[Shout out to Ricardo S. and Sahal I!]
We waited for the sweet potatoes to cool before eating them. While we waited, Sophia and Roman turned their attention back to their toys to pass the time.
"Guys, I think we can eat them now." I touched the potatoes and confirmed that they were no longer hot.
Roman helped Sophia stand up. They approached the table where I was peeling the sweet potatoes.
"This is for my little girl."
I gave Sophia a small piece, knowing she would not eat it all. She had eaten chocolate earlier and her stomach was full.
They both started to eat the sweet potatoes.
Of course I ate them too. They were new crops and tasted good and sweet. Unlike the potatoes in town, these were big and fresh.
We were eating when we suddenly heard the children shouting happily.
That caught our attention and we looked out the window.
Then we realized that Penelope and the others had returned. They seemed to be carrying some bags.
The children were excited. I carried Sophia and Roman followed behind me.
As we walked out of the house, we saw their spouses and children greeting the family.
From the look on their faces, it seemed that the negotiations had been successful.
"Mommy!" Sophia giggled, wanting to hug her mother. It was good that I was exercising, otherwise, I would lose my strength because my daughter was moving too much.
I took the two children to their mother. Penelope was carrying a basket of corn and potatoes.
"I helped mother and father carry the ingredients for tomorrow's Christmas Eve."
So that was why they were carrying sacks. When I looked at the sacks, I noticed that most of them were dry wood. They were probably going to use it as firewood.
We exchanged what we were carrying. I carried the basket, which was surprisingly heavy, while Penelope carried Sophia.
"Aww, how's my cute little girl? Did you miss Mommy?"
"Yes, I miss Mommy a lot!"
"En." Roman nodded and stood beside her.
I looked around and saw the other families greeting the returnees. Everyone was smiling, probably because they knew that money arrived.
"I'll take the basket to the kitchen," I said, moving forward.
"Don't strain yourself."
Oh, come on, honey, it's only one basket. I could carry two or more baskets if I had to.
As I walked to the kitchen, the other men followed, and one by one we placed the items in the kitchen. These things and ingredients would be used tomorrow on Christmas Eve.
I even heard that Alberto was going to kill three goats to celebrate Christmas.
The house was lively. There were almost 50 people in the house whispering excitedly.
All I can say is that this family is huge. The three generations could fill a classroom.
"Everyone, listen. We talked earlier. The money has already been divided and I gave each family one hundred thousand. The village chief witnessed everything and nothing bad happened." Corazon explained.
It seemed that they had already counted and divided the money. Maybe that was why they took so long to return.
I looked at my wife and she nodded at me.
We both smiled for a moment. There was no other way, our family needed money and the 100 thousand pesos were important to us.
"Now you can check it again when you return to your room. We will get up early tomorrow to kill the goats. Simeon will go to town early in the morning to buy more ingredients.
Everyone agreed and went back to their rooms. When we entered the room, Penelope pulled out an envelope and sat down in the chair.
I sat next to her and watched her count the money. 100 pieces of 1,000 peso bills, exactly.
We have 20 thousand in the bank, 19 thousand in the luggage, and 100 thousand...
"Honey, I think we can really start a business." Penelope sighed with relief and hugged me.
"Yes, 139 thousand. We have to use it properly."
Life was hard for us. No, life was hard for everyone. Maybe only a few people had it better.
Maybe only 10 percent of the total population lived their lives to the fullest, without fear of hunger, without fear of disease, without fear of poverty... Now, I have no statistical analysis to prove this, but who cares?
For me, all I wanted was for my family to feel safe and healthy. So I want my family to be part of that 10 percent.
"Let's follow Simeon into town and put the money in the bank. You have your BDO ATM card, right?" She said, rubbing her face against my chest.
"Yes, I also have my ID and birth certificate."
Carrying a large amount of money could be dangerous, so it was better to put it in a safe place, which was the bank.
To be honest, I didn't feel safe leaving the money in our room. 100 thousand was a huge amount and someone might be possessed by the devil and try to steal it from us.
There is also Señorita. I don't know what she will do.
We promised to stay in the province and spend Christmas and New Year's here. We were going to see Senorita whether we liked it or not.
I rubbed her hair and we stayed like that for a few seconds until Sophia joined us.
"Mommy, Dajjy, me too! I want a hug too!"
"Come here, sweetie."
"Hehe." She giggled as she joined us and received hug.
"Roman, join us too." Penelope offered.
"Since you asked me, I will reluctantly join you."
We both laughed at Roman's answer. With the two children between us, we hugged each other like it was no other day.
[Hi, I just want to promote my other novels:]
1) MC is not part of the story
- This novel is already finished with 526 chapters.
2) The only fuel is using the D.
-This is my most read novel for some obvious reasons, ahem.
3) Reincarnated As A Deadbeat Dad
-This is a new novel. A slow progressive slice of life about a deadbeat dad.
- Mc returned to Hollywood in 1994.
[I post my novels mostly on NovelHub, NovelHub, RoyalRoad and Questionable Questing].