Chapter 208


    Sophia ate her lunch in low spirits that afternoon. Furthermore, the wound left on her ankle by theser


    scar removal had been aching a little, which was apanied by some redness and swelling.


    Having no appetite, she stopped eating after having only two mouthfuls of food. She then said sullenly,


    “I’m full already.”


    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    Since this morning, Michael had noticed that his pretty, young wife seemed quite unhappy. Was it


    because of the matter about the Phantom Wolf? No, his instincts told him that it wasn’t the case.


    He turned to look at Nathan, who looked at him in return. Staring at each other in silence, the father and


    son seemed to bemunicating via telepathy once again.


    Sophia went back to Nathan’s room after having her lunch. She had been staying in Nathan’s room


    these days, so she had moved herputer and mechanical keyboard over there.


    She turned on herputer sullenly and stared at the game’s interface. Suddenly, she recalled


    something and went downstairs to the storeroom located in the basement.


    The entire basement was filled with all kinds of misceneous items. There were many things in the


    storeroom, including Michael’s two cases of condoms, a great pile of cosmetics that Sophia had bought


    earlier, and toy cars that Nathan no longer yed with.


    Sophia searched the storeroom for a while and found the suitcase she had brought with her when she


    first came. The suitcase was worn, and it couldn’t be locked with a passcode. Her grandmother had


    brought it back home while collecting recyble garbage back then. It was old but solid, and it worked


    well.


    This small suitcase had apanied her for many years. Sophia had brought it with her when she


    attended junior high and high school; when she was expelled from Riverdale High School in the end, she


    also took it with her. She had lived in Duckburgs with this suitcase, and she brought it with her when she


    came to live with Michael.


    She opened the suitcase to see several pieces of clothing lying quietly inside. These were the clothes


    she had brought with her back then; she had worn them for several years, and many of them were gifts


    from her ssmates. Lying quietly among these clothes was a set of neatly-folded Riverdale High


    School’s uniform. Inside the ziplock bag was a pair of used sneakers which she had worn for three years.


    They were old and worn out, but they were impably clean.


    This old leather suitcase had been dumped here ever since she came to live with Michael. She never


    used its contents again, for her past seemed to have been buried along with this well-worn suitcase; the


    suitcase’s disuse represented her farewell to her former self.


    Sophia then found an old wallet in the leather suitcase. The wallet was kept in a stic bag, and she


    opened it to see a small stack of banknotes inside. These banknotes were old and tattered since they


    had been used several years ago; such a version of banknotes was probably impossible to find


    nowadays.


    She sat on an old sofa while counting the stack of banknotes earnestly. The stack contained over ten


    banknotes in denominations of one cent, five cents, ten cents, twenty cents, one buck, and two bucks.


    They totaled five bucks no matter how she counted them.


    She could still remember the prices back then—a drink bottle could be exchanged for five cents,


    whereas a ring-pull can could be exchanged for ten. She had no idea how much garbage her


    grandmother had collected just to save these five bucks; her grandmother had saved the money little by


    little just to make her happy during the New Year celebrations.


    Since they were too impoverished back then, most of the banknotes they hade into contact with


    back then were of one cent, two cents, ten cents, twenty cents, one buck, and two bucks. Now that


    Sophia saw these banknotes once again, each of them looked so familiar to her.


    She had been keeping these five bucks like they were a rare treasure; it was the first time she had ever


    received such a huge sum of money in her life, and she kept them since she had no idea how to spend


    them.


    When she attended high school afterward, she had boarded at school with her tuition fees fully waived


    and was given an allowance, so she had no reason to spend these five bucks. She probably couldn’t use


    them anymore right now.


    Sophia reminisced about the old times while counting the banknotes again and again. Each time she


    counted the banknotes, an inexplicable feeling of contentment surged up within her. She felt as though


    she was still her former self—the self whom she thought had gotten the whole world in her hands back


    then.


    Sophia counted the banknotes for more than half an hour before leaving the storeroom in satisfaction.


    After that, she went back to her room to y online games.


    The next day, Sophia got out of bed and pushed the bedroom door open to see Michael standing


    outside. He seemed to have just gotten out of bed as well, for his hair was still a little unkempt. Dressed


    in pink Foxy pajamas with his hood on, he pressed his lips together with his hands behind his back as if


    trying hard to suppress a smile. Then, he looked down at her and said, “Happy New Year, my chica.”


    Sophia was puzzled. It was already the fourth day of the New Year, so wasn’t it a little toote to say


    ‘Happy New Year’ to her right now?


    Much to her surprise, the instant Michael finished his sentence, he pulled his hand from behind his back


    to show a bulging red packet in it. He said, “Come—this is your New Year present from your hubby!”


    Sophia was overjoyed. Was she getting a New Year’s present as well? Weren’t New Year presents given


    to members of the younger generation by their elders? Why would Michael give her a New Year present?


    However, it would be a shame if she turned down the red packet gifted by her Lord. She took the red


    packet from him and said happily, “Thank you, my Lord!”


    The instant she said the words out loud, she was overwhelmed with regret—how could she reveal her


    inner fangirl? She immediately corrected herself, saying, “Thank you, hubby!”


    Michael gave her a secretive smile before turning around to enter his bedroom. Feeling content, he


    proceeded to brush his teeth.


    On the other hand, Sophia was left confused; she couldn’t figure out why Michael had suddenly given


    her a red packet on the fourth day of the New Year. She went downstairs to have breakfast with the


    heavy red packet in her pocket, and she didn’t open it until she had finished eating her meal.


    Much to her surprise, she opened the red packet not to find glistening red banknotes of a hundred bucks


    as she had expected, but a stack of old banknotes in small denominations instead.


    Not only were there banknotes of one cent, two cents, ten cents, and twenty cents, there were coins too!


    No wonder the red packet was bulging—the values of the banknotes inside never exceeded two bucks!


    At once, Sophia was pleasantly surprised as a kid who had gotten his New Year present for the first time.


    She counted the money in her New Year present with satisfaction, and the money totaled exactly a


    hundred bucks no matter how she counted them. Arge sum of a hundred bucks! At that instant, she


    felt as though she had gotten the whole world in her hands once again.


    When she counted the money for the second time, she felt like she had in her hands not only the whole


    world but the entire sr system. When she counted the money for the third time, she felt like she had


    be the master of the entire Gctic System!


    Nathan, who was standing aside as he looked on, simply couldn’t understand why Sophia was so excited


    upon seeing a pile of worn and tattered banknotes. These banknotes were old versions that had been


    obsolete before his birth, and they were no longer in cirction nowadays.


    Hale suddenly came home carrying a pocketful of old banknotes and coinsst night. These old versions


    of banknotes were no longer circting in the market, and the banks had stopped issuing them. Even


    the currency collectors were unwilling to collect them since they had little collection value.


    Michael had ordered Hale to either gather enough old banknotes and coins by that night or apologize by


    killing himself. Nobody knew how Hale had managed to gather so many old banknotes and coins within


    such a short amount of time.


    Last night, Nathan secretly saw Michael counting the money alone in his study. He searched the old


    banknotes Hale had collected for small changes, gathering them one by one until he managed to gather


    enough money for a red packet after midnight.


    These banknotes and coins filled Nathan with disgust. To him, they were both unusable and dirty, so he


    couldn’t understand why Sophia was so happy when she saw them.


    However, this dirty stack of old banknotes would look adorable if it was Sophia who liked them.


    Sigh, I can never understand what is going on in the adults’ minds, Nathan thought to himself.