Fortunate to Have You This Lifetime
Chapter 1352

Chapter 1352: Chapter 1352

Allen Rivera’s place is also a square courtyard, with a hot spring and plum blossoms.

Jane McCain walked into the courtyard, looking around. Allen asked her, "What are you looking at?"

"Where’s your tree?" Jane asked curiously, "Gilbert said everyone in your family has a tree, and when they’re in a bad mood, they carve it a bit."

"Over there." Allen led her to a corner of the courtyard.

The snow was piled up thickly and left unswept. Allen bent down, reached out, and swept aside some of the snow, revealing a different texture underneath.

After sweeping a few more times, its true form appeared—a low tree stump.

The stump wasn’t big, just slightly larger than the mouth of a bowl. Covered in snow, it looked just like a clump of earth at first glance, completely unrecognizable as a tree stump.

Jane felt a twinge of pity, squatting down to sweep the remaining snow off the stump.

"Why did you cut the tree down?" She looked at the stump with regret, softly complaining, "No wonder everyone says you have a bad temper; you’re so ruthless..."

Allen chuckled and squatted beside her, "Do you believe everything they say? When I was younger, I was really into wood carving for a while. I just wanted to chop a few branches to practice, but then I found the tree wasn’t growing new buds, so I just cut it all down. It wasn’t because of my temperament."

Jane gave him a sidelong glance, poking at the stump with her finger, "Then how do you explain this? Here, here... and here, all these scratches."

"It’s from my cousin’s child, the one you just met, Gilbert." Allen explained, "I’m rarely home, and he couldn’t bear to carve his own tree, so he would come to my courtyard and take it out on my stump. After all, it’s just a wooden stump; no one would notice."

Jane squatted silently in front of the stump, biting her lip.

I guess that makes sense...

Allen lightly patted the stump, the sound deep and solid, and said, "Our family plants trees just for the symbolic meaning; it’s impossible that it would really cultivate one’s character and make them lose their temper."

After a moment of silence, he looked at Jane, his eyes glimmering with a faint smile, "Do you like my tree?"

His voice was low and gentle, like tender words of love. Jane felt he was teasing her again, instinctively turning her face away, replying dully, "I haven’t even seen it, what’s there to like."

"Let’s plant another one, shall we?" Allen smiled, looking at her, "This time, we’ll plant one you like. What kind of tree do you like?"

Jane thought: Isn’t that a rhetorical question?

Allen suddenly pulled her up, "Come on, I’ll show you something."

She dazedly followed him into the house. Inside, there was a large bookshelf. Allen went over and started looking for books and albums.

On the bookshelf, besides books, there were many other items, like wooden racing car models, some trophies, certificates of honor, and group photos from races.

Jane picked up a wooden racing car, fiddling with it in her hand. Its shape felt clumsy, but surprisingly, the four wheels could move. It was quite interesting.

"Weren’t you ever afraid that racing was dangerous?" she asked.

Allen flipped through several books, none of which seemed to be what he was looking for, so he put them back and started searching on the other side.

"Back then, I was pretty rebellious, liked to challenge difficult things. Racing is very exciting; you need to be full of passion yet keep calm, and at crucial moments, make accurate judgments with a clear mind. You also need highly sensitive reflexes..." Allen paused, walking over with an album, "Found it. See if you like any of these trees."

Jane didn’t look at the album he brought over, her clear, bright eyes fixated on his face, speaking in a slow tone, "It seems like... you don’t stick with many things for long, like wood carving, racing... and relationships..."

Allen fell silent, then set the album down, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"In theory, things that are too simple can’t keep someone passionate for long," he said.

Jane pouted, "Does that mean I should be worried?"