Sheffield was stunned for a moment, and stared at Evelyn with a complicated look in his eyes. He now understood why she was suffering from depression. "What happened to your fourth boyfriend?"
"We broke up, just before I came here. The phone calls earlier were from him." Calvert Ji, Evelyn's fourth boyfriend, was pressured by his family to break up with her.
"Why did you break up?" Sheffield dug. 'Was that guy afraid that he'd get killed?' he thought.
Evelyn took a deep breath before continuing in a self-mocking tone, "He's the only son in his family. So naturally, they are afraid that I'll bring bad luck to him too and kill him someday. I'm a jinx in their eyes. Of course, that's not the only reason. You already know by now that I'm kind of weird, cold and unapproachable. We had a lot of problems getting along."
She was hoping to frighten Sheffield away by telling him about her horrible past. Who in their right mind would want a girlfriend that would bring bad luck to them?
"I see." After silently cursing her ex-boyfriends in his mind, he told her with a relaxed smile, "That's not a big deal. I don't believe in jinxes. And you know what? My dad has been married thrice. And I have a bucket full of half-brothers. Besides, my dad doesn't like me very much. He would be glad if I got killed. So, Evelina, I'm not afraid to be with you."
He flashed a mischievous smile and spread his arms again, waiting for her to throw herself onto him.
Evelyn sighed inwardly.
A part of her wished he was being serious.
"Stop kidding around." After dropping those words, she avoided his stretched arms and continued to walk on. The scenery became more breathtaking as they walked along the banks of the brook running through the woods. But Evelyn was immersed in her own sorrows.
Although Carlos had tried his best to block any news about the mysterious deaths of her ex-boyfriends, still, the shocking information reached many prying ears. Evelyn knew how they talked about her behind her back. She was considered a jinx who brought deaths to her boyfriends. On the surface, she didn't care about what people said, but deep down, she was devastated.
Now that Sheffield knew her story, he could fully understand why she had turned down his love.
On one hand, they had only met yesterday. It was perfectly normal that she didn't believe him. On the other hand, she had just broken up with her boyfriend, and the deaths of her three ex-boyfriends had cast a dark shadow in her heart.
Everything about her reaction made sense now.
Sheffield trotted towards her and grabbed her hand. "Just ten days, please? Let's try to get along for ten days."
Evelyn silently looked at their intertwined hands. She wanted to say yes.
A herd of elephants made its way through the jungle some distance away from them. Evelyn stopped and watched them, a blank look in her eyes. She was at a loss.
Sheffield was talkative and clingy; he never stopped pestering her and even kissed her without her consent. But, she didn't hate him for it, and wasn't really mad at him. She had no idea why.
However, though she wanted to say yes, the thought of bringing bad luck to him stopped her from accepting his deal. She didn't want him to get hurt or worse.
As if reading her mind, Sheffield persuaded again, "Worst case scenario, even if you really are a jinx, it's impossible that I would die in just ten days. Think about it."
She remained silent.
He smiled, rubbing her soft, creamy-white hands. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't press you. You came here to relax, but I'm just giving you more trouble."
'No, not really…' Evelyn wanted to say, but chose to stay silent.
"Forget it. Let's go. It's really rare to find a herd of wild elephants here. Come on."
"Mm hmm."
The Elephant Valley was filled with mysteries. Sheffield led her through the jungle, climbed up a hill and found a spot with the best view. They looked down at the brook. Seven huge elephants were drinking water from the brook.
Sheffield inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh air. "We are so lucky. This trip has been worthwhile. Many tourists leave this place with so much regrets."
Evelyn nodded. She had read travel guides online before coming here. Most of the tourists wrote comments saying that they didn't find any elephants. She didn't expect to be lucky enough to see a herd.
"Look." Sheffield pointed far ahead.
She looked towards the direction he was pointing at, and saw two peacocks dancing between the trees.
Near the peacocks were a few macaque monkeys climbing and jumping on the trees happily. When she looked a bit further, she found two buffalos as well.
It wasn't really safe for humans to be so close to these animals. Evelyn asked, "Even Tayson wouldn't dare bring me here by himself. Why are you so confident that I'll be safe with you? If you really like me, why did you bring me to such a dangerous place?"
Sheffield took out something from his pocket. "Because I have this. I can fight any number of enemies who stand in my way."
It was a sheathed scalpel. When he unsheathed it, the sharp blade glinted brightly under the sunlight.
"Aren't you the deputy director of the nephrology department? Do you still need to operate on patients?"
"My position of the deputy director is only in name. Most of the time, I work in the renal transplant department."
'Oh. Sounds pretty cool.' She went on to ask, "Then why do you have a titular position in the nephrology department?"
"I'm on my way to that position. It's just that my promotion procedures aren't finished yet."
Evelyn was confused. "That's strange. You got a promotion before being officially transferred to the nephrology department?"
"My case is special. The dean doesn't want me to quit my job, so he gave me a promotion first," Sheffield said in a sarcastic tone. There was more to the story.
Evelyn knew he wasn't saying the whole story, but she didn't probe into it. She only needed to know why he was good at using his scalpel.
After a few blissful hours at the Elephant Valley, they began to descend the hill.
"What are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked.
Evelyn trudged through the woods slowly. She had never walked such a long way before; her legs were already sore. "Probably pick some tea leaves or go to the border."
Sheffield noticed that she had difficulty walking. He looked at her trembling legs and asked with concern, "Tired?"
"Yes." She didn't deny it. She looked around, but couldn't find something to sit on.
He squatted down in front of her, his back towards her. "I'll give you a piggyback ride."
"You?" Evelyn stared at his back in disbelief.
He was obviously stronger than her. But he didn't look like the muscular type.
Again, Sheffield felt humiliated by this woman. He turned around to throw her a glance. "While you were in high school, I was already going through all kinds of physical training in America. Don't judge a person by his look."
Nonetheless, she declined, "No, I'd better call—"
"Get on!" He knew that she was about to ask her bodyguard to come and carry her.
Since he insisted, Evelyn couldn't refuse anymore and climbed onto his back.
It was then that he caught a glimpse of the ruby anklet on her ankle. "You like gems?" She also wore a ruby bracelet and a sapphire hairpin.
"Yes. I like collecting them." She was surprised that he, as a doctor, had knowledge about gems.
'That is a really luxurious hobby to have.'
Sheffield had already figured that she was from a rich family, but it seemed to him now that her background was far wealthier and more powerful than he had thought.
"Only gemstones? Or do you like other kinds of jewelry too?" He began to mentally calculate how many gemstones he could afford to buy her.
