The next day, New Year’s Eve. Early in the morning, the alley was filled with a joyous and festive atmosphere, with neighbors visiting and exchanging gifts everywhere. The usually quiet Easton Family house became unusually lively due to this day. Antonio Easton had done many good deeds in the past and treated his neighbors well. Now bedridden with a serious illness, the neighbors would either come to visit or bring some gifts to show their respect. Nora Scott stayed home but was too lazy to greet them, leaving it all to Marcus Shaw. Last night, it snowed all night long. When morning came, the heavy snow stopped, leaving a thick blanket of snow covering the courtyard. Marcus Shaw spent half an hour clearing only a path, leaving the rest piled up and unattended. "Are you planning to spend the day holed up in the bedroom?" Laura Collins walked in and saw the game-playing homebody, Nora. The homebody Nora admitted frankly. Laura stared at her silently for a moment, unable to resist associating her image with Zero’s. Just imagining it made her head throb with pain, and she collapsed onto Nora’s bed, holding her face in agony. With her face buried in the blanket, Laura cried out in distress. The Zero in her mind was calm, reliable, mysterious, legendary, and a middle-aged man with rich experiences, weather-beaten, and unshaven. The reality was that this person was a young, ethereal beauty who stayed home to play video games! To be precise, her gaming skills were atrocious; out of three PUBG matches, she would crash out early in two... Her mediocre skills were awe-inspiringly bad. "Please leave me some beautiful illusions." Laura looked up at Nora, pleading. Nora replied without even lifting her head. Laura buried her face again. Her feelings were indescribable. Nora accepted losing another match calmly, leaned back against the wall, then slightly raised her chin, comforting Laura, "You can think a bit about how dashing I was when I took you across the Northwest back then." Laura suddenly lifted her head. Nora smiled, "Feeling a bit better?" Laura nodded emphatically. After spending so long in the city, seeing the homely Nora often made Laura forget about the Nora of the past who rode through the Martial World like a female knight. If it were that Nora... Laura genuinely felt she could be worthy of the title Zero. Except for gender and age, back then, Nora embodied all her fantasies about Zero. Thinking of something, Laura asked, "Should I go out like you did?" After a moment’s thought, Nora lazily replied, "If you want to clear your mind, you can." Laura didn’t speak; she laid back down. This city is where Michael Quinn is... After two years of entanglement, there were traces of Michael Quinn everywhere in her life—places for eating, clothing, living, traveling; all familiar spots were filled with memories. Just thinking about it made her feel oppressed and unable to stay. Nora looked up at her, paused, wanting to say something. "Knock knock, knock knock." Marcus Shaw knocked a few times on the ajar door, caught the two’s attention, and with a gloomy face, said, "The crybaby is here again." Thinking for a moment, Nora asked, "Jesse Johnson?" Marcus nearly speechlessly said, "He’s brought a pile of New Year’s gifts." "Slow down, take it easy!" "Put the food over here together." As Marcus finished speaking, Jesse Johnson’s voice started ringing out in the courtyard. The sounds of moving things and the questions from those doing the moving suddenly made the once quiet courtyard bustling again. Laura sat up, questioning in confusion. Nora tossed her phone aside, stood up, casually grabbed a jacket and put it on, and walked out of the bedroom. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩 As soon as she opened the door, a gust of cold wind greeted her. She tightened her jacket, crossed her arms, and watched Jesse Johnson busy directing things in the courtyard. "Master Johnson, what do you mean by this?" Squinting, Nora called out, her eyes fixed on Jesse Johnson. As soon as he saw her, the arrogance he had while directing people instantly vanished. He hurried over and awkwardly explained to Nora, "I-I just came to deliver some things. I’ll leave as soon as I’m done." Nora raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who asked you to deliver them?" Johnson lowered his head, put his hands behind his back, and honestly answered, "Myself." "Come on..." Jesse Johnson immediately said, "We have plenty of these at home! You, this, it’s, just, didn’t you gift me a To signature last time? You yourself said, ’A drop of water shall be returned with a burst of spring’, so I thought... anyway, too much is too much, wasting is bad, so, I’ll give your family some." Nora Scott turned to glance back at the living room. With one family sending a bit, and another family sending a bit, her home was about to become a wholesale market. The batch Pedro Langley sent was already enough, and over the past few days, more had been arriving. She was doing quite well, not spending a penny, and the New Year’s goods piled up in the house were taller than mountains. Nora Scott wanted to throw both Jesse Johnson and that pile of New Year’s goods out. At this moment, a person in charge of the moving walked over, respectfully saying to Jesse Johnson, "Master Johnson, it’s all moved in." "Oh!" Jesse Johnson was momentarily delighted, quickly saying to Nora Scott, "Since it’s all moved in, I’ll head off now. No need to see me out!" As soon as he finished speaking, Jesse Johnson turned around, dashed out with his feet flying. That stance didn’t look like someone leaving after gifting, rather like someone being chased by a vicious dog. Nora Scott twitched the corner of her mouth. Marcus Shaw, standing behind Nora Scott, asked, "Did he figure it out?" Answering softly, Nora Scott turned around to head back inside. Marcus Shaw asked, "What about that pile of stuff outside?" Nora Scott replied, "Whoever visits, let them take a share." Marcus Shaw responded. The entire day was bustling with visitors. Two-thirds of the New Year’s goods Jesse Johnson brought were dealt with. When it was almost dark, Ernesto Scott came by, specifically to visit Nora Scott and Antonio Easton. Nora Scott didn’t call him "Dad", but Marcus Shaw vaguely guessed Ernesto Scott’s identity. He led him into the house, then sensibly left the living room, returning to his bedroom. The cellphone on the desk in the bedroom lit up several times, with all the messages coming from Oliver Scott. ——Last night, Oliver Scott used a physics problem answer to persuade Marcus Shaw to add him back. [Oliver Scott]: I’m about to shut down again. [Oliver Scott]: My mom won’t let me go out, my sister won’t talk to me, my dad isn’t at home all day. [Oliver Scott]: I’m going crazy. A string of messages followed, all complaints. Marcus Shaw skimmed through from start to finish. Marcus Shaw knew about Oliver Scott’s mother forbidding him from going out. The reason was that a few days ago, Oliver Scott went out under the excuse of "researching mecha with the team", but his actual motive was to go to the alley to watch candied hawthorn production and old movies with Marcus Shaw. Because he returned a little late, his mother became suspicious and secretly called his team members to inquire. Without pre-arranged cover-up, he naturally got caught out. It was said that Oliver Scott’s mother flew into a rage over this, restricting Oliver Scott from stepping out the door for several days. Speaking of family, even though Oliver Scott’s parents are alive and well-off, Marcus Shaw couldn’t help but feel some pity for him. Thankfully, Oliver Scott has a good temper; if it were Marcus Shaw in such a family, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. [Marcus Shaw]: [File] [Marcus Shaw]: Steal energy applet, for you. [Oliver Scott]: Wh, what?! [Marcus Shaw]: Didn’t you say people keep stealing your energy every day? As a teenager passionate about environmental protection, Oliver Scott has always insisted on completing tasks in the forest, walking, energy saving, and green consumption on a certain app; however, because he’s a top student who needs to study, he didn’t have the habit of holding his phone all day. In energy harvesting and stealing, he always lagged behind others, often being outpaced by friends. A few days ago, he vented a bit to Marcus Shaw. Casually, Marcus Shaw created an automatic energy harvesting and stealing applet. In short, a cheat plugin. [Oliver Scott]: Is that what I was asking about? [Oliver Scott]: What I mean is, where did you get this ’applet’? [Marcus Shaw]: Made it myself. [Oliver Scott]: Always forgot to ask, how did you get Mr. Flynn’s attention, making him go to great lengths to pull you into the group? [Marcus Shaw]: I hacked his computer. Unable to verbalize his feelings at this moment, Oliver Scott could only use punctuation marks to tell Marcus Shaw— He was going crazy, completely crazy. Marcus Shaw couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. After a while, Oliver Scott finally stopped sending symbols. After a solid half a minute of typing, he finally sent a new message. [Oliver Scott]: Did you hack Zero’s computer to blackmail him into giving you a set of To signed books? With imagination this wild, why don’t you go write a novel? Initially, out of pity for Oliver Scott, Marcus Shaw intended to reveal to him that "Nora Scott is Zero", but at this moment, Marcus Shaw was silent for a long time, deciding to swallow that piece of news as a secret.