The day had been quite fruitful. Not all the chocolate chip cookies were sold—a few packs were left over, so they shared them on the way home. Ben was already hungry after swimming.
The house wasn’t far away. Ben was in a great mood and started yelling about being hungry as soon as they got home—he wanted dinner.
Giovanni had been in a good mood lately. Nothing made him happier than having his cooking appreciated by his employers. So these days, he was finally able to show off his skills, coming up with all kinds of Italian delicacies for them.
Jolene ate slowly, watching Emma and Ben compete to see who could eat more—their faces were practically buried in their plates…
After dinner, Jolene took the two little ones for a walk on the lawn. Since Ben had already been caught sneaking a walk before, he now openly joined the mother-daughter pair.
It had become a routine. After meals, Jolene counted all the money they’d earned that day right in front of Ben and Emma, and wrote down the exact figures on the ingredient cost sheet.
Emma had been learning basic arithmetic recently, and Ben already knew addition and subtraction within 100. As Jolene wrote down the numbers, she casually said, “So, Emma, once you learn to write in English, you can go out and do business like your brother—writing your own signs. And once you learn math, you can calculate how much money you’ve made. When we’ve used up all the ingredients, we subtract the total costs from what we earned, and that tells us whether we made a profit or a loss…”
Emma’s eyes widened as she listened and nodded vigorously. Ben, who had been held up as an example, puffed up with pride. He’d never thought of himself as impressive before, but Jolene made it sound like he really was.
She gathered all the change, wrapped it in paper, and placed it together with the record sheet in her bedroom drawer. Ben watched the whole process, seeing how seriously she was managing his money.
A child’s trust was hard to earn. Jolene wasn’t the type to do good deeds in secret—she made sure everything was done right in front of him.
Inspired by her mom’s words, Emma studied even harder. Kids often don’t understand why they have to learn things—but once they know it’s useful, they have a goal to work toward.
After finishing a picture book, Jolene took out the camera to take a group photo of the three of them—documenting their daily life.
They went to bed early, and soon Saturday arrived.
Ben woke up at the crack of dawn because his brother had promised to take him to the museum today—the science museum nearby. Mr. Raymond had taken the day off especially for this.
He’d also asked Jolene if she and Emma wanted to come along.
Ever since she’d transmigrated, Jolene and Emma had gone from barely surviving to Jolene becoming Ben’s live-in nanny. Now that things were finally looking up and Emma was starting school on Monday, Jolene naturally wanted her daughter to get out and have some fun.
The science museum wasn’t far from home, but Raymond had apparently never had the chance to take Ben there before.
The mother-daughter pair put on dresses. Jolene chose a simple white dress for herself because Emma had a little white dress too.
The dresses looked small and a bit worn—the original owner probably hadn’t bought new clothes for the child in a long time. Luckily, Emma had grown slowly, and the dress still fit.
Jolene made a mental note: as soon as she got her first paycheck next month, she’d buy autumn clothes for both of them.
Ben had plenty of clothes. Aside from his school uniform, his closet was full of short-sleeved shirts and shorts in all colors, plus sport sandals.
Normally, a nanny would help Ben get dressed, but Jolene had no experience with that, so Ben handled everything himself.
The little boy picked out a blue polo shirt, khaki shorts, and black sandals from his closet.
And today, Mr. Raymond finally wasn’t in his black suit—he wore a blue linen shirt with khaki chinos and comfortable loafers.
The two brothers had coincidentally dressed in matching colors, looking almost like they were wearing coordinated outfits on purpose.
Unlike Jolene, who had deliberately dressed mother and daughter in matching outfits, the brothers’ coordination was purely coincidental.
Even Ben looked at his brother in surprise.
Having so many people accompany him to the science museum today, Ben wore a big smile—he was over the moon.
Apparently, Ben had been in San Francisco for six months, but aside from school and extracurricular classes, he’d never really gone out to have fun.
Emma, on the other hand, had lived with her mom in the slums since she was little and had barely ever gone out. Her eyes were full of wonder.
The science museum was about two kilometers away—not far at all. And since parking nearby was supposedly tricky, Mr. Raymond decided they’d walk.
Jolene shrugged. It didn’t seem far to her.
The four of them headed toward the science museum together.
Along the way, Ben animatedly told his brother about how he and Emma had sold lemonade yesterday and how much money they’d made, putting special emphasis on how great a salesman he was.
Kids love to exaggerate their own abilities.
“I saw all my classmates standing in line—they all know me. But recess is only 15 minutes, so they might not have time to buy a Coke. So I carried the lemonade over to them. They saw this big bottle of icy lemonade and just shoved a dollar into my hand…” Ben gestured wildly with his hands as he described the size of the lemonade bottle he’d been carrying yesterday.
His movements were so exaggerated that anyone watching would’ve thought the lemonade was the size of a watermelon…
Mr. Raymond nodded. “Oh? So how much did you make?”
“32 dollars! One pack of cookies is $2, and one cup of lemonade is $1. I sold 12 cups of lemonade and 10 packs of cookies. There were two packs left over, and we ate them on the way home—nothing went to waste!”
Raymond glanced back at the mother and daughter behind him. Ben could clearly describe the whole selling process from yesterday, state exactly how much money he’d made, and even recall the precise numbers of drinks and cookies sold. Could a five-year-old really notice and articulate all those details on his own? There was only one explanation—Jolene must have gone over the numbers carefully with him. Otherwise, a child wouldn’t have picked up on those specifics.
Meanwhile, the mother-daughter pair exchanged glances behind them, listening to Ben boast about his great achievements.
Jolene had deliberately hung the camera around her neck, ready to take photos of the kids today.
When they arrived at the science museum entrance, Jolene said to Ben, “Ben, do you want to take a photo with your brother?”
Now that they were at the museum, it would be a shame not to get a photo of the two brothers together. It was a rare keepsake—once they got inside, most photos would be of the kids alone.
Ben raised his little arms excitedly. “Yeah! Hugh, we’ve never taken a photo together.”
Raymond was taken aback, a stiff smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He said quietly, “We did when you were little.”
Ben scratched his head, eyes wide. “When?”
Raymond shook his head, ruffled his hair, and the two of them stood at the museum entrance.
The museum’s entrance roof curled upward, covering several large spherical structures—the planetarium, rainforest exhibit, aquarium, and more. It was very modern.
The height difference between the two brothers was quite striking. Jolene frowned, lowered the camera, and said to Raymond, “Mr. Raymond, could you hold Ben? The height difference is too big—it’s hard to get a good shot. If I frame the whole museum entrance, Ben won’t be fully in the picture…”
Raymond looked down at his little brother, who was barely as tall as his waist. Ben looked up with his chubby little face, a hint of longing in his eyes—it seemed he’d never been held by his brother before.
In Ben’s early childhood memories, his brother wasn’t even around. It was only after their parents passed away that his brother brought him to San Francisco.
Raymond was tall—probably around 1.9 meters—while Ben was about 1.2 meters. Unless Jolene shot vertically, she wouldn’t be able to fit both of them fully in the frame.
But the young man seemed to be pondering something—how exactly was he supposed to hold a child?
In the end, Raymond simply reached out both hands, tucked them under Ben’s armpits, and hoisted him straight up in the air.
Ben: “…”
Jolene: “…”
“Ahem, how about I show you?” Jolene said, camera still hanging around her neck. She was a little speechless, but she understood—not everyone liked kids, and not everyone knew how to hold one just by looking.
Jolene had never given birth herself, but she had the original owner’s memories of caring for a child. She turned around, used her left arm to scoop up Emma, and supported the back of Emma’s knees with her right hand, holding the child facing forward.
Emma looked up at her mom, mouth open, her eyes and brows bright with joy—Mommy was holding her up high!
Ben’s mouth was pressed into a pout, looking like he was about to cry—because his brother was holding him so tightly it was uncomfortable, as if he were a ticking time bomb.
Raymond looked visibly embarrassed, clearly aware that he had no idea how to hold a child properly. He studied Jolene’s posture carefully, then adjusted Ben into a similar position, finally getting the boy facing forward.
Jolene held back her laughter, set Emma back down, and raised the camera to take a photo of the two brothers.
After that, Jolene wanted to find a passerby to take a photo of her and Emma together.
Raymond walked over and reached out for the camera. “I’ll take one of you and Emma.”
“Great, thank you,” Jolene said. She’d actually been feeling a little guilty—after all, she’d borrowed the camera under the pretense of taking keepsake photos of Ben, when in reality she needed evidence for her investigation. She’d been wondering how to naturally ask someone to take a photo of her. She hadn’t expected Mr. Raymond to offer first.
In that moment, Jolene thought he was a pretty good guy—at least he was considerate toward his employees.
Jolene deliberately crouched down halfway, turned sideways to face Emma, looked her in the eyes, and said, “Emma, press your forehead against Mommy’s.”
Crouching like this, they were the same height. The forehead-to-forehead gesture looked especially intimate.
Emma always listened to her mom. Though a little confused, she leaned her forehead forward—but since she was still standing straight up, she had to crane her neck to reach. The pose was a bit awkward and deliberate, but on little Emma, it was absolutely adorable.
Jolene leaned her forehead forward too, closed her eyes slightly, and smiled at how cute Emma was.
Raymond quickly pressed the shutter button, capturing the moment.
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