Long Island The autumn wind is getting colder day by day, Manor The leaves on the back mountain have almost fallen off.
Because of the pocket money system promulgated by Lynn, several children with Superpower became the most ordinary wage earners in the Manor.
But Lynn did not mercifully exempt them from the daily special training of Superpower just because they had to work.
Instead, he combined the two things perfectly.
"Reggie, when you wash the car, keep your speed below the critical point. I want you to feel every slight twitch of your arm muscles. If you wipe off even a little bit of the car paint, all your car wash fees will be deducted today."
This is the rule set by Lynn.
So now Reggie is standing in front of the black off-road vehicle with a sponge in his teeth and a sponge in his hand.
He had to maintain a dizzying scrubbing speed while also controlling the force of his hands as precisely as he was stroking a baby.
His brain was almost smoking at high speed. Washing a car was more tiring than running around New York ten times.
Tommy is not much better.
He was asked not to use Telekinesis throughout the whole process, but to clean the swimming pool by carrying a heavy bucket with both hands.
But at the same time, he had to separate out an extremely weak trace of Telekinesis to suspend a few dead leaves falling in the middle of the pool in mid-air to prevent them from falling.
This kind of mental and physical torture "Divided Attention Control Method" makes this mage who usually likes to fall asleep every night.
As for John, every morning he would go to the back hill with that big broom to sweep up fallen leaves without hesitation.
He doesn't feel bored.
Because while he was swinging the broom honestly, Black Noir, who had been hiding in the shadow of the tree canopy, would throw several unedged training kunai at him from various tricky angles from time to time.
John cannot fly, cannot use Super Speed, and cannot even break the wooden broom in its hand.
He could only rely on his pure fighting instinct to turn his head and turn around amid the falling leaves, or use a broom handle to fly away the hidden weapons, and then continue to sweep the leaves into a pile.
This evening, fine cold rain fell in the sky.
A fireplace was lit in the living room of the villa, the wood burned and made a slight crackling sound, and the warm yellow fire made the whole house very warm.
Lynn is sitting on the sofa, holding a book in his hand. Buddy is lying on the carpet, resting his chin on the edge of Lynn's slippers and taking a nap.
John walked in from Backyard, bringing in a slightly cool breath of rain.
He took off his damp coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door, then walked over to Lynn.
Lynn put down the book, took out a ten-dollar bill and a few coins from the old cigar box next to it, and handed them to John.
"You have swept away not a single leaf left in the back mountain. Black Noir also told me just now that you perfectly avoided all his sneak attacks today. This is your reward today. You did a great job." Lynn said with a smile.
John took the money with both hands and held it carefully in his palms. A glimmer of light flashed in Azure's eyes.
He nodded seriously, said softly "Thank you Lynn", then turned around and ran quickly to the second floor.
Returning to his room, John closed the door and didn't even turn on the light.
He walked to the bedside table, opened the bottom drawer, and took out the cleaned jam bottle.
He put the ten dollars he just earned today into it, and then turned the bottle upside down on the soft bed.
A pile of crumpled banknotes of various denominations and dozens of coins were scattered.
John sat cross-legged on the bed, using the faint light of the street light coming from the window, and started counting one by one.
Ten dollars, twenty dollars, fifty dollars... and the two-dollar coins he got from washing Reggie's sneakers to make up the money.
One hundred and eighty-two dollars and fifty cents.
John counted it three times to confirm that it was correct.
He quietly looked at the change spread on the sheets, listened to the patter of rain outside the window, and felt that his heart was beating much faster than usual.
That dark gray cashmere scarf was priced at one hundred and eighty dollars.
Not only did he save enough money, he even had an extra two and a half dollars.
For a monster who can tear apart steel with his bare hands and melt bank vault doors with Heat Vision, these ten days of labor seem clumsy and ridiculous.
He clearly could have everything in the world, but he chose to be like an ordinary human boy, exchanging this insignificant banknote with his red palms.
But he felt that this was the most meaningful thing he had ever done in his life.
Because these money are clean and earned with sweat, the gifts bought with these money are worthy of giving to Lynn.
On the second weekend, the rain stopped and the air became extremely cold.
After breakfast, John changed into a set of clean white Hoodie for the first time and put on those spotless sneakers.
He walked over to Lynn who was making coffee in the kitchen.
"Lynn, I want to go to Manhattan's shopping mall."
John's voice was calm, but his fingers subconsciously grasped the pocket of his sweater, which contained all his savings.
Lynn stopped pouring milk and glanced at him in surprise.
This kid almost never asks to go out except for training.
"Want to go shopping?"
Lynn asked.
John nodded without further explanation.
Lynn didn't ask him what he wanted to buy. He just took out a Long Island Rail Road commuter card from the drawer and handed it to him.
"Take the train and pay attention to safety on the way. Remember what I said. No matter what happens, try not to use your power in front of ordinary people, let alone fly in the sky to scare people. Come back early for dinner."
John took the commuter card, seriously agreed, then turned and walked out of the Manor's door.
Long Island Rail Road's train is very smooth.
John was sitting by the window, looking at the scenery outside and retreating rapidly.
In the carriage, there were office workers reading newspapers and college students listening to music on headphones. No one noticed that the blond boy looking quietly out the window was the hero who punched the monster's spine in the street a few days ago.
More than an hour later, John stood in front of Manhattan's high-end shopping mall in the city center.
The shopping mall is crowded on weekends and the heating is turned on at full speed.
John walked straight to the men's clothing boutique on the second floor and stopped in front of the familiar display window.
The dark gray cashmere scarf lay quietly on the display stand, with the light shining on it, making it look soft and warm.
John took a deep breath, pushed open the glass door and walked in.
The shopping guide is a young man wearing a suit.
He saw a teenage boy wearing an ordinary sweatshirt walking in alone, and frowned slightly, but out of professionalism, he still stepped forward to ask.
"Kid, are you separated from your family? This is not a place that sells toys."
John ignored the slight hint of contempt in his tone. He walked to the display stand and pointed at the scarf.
"I want to buy this."
The shopping guide was stunned for a moment, looked at the price tag, and then at John.
One hundred and eighty dollars is not a huge amount of money for an ordinary family, but it is definitely not a small amount for a child going out alone.
"This item costs one hundred and eighty dollars. Are you sure you have enough money?"
The shopping guide's tone was a little hesitant.
John No nonsense, he opened the pocket of his sweater, took out all the crumpled banknotes and coins, and piled them awkwardly on the clean glass counter.
"One hundred and eighty-two dollars and fifty cents, you can count them."
The shopping guide looked at the pile of change and his expression became very exciting.
There were ten-dollar ones, five-dollar ones, and even a bunch of quarters.
It looks like a kid smashed his Pigwidgeon piggy bank and moved all his belongings over.
Although he felt ridiculous in his heart, the shopping guide still patiently flattened the money one by one and counted it one by one.
"It's exactly one hundred and eighty dollars, and I gave you two and a half dollars."
The shopping guide pushed the remaining coins back to John, then turned around and carefully packed the cashmere scarf in a very delicate dark black matte paper bag.
When handing the paper bag to John, the shopping guide couldn't help but ask one more question.
"Is this a gift for dad? He will be very happy to receive it."
John took the light paper bag, and when he heard these words, a bright smile suddenly bloomed on his otherwise calm face.
That smile was so clean without any impurities.
"Well, it was given to him."
John stuffed the two change coins back into his pocket, turned around and walked out of the boutique holding the paper bag.