said, “Moussa, Chelsea is really good to you.”
Moussa smiled bitterly and didn’t say anything. He was good to her. If that incident had not happened before, she would have believed that Chelsea was not bad to her. However, once Moussa remembered what he did to her, she did not know whether Chelsea was good or bad.
Later in the evening, the welcoming event continued as usual. Tonight was even livelier than last night, with the males competing in a two-by-two hunting contest, somewhat similar to a martial arts competition.
Chelsea also appeared and watched the competition, but he did not stand by Moussa’s side. Still, he stood in a place with Philo talking and laughing. Ivy felt strange when she saw it. Something must have happened between Chelsea and Moussa. Chelsea was glued to Moussa in the past. She had a tough time because she teased him a few times in the past. It was surprising that Chelsea ignored Moussa today and talked to Philo.
It seemed necessary to remind Moussa, so she pulled Moussa a little to whisper, “Moussa, did you and Chelsea quarrel? Why does no one care about anyone?”
Moussa’s eyes darkened for a while did not speak. Ivy could not stand the way she looked like, so she reminded, “Well, you know. You should pay more attention to that Philo. Last winter, she lived in the village and had a good relationship with Chelsea. I think she would have become Chelsea’s partner if you had not appeared.”
“Huh?” Moussa was surprised that her mouth widened. No wonder she felt that Philo looked at Chelsea differently. It was Chelsea’s ex-girlfriend. No, it was an ex-boyfriend. The appellation was too weird. Forgive her. She really couldn’t imagine a man would be her love rival. Oh God, she thought she had adapted well, but she didn’t expect to be a bit bothered again now.
Moussa felt different when she looked again at Chelsea and Philo. It was as if she had seen her husband openly pulling the strings with his ex-girlfriend. She wanted to go up and slap him twice.