"How...how are you?" Grandma said. "It’s good that you could go here now..."

One of Houser’s conditions of caring for Naia was to cut off contact with her, saying that she’d hold the child back, since she kept wanting to go back, and that would be a waste of school fees and opportunities.

At some point, neither of them remembered anymore, they just lost contact in general. Naia became so busy she couldn’t think of much else.

"Don’t worry grandma, I won’t leave you anymore," she said. "That man wouldn’t be able to stop me from staying with you."

This made the old woman very confused. She was happy that her granddaughter was willing to stay with her, but she was more confused and also scared about why this change had happened in the first place.

"What do you mean that he won’t stop you?" she asked, and her pupils constricted her back straightening furrowed at a realization. "WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU!?"

Her face was red, and Naia was afraid her heart would be too stimulated, so she quickly guided her grandma to sit down, guiding her to drink the tea she prepared.

"Calm down grandma," she said. "I will tell you if you promise not to fret."

"Oh, I won’t. This old lady has been through two wars!"

Naia nodded, going straight to the point. "Don’t worry about that guy. He’s already captured by the police."

"Police!?"

Naia flinched at her exclamation. What happened to the ’been through two wars’ attitude?

Apparently, the word ’police’ was too much for an old woman whose day comprised of cooking and feeding the chickens.

The number of times she has even interacted with policemen was practically nonexistent! Now, look, actual involvement!

"What did he do that the police will be involved in?!" She asked, but she was fanning herself in the stress. Village folk tend to be particularly sensitive to any form of law enforcement.

"...murder."

"Murder?!"

The old woman forced herself to rein in her emotions. "Whose?"

Mine, Naia said in her mind, but she didn’t say so out loud. "A business associate. Their negotiations failed, apparently."

Linda was glad that the bastard was handled, but she couldn’t help but feel fear.

Since he was capable of murder, hadn’t her granddaughter been in danger all this time?

It made her feel immense regrets. She should’ve fought harder to get custody!

Seeing the old woman like this, Naia did not dare detail the story. All she said was that he was finally caught with his evil deeds and was serving justice. She took it as a chance to escape.

"But...you’re such a bright child, I feel heartbroken to think you’re staying in this backwater—"

"Don’t say that grandma," she said, smiling. "To be honest, the city is too traumatizing for me and I need some fresh air. Am I not welcome?"

"Oh! Of course you are of course you are!" Linda hurriedly said, her eyes reddish, still lingering from the shock.

"You can have your mother’s room," she said, pointing at one of the doors.

When her mother got money, she had renovated the old house. Now, each of Grandma’s children had a bedroom with a big bed. When they bring their children, the family could fit inside the room. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

She noticed that there were a lot of things around the house, like some modern backpacks and some books, and she knew Grandma was not living alone anymore.

Grandma nodded. "Lately, your cousins stay with me during the weekends."

"I feel bad because they go to school in town, which is an hour away. But your uncle was contracted to work in another town and he did not want them to live with your aunt."

The trike ride from the edge of town to the village was half an hour, but there was traffic within the town itself, especially during certain times of the day, so the kids’ trip was even longer.

Anyway, the kitchen and the living room were spacious, and there was also another storage room. When going through the hall passing the rooms, one would reach the back verandah, which had a view of the farmlands.

Grandma owns a few hectares of farmland, but she rented out most of it, retaining about an acre for herself, planting stuff for her own consumption. Like most villages around, their village primarily focused on the cultivation of potatoes and sweet potatoes.

According to Grandma, these farms produced high productivity crops that had saved the entire province from a famine decades ago!

As for Grandma’s personal farm, it made Naia’s eyes brighten. The acre or so of personal farmland had an impressive variety of crops!

There were vegetables like cabbages, carrots, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. There were fruits like lemons, limes, and strawberries. There were even mushroom cultivation areas.

Grandma also had a small greenhouse and even a plant nursery at the side. Of course, the technology was rudimentary, but it worked well.

These were all for personal consumption. If there were excess, she’d just process them or give them away to neighbors.

She smiled, recalling the vegetables and fruits inside her own space, vigorously growing, but since the plants passively consumed her space’s energy, shouldn’t she maximize them by increasing the plant’s passive growth?

So, she should learn more about farming while she’s here.

There was no one among grandma’s children who had inherited her farmer’s mantle. Naia thought that maybe, in a sense, it just jumped a generation to her!

Then Grandma proudly showed her the storage room, and there were several jars of pickles, preserved fruit, and so on. There were various dried goods like dried mushrooms, dried potatoes, and so on. There was also smoked meat in there!

She opened a few jars for Naia to taste, and Naia almost moaned in the deliciousness of each one.

"I’m so old. I’ve been through a few wars and several famines," she said. "We have a habit of hoarding."

Naia’s eyes were bright as heck.

She loves this grandma to death!