“You’re back!”
As soon as Ashley pushed the door open, Flora stretched her neck like a baby bird waiting to be fed, nearly jumping up.
In an instant, her bewildered and empty heart was filled to the brim with a profound sense of reality.
Losing her freedom and becoming a criminal, abandoned by her parents, her upright and noble image reversed into depravity… Misfortunes came one after another. For a while at the beginning, Flora felt like she couldn’t go on living. Fortunately, she had Ashley to rely on—the only light in this cold, dark world.
“Feels great, doesn’t it? Let’s eat the fruit plate together, and the tacos too.” Flora smiled, pursing her lips.
“Even though I was arrested, I feel much more relaxed now.”
Ashley used a spoon to cut the tortilla into four pieces. The pea mash and chicken breast steamed with heat. It had cost her last two pennies to buy it.
Though the scene was heartwarming, she sighed inwardly—no money left at all, not even as good as a beggar. Where could she get some funds from?
After finishing that bankrupt meal, Ashley sat by the window and dumped the contents of the green silk pouch onto the table.
Loose change, buttons, stamps, wax-sealed pills…
Clink!
A silver key dropped onto the table.
It felt slightly heavy in her hand. From the elegant geometric design of the handle and the intricate, complex teeth, it was clear this wasn’t for a mass-produced lock, but a custom-made high-end one.
Besides the extra key, there was also a small note in the pouch.
Damn it, it really was remnants of the family!
After reading the message on the note, Ashley fell into thought.
In a secret room of a mansion in the west of the city, there was some important item they wanted to retrieve.
All the Jenkins Family’s registered properties in Fountain City had been seized, but some hidden assets still existed.
It was signed with initials: M·H.
Ashley had only confirmed the stalker’s identity to dispel her doubts; she had no intention of helping.
She was going to be a good person, hopefully landing a public job at the Tribunal. Continuing to associate with these people would be like mud falling into one’s pants—not shit, but still smelling like it.
As for M·H, Ashley searched her memory. It might be a distant cousin, Moracha Hazlit.
She had seen him a few times at family gatherings. He was a tall, slender young man with soft, fluffy brown hair and deep, thoughtful eyes. He usually wore simple, comfortable black wool casual clothes and a white shirt.
On the wrist of his right hand, which had rather coarse pores, there was a tattoo of a long-haired skull. The skull’s left eye socket was gnawed through by wriggling clusters of bugs, eroding down the cheek to the gums. The right eye was a melted gold coin. That tattoo left a deep impression on her.
The Hazlit Family and the Jenkins Family had intermarried for generations, with deep ties. In this incident, most people had been implicated and were wanted.
As Ashley pondered her options, there was a knock at the door.
She quickly stowed the key and note, then went to open it.
Standing at the door was Dorm Supervisor Kelly, a robust woman built like a cow. She wore an old dress so loose it could fit a brewing barrel, cinched with a belt to hold in her belly fat. Her chest skin, tanned brown, formed a clear line at the neckline.
She had come to deliver the new schedule. It listed daily activities: mandatory ones that couldn’t be missed and optional sign-ups for points-earning projects.
The points projects mainly involved volunteer labor, attending lectures, and cooperating with interviews.
Earned points could be spent at the community store on daily necessities, snacks, toys, sports gear, clothes, and so on—even a brand-new bicycle.
Beyond that, they could be used for leave requests, movie tickets, theater tickets, ice skating vouchers, etc.
These held enormous appeal for the confined juvenile offenders, positively encouraging them to do good deeds and earn points.
Clearly, this was designed to build a positive feedback mechanism for juvenile offenders: do good and obey, get rewards. It was a wise system.
But Ashley despised this Pavlovian training down to her bones.
She sought to become a truly good person, not just a good person under societal norms.
The difference was that once societal norms vanished, the latter would reveal its hideous face beneath the veneer of propriety.
Her financial straits made Ashley feel terrible, stirring urges to rob a bank or a train. She needed to get some money in hand quickly.
There were plenty of ways to make quick cash, but the legal ones she knew were few. After all, having grown up in that environment, she’d rarely heard of honest labor leading to wealth.
Back when the Devil’s Den hadn’t been raided, Ashley had read many materials and notes at home that would be absolute banned books by universal values.
The knowledge in those books was bizarre and mad. Though she knew it was poison to quench thirst, she devoured it frantically to quell her worries about an uncertain future.
“What about the dirty clothes? No changes, and socks too…”
Anxious mutterings reached her ears, interrupting her thoughts.
Ashley went over and asked a few questions, discovering that Flora was incredibly spoiled—she’d never even washed her own clothes or dishes.
But after a little guidance, Flora picked it up quickly. After all, they were very simple tasks.
Flora immediately took a liking to cleaning. She washed everything over and over until the rinse water had no foam at all.
She shook her fingers, red from vigorous scrubbing, and the golden-haired loli gazed up at the wet clothes drying on the balcony. A breeze blew through, making the damp hems and her silky hair sway together.
Every now and then, she pinched a damp corner, anticipating as they dried. The tiny sense of accomplishment from these small tasks continuously dispelled the confusion in her heart.
“Want me to wash your clothes too?” Flora asked.
“No.” Ashley shook her head.
“Eh? Why? It’d be so convenient to wash them together.”
“No.”
Ashley didn’t like the idea of her underwear being scrubbed by someone else’s fingers, not even a loli’s.
“Shishi isn’t the type who likes relying on others…”
Flora turned to look at the only small bed and blinked. “What about at night? Should we… sleep together?”
Her heart raced, her thoughts floating away, quickly ascending into a daydream of a small bed and two lolis, close enough to feel each other’s scent and warmth.
Ashley still shook her head. Having a second person in the bedroom was already her limit. Someone sleeping right beside her just felt uncomfortable.
In the evening, workers came to install bunk beds. They would sleep top and bottom, with Ashley on top, her head by the window.
This completely dashed Flora’s hopes, and she pouted regretfully.
She had seen Ashley’s sleeping face before—it was incredibly cute, a big contrast to her usual serious demeanor. Being able to gaze at it anytime would surely be wonderful.
Late at night, Ashley climbed barefoot up the ladder to the top bunk. She first curled into a ball, then gradually stretched out her small limbs, savoring the different feel from the cell.
Her little face buried into the pillow padded with a towel, the fluffy, dry fabric scent diffusing with her breaths.
The wind rustled the trees outside, producing a gentle, soothing whoosh. Moonlight filtered through the leaf gaps, its rays shattering the dark, water-like night.
Wrapped in comfort, Ashley’s consciousness began to fade. Suddenly, rhythmic ‘tap-tap’ sounds came from the window.
Her eyes snapped open. She lifted her head, her pupils reflecting a fire-red parrot on the windowsill.
It was cat-sized, with a white ribbon tied around its neck, looking elegant and noble. Its broad back and long tail feathers formed a vivid red cascade as it craned its head eagerly inside.
The tapping was from its jade-like, round, hard beak pecking the glass.
“Sasha!”
Ashley scrambled up, her face lighting with joy.
This parrot named Sasha was one she and Xixi had raised together. It started as a fleshy lump of a weird thing, slowly grew fuzz all over but still had a stubby head and tail, looking silly. Only after over half a year did it become a beautiful big parrot.
Seeing the loli through the glass, the parrot hopped back and forth excitedly.
“Ashley! Ashley!”
It squawked, and as soon as the loli cracked the window open, it burst inside.
“My little Ai needs help.”
Sasha wasn’t smart enough yet to form its own sentences, so this was repeating Cousin Xixi’s words, with the tone perfectly mimicked.
After rubbing against the loli’s finger to express reunion joy, the big parrot twisted around and pulled a miniature letter from under its wing.
