American Farmers: Facing a Cutoff at the Start

The air seemed to freeze for a second.

Fett's hand froze in mid-air, the soft, bouncy texture still lingering on his fingertips.

Lena Anderson's originally pale and pained face suddenly turned bright red, and even her neck turned pink.

She leaned stiffly against Fett's arm, her eyes darting around in a panic, unsure of where to look.

Fett recoiled as if he'd been electrocuted, rubbing his hand against the side of his thigh twice.

Fett swore he really didn't mean it.

"Feel sorry."

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he spoke rather quickly:

"I'm used to farm work, I can't stand dust, sorry for the intrusion."

Lina lowered her head, her messy short hair obscuring her burning ears, and her voice was barely audible:

"No...it's nothing."

An awkward silence filled the air.

Fett didn't linger on the topic; his gaze fell on her right foot, which was barely touching the ground.

"The sooner you apply ice, the less swollen it will be. Let's go inside."

Lina nodded without saying anything.

Fett lifted her arm again, letting her lean most of her weight on him.

He carried the sturdy, steady stones, and with each step, Lina hopped on one foot, her heel making a clattering sound on the gravel.

"Didn't I remind you before to be careful?" Fett looked straight ahead, maintaining his balance.

"I saw you come out, see it was me, and then turn around and go back inside."

Lina gasped for breath, enduring the excruciating pain in her ankle:

"I was afraid you'd lock the door and stop seeing guests, so I rushed to explain, and in my panic I just..."

Fett glanced at her sideways, and could smell the faint scent of her perfume:

"Explain what?"

Lina bit her lip and, using Fett's arm for support, stepped onto a step:

"First of all, I would like to apologize to you on behalf of Spencer Hawthorne; his attitude was terrible."

She paused, then looked up at Fett with a serious expression:

"There's something else. I sat in the car for a while and felt I had to tell you, otherwise I'd feel guilty."

Regarding the repayment date.

"Spencer Hawthorne lied to you."

Fett narrowed his eyes: "What do you mean?"

"The final deadline for breach of contract is December 31, not before Christmas."

Lina spoke quickly, as if she were venting her guilt:

"The reason Spencer Hawthorne is pressuring you to pay back the loan before Christmas is because he has booked a flight to Hawaii for Christmas."

"He wanted to settle all the bad debts he had on hand before the holiday so he could take a break and collect his full bonus."

"I know it's only a week, but I think... these seven days could be very important to you."

After saying that, she looked at Fett with a sigh of relief:

"I'm done talking."

"According to the procedure, as long as the overdue loan is repaid by the end of the 31st, the bank has no right to initiate the auction process."

"Don't eat the pickled radish!" Fett cursed.

That son of a bitch, he's a real bastard.

No wonder he said someone set dogs on him and threatened him with a gun.

Should!

If I see him again, I'll punch him twice!

Fett pushed open the door and helped Lina back to sit on the brown leather sofa.

"Dad, that bitch Spencer Hawthorne tricked us!"

"Thanks to Ms. Anderson for telling us the repayment date is the 31st!"

"What?" Old Frank stood up, his eyes fixed on Lina. "Really?"

Lina, enduring the pain, nodded, reached for her briefcase, and began searching for the contract.

Fett quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't look at it yet, put an ice pack on your ankle first."

"Moo~~~"

A cow mooed, and Fett said, "Dad, I'll look at the contract in a bit. You go feed the cows; they'll get really hungry."

Old Frank nodded and said, "Alright, you have a college degree, which is better than your old man's. I'll go right now."

"Ms. Anderson, thank you so much!"

"Fett! Take good care of Miss Anderson!"

"Got it, Dad!"

Only after hearing Fett's agreement did old Frank leave.

Fett turned and walked to the refrigerator, opened the freezer compartment, scooped out a bowl of ice, and took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it up.

Back on the sofa, Fett knelt down and reached out to hold Lina's injured right foot.

"It might hurt a little."

With a "zip" sound as the zipper of the leather boot was pulled open, Fett held the heel and gently slipped the high-heeled boot off.

What was revealed beneath the otherwise serious and professional black trousers was not stockings.

Instead, she wore a pair of brown, fluffy cotton socks with Winnie the Pooh embroidered on the ankles.

These girlish socks created a striking contrast with her sharp business suit.

Fett was also stunned when he saw the Winnie the Pooh.

To ease the tension, he smiled and said, "Quite cute."

Lina's face flushed bright red instantly, and she instinctively pulled her toes back, trying to pull her foot out of Fett's hand and hide it in her trouser leg.

"Don't move."

Fett's hand gripped her slender ankle like an iron clamp, his strength firm and leaving no room for refusal.

He quickly ripped off the cotton sock.

The once fair and delicate outer side of her ankle was now swollen with a red bump the size of half an egg, and the skin was stretched and shiny.

Fett gently pressed the ice cube wrapped in a handkerchief onto the red and swollen area.

"hiss--"

The icy temperature made Lina shiver, and her insteps arched.

But she didn't struggle anymore, letting that rough, warm hand control her ankle.

Fett looked up.

Lina was biting her lower lip hard, leaving a white mark on her otherwise soft lips.

She turned her head away, not daring to look at Fett, her gaze wandering over the blackened fireplace.

A few strands of short, wispy brown hair fell down and clung to her burning cheeks.

The mask of the once shrewd and capable loan officer was now completely shattered, leaving only a flustered and bewildered young girl.

The winter sunlight streaming through the window shone on her fine downy hair, making her earlobes, which were so red they looked almost translucent.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly with unease.

The room was extremely quiet, with only the occasional cracking sound of melting ice and her slightly rapid breathing.

With such a beautiful view in front of him, Fett suddenly had a strange thought: it would be more interesting to tease the girl a little more.

His fingers inadvertently brushed against the blue veins on the instep of her foot:

"Does Avester Bank's uniform policy include bear socks?"

Lina's cheeks burned even hotter. She slowly reached out, grabbed the sock that had been taken off, and stuffed it into her pocket, her voice barely audible.

"It's cold in the car...and I'm wearing boots..."

"No...no one can see it."

Fett gently pressed his thumb around the red and swollen area of ​​her ankle.

"Hmph... Ugh..."

Lina clenched her teeth, trying her best not to make a sound.

He felt the skin around his ankle tighten, and when he pressed it, it left a slight indentation. He whispered:

"It looks quite swollen; you probably won't be able to drive."

Where do you live?

Lina hesitated for a moment, then gave an address:

"The lakeside promenade in Lake Village is right behind the Avester Bank branch; that's the apartment the bank rented for me."

Fett took out his iPhone 5 from his pocket, opened the map and took a look.

"Twenty-five miles, not far."

He put away his phone, glanced at the clock on the wall, and nodded:

"Okay! I'll drive you home in your car."

"Let's apply ice for a while longer and then we'll set off."

"If I hurry, I can catch the last Greyhound bus back from Laketown. It stops at the highway intersection at eight o'clock."

"That's not a good idea, it's too much trouble for you..."

Lina looked at her ankle, which was swollen like a loaf of bread, and the words of refusal she wanted to say stuck in her throat.

"It's not a problem."

Fett turned the handkerchief wrapped with ice over and placed it back on his ankle:

"To be honest, compared to the beat-up pickup truck in the yard, being able to drive around in a new car with a working heater and no drafts is a real treat for me."

Let's treat this as a fair trade.

"After all, you're my creditor. If I don't get you back safely, the bank will call the police and arrest me. How am I supposed to earn money to pay you back then?"

Lina chuckled, her tense brows and eyes, which had been furrowed with pain in her foot and her apology, instantly relaxed.

"In that case, I'll treat you to dinner tonight. Lake has a pretty good Italian restaurant."

Fett stopped what he was doing, turned around and glanced at her, raising an eyebrow slightly:

"Eat? Then I'll definitely miss that bus. In this freezing weather, I don't want to walk twenty-five miles back at night."

"fine."

Lina pointed to the black Chevrolet outside the door, her tone becoming lighter:

"When the time comes, you can just drive this car back."

"Just return it to me when it's convenient, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Fett glanced at the gleaming SUV outside the window, then at Lina:

"That's an Avester Bank company car, isn't it? Lending it to a client privately, won't your department cause you trouble?"

Lina smiled, reached into the side pocket of her briefcase, and pulled out a car key with a teddy bear charm. She gently placed it on the coffee table, making a crisp "click" sound.

"That's my car. I bought it myself."