We Are Different

After settling everything, I realized it was nearly 3:00. I picked up Ginny, walked into the bar area, poured her a glass of lemonade, and carried her upstairs.

In Alvin's room, Ginny stood on the floor with her fingers interlaced, not knowing where to put her hands. The expression on her small face was a mix of inferiority and anxiety.

Alvin took off his torn plaid shirt, rolled it into a ball, and wiped his chest with it. He crouched down to look Ginny in the eye, pointed to his chest, and said, "Look, I'm fine. Daddy is very strong!"

Ginny rushed to Alvin in surprise, her small hands patting his chest all over, trying to find the wounds she had caused. In the end, she only found four thin scars, barely visible unless one looked closely.

Ginny felt a sense of relief, a smile returning to her face as she stammered, "Daddy, strong, Daddy." Ginny, who had some trouble communicating, felt anxious when she couldn't find the words for what she felt inside, and she scratched her head adorably.

Alvin lovingly smoothed out her slightly messy hair. He kissed her forehead and comforted her, "Ginny is very smart. We can take our time in the future." He kissed her again after saying this.

He pulled Ginny's hands over and stroked the spaces between her fingers, where there was still some undried blood. He asked with a pang of heartache, "Does it hurt?"

Ginny tilted her head to think, understood that Alvin was concerned about her, and smiled happily. "Used to it, doesn't hurt." As she spoke, she sensibly used her finger to smooth out Alvin's furrowed brow. "Ginny, good, Daddy, don't fear."

Alvin felt his heart melting. His daughter was learning to care for her father; he wouldn't care if she carried two knives or two pistols—he would love her regardless! He hugged Ginny tightly, walked to the window, and signaled for her to come over.

Ginny walked over curiously. Alvin noticed that because of her small stature, she couldn't see outside when standing by the window. He watched her with amusement as she grabbed the windowsill and tried to pull herself up, barely managing to peek her eyes over the edge.

He picked Ginny up and pointed out the window, saying, "Ginny, we are different. Daddy is different, too." There was no one in the alley outside. A thick, dark green vine surged up from a gutter and stretched its body until it reached Alvin's window.

Alvin pinched the slender tip of the vine. The Poison Creeper shivered in satisfaction, seemingly happy. Then, Alvin directed the vine to wave at Ginny. Ginny's small mouth hung open as she looked at Alvin in astonishment.

Alvin smiled and bumped his forehead against Ginny's, saying, "See? Daddy is different too, which is why Ginny is Alvin's daughter. We are different from everyone else."

Ginny smiled innocently, enjoying Alvin's affection, and nodded vigorously. "Ginny, Daddy, others different."

Alvin affectionately bumped noses with Ginny and waved the Poison Creeper away. He set Ginny on the floor and patted her head. "Daddy is going to change his clothes. How about I take you to buy some new ones?"

Ginny looked at Alvin and smiled. "Ginny wants Daddy, don't want clothes."

Compared to my fat son in my past life who wanted everything he saw, Ginny was simply on a different level.

Alvin put on a new plaid shirt, added a gray jacket, and paired it with dark blue jeans. Overall, he looked like a farmer from the north. Very plain, very simple, but also very grounded. He placed a baseball cap on Ginny's head and said with a smile, "Let's go, my princess." Holding her small hand, he ran downstairs.

Downstairs, he found that most of the people in the restaurant had left. Only a middle-aged man with a full beard sat in the corner, looking dejected, holding a cup of coffee and lost in thought.

That was none of Alvin's business. This was a restaurant; he could sit if he wanted to. In a good mood, Alvin had Jessica serve the man a beer; judging by his expression, beer was more fitting than coffee.

Then he smiled at Jessica and said, "Come with me. The boss is handing out benefits—I'm buying you some clothes."

Jessica, who had just delivered the beer to the middle-aged man, cheered and shrieked, asking, "Are we going to Seventh Avenue?"

Alvin felt his pockets and thought for a moment. "We're going to the 27th District, to Shirley Clothing Store."

Jessica let out a disappointed "Oh," but soon cheered up. After all, the boss was giving her a gift, wasn't he? She quickly took off her apron, jumped along with her hands behind her back, and followed Alvin out the door.

Alvin held Ginny as he stood at the door and gave instructions to Old Kent. "Old Kent, call two of the guys, clean up my attic, and move all of Mr. Nick Castle's things up there. Mr. Castle has wanted to live in the attic for a long time; this time, I'll grant his wish."

"Because our little princess needs his room. Also, find Old Juan and get our little princess a set of furniture. It needs to be pink, and have it done before bedtime tonight."

Old Kent agreed happily, playfully bowing with an imaginary hat. "At your service, Your Highness!" With that, he called over a few young men and headed to the second floor of the restaurant.

No one noticed that when Alvin mentioned Nick, the dejected middle-aged man's expression was a strange mix of "guilt," "longing," and "fear."

When he heard Alvin was moving Nick to the attic, he looked angry; when he heard the attic was Nick's wish, he looked happy. It seemed Nick's joys and sorrows always tugged at his heart.

Listening to Alvin proudly showing off his daughter, he looked incredibly envious.

He told JJ to keep an eye on the Black Kid, Jason, then started the car. With Ginny and Jessica in tow, he drove around the block to "Shirley Clothing Store," a shop specializing in women's apparel—and, of course, they had children's clothing too.

The owner, Shirley, was a beautiful woman in her forties. Her attire wasn't luxurious, but it was always exquisite; a few carefully matched, inexpensive accessories always made her look radiant.

Alvin could tell this was a woman with a story. But that had nothing to do with him. Once inside, Alvin waved his hand and generously signaled to Jessica, "Buy!"

The owner laughingly stopped Alvin's uncouth behavior. She first took Jessica and picked out several outfits for Ginny to try on.

Princess dress, beautiful—one in every color!

Sportswear, beautiful—pink, yellow, green, get one of each!

T-shirt and shirt paired with denim overalls and a denim jacket—too cool! Add a baseball cap—perfect! Alvin fist-bumped Ginny, laughing and giggling as they stood in front of the large mirror. The two looked like a father and daughter, their different skin tones not making them look strange at all.

Seeing how much Ginny liked them, an even happier Alvin waved his hand again. "Give me ten sets."

Other miscellaneous items like shoes, socks, underwear, and pajamas were all bought with Jessica's help.

After that, Jessica's treatment when picking out clothes was much worse.

Denim shorts and a crop top. "Boss, does this look good?"

"It's not even hot out. Who are you showing your belly to?"

A small floral skirt. "How about this one?"

"Why is the skirt so short? Aren't your legs cold?"

Jeans and a T-shirt. "This one?"

"Hmm, not bad. That's the one. Give me two sets!"

Jessica angrily rushed in front of Alvin and complained, "Boss, you're going too far. This is the outfit I wore when I got here!"

Alvin froze for a moment. "It does look quite good, get a few more sets to rotate through."

Jessica stomped on Alvin's foot in anger, then turned to the shopkeeper, Shirley, and said, "Wrap up everything except this one. Hmm, give me two of each in different colors. Put it all on the boss's tab."

Young lady, is it really okay for you to add your own drama like this?

Never offend a woman when she is angry—that was a lesson Alvin had learned with blood and tears in his past life. Considering you helped pick out clothes for my daughter, I will tolerate you.

Amidst Jessica's snickering, he held his nose and paid the bill. Fortunately, it wasn't expensive, totaling just over nine hundred dollars. Hmm, when I have money in the future, I'll take my daughter to stroll down that famous avenue.