دفء الشتاء: شعور بالانتماء في بلد أجنبي

At Zimmer’s Villa in Niumhi. It was beaming with lights.

That night was Senior Zimmer’s seventieth birthday party, and it was filled with numerous guests.

All of his children and grandchildren presented him with gifts and said in unison, “We wish that Senior Zimmer is always blessed with good health and long life.”

Senior Zimmer appeared quite rosy and energetic as he sat on his chair. He replied, “Good. All of you are indeed quite obedient. I’m very happy today, so I’ll grant each and everyone of you a wish! Just tell me what you want.”

“Grandpa, I want an apartment near the ocean. It’s not expensive and it’s only over a million dollars…”

“Grandpa, I want a Chanel limited edition bag…”

“Grandpa, I want a BMW sports car…”

“Grandpa, I want a Rolex watch…”

“...”

“Fine. I’ll grant every one of your wishes!” Senior Zimmer gave them his promise without any hesitation.

The young children who asked for the gifts were overjoyed. They nearly kneeled down on the floor in gratitude.

Looking at their facial expressions, Senior Zimmer was delighted too. He was feeling gratified.

At that moment, a son-in-law from the Zimmers—Harvey York, stepped forward all of a sudden. He said, “Grandpa, could you please buy me a scooter? It’s more convenient for me to go and buy some vegetables…”

In that instant, everyone from the Zimmers was shocked. Almost everyone was stunned as they looked at Harvey in disbelief.

Had the son-in-law lost his mind? What kind of occasion was that? How could a son-in-law ask for something?

Besides, he did not even prepare a present for Senior Zimmer during the birthday party. How could he be so shameless to ask for something from Senior Zimmer? He even asked for nothing but a scooter. Did he want to humiliate Senior Zimmer intentionally?

Three years ago, they did not know where Grandma Zimmer found a man called Harvey. She forced her eldest granddaughter to marry him. At that time, Harvey was a poor man and was no different from a beggar.

However, on the day of their marriage, Grandma Zimmer passed away. Since then, everyone from the Zimmers looked down on him. For the past three years, Harvey did all kinds of menial work for the Zimmers. He had to prepare water for the others to wash their feet. Besides that, he was in charge of cooking too. He indeed led quite a pathetic life there.

Now, he voiced out and asked for a scooter. It was indeed the best of a bad bunch.

The scooter at home was stolen by someone when he went and bought the vegetables the day before. He was poor and had no money, so he could only voice out his wish at that moment.

Since Senior Zimmer was quite happy, Harvey felt that he would certainly grant his wish since it was such a small matter.

Senior Zimmer appeared quite happy just now but his face darkened all of a sudden.

He threw the glass from his hand and it shattered on the floor. He then shouted angrily, “B*stard! Did you come to attend the birthday party or did you come to ruin it for everybody?”

Harvey’s wife, Mandy Zimmer rushed forward and explained, “Grandpa, Harvey is insensible. Today is a happy day. Don’t be angry because of him.”

Then, she dragged Harvey aside.

At that moment, Mandy’s cousin, Quinn Zimmer sneered. “Mandy, take a look at your useless husband! What occasion do we have today? It’s grandpa’s seventieth birthday party. He came empty-handed. How dare he ask for something from grandpa? When did he become so daring?”

“That’s true. He has no manners. How could he ask for something? Didn’t he see so many guests here today? It’s indeed humiliating!” The person who voiced out was Senior Zimmer’s most beloved grandson—Zack Zimmer. He always disliked Mandy. Now he found the chance to mock her.

“What a useless b*stard! What right does he have to stay in our family?”

“Yes! He humiliated us!”

“I see it now. He did it intentionally to annoy us! He wanted to ruin grandpa’s happy mood!”

“What a useless person! We have so many servants here in the family. Do we need you to go and buy vegetables?”

“You don’t even work hard for it. How shameless! Do you think that you’re significant to us?”

“Get lost this instant! I’ll beat you up if you humiliate us more!”

“...”

Listening to the condemnation and accusations from the Zimmers, Harvey could not help but look down.

Three years ago, Harvey might have died a violent death if Grandma Zimmer had not taken him in. It was also why he never complained about doing all kinds of menial tasks for the Zimmers for the past three years.

“Grandpa, the manager from York Enterprise—Don Xander has come to wish you on your birthday!” Somebody said at the door.

Soon, a tall and handsome man entered the hall with a smile.

York Enterprise was a family business that belonged to the most influential family—the Yorks in South Light.

Moreover, Don was one of the project managers working for York Enterprise. He came from a good family background, and held an important and prestigious position in the company. A lot of families in Niumhi wanted to get close to him, but they never found any good chance. Surprisingly, he came to wish Senior Zimmer on his birthday.

“Senior Zimmer, this is my gift for you!”

Don smiled and said. When he opened the gift box, a lot of people were stunned.

There was a cheque in the box, and it was worth eight hundred and eighty thousand dollars.

In Niumhi, that amount of money was used for a marriage proposal.

“Senior Zimmer, I came today to make a marriage proposal. I have admired Mandy for a long time now. I hope that she could accept my proposal and marry me!”

The others gasped in amazement.

In that instant, everyone was shocked.

Mandy was Harvey’s wife. Did Don care not for that? He did not show Harvey any respect at all.

But after much consideration, Harvey was just a useless son-in-law who was adopted. Why did Don have to respect him? Don was not even afraid that he might offend Harvey.

“I know that what I said might be too abrupt but I couldn’t bear to see my beloved Mandy living with a useless man. Senior Zimmer, I hope that you can consider my offer properly.” Don smiled and said. He then turned around and flashed a smile at Mandy before he turned and left.

Up until that time, Don never threw a glance at Harvey. He did not bother about Harvey.

After he left, everyone fell into a heated discussion.

“Mr. Xander is a department manager at York Enterprise. He has great power. I heard that his one decision could decide the fate of a small company, ruining it or letting it prosper.”

“Mandy is so lucky! If she marries Mr. Xander, it would be so much better than being with that useless Harvey!”

“If they marry each other, our family will certainly benefit from it too.”

Mandy’s younger sister, Xynthia Zimmer stepped forward all of a sudden and said, “Harvey, don’t you want a scooter? If you’re willing to agree to divorce my sister, I’ll buy a scooter for you tomorrow. How about that?”

“Good! What Xynthia said is wonderful!”

“Doesn’t this useless man want a scooter? We’ll give it to him! Let him agree to the divorce!”

Senior Zimmer’s eyes fluttered. He gave Harvey a meaningful look and said, “Harvey, if you’re willing to divorce Mandy, I can certainly give you more than just a scooter. How about a million dollars?”

At first, Harvey lowered his head. But now, he threw a glance at Mandy beside him. He then shook his head and said, “Grandpa, I won’t ever divorce Mandy.”

Senior Zimmer’s facial expression worsened. He pointed at Harvey and scolded him angrily, “B*stard! Don’t you reject such a great offer! Get lost! Get lost this instant! I don’t want a bad egg to attend my birthday party!”

Harvey was stunned for a short while. It surprised him to see Senior Zimmer being so unfriendly toward him, disregarding his feelings. At that moment, he could only shake his head subconsciously and left.

“Harvey…” Mandy seemed hesitant. She did not know whether she should go after him.

Seeing that, Senior Zimmer said coldly, “Mandy, if you dare to leave with him today, I’ll disown you and never admit that you’re my granddaughter!”

Mandy soon stopped walking. She did not expect to see her grandpa being so cruel.

Harvey said immediately, “Stay. Don’t bother about me.”

Before Mandy could react, Harvey turned and left.

Zack burst into laughter. “My dear brother-in-law, how do you plan to head home? Don’t tell me that you planned to walk all the way home. Come, I have a dollar here. Let me be so generous and give it to you so that you could pay for your bus fare. Don’t be ashamed to take it!”

Then, he fished out a dollar and threw it at Harvey.

The Zimmers broke into a roar of laughter.

Harvey gritted his teeth slightly, but he remained speechless. After that, he left Zimmer's Villa directly.

At that moment, his phone rang all of a sudden.

He took out his old phone and glanced at it. It was a contact number that ended in six digits of eight.

Harvey frowned slightly. He then clicked on the message and glanced at it.

“Sir, the York Enterprise is in great trouble. Please come home to deal with it.”