Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1457: Chapter 184: Unusual Odor

Around eleven in the morning, Mr. Smith was called awake by Lady Elura — Mr. Smith had been watching over his wife in the hospital room until he had unknowingly fallen asleep around seven in the morning.

Lady Elura brought him some food… Mr. Smith, after roughly wiping his face, finally felt a little clearer-headed — he glanced at the situation in the hospital room and his expression immediately became serious again.

“Don’t worry, child.” Lady Elura said softly at this time, “The doctor said Deborah’s condition has improved… You see, bad things will eventually pass!”

“Really!” Mr. Smith was somewhat invigorated instantly, even feeling as if his mental fatigue had vanished completely.

“You have to believe me, Smith.” Lady Elura said with a smile, “That’s what the doctor just told me… now, you should eat something, my child.”

“Thank you, Mother.” Mr. Smith nodded, then suddenly remembered something, “What happened to Joe?”

Speaking of Joe, both Mr. Smith and Lady Elura felt quite strange – the child had been missing all day yesterday, but later he mysteriously appeared in the hospital lobby – when the police found him, no matter what they did, they couldn’t wake him up.

Because of this, Mr. Smith and Lady Elura were on edge for quite a while – if it weren’t for the fact that Joe was found in the hospital, and after the doctor’s examination said Joe’s body had no anomalies… But if his body has no problems, why couldn’t he be woken up?

“He woke up as well.” Lady Elura said with a smile, “The doctor examined him, Joe’s body is very healthy, absolutely fine… He may have just been too tired to wake up — However, I think once Deborah’s condition stabilizes, we should take Joe to a larger hospital for a check-up.”

That would indeed be necessary, Mr. Smith had no hesitation at all… He thought for a moment and said, “Mother, why don’t you take Joe home to rest for a bit, I’ll watch over Deborah here.”

If both of them get overly exhausted, naturally things will only get more problematic… Lady Elura nodded, then went to another room to fetch Joe, called a taxi, and headed straight home.

Mr. Smith watched his mother and son leave, and immediately returned to the door of his wife’s hospital room… He twisted his neck, instinctively wanting to yawn — but Mr. Smith found he couldn’t.

He truly didn’t seem to feel very tired at all… even though his rest wasn’t that sufficient — but that’s a good thing, at least he had enough energy to face any unforeseen events, didn’t he?

At this time,

“Oh, sir, you should take a shower… There’s a shower room next to you.” A nurse passed by Mr. Smith at this time, “Your wife’s condition is good now, it’s okay for you to leave for a while, both we and the doctors will keep close watch on the patient’s condition.”

She knew that Mr. Smith had been accompanying here, knew he hadn’t had a proper rest, so at this time, she could somewhat understand the odor coming from Mr. Smith — In fact, if the smell wasn’t so overwhelmingly strong, she wouldn’t have proactively brought it up.

Mr. Smith instinctively sniffed himself, though he didn’t detect the “scent” the nurse mentioned… Just judging from the nearby people holding their noses, Mr. Smith couldn’t argue, “Well… well then I’ll trouble you with that.”

He had no choice but to quickly head to the shower area.

Seeing Mr. Smith leave, the kindly reminding nurse finally let out a big breath — She even fanned in front of her face with her hand — the smell was so strong that it even made her feel like she was entering a morgue.

Of course, that was just an analogy — after all, how could a living, speaking and walking person be like a dead body?

Thinking this, the nurse opened the door and walked into Mrs. Deborah’s hospital room — She looked at the instruments in front of the pregnant lady’s bed, at the data improving continuously on the instruments, and her mood gradually got better.

After all, this was a mother carrying a new life, and no one would want to see her fall into despair like that — especially she, as a healthcare worker.

“Strange… Why is the smell here too?”

The nurse couldn’t help but pinch her nose at this time, she found the stench in the room even more overwhelming — the stench of a dead rat was so bad it almost made her want to throw up.

This forced the nurse to question whether the ventilation system for the floor might have an issue — or if inside the vent system’s duct, there really was a dead rat or something.

“Hello… Yes, I’d like someone to check out the vent system’s ducts, I suspect there’s a dead rat inside…”

The nurse picked up the phone.

…

When the hot water poured down from overhead, Mr. Smith felt hardly any comfort… He even felt more uncomfortable.

Perhaps that’s because he was no longer used to hot showers — Mr. Smith actually feared heat greatly… Ever since waking up from the hospital six months ago, he had been intensely afraid of heat.

Even in the dead of winter, he would still opt for cold showers… Not even catching a cold because of it — due to his fear of heat, he even spent a hefty sum to have air conditioning installed in the kitchen of his restaurant — purely in terms of working environment, Mr. Smith’s little restaurant might be the best in town.

Unable to bear the hot water, Mr. Smith hurriedly washed up and exited the bathroom, and then quickly returned to his wife’s hospital room.

At this time, Mr. Smith learned the hospital was sending someone to inspect the vent ducts, but he didn’t pay much attention to it, just quietly remained by Mrs. Deborah’s side.

“We’ll be alright, Deborah!” Mr. Smith said softly.

…

A janitor came in pinching his nose only after Mr. Smith left.

The janitor grandpa furrowed his brows, he had no choice but to endure the stench and start working — He had heard about the hospital’s vent system possibly harboring a dead rat, and that it was currently being checked.

“So much…”

The janitor paused, noticing a large amount of hair in one of the shower rooms — evidently not from a typical amount one would shed in a day!

It looked just like fur plucked off an animal after scalding with hot water — The cleaner couldn’t help thinking of the gentleman who just left, secretly finding the poor guy pitiable, seemingly not very old, perhaps around thirty, yet balding so severely!

The janitor grandpa stroked his own thick hair … Humph, merrily!

…

…

Returning home, Lady Elura recalled that she had left quite a bit of food prepared yesterday, and now being left for so long, it might have all gone bad… Possibly quite some time would be needed even to dispose of it — It seemed she’d have to head promptly to the hospital after settling Joe.

On the way back, Lady Elura had already contacted a neighbor’s wife to care for Joe for a day.

“Strange… these soups?”

Lady Elura was surprised to find that the kitchen didn’t seem as bad as she imagined — perhaps she remembered wrong and hadn’t made so much food before she went out?

“Grandma, will I be going to Auntie Lucy’s house later?” Joe tugged at Lady Elura’s pants at this time, looking up and asking.

“Little Joe, don’t you like Auntie Lucy?”

Joe nodded, “She always likes to pinch my cheeks and kiss me, making my face all slobbery, I don’t like it.”

“That’s because she likes you.” Lady Elura said with a laugh, “It also shows you’re quite popular, child — Alright, you ought to bathe now, you didn’t wash up last night. Joe, you’re already five years old, you should be able to bathe independently, right?”

“Yes.” Joe nodded, then swiftly ran back to his room.

But shortly after – Lady Elura hadn’t even finished tidying up the things on the table, Joe hurriedly ran out, “Grandma, someone slept in my bed!”

“Slept in your bed?” Lady Elura was taken aback… She was somewhat puzzled, then followed Joe to his room and glanced around.

In fact, Lady Elura couldn’t really see anything different – the child’s room was originally like this. She really couldn’t figure out how Joe could be so sure that someone had entered his room.

“Child, I’ve looked, no one has entered your room.” Lady Elura said seriously at this point: “Trust me, child… I still have to tidy up a few things, and later I have to go to the hospital, so you need to quickly take a bath and go to Auntie Lucy’s house, understand?”

“Got it…” Joe pouted and gently closed the door.

He leaned against the door himself – he really felt that someone had slept in his bed… It seemed like someone had been in the house, and that person’s presence was everywhere.

It’s… Mr. Death/The Grim Reaper!

“Hello–!”

Just then, a head suddenly fell from above and rolled to Joe’s feet… This startled Joe and made his eyes widen.

Joe’s mouth opened wide, but just as he was about to scream, he hurriedly covered his mouth with both hands – because he had already recognized the head that fell, it was clearly the elder sister who liked to tease him: Nero!

“Big sister, you’re here!”

At this moment, Joe was both surprised and delighted – although he couldn’t say why he felt happy seeing this [terrifying] appearance of the elder sister.

At this point, the window sill slowly opened, and a headless body flipped in, walked to Joe, and picked up the head from the ground – this was Nero’s body.

She casually cradled her head at her waist, making her head almost at the same height as Joe’s, squinting and smiling, “Little dog, open your mouth, sister will give you a big mushroom~”

Her arm stretched out… Ghost knows where she picked a piece of mushroom from?

“I don’t like mushrooms!” Joe shook his head.

“Hades.” Nero suddenly said, then looked at Joe’s expression.

Joe blinked at this moment, looking at the elder sister in front of him with a puzzled expression, “Big sister, what are you saying? What’s Hades?”

Obviously, for a five-year-old child, it’s impossible to know who Hades is – not even the legend of this mythical underworld king.

“Nothing.” Nero shrugged – then her arm directly stuffed the mushroom into Joe’s mouth, “Come, eat it and grow up quickly.”

Joe couldn’t help but widen his eyes – but after overcoming the initial discomfort, Joe discovered that the mushroom surprisingly tasted like chocolate… This was actually a chocolate candy shaped like a mushroom.

Joe couldn’t help but remember the time big sister almost ate all his chocolate beans… Suddenly a sweet feeling arose.

Nero then put her head back on her neck, then surveyed Joe’s room as if thinking about something – her gaze suddenly shifted, and then a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

Joe instinctively shivered.

As expected, Nero smiled at him, saying, “Little dog, do you want to be a bait again?”

Joe blinked and then retreated in fear… He backed against the door frame, his entire body shrinking into Nero’s shadow.

Fear…

“No… no—!”

…

Downstairs.

Lady Elura was washing dishes while talking with her husband on the phone, discussing Deborah’s matters – although her husband had been quarreling with her son Smith for some years because of some disagreements, the fact is her husband was still very concerned about the situation here.

At this point, Lady Elura heard some noise, raised her head, and loudly called upstairs: “Joe, quiet down, I’m on the phone with your grandfather!”

The noise upstairs instantly disappeared… Lady Elura didn’t pay attention, continuing to chat with her husband who lived far away.

“…You’re really too stubborn! Can’t you understand me a little?”

Arguing with her husband about something, Lady Elura at this moment didn’t notice that her grandson was being taken into the sky by a silver-gray leopard…

…

…

The manor.

“…Old master, I really didn’t know your life was so hard.”

[Mian Mian] looked pitifully at the sad-faced Tai Yinzi… vigorously blew her nose, leaving a pile of tissues on the ground.

Heaven knows why this Star Creation Creature has a nose and can use it?

“Oh… talking more is like tears.” Tai Yinzi sighed at this point, “But it doesn’t matter, just having Ms. [Mian Mian] to listen to my complaints, I feel much better… Ms. [Mian Mian], you’re truly a kind-hearted person, I’ll pray for you every day!”

“I’m really grateful to you, old master!” [Mian Mian] thought for a moment, then plucked up the courage to say: “Old master, is there anything I can do for you?”

Here it comes, here it comes… This little girl is really easy to fool!

Tai Yinzi… the plan is successful!

He cleared his throat and quickly took out a slip of paper, “Ms. [Mian Mian], you know, right now, secretly, we’re all controlled by that dark-hearted maid! You see, even our great Lord is deceived by this dark-hearted maid!”

“Uh-huh!” [Mian Mian] nodded seriously, “So?”

“Could you quietly give this to the master?” Tai Yinzi said cryptically: “Remember, you must only deliver this when that black-hearted woman isn’t around!”

“Okay, old master! I’ll definitely do it! Don’t worry!” [Mian Mian] clenched her fist and said earnestly.

Oh… why does this pillow have fists?

Tai Yinzi thought silently.