Chapter 230 Joyful Dinner
"Bang~"
Simple fireworks opened in the church, scattering glittering colorful particles, decorating the candlelit environment hazy and dreamy.
"I declare that tonight's party has begun!"
Standing on a tall chair, Ruby announced loudly and cheerfully with a paper microphone, and then raised two fingers high. This was like a signal, and fireworks exploded in the hall one after another, various gorgeous light spots fell, and the children's cheers came one after another. The long table in the middle of the hall
was now filled with various prepared delicacies. The most eye-catching one was the five-layer cake in the middle. On the top of the cake was a red gem apple, which was particularly beautiful.
This was a special extraordinary apple specially ordered during the purchase, and it will be given to the children in the church as a prize tonight.
Surrounding the cake in the middle were all kinds of delicious food, including golden and crispy lamb legs sprinkled with cumin, steaming and fragrant Thousand Layer Meat Pie, sweet melon slices like emerald, cod soup as fragrant as milk, crispy yellow dumplings after frying, vegetable strips sprinkled with seasoning and roasted, and all kinds of delicious and refreshing drinks. The various colors were put together, just like a rainbow.
Twelve people in Tilan's group, the children in the church, and Pastor Boyce, all gathered in the hall of the church. The pastor, who used to be poor, smiled today and sat at the top.
Because of the help of Valk and others, he could enjoy the food on the table quietly and easily today, instead of taking care of the children in the church all the time like usual.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you angels, thank you this beautiful world, for allowing us to gather here." He raised the small wine glass, then took a sip, and the wrinkles on his brows were also relaxed.
"Pastor, you have worked hard, so relax tonight." Valk stood beside him, patted his back, and suggested in the midst of noisy laughter.
"Ah... I will, I will, Valk, you are very good, you have grown up." The pastor looked at Valk, who was taller than him, and there seemed to be some warm liquid in his eyes.
Years of hesitation, anxiety, shame, self-abandonment, and uneasiness were finally slowly soothed at this moment, and the previous efforts were finally rewarded, which made him feel at ease.
Everything I did was not useless, but also valuable and meaningful. Thinking of this, he sat on the chair, leaned back slowly, and his body gradually relaxed.
The cheerful scene in front of him became hazy and blurred under the effect of tears, but the golden splendor of the candlelit hall and the various laughter were so beautiful.
Yes, what I did was still valuable after all, even if there were children who died in the middle, children who left, children who hated me, and children who resented me, but at least at this moment, I no longer regret it.
After all, he was just a mortal. It was a rare blessing to have the gathering today. The loss more than ten years ago, the mistakes he made in the middle, the uneasiness and shame, and the anxiety and hesitation that followed were finally ironed out.
"There is no regret anymore..." When this thought came to his mind, the fatigue accumulated over the years slowly surged into his heart. He no longer resisted and slowly let this feeling overwhelm him.
During the dinner party where the children were chattering, various sounds filled the hall. Ruby and several of her companions sat among the children, guiding and taking care of them, watching them play finger-guessing games, arguing and competing, and then seeing who could get first place and get the red gem apple on the top of the cake.
"Haha, I won~" The winning child raised his arm high, with cream on his face and the other hand holding the unfinished big chicken leg.
"Oh, I lost." The child opposite sat on the chair disappointedly, and the roasted ham in his arms was no longer fragrant.
"It's okay, there are still many delicious foods and drinks~" Ruby shook the bell on her wrist to attract the child's attention, and then handed him a cup of light green and fragrant fruit milk.
"Thank you, sister Ruby~" After drinking the delicious drink, the child smiled again.
On the other side, the gentle black-haired Tilan sat on a chair holding a picture book and told the stories in it to several children around her. Her voice was so clear even in such a noisy environment, as if she was whispering directly in her ear. Listening to her story, the children who were holding food sometimes gradually forgot to continue because of the vividness of the story.
Across the long table, Jin Senke flipped the light toy gun in his hand and introduced it to the children around him, then raised it and fired at the target hanging on the wall, and then there were a few light pops, and several sponge bullets shot on it.
"I want to play, give it to me, big brother~"
"I want to play too~" The children rushed to grab it, and they didn't even care about the sumptuous dinner.
"Hahaha, it's okay, I have plenty here, haha." Jinsenk took out a bunch of colorful plastic toy guns from his back like a magician and distributed them to the children.
At this moment of joy, someone noticed Reverend Boyce who was slowly leaning in the seat at the top.
"Reverend, what's wrong? Wake up." Someone walked over and lifted him up and shook him a few times, but it didn't seem to work, so he panicked.
This scene was noticed by others, and soon the laughter in the hall stopped. Everyone gathered around the pastor, and Tilan also came to Pastor Boyce and pressed her finger on his forehead to carefully sense and check.
After a while, she opened her eyes and looked at the concerned eyes around her and spoke.
"It's okay, the pastor is just too tired on weekdays, and he fell asleep now." After she finished speaking, everyone was relieved.
"I'll take Pastor Boyce back to rest, and keep watch by the side. Everyone can continue with dinner." Valk stood up and took the initiative to suggest.
"I'll go with you, I need to give the pastor a simple treatment." Tilan said.
So, Valk picked up the pastor, and the two gradually walked out of the church hall, crossed the corridor, and came to the quiet room in the backyard.
After putting the pastor on the bed, Valk covered him with a thin quilt, and then asked Tilan.
"Is the priest really just too tired?" He was a little skeptical, because when he patted the priest's back before, he felt that the priest's body was actually very weak and a little shaky, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even make it through tonight's banquet.
"He fell asleep because he was too tired, but he also had a lot of problems. If he doesn't get treated and recuperated, there will probably be all kinds of accidents in the future." Tilan placed the narrator above the priest, closed his eyes and whispered, and then a faint halo emerged, making the priest's breathing more stable while sleeping.
"I will cast a calming spell formula now, which can soothe his consciousness and let him enter a deep and stable sleep. After tonight, the situation should be much better."
"But, we can't let the priest be so tired alone." Then the two sat next to the priest, and while taking care of him, Valk also talked about the big and small things that happened when he was a child. "
When I was a child, I only thought that the priest was sometimes in a bad temper, or rarely cared about us. Later, I found that he had too many things to do." Valk shook his head as he looked at the sleeping priest.
"Have you ever thought of asking someone?" Tilan asked.
"I should have thought about it, but the church is not rich and can't afford to charge high prices. I guess other people are not willing to come. After all, there is no future. Similar jobs are usually done by the elderly, and the population of this town is only a few hundred, which is too small. No one is willing to come here to do it
." "I didn't think it through before. Later, I will use the scholarship of the academy to let the pastor hire two more helpers, so that he should be able to relax a lot." Valk sighed.
"This should be much better." Tilan nodded, and then thought of other things.
"What about those children of your age, I mean where are the grown-up children now?"
"Some were adopted, some found jobs on their own, and some... maybe they went astray."
"Because of their poor backgrounds, their peers have limited education, and most of their jobs are not high. It is difficult to have enough money to support the church. Therefore, over the years, there has been no increase in manpower. Even I have gotten used to it and forgotten it. Now, almost all the things in the church are done by the pastor alone."
"It can't be like this in the future." He stood up, walked back and forth, and envisioned the division of labor and plans in the church in the future.
"It's not too late to find out now. We can occasionally contact our former partners and ask them to send some emails back. Even if there is no financial support, the pastor should be relieved to see that the children of the past are now living a stable life." Tilan suggested.
"These are all fine, but..." Valk thought of a familiar name. It
would be great if he could come back, never mind, let's stop thinking about it, he shook his head.
However, after a long silence, he still slowly mentioned the name, "In fact, among our group of children, in addition to me who has the best talent, there is another child who was once expected by the pastor...but the subsequent development was not so good."
"His name is Grid, and he was also my best friend, or brother." Slowly, Valk recalled many past events.
From which day did the two originally similar people each go to different forks in the road?
Good night~ Good dreams everyone
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
