Chapter 142 Aerith's Routine

　　…

　　When we returned to the Fifth Block, it was already noon.

　　However, Aerith seemed still drunk when they got off the car, so Shen Ye still carried her back home.

　　Since Elmyra had already gone out and no one opened the door for them, Shen Ye had to pat Aerith's face to wake her up and asked, "Do you have the key?"

　　Aerith half-closed her eyes, nodded slightly, and searched her body for a long time before finding the key.

　　Shen Ye took the key and opened the door. After entering, he put Aerith on the sofa, then found a blanket to cover her, and then went into the kitchen to prepare something to eat for Alice.

　　But the moment he entered the kitchen, Aerith opened her eyes. There was no trace of drunkenness in her bright eyes. In fact, she had already woken up in the car.

　　Looking towards the kitchen, Aerith felt very complicated, and a look of struggle flashed across her face, as if she was resisting something.

　　But soon, she felt relieved.

　　"Maybe...things can really change this time!" Aerith murmured to herself.

　　…

　　Not long after, Shen Ye came out of the kitchen with a bowl of oatmeal porridge with some honey in it.

　　Of course, given Elmyra's conditions, or the conditions in the slums, there was no honey in the kitchen. This was brought by Shen Ye himself. High-calorie honey is not only a good condiment, but also a good thing for quickly replenishing physical strength.

　　"Awake?" Shen Ye came out of the kitchen and found Aerith looking at him with her eyes open, so he moved a chair and sat in front of her.

　　"Have a drink."

　　Shen Ye handed the bowl over, but Aerith didn't move.

　　"I still seem to have little strength." Aerith raised her hand slightly, then put it back.

　　"So... I feed you?" Shen Ye thought for a moment and said, "Or wait for you..."

　　"Okay, feed me!"

　　Aerith interrupted Shen Ye's next words and looked at him expectantly.

　　This made Shen Ye feel a little embarrassed. He originally wanted to say that he could drink it himself after Aerith had rested, but the other party agreed too readily.

　　"Okay, come, let me help you sit up first." Shen Ye put the oatmeal porridge aside, helped Aerith up, scooped a spoonful of porridge with a spoon and put it to Aerith's mouth.

　　Looking at the steaming porridge, Aerith glanced at him and snorted, "It's a little hot, don't you want to blow it first?"

　　Shen Ye was stunned, and after hesitating for a moment, he still did as Aerith asked.

　　"Very sweet." Aerith swallowed the porridge in the spoon that was brought to her mouth again and nodded with satisfaction. The taste of honey made her happy.

　　After finishing a bowl of oatmeal porridge, Shen Ye was sweating all over. It wasn't because he was tired, but because he felt a little uncomfortable.

　　This was the first time he had done something like this, and even though the target was Aerith, he was not good at taking care of people.

　　"I'm full." Aerith patted her stomach gently, then lay down again. Her ease in movement made Shen Ye frown.

　　It seemed like the other party was trying to trick him just now?

　　With a slight sigh in his heart, Shen Ye didn't care and returned to the kitchen with the empty bowl. It was time for him to get himself something to eat.

　　...…

　　In the afternoon, Aerith, who had rested so much that she felt embarrassed, got up from the sofa, cleaned herself up briefly, and said to Shen Ye, who was sitting by the window in a daze, "Shen, are you interested in going somewhere with me?"

　　"Where are you going?" Shen Ye withdrew his thoughts and looked at Aerith.

　　"Come with me and you'll know." Aerith took Shen Ye's arm and walked out of the house.

　　Soon, they arrived at the church not far from Aerith's home.

　　The church had been abandoned long ago, and without any believers, the building had lost all its vitality. But as Shen Ye and Aerith went deeper into the church, they saw a small flower bed inside the building where the believers should have worshipped.

　　"A classic place in FF7!" Looking at the flower garden, Shen Ye subconsciously raised his head, but because the plot had not yet been officially promoted, there was naturally no big hole created by Claude.

　　"What are you looking at?" Aerith looked at him curiously.

　　"It's nothing. I'm just a little surprised that such lush and beautiful flowers can grow under the conditions here." Shen Ye retracted his gaze and looked towards the flower bed.

　　Of course, he asked this question even though he knew the answer.

　　"Because I am special!" Aerith leaned over and picked up a handful of soil from the flower bed, walked in front of Shen Ye, and closed her eyes.

　　Then, the green white magic stone on her headdress emitted a faint fluorescence, and then an invisible energy emerged from the palm of her hand. Slowly, a sprout grew out of the handful of soil.

　　Of course, Aerith hasn't completely mastered her own power yet. Just letting the sprouts grow in the soil has already made beads of sweat overflow from her forehead.

　　"Look, isn't it special?" Aerith raised her hand in front of Shen Ye and looked at him expectantly.

　　"Yes, it's incredible." Shen Ye nodded: "No wonder the flowers here grow so lushly, and there is not even a weed to be seen on the streets outside."

　　"That's why I keep selling flowers. Flowers are so precious in Midgar." Aerith put the soil in her hand back into the flower bed, clapped her hands and said.

　　"However, only the rich people in the upper class would buy them. People in the slums have trouble even getting food, so few people would buy flowers from me." Aerith said regretfully, "Besides, even the rich people are not very interested in flowers. They don't seem to like things that easily wither."

　　"That's because they don't know how to take care of them." Shen Ye squatted down, gently stroked the flowers in the flowerbed, and said, "If you can take good care of them, they can live for a long time. Even if they wither, they will blend into the soil and become nutrients, and then give birth to new life. This cycle will continue forever."

　　"Really?" After hearing Shen Ye's words, Aerith's emerald green eyes sparkled.

　　"Then... Shen, what do you understand about life?" Aerith asked again.

　　"Understanding of life?" Shen Ye was stunned for a moment, feeling a little confused, but he still expressed his thoughts: "I may not be very clear, I only know that no matter what kind of life it is, it is very fragile, but also very strong, short-lived, but also glorious... Aerith, why are you asking me this?"

　　"Nothing." Aerith shook her head, but she had a smile on her face as she had gotten the answer she wanted.

　　…

　　Next, Shen Ye and Aerith did not leave the church, but began to take care of the flowers in the flowerbed.

　　Although Aerith's ability can promote the growth of those flowers and make them tougher and more tenacious than ordinary flowers, nutrients and water are still necessary.

　　"So, Shen, thank you for your hard work!"

　　Aerith handed the water-carrying tools to Shen Ye and said to him with a smile.

　　Of course Shen Ye couldn't refuse. He was now living and eating at her house, so doing something for her was no big deal.

　　Moreover, the flower garden was not very large, so Shen Ye only made one trip to fetch the required water.

　　"It's really nice to have a capable man at home."

　　Looking at Shen Ye watering and weeding, this idea suddenly popped into Aerith's mind.

　　"Oh, what am I thinking about?" Aerith was shocked by her own thoughts and shook her head quickly, trying to get rid of the idea from her mind.

　　However, once this thought appeared, it was not so easy to get rid of it. For a moment, Aerith was entangled in it. It was not until Shen Ye finished tidying up the flower garden that she came to her senses.

　　"Aerith?" Shen Ye put down the tools in his hand, stretched his body, and said to her, "Is there anything else you need to do?"

　　"Not for now." Aerith shook her head. "We'll come over after dinner... Shen, don't you have anything else to do tonight?"

　　"Of course not. What do you think I should do now?" Shen Ye asked curiously.

　　"For example, go to that bar for a drink. The girl named Tifa will be very enthusiastic towards you." A smile flashed in Aerith's eyes.

　　"…"

　　After a moment of silence, Shen Ye said helplessly: "This is the first time I met her, and it's mainly because of Marlene that she was so enthusiastic!"

　　Seeing Shen Ye's helpless look, Aerith covered her mouth and laughed secretly. After a long while, she said, "Since you are not going to run around at night, can you accompany me to the upper district to sell flowers? Now there is an extra mouth at home, and it is a man's mouth. It is not enough to support it with my and my mother's salary alone."

　　"Selling flowers?" Shen Ye was stunned again, then pointed at himself and said, "Is my image okay?"

　　"Why not?" Aerith looked Shen Ye up and down: "He looks very pleasing to the eye."

　　"Okay then." Shen Ye was very pleased with Aerith's words and nodded in agreement immediately.

　　"Then let's go home now."

　　After saying that, Aerith grabbed Shen Ye's hand and pulled him out of the church.

　　When I got home, Elmyra had already returned home and was sitting at the coffee table drinking tea.

　　When she saw Aerith coming back holding Shen Ye's hand, she couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Her hand holding the tea froze in mid-air, and then she looked at the two of them with strange eyes.

　　"Mom!" Aerith noticed Elmyra's eyes, immediately let go of her hand, called out, and ran into her room.

　　"It seems like you guys got along very well today." Elmyra glanced at Aerith's closed door and said with a smile on her face.

　　"Well, I'm okay!" Shen Ye said with a light cough.

　　"Marin has gone home, right?" Elmyra asked again.

　　Shen Ye nodded: "We handed her over to her father personally."

　　"That's good." Elmyra nodded slightly and took another sip of tea.

　　Then she put down the teacup, stood up and walked to the kitchen, saying as she walked, "Please sit down for a while. I'll make dinner for you."

　　"Okay, Ms. Elmyra." Shen Ye nodded.

　　During dinner, Aerith told Elmyra that she was going to sell flowers with Shen Ye.

　　"You guys want to sell flowers together?" Elmyra put down the spoon in her hand and looked at Aerith.

　　"Mom, you won't disagree, will you?" Aerith thought Elmyra objected to her taking Shen Ye to sell flowers.

　　"No." Elmyra shook her head and a smile appeared on her face. "On the contrary, I agree. When you were selling flowers alone before, I was always worried. Now someone is accompanying you. I am so happy!"

　　"That's good." Aerith breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Shen Ye, but Shen Ye was concentrating on eating and didn't notice.

　　Aerith suddenly became dissatisfied and kicked Shen Ye under the table.

　　"Ah! What's wrong?" Shen Ye raised his head and looked at Aerith in confusion: "Didn't Ms. Elmyra agree?"

　　"Idiot." Aerith was furious. After taking a few bites of rice, she threw down the spoon and said to Shen Ye:

　　"Eat quickly, we have to go to the church to pick flowers later."

　　"Yeah!" Shen Ye nodded vigorously, and scooped the food from the plate into his mouth like a whirlwind. He chewed it a few times and swallowed it. Then he said to Elmyra , "Ms. Elmyra , I'm full. I'm leaving first."

　　"Be careful on the road." Elmyra said with a smile.

　　"Don't worry, Mom, we will be careful." Aerith, who had already taken the flower basket, said to Elmyra at the door.

　　…

　　After selecting the flowers to sell in the church, the sky gradually darkened. Aerith and Shen Ye, each carrying a flower basket, boarded the city train to the commercial district.

　　Inside the train carriage, many people who were going to the commercial district to work the night shift looked at Shen Ye curiously.

　　Over the years, they had only heard of flower girls, but this was the first time they had seen a flower man.

　　Even though Shen Ye was relatively thick-skinned, he still felt embarrassed under the gazes of so many people, especially when some eyes kept moving back and forth between him and the flower basket.

　　"Aerith, I really want to get off the bus." Shen Ye said softly to Alice who was sitting next to him.

　　"No way." Aerith of course noticed the gazes of the people around her. Looking at the extremely embarrassed Shen Ye, she actually smiled happier than anyone else.

　　"You promised me, you can't give up halfway!" Aerith said again.

　　Shen Ye could only sigh, then lowered his head and looked at the floor of the carriage in confusion.

　　Fortunately, Midgar's city train was very fast, and Shen Ye's suffering in the carriage did not last too long. As the train entered the commercial district station, Shen Ye breathed a long sigh of relief, then continued to lower his head and follow behind Aerith.

　　After following Aerith for several streets, I heard Aerith say, "Shen, you stay here, I'll go over there." She pointed to the street across the street.

　　"We'll gather here again around ten o'clock," she said again.

　　"Yeah!" Shen Ye nodded, then watched Aerith leave.