Chapter 26: Gratitude and tears

Back when Jean was constantly on the move, doing everything she could to remain beyond her father’s reach, she had been forced to change residences several times.

However, by the final months of her pregnancy, even the simple act of getting up to pour herself a glass of water had become an exhausting ordeal. Fortunately, she found herself surrounded by women who cared for her with such tenderness that they treated Jean as though she were their own daughter.

At the time, she was living in a shared dormitory. The beds were often dusty, the air stale and polluted, and the living conditions far from pleasant. Yet, despite all of that, the people she had found there were precious to her.

And among those few precious people, two were standing right in front of her now.

"How dare you even touch it when you never intended to buy it?" the store employee scolded the two elderly women in a harsh voice, her entire body trembling with anger.

The other customers merely watched the spectacle unfold, with a few even sighing at the sight.

"I... I was only checking to see if there was any discount..."

"Oh, right. A discount on every single thing," the bespectacled woman replied with an exasperated roll of eyes.

The two elderly women exchanged guilty glances, their expressions making it painfully clear that they knew they had damaged the product.

Just then, a voice interrupted them.

"Excuse me. Can I buy that?"

A voice came from behind them, and all three turned toward the newcomer.

The staff member’s expression shifted almost immediately. "But, sir, the packaging might be a little..."

"Yeah, it doesn’t matter. Only the protective film is damaged. I’m not going to make a fuss over it," Kai replied, his voice calm and his eyes devoid of emotion.

The staff member understood the implication behind his words, and rather than easing her frustration, it only seemed to deepen it.

She looked him over from head to toe, then inwardly scoffed before asking, "Are you sure you can afford this premium..."

"Do you want me to call Terry over here and tell him what kind of insult his staff member throws at customers?" Kai interrupted. "Terry is a close friend of mine, so he might just come over himself and deal with you and all these questions."

The woman stiffened where she stood. The man before her clearly knew the shop owner, and that realization drained the confidence from her expression.

Her voice trembled faintly. "I-I apologize, sir. I was just..."

"Screw that. Just apologize to them and walk away." Kai cut her off again, leaving no room for excuses.

The woman gritted her teeth, but she ultimately turned toward the two elderly women and offered them a hurried bow.

"I apologize for my rude behavior. Please excuse me."

She placed the meat back on the shelf before walking away as quickly as she could.

Kai rolled his eyes.

Really, humans and their irritating tendency to judge others differently based on the clothes they wore.

"Thank you, son." The woman on the left, her greyish-black hair framing a gentle face, spoke softly, a warm smile spreading across her lips.

Kai returned a faint smile. "Well, you should be thanking someone else too. She was the one who motivated me to intervene."

As he spoke, another figure approached and joined their group.

The two women were startled when they saw the black-haired woman approaching with a baby cradled in her arms.

"Jean?"

Naomi stepped forward and gently took hold of her shoulders, her eyes already growing moist. "How have you been, child?"

Lyra soon joined them, her expression softening as she looked Jean over. "You’ve changed so much... and this precious little one. How is she doing?"

Jean smiled warmly and held the child out slightly so they could get a better look. "We decided on her name today. Elara, say hi to them."

The little girl merely tilted her head, her large eyes moving between the two women with open curiosity.

"Elara... That’s quite an elegant name," Naomi murmured with a pleased nod.

A moment later, her attention shifted toward Kai.

"So... it was you."

Kai grew slightly nervous under her gaze, but he nodded. "Yes. My name is Kai. And I’m thankful for everything you did for them."

Naomi and Lyra exchanged a brief glance before smiling at the same time.

Lyra spoke first. "I don’t make judgments about people that easily, but so far, you’ve given me nothing but a good impression."

Naomi nodded in agreement. "Above all, the fact that you’ve accepted Jean and Elara into your life as family proves that you’re a good man."

Jean almost opened her mouth to correct them. She was merely a guest staying with Kai, after all. But when she saw the warmth in his smile as he accepted their words without protest, she decided to remain silent.

A moment later, Kai spoke.

"Right. We’re having a small celebration since we decided on her name today. Why don’t you two join us?"

Jean nodded as well. "Yes, you should. We live quite close to this store."

Lyra offered a wry smile and shook her head. "We want to, but a few more people have joined us, and some of them have small children as well. We only came here to pick up some supplies."

Naomi nodded. "Yes. It’s important that we get back. But in the future, please invite us again, all right?"

Jean was a little disappointed, but she nodded. She knew how much responsibility the two women carried within the dormitory and understood that they could not simply leave whenever they pleased.

Not long afterward, they parted ways, since the two women had already gathered everything they had come for.

After they left, Jean remained unusually quiet as she and Kai continued moving from one aisle to another.

Kai eventually let out a quiet sigh. "Worried about them?"

Jean flinched slightly before slowly nodding. "Yes." Taking a deep breath, she added, "They don’t show it, but they carry too much on their shoulders. Between working part-time jobs and taking care of the dormitory, they barely have any time left for themselves."

In a quieter voice she added, "I hope I could lift some of their burden."

Kai chewed lightly on his lower lip, falling silent for a moment.

Then, almost as though a thought had suddenly occurred to him, he asked, "Have we taken everything we need?"

Jean blinked in surprise before nodding. "Yes."

Without another word, Kai pushed their cart aside and took another one from near the counter.

"Kai?" Jean asked, confusion entering her voice as he suddenly placed three large bags of rice inside it.

He continued down the aisle, filling the cart with essential supplies before asking, "I hope you still remember the address of the dormitory. You’ll need to give it to the delivery guy later."

Jean slowed to a stop.

Her hand reached for his, her fingers curling around his as her eyes grew misty. "You... you don’t have to do this, Kai..."

Kai turned toward her and smiled gently.

"They took care of you when you had no one. I can never repay them for everything they did, so let me at least do what little I can."

Jean lowered her head, closing her eyes as she fought to hold back the tears.

The baby seemed to sense her mother’s distress. She reached up and gently cupped Jean’s cheeks with her tiny hands, her innocent expression filled with concern.

Kai sighed softly before resting a reassuring hand on Jean’s shoulder.

"Come. I’m going to need someone to lead me."

Jean slowly nodded and raised her head.

Her eyes were still moist, her cheeks flushed, but a gentle smile had found its way onto her lips.

"Leave it to me."