Silly Bride novel (Winnie and Xavier)
Chapter 174

"I was in a rush just now, so there are a few details I haven't cleared up with you yet. It's rather inconvenient for me to sit in the back right now," Winnie explained. "Oh." Josiah let out a sigh silently. He thought that something was up with himself since he still felt nervous.

He had already come around, telling himself that Winnie was the wife of his good friend. Thus, he could not and should not harbor any feelings for her.

In an attempt to divert his attention, he changed the topic. "What's in this briefcase of yours?"

"Huh?"

"What is it?" Josiah inquired and could not help but turn to glance at Winnie as he felt that her tone was off.

As expected, she was frowning. "Were you daydreaming just now? I asked you a question. Didn't you hear me?"

"Eh?" Josiah was rather shocked. "You asked me something?"

"I did," she affirmed.

"Oh gosh." He smacked himself on the head. "I didn't hear you at all. Can you repeat yourself?"

Winnie stated, "I asked you whether you've asked around with the townspeople here. Yolanda said that Old Mr. Xander hasn't been able to move freely as of late. There's no way that nobody but she has seen Old Mr. Xander, right?"

"Oh, that?" Josiah hit the steering wheel. "I didn't have time to ask around yesterday. I barely managed to exchange a few sentences with her before she had me escorted off to the police station."

"I see. In that case, you can go and ask around nearby while I talk to her later."

"Sure. Leave it to me."

The car arrived at the destination in no time.

Even though the Xanders were said to live in seclusion, their residence was not located in an especially remote area.

Yaleview was also known as a mountain city and the city of medicine due to its mountainous landscape. Hence, one could see hills all around them with a lift of their head even though they were in a bustling urban area.

Since it was a mountainous area, there were a lot of wild herbs to be found. Winnie presumed that was why the old traditional medicine practitioner, Sebastian Xander, chose that place to live in seclusion. The Xander residence was a mansion. There were two stories, as well as a huge front courtyard.

At the distance of roughly a dozen meters to the left and right side of the mansions were where a few other residents stayed.

The rest of the houses were mansions as well, and the neighbors' front courtyards were either filled with all kinds of greenery or vegetables. However, the Xander residence's courtyard was covered in herbs. Winnie carefully took a look around the surroundings before opening the door and getting out of the car.

Seeing that she had hidden the briefcase she brought with her under the seat with no intention of taking it with her, Josiah could not help but ask, "Are you not taking that inside?"

"No. This is a secret tool," she revealed.

"Do you want me to give you the car keys, then? You might need them," he offered.

"Sure." As she spoke, she took the keys from his hand.

They got out of the car on opposite sides. Winnie immediately went to the trunk and took some gifts out.

Josiah piped up, "When did you put those in there? I didn't even notice."

"You were sleeping at the time. It's no surprise that you were chased out, considering that you didn't even think of this."

There was an innocent expression on the man's face. "Most of the time, other people are the ones asking me to do things for them. I haven't asked anyone for a favor before, so I don't know how to send someone a gift properly."

"There's always a bigger fish," Winnie teased. "You should keep that in mind, Dr. Houghton."

The two of them went separate ways.

Josiah had gone to seek information while Winnie knocked on the door of the Xander residence. She had not waited outside the iron gate for long before a middle-aged woman stepped out.

From the looks of it, she seemed to be the Xander family's housekeeper.

"Who are you looking for? Where are you from? I know everyone around here, but I haven't seen you before," the housekeeper interrogated Winnie in a fluent Yaleview dialect.

The Yaleview dialect was very distinct from the standard speech, but Winnie was already prepared for it.

Even though she was not the best at speaking it, she could completely understand the Yaleview dialect.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm not from around here. A year ago, Old Mr. Xander saved one of my friends. He's from a poor family, so he wasn't able to thank Old Mr. Xander properly back then. Now that I am capable of doing so, I decided to come and visit Old Mr. Xander. Here, take a look at this."

As Winnie spoke, she raised her hands to show the gifts.

"Can I go in and see Old Mr. Xander? If not for his heroic actions, my friend might not even be alive right now."

"Last year?" The housekeeper thought about it and felt that Winnie had quite a good attitude. With that, she switched to using their country's standard speech, though it sounded a bit unnatural. "Old Mr. Xander saved quite a few people last year. Which one are you talking about?"

"The one with dysentery. His name is Leonard Ziegler," Winnie answered.

"Oh, that child! I remember him. He was indeed in quite a severe condition when he was brought here. It was because of his family being poor that he was unable to get treated at the most critical time. How is he doing now? His body is doing fine, isn't it?" the housekeeper exclaimed.

"Thank you for your concern, ma'am. He's doing well right now. In that case, could you go in and let Old Mr. Xander know about my visit?" Winnie requested.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," the housekeeper replied.

"Why? Is he busy today?" Winnie asked.

"Yes. Old Mr. Xander really treasures those herbs of his; he values them more than his life, spending the entire day looking after them in the herb fields. He's got no time to greet you. Old Mr. Xander has saved many people over the course of his life. If every one of them had someone come to express their gratitude, then he wouldn't have time for anything. He'd have to stay at home welcoming guests all day," the housekeeper explained.

She continued, "You should go back. I will tell Old Mr. Xander about your kind intentions, but you don't have to come again. Take those gifts with you, too. He doesn't accept valuable gifts." Winnie nodded and did not protest any further.

In a heartfelt tone, she expressed, "Old Mr. Xander is such an admirable man. Could I ask you something, though? If someone happens to suffer from a complicated illness that modern medicine can't solve, can they come looking for Old Mr. Xander?"

"Oh, you mean coming to see him for treatment? That's acceptable. After all, Old Mr. Xander's life philosophy is to save lives. You can bring the sick here, but you shouldn't disturb Old Mr. Xander for no reason," the housekeeper said.

"I see. Thank you, ma'am. To be honest, my husband has been suffering from a strange illness lately. I'd like to take him here in the afternoon for a consultation. If Old Mr. Xander is at home at noon, could you deliver the message on my behalf?" Winnie voiced.

"Sure! I'll tell Old Mr. Xander at noon. You can come back again in the afternoon," the housekeeper agreed.

Once Winnie returned to the car, she gave Josiah a call.

When he heard the outcome of the situation on her side, he could not help but curse under his breath.

"Why didn't I bump into that housekeeper yesterday? If I had, then I wouldn't have ended up getting arrested by the police," he grumbled.

"Maybe you were just unlucky. Where are you right now? I'll drive over to you. Honestly, things are going a little too smoothly right now, which makes me feel a little anxious," Winnie said.

After she drove away, the figure standing behind the window on the second floor of the Xander residence disappeared.

Yolanda went downstairs to see the housekeeper. "You should take some time off. Come back when I tell you to."

"Huh?" The housekeeper was rather confused. “I just came back today. Have I done something wrong? Are you firing me?"

"I'm not firing you. I just want to let you take some time off. Pack your things and get going. We don't need you here for the time being," Yolanda insisted.

The housekeeper protested, "But—"

Yolanda interrupted, "No buts. It's a paid vacation. You'll get your salary as usual.”

Winnie met up with Josiah.

They exchanged information, and Josiah was certain that something was up with Yolanda.

"I asked the people around here. Unlike what Yolanda said, Old Mr. Xander doesn't have a hard time moving around at all. He even gives people checkups all the time. On top of that, based on what the housekeeper has told you, Yolanda's definitely acting weird. She's plotting against us!" he exclaimed.

He added, "I've never even seen her before nor offended her. Did you or Xavier do something to offend her? No, that doesn't make sense, either. I didn't bring you two up at all yesterday. How would she know that Xavier wants to seek treatment?"

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