Chapter 34 There was a thin...

Only then did Irene realize the embarrassment.

She has always been a step behind others in terms of emotions, and as soon as the doctor's joke came out, she realized that something was wrong.

The woman stood up from the stool and avoided Leo's eyes awkwardly. Some water oozed from the tip of her nose and her cheeks were unnaturally red.

It turns out that he is not the only one immersed in the anxiety of love. The heartbeat of Irene in his memory rang in Leo's ears again.

Again and again, it was like raindrops hitting the banana leaves, spinning them around, shaking the leaves left and right, making me feel uneasy.

Irene quickly found a new topic and asked the doctor, "How long will he need to be treated here? We are from Mobile, and if it is a long-term treatment, we have to consider accommodation."

The doctor touched his upturned mustache again. "It's hard to say. It depends on when he can learn to speak. In fact, as long as he is proficient in speaking, the rest of the recovery training can be done slowly at home, and he can come for a checkup every once in a while."

He looked at Leo and smiled, "But I think you are a very smart boy. This kind of voice training should not be difficult for you, as long as you don't let this beautiful lady be present."

"Is that what you said?" The old man blinked mischievously.

Leo's face turned red all the way to his neck and he lowered his head, looking a bit like a high school student.

Very cute, looks like a Northern Long-tailed Tit.

Northern Long-tailed Tit!

Irene's eyes lit up, and she thought about how to stand out at this banquet.

Since the aesthetic of the time is for hats to be decorated with many things, why doesn't she do the opposite and make a simple yet beautiful round-brimmed hat, and pair it with an equally simple long skirt.

So how can we better highlight the characteristics of her clothes?

Irene's mind flashed back to the last time in the hotel when Leo put on that suit.

His tall and thin figure was wrapped in a well-fitting suit. He did not button his clothes, and the hem of his suit was blown up by the wind from the window, making him look even more casual.

"I figured it out!" Irene suddenly shouted excitedly, and suddenly turned around and hugged Hannah tightly, "I figured out what style of clothes I want to make this time!"

Her action scared Hannah, and the little girl looked a little helpless and bewildered, but she still obediently let Irene hold her.

Leo looked at Hannah who was being held by Irene with jealous eyes, and regretted a little why he didn't stand in Hannah's position just now.

However, he took a sip of the water poured by the doctor. Even if he was in Hannah's position, Irene probably wouldn't hug him.

This damn secular default rule, Leo wrinkled his nose, why should women keep a distance from men outside.

Finally, Irene communicated with the doctor again, and the doctor suggested that they rent a hotel for about half a month, and then decide whether to rent a house depending on Leo's recovery.

Although the hotel is a bit more expensive, if you rent it for half a month, you can negotiate the price and flexibly decide when to check out.

If Leo recovered quickly, they would check out early and go to Rochester. And Irene was worried about another person - Angel who greeted her on the boat.

She was very worried that if Angel revealed her whereabouts to Tina, Tina and the others would find a way to find her.

And there is a possibility of being wanted. New Orleans and Mobile are both Confederate states, and the laws currently implemented are consistent, with parents having absolute control over their children.

So mobility and flexibility are very important to them.

News of the Civil War could be vaguely heard everywhere on the streets of New Orleans, and people read the New Orleans Daily Delta in coffee shops with frowns on their faces.

Under the scorching sun, horse manure and asphalt gave off a special smell after being burned, which was very choking.

Irene temporarily left her luggage with the doctor, and Leo was kept there on the pretext of learning how to speak. Although the doctor's character was guaranteed by Mrs. Irene, he was a stranger after all, so it was better to be careful.

But when she thought of the promise she had made to convince Leo to stay in the clinic, Irene couldn't help but blush.

She patted her hot cheeks, exhaled, and tried to pull herself away from the boy's wet eyes.

I can’t think about it anymore. There are so many things going on.

The sun was at its highest point, and carriages were clanking by. Irene squinted her eyes and recalled the several hotels she had just visited. The prices and decorations were similar and within her affordable range, but she was now beginning to hesitate whether to rent a family inn.

On the one hand, it can relieve some financial pressure, and on the other hand, she can also spend money to rent a sewing machine from the boss's house.

The few hotels she had just visited did not have sewing equipment available for rent. If she stayed in a hotel, she would have to go to a tailor shop to rent it. To be honest, Irene didn't want a bunch of people watching her make clothes.

This is not an artist's quirk, but mainly because they are afraid of being copied.

She still remembers clearly the incident in which one of her works was "borrowed" by her roommate. She collected so much evidence to win the lawsuit with great difficulty in modern times, but it would only be more difficult in this era when the law is not sound enough.

What's more, she is just an unknown little tailor now.

From this perspective, renting a family inn is the most suitable option for her.

Irene took a fancy to a building in a small alley in the old neighborhood, which was next to the square and not far from the clinic.

The street was filled with the sounds of children playing and the smell of bleach. The fat cat was lying on the wall, looking lazily at Irene and her friend as they walked through the alley.

It looked at Irene, and Irene looked at it. The cat's eyes were round and big, reflecting her figure clearly.

As clean as Leo.

It looks like they are very good at acting cute, but no, kittens don’t need to act cute. As long as they look at humans, people will come running up to them and offer them food and toys.

It was too hot. Irene looked into the kitten's eyes and couldn't help licking her dry lips.

The yard where the kitten was located was actually a hotel. On the wooden sign at the gate was engraved a line of words: "Mrs. Soy's Hotel".

Irene rang the bell on the side of the door, which sounded a little dull due to its age. After a moment, a crisp response came from inside, "Come in."

The hotel lobby was filled with the smell of sandalwood and old wood, and a sturdy, simple old lady was sitting behind the counter mending pillowcases.

She raised her head, lowered her glasses, and lifted her loose eyelids to look carefully at the young lady who was dressed decently but looked exhausted.

"Good afternoon," Irene nodded politely, her voice a little hoarse, "Excuse me, do you have any vacancies here? I want to rent two rooms for about half a month."

The old lady stood up and said in a rather friendly voice, "Yes, Miss, there are several rooms on the second floor facing east. They have just been cleaned and are very clean."

"I am the landlord. You can call me Mrs. Soy."

Mrs. Soy's house was large and tidy, even the stair railings were clean and there were beautiful flowers on the windowsills.

The house has four floors. It gets darker as you go up, but it becomes brighter when you reach the top attic. There are some dead branches and leaves falling from the skylight above, but you can still vaguely see the sky of New Orleans.

"How many families live in this house?" Irene asked softly.

"Including my family, there are four families living here. On the second floor, there lives a couple who run a restaurant and a bachelor who works at a theater. On the third floor, there lives a pair of sisters who work at the Santos Hotel," Mrs. Soi said a long list in one breath, and then added:

"Don't worry, we are all honest people, we know each other well, and we have signed the rental agreement."

Irene finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the safety issue that she was most worried about could be solved.

"Then which houses can we still rent?" she asked impatiently.

Irene has always been decisive. Since Mrs. Soi's place is good, there is no need for her to look for another house. It would be best to finalize the decision as soon as possible.

She firmly believed that hesitation would lead to failure.

"There are two empty rooms on the third floor, both of which are bedrooms and living rooms. They cost 20 yuan a month, including breakfast. The fourth floor is a separate floor, and it is also a suite with two bedrooms and a living room. It costs 25 yuan a month, including breakfast."

For privacy and safety reasons, Irene chose the fourth floor. Mrs. Soi took out the key and opened the door. "Are you two the only ones living here?"

"And me..." Irene hesitated for a moment, and suddenly remembered the pale and ugly face of the boy after she denied her relationship with Leo last time. She spoke softly.

"And my fiancé, the three of us."

The room is about 70 square meters, not too big, but very clean and well-lit. There is an old-fashioned dining table next to the small sofa and four chairs with ancient Greek harp-style backrests.

There are two bedrooms on either side of the living room, each with a thick mattress, an iron bed frame, and a niche with a curtain, and all the furniture you need.

Irene was very satisfied.

The only drawback may be that because it is an attic, the roof is sloping and the bathroom is a little small.

But it didn't matter at all. Irene squinted her eyes happily, looked at the sewing machine covered with white cloth in the living room, and asked in surprise: "Mrs. Soi, can you rent me this sewing machine for half a month?"

Mrs. Soey nodded readily.

The rent for half a month was 12.5 yuan, and the deposit was 10 yuan. After Irene signed the contract, the big stone in her heart fell.

From the invitation letter to the clinic and then to the house, Irene couldn't help but smile softly. She was really lucky today.

Mrs. Soi handed her the key on the spot. "Breakfast is usually milk, bread and sausage. I'll have it ready at 7:30. You can send someone down to get it."

Hannah volunteered to stay and clean up the room while Irene went back to the clinic to pick up Leo.

"The house is great. We live on a whole floor. We have no neighbors. The landlord and other residents are all decent people," Irene said to Leo with a smile. "There's also a big fat cat in the yard with a big round belly."

Leo listened carefully, his beautiful eyes focused on Irene.

He liked to see Irene's lively smile. From the first time they met, he discovered that Irene was different from everyone else, very different.

She was so passionate and lively that she seemed unreal, and she never thought of giving up when faced with difficulties. It was hard to imagine that a family like John's could raise such a girl.

What's even harder to imagine is that a girl like this would be willing to hold his hand.

There were many people on the street, their shoulders were close together, and their wide sleeves concealed their secret love.

Leo closed his fingers and clasped them around Irene's fingertips.

Irene asked excitedly, "How about we go eat crawfish tonight? I heard there's a very famous restaurant on Bourbon Street. What do you think?"

Leo wanted to just nod, but he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have heard someone complain before, and felt that nodding as a response was perfunctory, as if it was dispensable.

But he didn't want to let go of Irene's hand and take out his notebook.

The boy stopped walking, and Irene was forced to stand still, a little confused, "Why..."

Leo opened her palm and replied with a simple 'Okey' with his calloused index finger lightly placed on her palm.

The calluses were hard and scratched her palms. Perhaps Leo was afraid that she wouldn't be able to feel the letters clearly, so he wrote them in large letters. The four letters were written from the bulging tendon sheath under the thumb of her palm to the four parallel fingers.

The boy's fingertips pressed against her skin, which was hot and sweaty. A tingling sensation arose where they passed through, and Irene couldn't help but curl her fingertips.

She seemed to have turned into the little notebook she had given to Leo, with clean white pages and the boy's slightly childish handwriting.

He was not satisfied with just one line, so he wrote another, like an amused child who wanted to pour out all his feelings.

There it is again, Leo always uses grammar incorrectly when he is nervous.

Erin licked her lips, her palms numb to the point of being almost unnoticeable, Leo was writing so hard that she could spell out what he had written without even looking.

It was very numb, all the way from the spine to the apex of the heart.

She didn't realize Leo had finished writing until a pair of soft lips gently touched her palm.

She looked at the boy's hairy whorls of hair, her lips were dry, her face was hot, but her body was trembling with nervousness and cold, and she could hardly stand.

Erin knew what to expect.

Leo looked up at her, his pupils were deep blue, like a pool of honey.

It is to give her unique sweetness.