The Hand Reaching into the Vase chapter 3

Tom estimated that his father would be back soon. Once his father came back and saw the annoying cricket in the $2 – million vase, he would definitely scold him. In a hurry, Tom reached his hand into the mouth of the vase again. But he still couldn’t get his hand in all the way. He took a breath, calmed himself down, gritted his teeth, and suddenly thrust his hand into the vase. His palm ached sharply, but his hand finally went in. He swiped his five fingers and caught the cricket. Then he quickly tried to pull his hand out. But at this moment, an unexpected thing happened: not to mention with the cricket in his hand, even if his hand was empty, he couldn’t pull it out!

Just then, Jack and Mike walked into the house, chatting and laughing. They were shocked to see the vase stuck on Tom’s right hand. At that moment, a luxury car pulled up outside the courtyard. Mr. Brown had arrived. As soon as he entered, he slapped a briefcase on the table and said, “I’ve known Mr. Jack for many years. If he says it’s good, I have no doubts. I only have two hours. I’ve already bought my return ticket to Los Angeles.”

Jack sighed and pointed at Tom. Mr. Brown had been in a hurry when he entered and didn’t notice Tom at first. Now seeing the vase on Tom’s hand, he was taken aback for a moment. But then he was immediately attracted by the vase. So he called his family and said that he had bought a very precious multicolored vase and would be back soon. He begged them to take good care of his father at all costs so that his father could have a look at the vase before he passed away and fulfill his last wish.

After the call, Mr. Brown got anxious again. He couldn’t let this boy go to Los Angeles on the plane with the vase on his hand! He lit a cigarette, took a couple of deep puffs, thought for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and said, “There’s only one way now…”

The three of them asked in unison, “What way?”

“Cut off the hand!”

“Cut off the hand?” This was out of the question! Jack and Tom absolutely disagreed. Mr. Brown said, “I won’t treat you badly. As far as I know, in the United States, the highest compensation for losing a palm due to injury is about $100,000. Now, if we cut off Tom’s hand, I’ll pay $500,000! And I’ll cover the medical expenses. How about that?”

“$500,000? This…” Tom took a deep breath and was a bit tempted. But Jack suddenly stood up and said, “Tom, you’re only 18 years old. What will you do in the future without a hand?” Tom lowered his head when he heard this. At this time, Mike stepped forward and grabbed Jack’s arm, saying, “Jack, I’m begging you. We’ve been friends for a lifetime. What will happen to my daughter without the money?”

“Mike, I understand, but Tom is so young…”

Mike got impatient and said, “Jack, well, anyway, I don’t need all the $2 million. I’ll give another $500,000 to Tom! He won’t be able to earn this much in his whole life. With this $1 million, you won’t have to worry about him in the future!”

Hearing that he could get $1 million for losing a hand, Tom looked up at his father. Jack glared at him fiercely, and Tom lowered his head again.

Just then, Mr. Brown’s phone rang. After listening to the call, his face turned pale. He kept saying, “Okay, okay, I’ll bring the vase back right away. You must take good care of my father!” Mr. Brown hung up the phone, stepped forward, and hugged Jack. With tears in his eyes, he said, “Mr. Jack, my father is on his last breath. You know I’m a filial son. If my father doesn’t see this vase before he dies, I won’t be at peace for the rest of my life… Please persuade Tom to agree!”

Facing this situation, Jack had nothing more to say. Tears welled up in his eyes. He stroked Tom’s head and said, “Son, you caused this trouble. Dad can’t help you now. You have to make your own decision…” After saying that, he walked into the yard and silently wiped away his tears…