Free Web NovelChapter 54: Chapter 54: Like a Family of Four
Cecelia Archer hadn’t expected to go on a business trip with him on just her second day at their house.
But since she was getting paid, she had to follow orders. After dinner, she packed a suitcase of clothes.
Shane Grant took the suitcase from her, and the group got into the car, looking very much like a family of four.
After more than an hour of speeding down the highway, they arrived at their destination and checked into a mountain villa with beautiful scenery.
The men went to discuss business over tea, while Cecelia Archer took the children to play in the villa’s kids’ area.
It was past ten o’clock at night when Shane Grant finally returned to the room, looking exhausted.
"We talked all day, but it’s finally over. Go to sleep for now. Dad will take you somewhere different tomorrow."
Meanwhile, an exhausted Damien Vaughn returned to his room. He was leaning back on the sofa, resting with his eyes closed, when his uncle called.
"Damien, are you in a hurry to leave tomorrow?"
Damien Vaughn was no fool. He knew his uncle wasn’t calling him this late at night just because he was bored.
"I was worried you’d be tired, Uncle, and I was also afraid you might have things to attend to back home. I wanted to stay with you for another day, but I didn’t dare say it... If you don’t mind, Uncle, let me accompany you for another day tomorrow."
"Hahahaha, you clever boy. I heard there’s an ethnic minority group in a nearby town, one of the few remaining nomadic peoples who live on horseback. Their children’s coming-of-age ceremony has to be completed on horseback, and it just so happens there’s one tomorrow. I’m quite curious. Since you’re so thoughtful, you can accompany me to see it."
「Early the next morning.」
Damien Vaughn and his uncle left discreetly in two separate cars, one behind the other.
It was past eight o’clock by the time Cecelia Archer and the others finished breakfast. They also started driving toward the ethnic minority’s village.
Although the ethnic group lived in a rather remote area, the road conditions were quite good, and they arrived in about forty minutes.
The coming-of-age ceremony was about to begin. In an earthen field at the very center of the village, a sea of people had gathered, their voices a deafening roar. The atmosphere was so lively that anyone who didn’t know better would have thought it was New Year’s.
It was Aidan’s first time walking on a dirt road. Seeing nothing but mountains and trees around him, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Dad, what’s so fun about this place? What are we even here for?" ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"We’re here to watch a show. You’ll see in a minute. Hold her hand, and don’t get lost."
Cecelia Archer and Shane Grant stood on either side of the children, and the four of them held hands as they squeezed into the crowd.
In the very center of the crowd stood ten horses, side by side, each with a large red flower tied around its neck.
Ten middle-aged men stood beside the horses, holding the reins, while ten boys who looked to be about ten years old stood behind them.
Shane Grant said to Aidan,
"Today is the coming-of-age ceremony for these ten boys. Their fathers have to teach them how to tame these wild horses and successfully ride them for ten laps around this field. Now *this* is a game for real men."
"Watch closely. If you’re interested, when you turn ten, Dad will bring you to participate too."
Cecelia Archer was speechless.
Boys will be boys; a competitive and aggressive spirit ran in their veins from a young age.
As soon as his father finished speaking, Aidan Grant’s face lit up with excitement and longing.
"Really? Dad, you have to keep your promise!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A thunderous roll of drums sounded. The time had come, and the coming-of-age ceremony officially began.
As the drumming stopped, the ten boys, as if shot full of adrenaline, leaped forward and sprinted toward their fathers.
The fathers scooped them up with one arm. With one hand, they wrestled the horse’s head down, pulling hard on the reins, while using the other to hoist the boys onto the horse’s back.
Some succeeded on the first try, scrambling up to hug the horse’s neck and steady themselves. Their fathers immediately let go of the reins, and they rode off alone.
Others struggled several times without managing to get on, but not a single one gave up. They tried again and again.
In that moment, they didn’t seem like ten-year-old boys, but like full-blooded, grown men—tall and powerful, their expressions determined and fierce. It was incredibly captivating.
Dust flew up from the field as the people in the crowd cheered endlessly. Cecelia Archer found her own blood pumping with excitement as she watched.
’No wonder they’re called the people of the horseback,’ she thought. ’These boys are so manly, so cool!’
As each boy successfully mounted, the horses began to gallop wildly around the field, and everyone raised their phones to record.
Aidan stomped his little feet excitedly. "So cool! The big brothers look so cool riding the horses! I want to ride too! Dad, can I try?"
Although Shane Grant encouraged his son to be strong and have some grit, he hadn’t completely lost his senses.
"You’re too little. You have to be at least five to get on a horse."
"But I can’t wait! It’s so cool, I really want to try. Dad, please just let me try!"
He had expected a little girl like Candy to be a bit scared by such a scene, but when Shane Grant looked at her, the little girl was staring with her big, round eyes, watching the galloping horses and actually cheering for the boys.
It looked like she was eager to try, too.
"Candy, do you want to go up and give it a try?"
Candy was so excited she nearly jumped. "Can I? I can try too?"
Cecelia Archer nearly had a heart attack. "Of course not! You’re too little! If you fall off, you could get seriously hurt!"
Watching the two excited children, Shane Grant thought for a moment, then quietly slipped out of the crowd.
After ten laps, the boys had successfully tamed their horses and completed their coming-of-age ceremony. Everyone offered their congratulations and began to disperse.
Someone came out with a microphone. "Any tourists from out of town want to give it a try? We have professionally trained horses that aren’t so dangerous."
At the edge of the crowd, the impeccably dressed uncle, who was sitting on the hood of their SUV, patted Damien Vaughn’s hand.
"Ah, to be young is a wonderful thing. That was so impressive it even got my heart racing. If I were ten years younger, I’d definitely give it a try. Damien, you’re so young, why don’t you go check it out?"
Damien Vaughn knew how to ride, and he was every bit as good as they were.
To be honest, watching the scene had given him an itch to try, but he didn’t have a showman’s personality.
"Forget it. Why would I steal the spotlight from a bunch of kids?"
The words had barely left his mouth when someone who *was* there to steal the spotlight arrived.
In the distance, a tall man dressed all in black and wearing sunglasses leaned low over his horse’s back. He cracked his whip and shouted for the onlookers to make way as he charged into the crowd.
"Dad! That’s my dad! Candy, look, my dad’s riding a horse! Dad, I’m over here!"
Aidan recognized his father instantly and waved his arms at him in a frenzy of excitement.
In less than five seconds, the horse charged right up to him.
Before Cecelia Archer could even see what was happening, Aidan was snatched up onto the horse by Shane Grant.
"How is it, son? Are you scared?"
Aidan, held securely in his arms, was ecstatic. "Not scared! This is fun!"
The crowd erupted in another round of cheers. The uncle frowned slightly as he watched the man on horseback.
"Damien, I’m getting old and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. Help me take a look. Is that man on the horse Shane Grant?"
’Who else could it be?’
Damien Vaughn hadn’t expected this little show to come with a bonus: seeing such a wild side of Shane Grant.
Usually, the man was the very picture of dignity and composure.
"It’s him."
The uncle exclaimed in amazement, "I never would have guessed. That kid..."
Before he could finish, Shane Grant put Aidan back down.
Then, to another collective gasp from the crowd, he swept a delicate, doll-like little girl up onto the horse’s back.
