After everything was prepared, Eve Nightburn followed Jade Xiang onto the electric scooter and they set off immediately.
As they rode, the wind whipped through their hair, causing an occasional itch.
Eve sat on the back seat, moving forward with the wind, taking in the scenery of Cloudhaven City.
One of the advantages of elevated roads is the ability to overlook the cityscape below.
Looking down from the elevated road, there was the wetland park by Cloudsea Lake. In the distance was the antique street that had been rebuilt decades ago, and to the east of the wetland park was a water park…
As the scenery flashed by, Eve seemed to catch a glimpse of a massive stone tablet amidst a sea of crimson flowers in the botanical garden. The tablet appeared to be dozens of meters tall, resembling a black tower standing far in the distance.
The tablet looked so peculiar; Eve felt it wasn’t something humans could have built.
Eve patted Jade’s back. “Jade… Mom, look at that tablet! It’s so unique!”
“Huh? Where?”
Jade slowed the scooter and looked around but didn’t see the tablet Eve mentioned.
“To the right! Near the botanical garden!”
Jade followed Eve’s direction and looked carefully but still saw nothing.
“There’s nothing there?” Jade twisted the throttle again, speeding up. “Alright, we’ll look later. Let’s focus on shopping first.”
Eve said nothing, just staring blankly at the tablet that should have been clearly visible.
Did she really not notice it?
Eve didn’t know, and she couldn’t find out anymore.
When they arrived at the mall, Jade led Eve to start picking out items.
Toothbrushes, toothbrush cups, pajamas, leather shoes…
They wandered around for quite a while.
Though it was a bit boring, it wasn’t too troublesome.
But as they were about to leave, Eve’s troubles caught up with her—the stationery section.
The moment Eve saw Jade pick out a backpack for her, she finally realized that some things were simply inescapable. Before adulthood, you can’t escape school; after adulthood, you can’t escape work. The world will always make you endure its trials.
Ultimately, you can’t claim to be human only when enjoying human rights and then shy away when it comes to bearing human hardships. That would be hypocritical.
After coming to this realization, Eve finally accepted the truth. School was school, work was work. At least it was better than scrambling every day just to eat.
By the time they left, they were carrying a large number of bags, along with the backpack on Eve’s back, filled with various purchased items.
Eve followed Jade, carrying so many things. Though it was tiring, it also felt a bit novel.
She had never bought so many things at once before…
Though her grand dream was to stay home every day and unpack deliveries, carrying a bunch of items in her hands felt somewhat similar to that dream.
Jade tried to stuff all the purchased items into the scooter, and Eve ended up carrying four bags before everything fit.
As they prepared to leave, Jade reminded Eve, “If you feel tired, let me know, and we’ll stop for a break.”
“Alright,” Eve replied. Jade twisted the throttle, and they headed back toward Sun City.
Passing the elevated road again, Eve tried to look toward where she had seen the tablet, but for some reason, this time, she couldn’t find the massive tablet amidst the crimson flowers.
Was it really just a figment of her imagination?
Well, never mind.
When they returned home, Eve placed all the items inside the door before Jade closed the entranceway.
Looking at the pile of items on the floor, Jade asked Eve, “Do you need help organizing, Eve?”
Eve quickly shook her head. “No, no need! I can handle it myself!”
Eve felt that Jade had already helped her so much today. If she asked for more, she would be shameless!
“Are you sure you’ll be fine alone?”
Jade was still a bit worried. Though she knew the little one was quite capable, it still felt heart-wrenching to make a child do so much.
Eve immediately patted her small chest and assured her, “Don’t worry! Such a small task won’t defeat me!”
“Alright,” Jade agreed. “Then I’ll go watch TV.”
With that, Jade returned to the living room, picked up the remote, and continued watching her drama.
Eve crouched at the entrance, sorting through one item after another, categorizing them.
First, she separated the items that only needed to be placed in her room, then carried them one by one into her room.
After organizing most of the items, Eve walked over to the backpack they had bought today.
She crouched down and looked at the large backpack. She would likely be dealing with it often in the days to come.
Eve touched the backpack, wanting to chat with it. “Big backpack, though I don’t know how to say this, we’ll probably be going to school together next week, right?”
“Actually, I’m pretty bad at studying. You might not know, but barely making it into high school is pretty much my limit.”
“I don’t really want to go to school. I always feel like the people there are richer and more powerful than me. Beside them, I’m just a background character, easily bullied.”
Eve recalled her high school days, a period she didn’t like to remember. Her teachers always urged her to try harder, but she had no energy left to do so.
Back then, she was the only fool in the entire class who had to work part-time while studying.
Everyone knew she had no family, knew she was an easy target.
She had no power or influence, so no one gained anything from befriending her, making her the class punching bag and the person everyone ignored.
Eve understood. People only want to be around those who are doing well. Who wants to stick around with trash?
But she was trash, and the worst kind at that. Her grades were at the bottom of every high school, let alone those true top students she couldn’t even dream of measuring up to.
“Oh, and big backpack, when I was in middle school, my math teacher would hit our hands with an eraser to motivate us to get good grades.”
“That’s how I got a blister on my left hand. Before it turned into this scar, that blister wouldn’t go away.”
