Afterward, Gen became what she is now, as if some belief within her had collapsed.
It was midsummer in New York, with the daytime temperature outside at least thirty degrees Celsius. Although Jack had prepared a straw hat for Gen, the scorching sun still left her face flushed.
"She looks like she's about to have a heat stroke,"
Hannah thought, having a general understanding of Gen's past. Seeing her face stained with tears and sweat, while she couldn't quite sympathize, she understood the circumstances that had led to her extreme personality.
"It's okay, I made lily and mung bean soup." Jack opened the refrigerator and pulled out a pot of lily and mung bean soup.
The edible lily is also known as the tiger lily, also known as the tiger lily, for its curled petals and purple-black spots resembling those on a tiger's body.
This lily, native to Seres, is scientifically known as Lilium lancifolium Ker Gawl, or simply "Tiger Lily" in English.
The bulbous rhizome of this lily is edible and, when dried, is a traditional Chinese medicine. Fresh, it can be boiled with mung beans in a soup, topped off with mint and rock sugar for a perfect summer balm.
Chinatown Chinese medicine shops only offer dried lily petals, but that wasn't a problem for Jack. "Tiger Lily" is an ornamental plant, cultivated at the Staten Island Botanical Garden.
Jack had made it several times before, and since Americans struggled to pronounce it, he simply named it "Lily and Mung Bean Soup."
"Ms. Groves, come in and rest for a while," the kind-hearted Hannah poured a bowl of it. Instead of rushing to enjoy it, she opened the screen door and waved to Gen.
Heat-scorched Gen spent a long time washing her hands under the tap, frowning at the still-blackened nails.
Although she had once been a small-town girl in rural Texas, she had never experienced the kind experience of helping her parents work the ranch from a young age, as Hannah had.
Hannah couldn't help but laugh at her dazed expression. She hurried to the bathroom and soon emerged with an old toothbrush. After wiping it back and forth across the soap a few times, she handed it to her.
Seeing Gen looking at her blankly, Hannah shook her head helplessly. She took her hand and, like a patient kindergarten teacher, carefully scrubbed the dirt from under her fingernails with the toothbrush.
Gen drank the unusually delicious bean soup in one gulp, unladylike. She licked her lips subconsciously and looked eagerly at the pot of soup next to Jack.
"You can have the rest tonight. You need some salt now."
Jack placed a cup of warm, salted water in front of her. Gen frowned and stared at the cup for a long moment before grudgingly downing it.
She didn't take the opportunity to linger in the cool of the air-conditioned room. After finishing her drink, she stood up without a word, put on her straw hat again, and went out to work.
Hannah rubbed her eyes in disbelief. She waited until Gen's back disappeared behind the screen door before she whispered to Jack, "I know you're very good with girls, but is it okay with someone like her?"
Jack nearly choked to death on his mung bean soup. "This has nothing to do with me. I just laid out some facts for her."
He briefly recounted to Hannah what had transpired since the secret meeting yesterday. The girl blinked in confusion. "Does Mr. Finch know you can communicate directly with his 'robot' baby?"
Jack chuckled, placing a light index finger on the girl's red lips. "Shh, it's a secret. Don't let Finch know about this now. We'll give him a big surprise later."
Hannah grimaced. "I hope Mr. Finch's heart can handle it by then."
One
evening a week later, when Finch and Reese had finished their recent "Number" mission and arrived at the base's small building for lunch, they were stunned by what they saw.
Ms. Gen, once fair-skinned and slender, had noticeably plumped up, her complexion turning the tan many European and American women desired. She was happily playing with her dog, Little Bear, in the courtyard with a Frisbee.
"What did you do to her?" Reese looked at Jack with "horrified" eyes, "Some kind of evil brainwashing technology?"
"Although you have a talent for dry jokes, you'd better save it for Jessica." Jack said unhappily, "Ms. Gen just untied some knots in her heart and has new goals to strive for."
"So the method of using dozens of inches long silver needles to pierce people is really a treatment method rather than torture?" Reese continued to use his talent for dry humor.
Jack raised his hand to signal the guy that it was almost time, "Finch has finally made up his mind to receive treatment, so stop pouring cold water on him."
Reese curled his lips in disdain, "In fact, there's nothing wrong with him staying like this. He already has a fiancée anyway, which means that when they meet again, Finch no longer needs to kneel on one knee to present the red-haired lady with an engagement ring."
"Mr. Reese." Finch, who was exposed, raised his voice in anger, "If you don't want Jessica to know about the relationship between you and the daughter of a Brazilian diplomat..."
Reese interrupted Finch's next words with a loud cough. Not only did he take the initiative to open the door for him, he also made a polite gesture of invitation, "I can smell the delicious aroma of the stew, Finch, you should be starving, right?"
"What Brazilian diplomat's daughter?" Reese's white moonlight, Jessica, who almost separated from Reese forever if Jack hadn't intervened, was serving the dishes. When she saw everyone enter the room, she turned around and smiled, just like a virtuous hostess.
Reese broke out in a cold sweat and quickly explained, "It was just a girl in danger. She accidentally filmed a drug deal at a party and was being hunted by a group of people, including her boyfriend.
It was actually Detective Fusco who heroically saved her and stopped the killer at the last minute, and I only played a small, insignificant role."
Detective Doudou, already eagerly waiting at the table, rarely took credit for this, but waved his hands modestly.
"If it weren't for the glasses guy (Finch)'s warning, I would have almost missed it. The suit guy, as always, made a chivalrous appearance, driving his car to knock down the killer at the critical moment, and then taught Sofia a lesson about her jerk boyfriend afterward."
"Oh, Sofia, that sounds like a beautiful name." Jessica deliberately placed a plate of fragrant, golden-skinned, and delicious roast chicken in front of Fusco and gave him a playful wink.
"Hmm, a beautiful name, and a beautiful person too. Not only does she speak six languages, but she's only 21, the prime of her youth, and has a model-like figure." Fusco sold Reese like a bamboo tube pouring out beans.
(End of this chapter)