Dusk.

The Kweis Law Firm.

Dressed in a black business suit and carrying a shoulder bag, Daisy walked out of the office building, glanced at her watch, and looked around the highway.

Luke had called to say he would pick her up after work, but she didn't see him anywhere, just a domineering and flashy Mercedes G500 parked by the roadside.

The door of the Mercedes's driver's side opened, and a man with black hair stepped down, "Hi, beautiful, up for a date?"

Daisy laughed, "Did you rent a car again? What's the surprise today?"

Luke pointed at the Mercedes G500, "This is the surprise, I bought it."

"Wow, it's quite a beast." Daisy knew about his bonus, so it wasn't too surprising.

"Yeah, it's just like me." Luke grinned as he opened the passenger's side door, gesturing for her to enter, "Miss Daisy, your dedicated seat."

Daisy sat in the car and looked around carefully, "It's very spacious, great visibility, feels completely different from riding in a sports car."

"You'll fall in love with it." Luke kissed Daisy's hand and then started the car.

"Where are we going?"

"To my place."

Luke drove back to Reidu Community, and the domineering Mercedes G500 immediately attracted the attention of the neighbors.

This was Daisy's first visit here.

Luke showed her around the community and introduced some nice community restaurants.

Lately, Daisy had also gradually come to enjoy eating Chinese food, "Shall we have Chinese food tonight?"

"Exactly, but not at a restaurant. I'll cook myself." Before picking up Daisy from work, he had bought quite a lot of groceries.

"Hmm, I'm looking forward to it."

The couple returned home, and Luke led Daisy on a tour of the house.

Since moving in, Luke had been busy and hadn't had time to tidy up the room, planning to go on a big shopping trip tomorrow to pick up some things.

Luke's living room was rather simple, equipped with a TV, sofa, and dining table, not too many belongings for a single person.

He planned to buy a painting for the living room; whether it would be a traditional Chinese painting or an oil painting, he hadn't decided yet.

Leading Daisy into the second bedroom, he explained, "I plan to turn this into a screening room, buy a high-definition home projector, and when we rest, we can eat popcorn and watch movies at home, enjoying our own little world."

Daisy nodded, "Sounds nice."

Then, he led Daisy to the master bedroom, "We'll sleep here tonight, a two-meter by two-meter bed, the mattress is very bouncy, really comfortable."

Daisy laughed, "Do you introduce it like this to other guests too?"

"In my heart, you're no guest." Luke stretched out his arm around Daisy and kissed her passionately.

It was a long while before they separated.

Luke asked Daisy to rest and watch TV in the living room, lest she lack the energy to move later, while he went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Hot pot.

He hadn't had hot pot since he crossed over.

The new house still lacked kitchenware and seasonings, and hot pot was the simplest option.

The supermarket had a wide variety of vegetables, all washed and easy to handle.

The meat selection was rich and the prices were very reasonable.

Luke bought an electric dual pot at the supermarket and quickly prepared it, setting up the base ingredients.

One spicy, one with curry flavor.

Meat and vegetables were placed on the table, small amounts but a wide variety.

Daisy looked at it, "This is hot pot?"

"Have you had it before?"

"No, I saw my colleagues eat it."

"It tastes great." Luke put some lamb into the pot first, preparing the dipping sauce for Daisy.

After the pot boiled, Luke placed a chopstick full of lamb meat into her bowl.

Daisy tasted it, nodding, "This is my first time eating lamb like this, the curry flavor isn't bad."

"Try this flavor." Luke fetched some lamb from the spicy pot.

Daisy tasted it, "Wow, that's spicy."

Luke handed her the dipping sauces, "It tastes even better with this."

He prepared two types of dipping sauces, one sesame paste and one spicy oil.

One fragrant, one savory.

Luke took a sip of chilled beer, "Are you off tomorrow?"

"I'm off."

"Tomorrow night I'd like to have a family gathering, my mom and grandfather will come, and I hope you can too." Luke had moved, and it was time to introduce his mother and brother to his place.

Daisy hesitated, "I'll think about it, and I'll tell you in the morning."

After dinner, the two of them cleaned up briefly.

After washing up, they began doing some exercises with Daisy.

The next morning.

Slept until nine in the morning.

Primarily because they were up late last night.

Daisy lay on her side, her back to him, the sunlight shining on her smooth back, indescribably beautiful.

Luke's hand slipped under the blanket, and they played around some more.

Daisy no longer felt sleepy and hugged Luke's neck, giving him a kiss.

"I still have some work at the law firm... I'm thinking of working overtime there."

"OK," Luke understood her meaning and did not insist.

If she was willing to play poker with him, whether or not he met her parents did not really matter to him.

Compared to marriage, he was now enjoying dating more.

After getting up, Luke took Daisy to the law firm.

Then, he went to the supermarket to buy groceries, kitchen utensils, and various household items.

He also bought two big items, a home projector and a barbecue grill.

Both were things he had long desired.

He had wanted them in his past life too, but the conditions did not allow it.

It was not that he could not afford these two items per se; rather, there was no place to use them.

Especially the barbecue grill, with charcoal below and beef, lamb, and seafood above, accompanied by several bottles of chilled beer—that was truly living.

…

Brenner Motel.

Little Black hesitated in front of the motel room door for a long time, stretching his hand out, ready to knock.

"Creak…"

The door suddenly opened. Laura Pohl stood at the door, startled, "Detective Marcus, what are you doing here?"

"Er, Laura, I came today because there's something I need to tell you."

The black boy Jaden ran over, "Uncle Marcus, did you find my dad?"

Marcus stood still, not knowing how to answer.

Laura's eyes immediately reddened, "Jaden, go outside and play; I have something to discuss with Uncle Marcus."

"No, I won't go out. I want to listen too," Jaden seemed to understand as well.

"You go out immediately, now!" Laura pointed outside the door, shouting loudly.

"Whimper…" Jaden ran out of the room.

Laura collapsed onto the sofa, "Officer Marcus, is my husband…"

Marcus took a deep breath, "We found Badman Pohl's body."

"Nonono, God, why do you do this to us? I always hoped he would come back, always hoped a miracle would happen, why?" Laura cried loudly, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Had it been before, seeing a woman crying like this, Marcus would have definitely comforted her, but today he hesitated, "I'll go find Jaden."

Marcus went outside the motel, where he saw Jaden sitting in a corner, burying his face in his knees and crying.

Marcus walked over and sat beside him.

One big, one small, just sitting there.

Jaden sobbed softly, Marcus smoked quietly.

After half an hour, Jaden, summoning immense courage, asked, "Is my dad dead?"

Since Jaden had guessed it already, Marcus did not hide it anymore, "Yes, we found his body."

"Oh my god, why did this happen, why? I really miss my dad, I miss him so much…"

Marcus put his arm around Jaden's shoulders, "I know you are in pain, and I understand your pain.

But you are a man, you need to be strong. You still have your mother, she needs you to protect her."

"My dad is dead, how could you understand? You don't know at all," Jaden cried out loud.

"I'm not lying to you, I can feel your pain. I grew up without a father, just my mother and me, it was really hard, but I got through it, and I'm doing well now."

"Your father is dead too?"

"No, he is alive and well."

"Your parents are divorced?"

"They were never married. From pregnancy, birth to me becoming an adult, it was my mom alone who looked after me; she really had it tough."

"Have you seen your dad?"

"Twelve times."

"What?" Jaden did not understand.

"I've seen him a total of twelve times."

"The first time I met him was when I was fourteen.

At that time, I was very rebellious and couldn't appreciate my mother's hardships. I just wanted to know who my father was, and I demanded loudly, saying many things that hurt her.

Even now, recalling it makes me feel very guilty.

To satisfy my rebelliousness,

my mother took me to meet that man, the man called my father…

Since then, we'd meet once a year, have a burger, chat briefly."

"Compared to me, you're very lucky.

You lived with your father. He was there during your upbringing, and those moments are precious assets to you.

I envy you.

These are things I will never have in my life.

But I have my mother, she is the greatest woman in the world.

Having her with me, I'm already very fortunate."

"You're right, I still have my mom, mom…" Jaden stopped crying.

"A mother is the greatest person in the world. You're a man, you need to take good care of her."

Jaden nodded, "I will."

"Buddy, I'll keep an eye on you," Marcus extended his fist and bumped it with Jaden's.