Chapter 487 Going to the Market
After Esme went downstairs, Rachel made her way to another room in the house. The room was still pretty messy, a remnant of its past life as a storage space.
But Esme had worked her magic, creating a clear path from the entrance to a bed in the middle, with everything else neatly organized around it. The bed was crisply made with fresh sheets, the wooden floor gleamed, and the furniture sparkled under Rachel's gaze.
Making her way to the cabinet, Rachel found a neat arrangement of her school books alongside Esme's workbooks and lesson plans.
She nonchalantly pulled out a folder and discovered it brimming with her collection of school certificates, ranging from elementary to high school, all immaculately preserved.
She had consistently excelled academically, securing a spot at a prestigious university in Horizon City without ever causing Esme any headaches. Perhaps she had grasped early on the challenges that Esme faced in raising her single-handedly, which motivated Rachel to maintain a strict focus on her studies.
At times, Esme found herself in awe, reflecting on how she hadn't poured as much of her energy into Rachel as she did into her students, making Rachel's accomplishments truly her own.
Leafing through the certificates, Rachel felt a rush of nostalgia, transported back to her elementary school days, completely engrossed in her memories. Unbeknownst to her, Nicholas quietly approached from behind.
"Seems like you've been a shining star in academics since childhood, with this impressive collection of awards," Nicholas remarked, causing Rachel to jump in surprise.
Feeling a twinge of bashfulness, Rachel realized the irony of being praised by Nicholas, a high-achiever himself, as Madison had previously mentioned.
"Not really," Rachel said, lowering her head, her face slightly red.
Nicholas reached for the folder, and before Rachel could stop him, he opened it. He looked through it more seriously than Rachel, flipping through each page as if to make up for his absence in her entire school journey.
Rachel ended up looking through it with him, realizing she had more awards than she had ever counted. After they finished, Nicholas closed the folder and turned to her, saying, "Rachel, you're really impressive, even more than I was."
He looked around and smiled, asking, "Is this the room set up for me?"
"Yeah, if you need anything else, just let me know. The quilt is new. My mom was worried you might get cold at night, so she put on a thick quilt since this room doesn't have underfloor heating," Rachel said, pulling Nicholas to sit on the bed and feel the thickness of the quilt.
"Everything's perfect," Nicholas said with a smile.
They then went to Rachel's room together. The pink curtains were clearly her choice, and the room was decorated in a very girly pink theme, which was quite different from her usual straightforward personality. Seeing the room's decor, Nicholas felt he understood her a bit more.
He took a good look around this time. On the bedside table were two photo frames. One showed a very young Rachel being held by her dad, with her mom standing beside them, all three smiling happily. This was Rachel's favorite family photo, always by her bed. The other photo seemed to be from Rachel's middle school days, with her in a school uniform, standing on the playground, looking determined and youthful.
Rachel saw Nicholas holding the family photo and smiled, leaning in to point at the people in the picture. "That's my dad. Isn't he handsome?"
"Yeah, very handsome," Nicholas replied with a smile.
Rachel excitedly pulled out two photo albums from the drawer and handed them to Nicholas. Before her dad passed away, their family life had beem simple but happy. Her dad loved taking photos and had saved up to buy a film camera, so there were many pictures of her childhood. After he passed, they had rarely taken photos, and the camera broke, but she still kept it in the cabinet.
Nicholas looked at the photos of Rachel as a child, feeling a softness in his heart. The photos showed how much her dad had adored her, capturing every milestone from rolling over, crawling, walking, to drooling while eating and bathing. He felt a bit envious, as he had very few photos from his childhood since his family didn't have a camera.
The two of them sat on the bed, heads close together, flipping through the albums. The first album was mostly family photos, while the second was mainly of Rachel alone.
Nicholas smiled as he looked through them, and Rachel smiled too, staying by his side until Esme came upstairs and interrupted them.
"I was wondering why you two hadn't come downstairs. So you were here looking at photo albums. There's a gathering in town today, the last one of the year. Do you guys want to go?" Esme asked with a smile.
The town had a weekly gathering, which was usually quite lively. Today's was even more bustling. Esme planned to buy some groceries.
"Sure, let's go together," Rachel said excitedly. She had loved attending these gatherings as a child, with lots of snacks and fun little trinkets that were especially appealing to kids.
The two of them followed Esme downstairs. Since the gathering place wasn't far, they decided to walk. Along the way, they met many acquaintances who greeted them. Esme introduced Nicholas to everyone they met.
"Mrs. Ximena, Rachel is back. She's getting prettier. And this is..." Everyone's eyes would eventually fall on Nicholas.
Esme said, "Yes, she's back. This is Rachel's boyfriend, who came back to spend the New Year with me."
"Rachel's boyfriend! This young man looks so handsome and matches Rachel well."
Along the way, Rachel and Nicholas smiled so much their faces hurt, feeling a bit embarrassed by all the compliments.
Esme, being a teacher in town, knew many people, some of whom Rachel didn't even know how to address.
She greeted people all the way, leading the two of them to the gathering with a cheerful smile, her mouth never closing.
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