Thelma adapted to life five years later in a very short time and became familiar with her surroundings.
Her sister told her that her life had been a mess before and that she spent her days in a haze. Thelma could roughly guess this, but she didn’t quite understand why her former self from five years ago couldn’t handle those challenges, especially since her current self felt capable of facing the worst.
But it didn’t matter anymore. What she needed to do now was adjust herself as quickly as possible.
After a brief period of adjustment, she began helping her sister with the store’s operations. Speaking of which, her sister had sacrificed a lot for the restaurant. Back when their mother passed away, her sister was busy preparing for the bar exam. She was an excellent law student, but after their mother’s death, she took over the family restaurant. This restaurant, established by their grandfather, held a special significance for their family. Her sister didn’t want the restaurant to close down under her watch, so she gave up her dreams to manage it.
Her sister had sacrificed so much. How could Thelma justify continuing her unmotivated life?
Regardless of the past, she had to pull herself together now. On one hand, she could help her sister, and on the other, seeing her improve would put her sister at ease.
Mapleton City’s Harmony Restaurant had a prime location, surrounded by several universities. With the booming food delivery industry, restaurants have received a flood of delivery orders during mealtimes. When the delivery riders were too busy, Thelma would help deliver the orders herself.
She was primarily responsible for deliveries to North City Aviation Academy across the street from the restaurant. Her daily routine involved helping her sister in the restaurant in the morning, managing accounts, and delivering food in the afternoon. It was a fulfilling life.
Most of the delivery orders from the university came from students, and the drop-off points were usually in the dormitories. So, her delivery route was basically a straight line between the restaurant and the dormitories.
On her way to the dormitories, she would pass by a kindergarten. One day, as she rode her electric scooter past the kindergarten with a food delivery, she glanced toward it inadvertently and noticed a little boy leaning against the iron fence, staring at her.
He was a little boy dressed in a long white down jacket that reached his ankles. Underneath the jacket, he wore a black turtleneck sweater. His outfit gave off a cool and stylish vibe, but because of his small stature, it also had an adorable touch.
He had fair, tender skin, large, bright eyes, and he stared at her so intently that she couldn’t help but glance back a few times.
Distracted, she failed to notice a large pothole in the road. Her scooter jolted, and she lost her balance, falling along with the scooter.
How embarrassing!
Although she wasn’t hurt badly, she quickly checked the food delivery. Thankfully, it was intact. Relieved, she was about to get up when she heard the sound of little footsteps running toward her. She instinctively looked up and saw the boy who had been staring at her earlier running out of the kindergarten. His little face was filled with concern, and the cold wind had painted small rosy patches on his cheeks, making him look even more adorable.
He stood a short distance away, not getting too close. With his little brows furrowed, he asked softly, “Auntie, are you okay?”
A kindergarten teacher rushed out behind him, calling anxiously, “Tyler you can’t run out before your dad comes to pick you up.”
The little boy, Tyler, pointed at Thelma, who was still crouching on the ground, and said, “Auntie is hurt.”
The teacher helped Thelma up and asked with concern, “Are you alright?”
Thelma smiled and said, “I’m fine, just a scrape.”
“Auntie, make sure to get a band-aid later. Don’t let the wound get wet,” the little boy added.
She hadn’t expected such a young child to know these things. In a hurry to deliver the food, Thelma didn’t linger. She simply said, “Auntie will remember. Thank you.” Then she rode off on her scooter.
On her way back, passing by the kindergarten again, she couldn’t help but glance toward it, thinking about the little boy she had just met. To her surprise, the boy was still there, standing behind the fence and watching her with the same wide-eyed gaze as before.
It was so late already—had his parents not come to pick him up yet?
