My One-month Marriage With Mr. Hawkins

As they talked, Ernest pushed Florence to arrive at the dining room.
The woman and Bonnie hurriedly followed them over.
Andrew was obviously quite rich. There were a big courtyard and lots of rooms in his house, and his dining room was quite huge.
In the middle, there was a rectangular wooden table, on which there were dozens of dishes, looking so abundant and delicious.
Florence, who hadn’t eaten properly for a long time, instantly drooled.
She excitedly looked at the dining table that was getting closer and closer. However, right then, the woman showed up in front of
her, blocking her way.
Casting her a disdainful glance, the woman immediately looked over at Ernest with a flattering smile.
“Mr. Hawkins, please enjoy your lunch. Please let me take care of Ms. Fraser, “
In Chinese etiquette, the guests would obey the host’s arrangement.
Although this woman was extremely annoying, it was her house. Ernest and Florence guessed that they had certain etiquette on
the seat arrangement.
Florence didn’t want to get into trouble again. She turned to Ernest and said, “Please let her do it.”
Ernest pressed his lips. After a hesitation, he released his hands on the handles.
The woman immediately walked up and took over the wheelchair.
She nodded at Florence politely and then turned the wheelchair to the corner. Avoiding the dining table, they went to a corner of
the dining room.
Florence was surprised, wondering why the woman took her here.
While she was still confused, she saw Bonnie put a blanket on the floor. Another little girl who had helped Florence assisted
Bonnie. They quickly put three dishes on the floor.
All three dishes were vegetables.

Then a big basin of plain rice and four rice bowls were put beside them.
The woman stopped and said to Florence rudely, “Get off. Eat.”
After that, she walked over, sat cross knee on the blanket, picked up a bowl, and started eating.
Florence gaped at her.
There was a huge table of dishes in the center of the dining room, but why did they need to eat such dishes miserably while
sitting on the floor?
She looked back - the dining table was quite big, but only three persons were sitting at it - Andrew and two little boys.
Ernest was standing aside and hadn’t sat down yet. He gazed at her deeply, feeling quite surprised obviously.
Andrew was quite smart.
With a smile, he explained, “Mr. Hawkins, please don’t mind. According to our custom, women can’t eat at the table.”
Ernest and Florence were speechless.
The custom here again shook her three outlooks and rock bottom.
How could women be so cheap and humble?
The woman ate quite fast. After a few seconds, she had almost finished her rice and the three dishes.
She was still eating. While munching, she glared at Florence unhappily.
“What are you looking at? Don’t you want to eat or not?”
As she spoke, she picked a lot of food with the chopsticks, and one dish already went empty, “I heard that outside of our country,
men and women eat at the same table. Here in our country, you don’t have the right.
“Since you’ve come here, you are not different from us. You must eat while sitting on the floor with us.”
Her natural tone sounded as if she was speaking the absolute truth.
Florence was too shocked to utter a word.

She looked away, only to find that Bonnie and the other little girl had already started eating. The three ate fast. The dishes were
finished after a short moment.
They were like battling while eating, making Florence agape.
In the end, they left a bowl of plain rice for Florence.
Florence pressed her lips and couldn’t utter any sound.
She could bear it to sit on the floor and the dishes were so poor, but they had finished everything. What should she eat?
She was so hungry that her tummy was growling, feeling more furious.
She felt so upset.
Right then, Ernest walked to Florence. Grabbing the handles on her wheelchair, he directly turned her around.
Florence was shocked, wondering if Ernest was taking her away without having anything.
While she was wondering, Florence was pushed to the dining table next to the empty chair.
Looking at Andrew, Ernest said in a cold and irresistible tone, “We’re guests here. She didn’t need to obey the rules in your
country. She should eat at the table.”
Andrew was taken aback.
Florence was also a bit surprised. Ernest broke the local custom for her.
The woman immediately went enraged.
With the rice bowl in her hands, she stood up and yelled, “No way! That absolutely doesn’t work! How could a woman eat at the
table?”
Ernest stared daggers at her impatiently.
He said in an arctic cold tone, stressing each syllable, “I don’t want to repeat it again - you don’t deserve to compare yourself to
Florence.”
His arrogant tone was full of unconcealed disgust and disdain.

The custom that men were superior and women were cheap who needed to eat on the floor sickened Ernest a lot.
He didn’t care about other women, but Florence couldn’t be treated in this way.
The woman was freaked out by Ernest’s attitude. She couldn’t help shivering as if she had felt a chill that rose fast from her soles
into her temples instantly.
She felt so fearful.
She realized how horrible this man was. She was so frightened for no reason.
However, the woman had never heard that any woman could eat at the table in this country. As if her three outlooks were broken
down, she couldn’t accept it at all.
She said in a trembling voice, “Mr. Hawkins, she’s just an unimportant woman. You don’t have to...”
“Ho! Unimportant?” Ernest curled up his lips and chuckled.
His disdainful gaze shocked the woman as the electricity.
“Florence is my treasure. Everything about her was above me. I’d rather be stabbed for ten times than letting her get a small
injury.”
His sharp gaze fell on her light fiercely like the lightning.
“Mrs. Ande, I’m warning you just for once. You can hurt me or insult me instead of doing that to Florence. Otherwise, I’m afraid
you can’t bear the consequences.”
He was threatening her undisguisedly, quite arrogant.
The woman widened her eyes in shock as if her soul was hit heavily. She couldn’t believe what she had heard at all.
She was always cautious and careful, worshiping men as her gods for the past decades. The idea had been deeply rooted in her
mind already, which had become her life motto.
However, Ernest, a superior man, thought a woman more important than his own life.
He also spoke those words that were frightful to the ear, declaring that everything about Florence was above him.

How could it be possible?
She couldn’t help changing her attitude towards Florence because of Ernest’s threat.
Andrew Ande had been abroad before, so he knew how equal men and women were outside their country. Hence, he wasn’t
shocked so much when hearing Ernest’s words.
However, inwardly, he admired how much Ernest cherished and treasured Florence.
He didn’t think he would be able to do it all his life.
He understood the equality between men and women outside his country. However, he was born and grew up in Raflad, the
custom had been carved into his bones. Hence, he took it for granted.