Food at home was still there, but considering that there were now two instead of one, she needed to add more food. And with winter coming, Calista needed to buy more.
So, when she dropped by the three shops which sold food items, they treated her so well, as if she was an emissary of the gods.
Who didn't know about Calista and how generous she was when buying and spoiling herself?
Unlike other women, Calista always buys the best without haggling, so the shopkeepers are always thrilled to see her.
"I wonder what's going on with her this time."
"She is buying too much."
"Who cares why she is buying? Besides, it's not like you don't know winter is coming!"
"That's true. It must be nice being her. She doesn't have to worry about walking in the cold to find food."
"People should be prepared like her to avoid starving later!"
Calista bought a lot of food and didn't forget to add meat to the mix. There were other kinds of meat she wasn't able to get hold of all the time unless she came to town, like pork and beef.
There weren't a lot of families who loved slaughtering their cows for other people to have meat. So, at the butchery, that's where one would find some beef to satisfy their taste buds once in a while.
It was around four by the time Calista and Susan were finished buying everything that they came to town for. And looking as the ox-cart was being loaded, Faith sighed helplessly, calculating in her head just how much Calista spent in those few hours.
"Dear, aren't you spending a bit too much?" Faith asked worriedly.
Knowing how long it had been since Calista sold anything to the city, Faith didn't want her friend to reach into her savings because of a man.
"Hehe, this is nothing. Besides, I will recover everything soon. Your sis is planning something big. I will tell you about it later!" Calista assured with a smile as she looked proudly at the things still being loaded on the cart.
Upon hearing that, Faith knew pretty well that there was nothing more she could say to convince Calista. So, she changed the topic and asked, "What are your future plans now that you will be married? You don't fear those people making it hard for you?"
"Hehe, I am looking forward to them causing trouble. The second I get married under the witness of the goddess Yara, trust me, friend, I am no longer eligible to swallow their insults. If one comes at me, I will get back at two and just like that!" she said infuriatingly as her fists clenched, just recalling the past and thinking of the future at the same time.
Seeing that expression on her face, Faith knew pretty well that her friend meant serious business this time.
Her friend was a woman of many faces and she only showed you the face she wanted. There were other faces that even as a friend she didn't want to see, but if someone was poking the hornet's nest, then she could only pray to the goddess of Tranquility to watch over Calista's opponent and allow tranquillity to reign once she or he had been attacked.
She could only hope for the best.
….
Nicosa village
"Mother! Mother! Where are you?" a young woman could be seen running like a madwoman in a certain yard, her face looking very anxious as if something bad had happened.
In a certain round hut, an older woman was busy arranging the plates that had been washed earlier when she heard someone calling her.
Hearing her daughter's voice calling her so loudly like that at night, she couldn't help but frown and wonder what her daughter had been up to again.
"I am in the other kitchen!" she could only call out for her daughter so that she would stop waking the neighbors because of her loud voice.
'Such an old spinster. Can't she just let me rest in peace and find someone to marry!' the mother lamented at the thought of her old daughter, who didn't seem to be searching for a husband to get married to at all.
"Thank goodness, I found you Mother!" the child that worried the mother sighed with relief as she entered the hut where the mother was.
Seeing her daughter's unkempt appearance, the mother frowned, obviously not happy with how her daughter looked.
"Just where are you coming from looking like that?" the mother bellowed angrily at her daughter, seeing her like that.
"Mother … you … stop overthinking. I was running, which is why I look like this!" the daughter helplessly sighed upon sensing what her mother was thinking.
"You … Benita, you better be not doing anything that will force me to kick you out of the family register!" the mother warned her daughter seriously, her eyes narrowing dangerously as her thoughts ran a mile.
Benita looked helplessly at her mother, who was being absurd and thinking of the impossible. Of course, she couldn't blame her for suspecting her like that. If she had seen another female looking the way she was, she would have thought worse.
Her mother couldn't be blamed, but someone else could be. If it wasn't for that vixen, would she be here and be suspected like a dirty person by her mother?
Thinking about that vixen and what she overheard earlier, her face contorted angrily as she gritted her teeth with envy, hatred and all the negative emotions she could think of.
"Mother, it's not me. It's that whore of a woman! Can you believe that she just passed by our village again, just a while ago?" Benita fumed as she thought of that hen that can't lie eggs.
When the mother heard that, she froze for a bit as a glint of complicated emotions flashed in her eyes before she asked her daughter, "What did she do this time? Did she provoke you?" her tone softened.