Chapter 138: Rather Improper
Chapter 138: Chapter 138: Rather Improper
The village was remote and isolated, with few opportunities to make money, so the village chief placed great importance on this group of cash cows who had shown up on his doorstep.
Just as the group finished their meal, the village chief returned with good news.
"It’s all set! I just went and asked my nephew for you. He agreed."
"Your nephew?"
"That’s right. My brother-in-law and his wife are working out of town, so my nephew is the only one at home right now. As long as he agrees, there’s no problem."
Arabella Donovan rubbed her chin, a faint, unreadable smile on her face.
’This family is really something. The adults are off working, leaving a young man at home to hold down the fort. It seems my feeling was right—he’s just a lazy bum who wants to coast. Even if he was tasked with looking after Miss Preston, he probably wouldn’t have paid her much attention. That’s how he could ignore her illness, letting it drag on and on until the person was gone.’
Dennis Donovan clenched his jaw so hard his cheek twitched.
’But this is good, too. If he can take one payment, he can take a second. As long as we give him enough money, we can walk right into the house in broad daylight. Then we can just sneak Miss Preston out when he’s not looking.’
After that thought, even Arabella felt something was off.
’Huh, why did I use the word "sneak"? It sounds like I’m trying to steal her away for an affair. So scandalous.’
Caspian Rhodes: Pfft...
Justin Donovan: "..."
Dennis Donovan’s old face flushed red. ’So you do know it sounds improper, you little rascal. Honestly!’ he thought.
"That’s great," Arabella said. "Since the owner has already agreed, and seeing as it’s getting late, could we go over and take a look now? Then tomorrow we can take my grandpa to the hot springs."
To avoid arousing the village chief’s suspicion, Arabella Donovan kept the official purpose of their visit in mind.
"Oh, right. Are the hot springs far from his house?"
"Not far, not far. There are pools just two or three hundred meters behind their house."
"That’s good. Grandpa, should we go over... and see now?"
"Alright. You’ve planned this out well. We’ll follow your lead. Let’s go now."
The group proceeded toward the Preston Family’s house. From a distance, they spotted a standalone, two-story Western-style villa. It clearly had some age; moss and other green plants crawled up its walls, reaching all the way to the roof.
In a village where nearly everyone lived in simple, tiled-roof houses, it truly stood out from the crowd.
As they drew closer, they saw a young man in his early twenties standing under a dim yellow light. He was dressed in casual clothes with a cigarette dangling from his lips, exuding a devil-may-care attitude.
When he saw Arabella’s group approaching, his eyes lit up. Before they were even close, his gaze blatantly swept over them, sizing them up.
"So you’re the ones who want to stay at my house?"
"Yes, we might need to stay here for three or four nights."
"Sure. Eight hundred per person per night. No, a thousand. On top of that, you’ll have to pay a two-day security deposit."
As soon as Shawn Preston said this, before Arabella and the others could even react, the village chief’s expression had already changed.
"Shawn, what nonsense are you spouting? Didn’t we just agree that a token fee of two or three hundred a night would be fine? This isn’t a hotel! A thousand a night, per person? Are you robbing them?"
"Oh, come on, Uncle. Look around! We’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s already a great act of mercy that I’m willing to take in strangers like them. What’s wrong with asking for a little more money? Sure, hotels out there are nice, but there aren’t any here, are there? You can’t just magically make one appear, can you?"
As Shawn Preston spoke, he pulled the village chief aside and whispered, "Besides, Uncle, look at how they’re dressed. Do they look like they’re short on cash? I heard all about what happened this afternoon. You don’t leave the village much, you haven’t seen the world, so you can’t tell they’re loaded. I, on the other hand, at least spent some time at my cousin’s place with my parents before. I know those cars they drive are called Porsches, and each one costs at least this much."
Shawn Preston made a gesture with his hand. The village chief paused, then asked cautiously, "Two hundred thousand?"
"Over two million."
The village chief sucked in a sharp breath. "That..."
"So, you see, a thousand or so is nothing to them. It’s just pocket change that slips through their fingers."
As the uncle and nephew whispered to each other, Arabella wore a complicated expression.
’Is it trendy now to whisper plots right in front of the people you’re plotting against? Do they not know sound only travels so far? We’re just a few steps away. Do they really think we’re all deaf?’
Justin Donovan and the others were speechless. ’Maybe they think we have some kind of built-in noise-canceling feature?’
’But is this guy treating us like lambs to the slaughter? Whatever. With his gaunt cheeks and upturned nostrils—the face of someone who can’t hold onto wealth—he wouldn’t be able to keep the money no matter how much we give him. Once we rescue Miss Preston, however he swallowed this money, we’ll make him spit it all back out.’
Completely unaware that the rest of his life had already been planned out for him, Shawn Preston, after finishing his whispers with the village chief, didn’t forget to continue boasting about his old house.
"What’s that saying? Rarity makes things valuable. Our house is the rarest thing around here. Since you want to stay here, you’ve got to show some sincerity, right?"
As Shawn Preston spoke, he rubbed his fingers together suggestively. Justin Donovan turned to look at his sister. They exchanged a look of understanding, and he said, "Alright. As you said, we’ll book four nights and add a two-day deposit. The total will be sixty thousand. Here’s thirty thousand."
"Thirty thousand!" The village chief finally snapped out of the shock from Shawn’s earlier explanation. Seeing the thirty thousand immediately transferred into Shawn Preston’s hand, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
Shawn was also incredibly excited, secretly regretting that if he had known these people were such easy marks, he should have quoted a higher price.
"I’ll give you credit, you know a good thing when you see it. For miles around, a place with conditions as good as ours is definitely number one. You won’t regret this price. If you find it comfortable, come again next time." After speaking, Shawn still couldn’t suppress his ecstatic joy, letting out a low laugh as he led the group inside.
The village chief followed behind, repeatedly apologizing to Arabella and the others. He claimed the "kid" was just ignorant and being greedy, and that he had no idea his nephew would do such a thing, or he would have stopped him.
But Arabella and the others had already seen right through him. The uncle and nephew were two of a kind.
The only difference was that Shawn Preston was only thinking of using this opportunity to make a huge score, while the chief was hoping Arabella’s group would visit a few more times, bringing more money with them each time.
"Your rooms are downstairs. There are exactly three, so you can divide them up yourselves. You can use anything in the rooms, but if you break something, you have to pay for it. Oh, right, you’re also responsible for your own meals. I don’t cook, and the money you gave me doesn’t include that."
"You little punk..." The village chief was angered by his shameless, rascally behavior.
Arabella, however, twitched her nose, her eyes lighting up.
’I smell medicine!’