Chapter 54 She needs to ask Leo clearly...
Irene patted the still damp soil on her hands and asked in confusion:
"How long has this tunnel been dug? Why is the soil still wet?"
"Maybe it's because of the water seepage from the recent rain." Hannah obviously didn't take it to heart. She was concentrating on identifying the direction at the fork in the road, and she was muttering to herself.
"But are we really just going to run away like this? Without leaving a note for Leo or anything?" Irene followed Hannah out of the so-called underground passage with trepidation.
It is called an underground passage, but in fact it is just a narrow road with many potholes. Hannah explained that it was dug in order to quickly escape from the city during the war. Leo also took this road to transport supplies from outside the blockade.
"No need, he doesn't even want to see you. There's no need to be nice to a man like him. He deserves to be taught a lesson." Hannah's dissatisfaction with Leo was clearly visible in her tone. She was obviously still angry because Leo didn't tell her about finding Irene.
Irene was about to say something, but then she changed her mind and realized that Leo hadn't come to see her in the past three days. It seemed that she was not very important to him.
The man's cold and sharp eyes appeared in front of Irene, and her mood seemed to fall to the bottom in an instant.
It doesn't matter, it's not like I won't be able to live without him. Irene's eyes were hot and she blinked hard. The smell of damp and rotten soil filled her nose.
It’s okay, Irene tried to persuade herself, people change, and for Leo, five years have passed.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t like her. Not everyone likes the RMB, let alone her.
Irene stared blankly at the corner of Hannah's lace-trimmed dress, and suddenly the crooked words that Leo had written on the boat appeared in her mind -
'Erin, you don't have to apologize to me. I will always like you and will never be angry with you.'
Liar, Irene tried her best to suppress the heat that was about to well up in her eyes.
He no longer likes her.
Naturally, all the words said and promises made in the past no longer count.
At least for him, it no longer counts.
Hannah was keenly aware that Irene was in a bad mood. She thought about it and knew it must be because of Leo. She whispered to comfort her:
"It's okay, miss. I met a lot of young and promising men in law school. When we get to New York, you can meet one a day. I guarantee you won't remember Leo at all. It's hard to find a three-legged toad, but is it hard to find a two-legged man?"
"We'll open a store after things stabilize. The clothing stores in New York are making more money than one another. The clothes Miss made four years ago were better than what they make now. Once Miss opens a store and does business, she will be able to easily crush them."
Hannah told Irene many interesting stories about her time in law school, from her work-study experience to winning awards in competitions. Her tone was full of pride, and it was obvious that she had had a very good time during the past two years of study.
"My teacher said I was the best girl he had ever taught, much better than many men. My dream is to make it possible for all women of color to go to school. There are only three girls in my class, and I am the only black one." Hannah's voice lowered unconsciously when she said this. She said in a low voice reluctantly,
"It was indeed Leo's credit that I was able to go to school. He had won military merits at the time, and he donated a large sum of money to the school, so that I could enter the law school."
"But I worked really hard when I was in school. I also helped him review many contracts and avoid many traps." When Hannah mentioned this, her voice got louder again, and she chattered to Irene to show off her abilities.
"Wow," Irene looked at Hannah with a smile and agreed enthusiastically, "Our Hannah is so outstanding."
If it weren't for the dirt on her hands, she would definitely hug Hannah right now.
When Hannah was praised by her, her whole body swelled up visibly like an inflatable bear, and she couldn't hide the pride between her brows.
Like an innocent child.
Irene couldn't help but think of Leo, who was able to raise Hannah so innocent during the war and even send Hannah to college.
Sending Hannah to college in the current environment of discrimination against blacks was a big deal. This was a time when many white men couldn't get into college, but Hannah got in.
Irene couldn't imagine how much Leo had paid for this opportunity.
These were clearly the promises she made to Hannah and Leo, and Leo did not need to take any responsibility for Hannah.
But the child, who had difficulty speaking and writing before, took on her responsibilities when she was not around.
The constant tingling sensation at the back of her head seemed to have disappeared. It was as if Irene's soul had floated out of her body, staring coldly at her stiff and cold body.
"Speaking of which, what did he do to get his military merit?"
Obviously a long time has passed, and Leo is safe and sound now, but when Irene asked this question, her heart seemed to be in her throat. She was looking forward to hearing how Leo got the military merit, but she was also afraid that the result would be as scary as she guessed.
Trembling with fear, like a prisoner on trial.
Hannah was silent for a moment. She heard the nervousness in Irene's tone, and she knew what she should say now. According to the agreement she and Leo had made a long time ago, she should tell Irene now only because Leo successfully helped the military deliver a confidential document.
"It's all in the past. Don't make her worry anymore. I'm not dead anyway."
Leo, who was lying on the hospital bed with no good flesh on his thighs, curled the corners of his lips in self-mockery. His messy blond hair was stuck to his skin by the sweat of pain, making him look pitiful and embarrassed.
The people sitting in the nearby beds were women who came to visit their husbands or sons. They wiped their tears and comforted the injured, making the area around Leo's bed seem particularly deserted.
There was nothing on the bedside table except a portrait of a young lady that she had brought with her.
Hannah heard Leo say in a low voice again,
'It's hard to say. Maybe even if she comes back, she won't ask me what happened to me. Maybe she has already forgotten me.'
When Leo said this, he was as calm as a dead man. There was no sadness or pain in his eyes, as if he had already accepted the fact that the young lady would never come back.
Soon after, Hannah received Leo's notarized will. As the sole heir to the estate, she was responsible for keeping the trust established by Leo running until she found Irene two hundred years later.
Everyone who knew about this, including her, thought Leo was crazy.
Until he exchanged his life for the second highest military honor, Leo exchanged the opportunity to be awarded the medal for a promise - a promise about two hundred years later.
"What did Leo go through to get the military merit?" Looking at the dazed Hannah, Irene couldn't help but ask again, her tone full of anxiety.
Why did Hannah freeze when she asked about Leo's military achievements? Irene couldn't help but feel an ominous feeling in her heart, and this feeling reached its peak when she saw Hannah's face getting worse and worse.
What on earth did Leo go through in those five years, and what was the story behind the trust that was still looking for her two hundred years later and Ian's ancestors who had her photos stored in them?
This is two hundred years. In fact, some countries have only been established for less than two hundred years. How did Leo manage to keep them looking for her?
Irene's voice, with a hint of worry, woke Hannah from her memories.
Hannah shook her head vigorously, and anger surged in her chest. Whenever she recalled Leo's military achievements, she couldn't help but get angry.
Why did Leo think that the young lady would forget them? Why did Leo selfishly set her as the heir to the estate? Why did Leo risk his life to find the young lady and send her to school, and even didn't tell her about the young lady as soon as she came back?
If Ian hadn't let it slip, she wouldn't have known that the young lady had returned.
Damn selfish bastard, Hannah cursed Leo in her heart.
Turning her head again, she met Irene's worried eyes, and the words she was about to say suddenly choked in her throat.
A thought suddenly popped up in her mind - why did she and Leo think that such things should be kept secret from the young lady.
It was obviously the young lady who rescued them from the most desperate situation. It was the young lady who thought of solutions to all the problems they had encountered before, and the young lady never hid anything from them when she encountered difficulties.
She and Leo naturally couldn't hide it from the lady. Sometimes it only takes a thought to turn sides.
Hannah said, "He went to the enemy camp to steal intelligence. It was very difficult to move. Ten people went, but he was the only one who came back alive. When he came back, the flesh on his thigh was almost completely rotten. He stayed in the hospital for almost half a year before he barely recovered. During that time, he was put in the emergency room many times."
Hannah's voice was particularly clear in the empty tunnel, and Irene also clearly heard the fear in her tone.
Her mind went blank for a moment. Irene wondered blankly what it meant for the thigh meat to be almost rotten.
Maybe it was because the oxygen content in the underground passage was too low, but she could hardly breathe.
"What happened next? Did he retire?" Irene heard her own voice ringing in her ears. She seemed to have lost the ability to think and didn't know how she asked this question.
"No, he went to a secret unit in the army after his injury healed. Most people thought he was just sneaking across the blockade to trade, but in fact, this was also a way to cover up his true purpose," Hannah said briefly this time.
"Leo received several special military merits after that. After the war, the government wanted to award him a medal, but he refused. He used the opportunity to be awarded a medal to establish a state-recognized trust institution, which seems to have started operating now. I heard that it has made a lot of money. Leo donated part of the money to post-disaster reconstruction."
Hannah's voice seemed to come from far away, and it made Irene shiver all over.
No wonder the trust could exist until the 21st century, no wonder Ian and his team kept their promise, and no wonder she could find Leo.
Her chest felt like it was stuffed with a ball of cotton, making it almost impossible for Irene to utter a word. A strong sense of guilt overwhelmed her.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me this,” Erin heard herself ask.
"Leo won't let us tell you," Hannah said with a slightly dissatisfied tone, "I don't understand why he asked us to keep it a secret from you. What's there to hide? He fought for military merit just to make money. What does that have to do with the young lady?"
Of course it is related. How can it not be related?
Irene was almost unable to breathe due to the sudden news. She reached out to hold onto the wall in embarrassment, her fingertips dug into the sticky mud, and a cold and suffocating feeling quickly enveloped her, as if she had fallen into an icy cave.
The only purpose of that trust was to find her, how could this have nothing to do with her.
From 1865 to 2025, a full 160 years, it has been running for so long that it has brought her back to the 19th century.
Irene had taken finance as an elective course, so she naturally knew that a trust institution, even with the support of the country and the government, would consume most of the energy of the person in charge in its early stages of operation. And if she wanted it to survive long enough, she would naturally have to spend more effort.
"Hannah, do you know where I have been all these years?" Irene suddenly asked without even thinking, "Do you know that I came from two hundred years later?"
The girl suddenly froze. She turned around in surprise. Her shocked eyes clearly told Irene that she didn't know about this.
If Hannah didn't know, then what about Leo? What kind of mentality was he in when he was looking for her?
He didn't know where she was and could only look for her aimlessly like looking for a needle in a haystack. How desperate it was.
Irene blinked and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Hannah's lips trembled violently. She took a deep breath and whispered:
"Leo and I exchanged messages afterwards. The birthday that the young lady told me was different from the one I knew. Plus, the young lady suddenly learned how to make clothes and speak different languages. We both thought that the young lady had been possessed by an unknown spirit. When the young lady first disappeared, Leo searched for many witches and wizards for a while, but found nothing."
"So you are from the future. No wonder we couldn't find any information about you."
There was a sharp and intense tinnitus in Irene's mind, and her hands and feet were very cold. Hannah was clearly beside her, but Irene felt that her voice was getting closer and farther away.
This won't work. Irene clearly realized one thing -
She got to see Leo.
She had to see Leo now.
She wanted to find out why Leo had been looking for her for so long.
She needed a reason.
The thought in her mind expanded rapidly, and Irene didn't even bother to say anything to Hannah. She stepped on the soft soil, turned around and ran back the way she came.
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