Chapter 294: Chapter 294: Don’t Cry, Please Don’t Cry
Ashley Shaw explained that this was the back-to-school gift package given to her by Elder Prescott.
Ariana Grant’s curiosity was instantly piqued.
"Can I open it and take a look?"
"Go ahead, it’s a bit heavy, so be careful."
"Come on, with my build, do you think I’m afraid of heavy stuff?"
With that, Ariana Grant tried to lift the suitcase to prove her strength.
The suitcase didn’t budge an inch.
"Whoa! Why is it so heavy? Did Grandpa Prescott pack himself in here because he couldn’t bear to part with you?"
Ashley Shaw was amused and said, "I just thought the same thing."
To avoid disturbing the tenants downstairs, Ashley Shaw and Ariana Grant together carefully laid the suitcase down.
Unzipping the suitcase, they were both stunned by the packed contents inside.
Inside were toothbrushes, toothpaste, a foldable drying rack, a three-piece bed set, sunscreen, herbal medicine... stationery and daily essentials, packed to the brim with no space left.
Ashley Shaw also found an envelope in the transparent pocket of the suitcase’s lining.
Inside was a red packet.
It contained a card, as well as an access card.
A sticky note was attached to the back of the access card, detailing the address and room number.
The final message read—
"This house was bought for you when your mother passed away. If you don’t want to live in it, you can sell it, but if you return it to me, I’ll be truly heartbroken."
Ashley Shaw reached to the bottom of the suitcase and indeed found a red booklet labeled "Property Ownership Certificate."
Upon opening the certificate, the house was registered in her name.
"This isn’t a suitcase; it’s a treasure chest. Grandpa Prescott practically moved a whole home for you. No, wait, he gave you a home," Ariana Grant exclaimed.
Ashley Shaw felt a sting in her nose, followed by tears that started falling.
At Ms. Shaw’s funeral, Grandpa Prescott promised to take good care of her mother.
He stayed true to his word.
Just like Ms. Shaw, he attended to every detail.
Apart from the house, most of the items in the suitcase weren’t particularly valuable, many of them quite inexpensive, yet useful for her school life.
All these preparations required a considerable amount of effort.
This couldn’t be measured in monetary terms anymore.
"Hey! Why are you crying? You’ve suddenly acquired a house; you should be happy."
Ashley Shaw replied with a "hmm," and said, "I should be happy."
But why are the tears unstoppable?
In her previous life, she also received this house, but it was after Elder Prescott was critically ill, given to her by Warren Prescott.
What did Warren say at the time?
Oh, he said Elder Prescott instructed him to ensure she received this house before he completely lost consciousness.
In her previous life, the small items weren’t packed in a suitcase, but rather brought directly to her dorm by the butler before she moved in.
She moved into the dorm with nothing but a briefcase.
Receiving everything personally and having everything prepared beforehand are completely different visual experiences.
Perhaps because she chose to move out of the Prescott Family in this life, Elder Prescott packaged everything for her.
Maybe he thought it would be better for her to have a home in Aethelgard, so he gave her the house in advance.
Ashley Shaw cried even louder, almost losing her voice.
The downside of foreseeing the future is knowing exactly when important people will leave her.
If the death of loved ones was like a torrential rain, then this rain, knowing the future, came early.
"Don’t cry, don’t cry," Ariana Grant hurriedly wiped her tears while trying to lighten the mood with a joke, "Crying from joy doesn’t look like you do, let me show you how it’s done."
As she spoke, Ariana Grant made a "laugh-cry" face at her.
It was ugly, but funny.
Normally, Ashley Shaw would have been amused, but this time it didn’t work.
Ashley Shaw continued to cry, gasping for air.
Ariana Grant knew persuasion was useless, so she stopped trying and just sat beside her, gently hugging her shoulder.
It was unclear how long they cried, long enough for Ashley Shaw to feel like her tears had run dry, and her sobbing gradually ceased, though she occasionally sniffled.
"Ariana, I’m such a selfish person." Her voice was hoarse, sounding worse than a duck.
Ariana Grant shook her head in disagreement, "How are you selfish? If anyone’s selfish, it’s more like my mom."
Thinking about her mom, Ariana Grant’s eyes also misted over.
So, in the end, the two girls hugged each other and sobbed together.
After crying, seeing each other’s swollen, walnut-like eyes, they laughed.
"You’re so ugly, Ashley."
"You’re uglier."
"Hmph!"
Perhaps they cried too hard, as Ashley Shaw felt like her throat was being cut with a blade before sleep.
The next morning, when Ashley woke up, she found she had caught a cold.
And it was a serious cold.
But Elder Prescott’s message had already arrived.
[Ashley, do you want me to bring over any dishes?]
Ashley jolted awake and laboriously got out of bed.
She replied: [You don’t need to bring anything, just come yourself. Lunch is probably at 12, can you come by 11:30?]
Elder Prescott quickly replied: [No problem!]
After responding, Ashley Shaw climbed out of bed rapidly but felt a bit dizzy.
Feeling something amiss, she took a thermometer out of the medicine cabinet.
38.5 degrees.
Ashley Shaw sighed at her bad luck.
How did crying lead to a fever?
But her cold had been brewing.
She’d been feeling sleepy all day yesterday, perhaps a sign that her immune system had already been calling for help.
But since the time was already set, she couldn’t cancel, so she rummaged for fever medicine.
She didn’t find any in the house’s medicine box, but instead found it among the medications Warren Prescott had given her yesterday.
Besides fever medicine, there were fever patches and the like, everything she needed.
Ashley Shaw was momentarily surprised but quickly realized she was running out of time, so she quickly took the medicine and went to find Ariana Grant’s room.
To Ashley Shaw’s surprise, the person who usually sleeps till noon was already sitting at the computer.
Ashley Shaw noticed that the computer screen was showing the survival variety show Leon Zeller participated in.
"You’re up so early?"
Ariana Grant, feeling caught, exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly closed the computer.
Ashley Shaw pretended she didn’t see.
Ariana Grant was conflicted, so she let her be until she decided to talk about it. She was ready to listen anytime.
"Why are you here?" Ariana Grant asked with a guilty look.
Ashley Shaw got straight to the point.
"I forgot to tell you last night, I’m inviting Grandpa Prescott and Warren Prescott over for lunch today, want to go grocery shopping with me?"
Afraid Ashley Shaw would notice anything, Ariana Grant nodded repeatedly.
"No problem, let’s go right now!"