Translated by Zhang Bao, the lover's sister

Dreaming of a better life, Edward Wellman left his family behind the old countryside for the United States. At parting, his father handed him a leather bag containing money and said, "It's not easy here." Then he hugged his son and said goodbye, saying, "You are the hope of our family." Edward boarded a ship across the Atlantic, thinking that he would shovel coal on board to pay for the month-to-month voyage. If he finds gold in the Colorado Rockies, the family will come together to reunite with him.

Edward toiled for months in the mining area, but the vein he found was small, and the ore he mined provided him with only a steady but limited income. When he walked into the two cabins at the end of the evening, how he longed for Ingrid to stand at the door and meet him. Ingrid was his beloved girl, but he didn't even have time to woo her because he was in such a hurry to leave. This became a big regret during his adventurous trip to the United States.

The two families had been friends for as long as he could remember, and he had always had the desire to marry Ingrid. She was the prettiest of the Edson sisters. She has long flowing hair and a bright smile, which is very charming. That time, they had a picnic in the church, and he made up a stupid excuse to sit next to her. In order to be able to catch a glimpse of her, he would often stand in front of her house for a long time. Especially after coming to the United States, every night, when he lay in the wooden house, he longed to caress her red hair and hold her tightly in his arms. Finally, he wrote a letter to his father asking him to help him make his dream come true.

Almost a year later, a telegram brought him pleasantly good news. Mr. Hydson agreed to send his daughter to a mining site far away in the United States. Because the girl is very diligent and business-minded. She was going to stay with him for a year, help him take care of the business in the mine, and make his business slowly improve. At that time, the two families will be able to come to the United States together to attend their wedding.

Edward was overjoyed, and for the next month he cleaned up the cabin and made it look like a real home. He bought a canvas bed and put it in the outhouse to sleep in, and packed up the old bedroom so that the girl could live there. He removed the curtains made of burlaps and replaced them with cloth removed from flour bags to block the dirty windows. He also picked some dried sage from the grass and put it in a tin can on his bedside table.

Finally, he waited for the day he had been waiting for for the rest of his life. He came to the train station with a bouquet of freshly picked daisies in his hand. As the wheels sliding, the train slowly stopped with steam. Edward looked through the windows of every train, looking for Ingrid's beautiful hair and charming smile.

His heart was pounding because of his eagerness, but to his great disappointment and sorrow, it was not Ingrid who stepped off the train, but her sister Marta. She stood in front of him in shame, her eyes downcast.

Edward's mind went blank and tears were about to flow from him, but he shuddered and offered the flower to Marta and whispered, "Welcome." It brought a smile to her not-so-pretty face. "I was so happy when I heard my dad asked me to come to you," she said. Marta said, looking him in the eye and lowering her head.

Edward smiled unnaturally and said, "I'll help you with your bag." Together, they walked toward the carriage.

Mr. Hydson and his father were right, Marta was indeed a good businessman. Edward worked in the mines, and she was in charge of the office. In a corner of his outhouse was their makeshift office. She keeps detailed records of every income and expenditure. In half a year, their income doubled.

Her meals are delicious, and her quiet smile adds a warm touch to the chalet. However, whenever Edward lay on the cot at night, thinking that the girl next to him was not the girl in his heart, he couldn't help but sigh. Why did they send Marta, and would he ever see Ingrid again, and was his lifelong dream of marrying her really shattered?

For a year, Marta and Edward worked together, had fun and laughed, but did not love each other. One day, Marta kisses Edward on the cheek before going back to bed, and he just smiles awkwardly. From then on, she felt very content whenever she could go hiking in the mountains with him and chat with him in front of the door after dinner.

One afternoon in the spring, torrential rains poured in from the mountains and washed away the entrance to the mine. Edward immediately filled in sandbags to stop the flood. Soon, he was soaking wet and exhausted. Immediately, the flood could not be stopped. At this moment, Marta appeared, and she stretched out a sandbag and asked Edward to fill it with sand. Then, with all her manly strength, Marta blocked the sandbags towards the floodwaters. Next, open another sandbag. The two of them toiled for hours in the mud until the rain cleared.

Holding hands, they returned to the cabin and drank the hot soup, and Edward sighed, "Without your help, the mine would be over." Thank you, Marta. ”

Marta smiled disapprovingly and said, "You're welcome. Then he silently returned to her house.

A few days later, a telegram came saying that the Hydson and Wellman families would arrive in the United States next week. He tried his best to refrain from it, but the thought of seeing Ingrid made him as excited as ever.

He and Marta arrived at the train station together. They saw the family stepping off the train at the other end of the platform. When Ingrid appeared, Marta turned to Edward and said, "Go find her." ”

Hearing this, Edward was taken aback and stammered, "What do you mean?"

"Edward, I knew I wasn't the Haydensen girl you wanted to get here. I've seen you and Ingrid fall in love at a church picnic," she said to his sister as she got off the train, nodding her head at him, "I know it's her who you want to marry, not me." ”

"But"

Marta covered his lips with her fingers, "Shh," she said, stopping him, "I love you, Edward, and have always loved you, so my true wish is to make you happy." Go find her. ”

He took her hand away from her face and squeezed it tightly. When she raised her eyes to stare at him, he saw for the first time how beautiful she was. So he remembered the walks they had walked in the grass together, the quiet nights they had spent together by the fire, and the time she had fought with him with a sandbag. This is the fact that he has been hiding in his heart for months.

"No, Marta. I want you. He took her into his arms and kissed her affectionately. Their families gathered around them and cheered, "We're here for your wedding." ”