Why it never ends

Chapter 1201 Like
Hershta clenched her fist—she had almost forgotten about it, but had a vague feeling that there was something else she hadn't done.

She immediately quickened her pace and headed towards the heart-to-heart talk salon. After walking a dozen steps, she realized that Lai Lin had not followed.

"Aren't you going?" Hersta turned around.

“I still need to go to Packart’s old house; Stella needs my help with something—it won’t take long, we’ll be there soon.” Lai Lin waved. “See you in a bit!”

"Well, see you later."

……

Lai Lin quickly arrived at her destination.

Perhaps because most people had moved to the palace, the wooden house, which had survived the last arson attack, looked somewhat desolate in the night. Lai Lin could see a light on in the east room on the second floor; it was the only bright spot in the entire building, so Stella must be there.

Lai Lin went upstairs and soon heard a rhythmic knocking sound, as if someone was banging a seal on the table.

She pushed open the slightly ajar door: "What are you doing?"

Stella, without turning her head, said, "Come and help me!"

Lai Lin then saw clearly what Stella was doing—she was holding a palm-sized rubber stamp and making a mark on a stack of white cardstock.

“I’ll handle the stamping. You can help me write the names. It’s this stack to my right…” Stella stood by the table, gesturing with her chin, “The list is right there. Just write each child’s name in order. This is a prop that Packart will be using tonight. I forgot about it!”

Lai Lin looked down at the paper and noticed that the rubber stamp had imprinted a series of table-like patterns: "...What's this for?"

"These are for the kids to check in for the next few weeks." As she spoke, Stella finished tapping several more sheets of paper. "Each sheet has three different prints—don't ask so many questions, just sit down and copy down the names...use your prettiest handwriting, okay?"

Lai Lin sat down with a smile: "You called me here specifically for this... How did you know I have good handwriting?"

“The little blackboard outside your tavern, the one that lists the day’s specials, has really nice handwriting,” Stella said with a hint of pride. “I asked Ellie about it the other day, and she said you wrote it.”

Lai Lin was quite pleased with the compliment. She carefully wrote down a few names, then glanced at Stella, saying, "You seem to really care about these children's things. You said you don't like children?"

Stella let out a soft "pfft," her hands moving swiftly, and while changing the paper, she cast an unappreciated eye roll at Lai Lin: "Is it just my imagination, but you seem to particularly enjoy talking to me about children?"

"Oh, we were just chatting..." Lai Lin looked at Stella a little shyly, "It's nothing—"

“Just say what you want to ask,” Stella said. “I’m not going to eat you.”

Neither of them spoke, and for a moment, the only sounds in the room were the sounds of their individual movements.

"...I heard you had surgery," Lai Lin hesitated for a moment before speaking, trying to sound nonchalant, but she seemed unusually concerned. "I don't know if it's a rumor—" "You mean a hysterectomy?" Stella counted a batch of cards, then grabbed the stack of loose papers and slammed them on the table a few times until the four corners were neatly aligned, before looking at Lai Lin. "Yes, it was done in the third section, by a doctor friend I trust... What happened?"

"It's really true?" Lai Lin's pen stopped abruptly. Half of her surprise came from the fact itself, and the other half from Stella's nonchalant tone when she talked about it. "How could you have thought of having this kind of surgery? What if you regret it later?"

"What do you regret?"

"It's surgery after all, and it involves removing an organ. Why are you making it sound like you're removing an appendix? Besides, what if you want to have children again in a few years?"

“Then let’s adopt one,” Stella replied matter-of-factly. “I can be picky about adopted children, but can I have one myself? Besides, I know myself well, and I don’t like children.”

Although Lai Lin knew that Stella probably didn't need anyone else to worry about this, she couldn't help but feel regretful. She had many things she wanted to say, but considering that Stella's surgery was already a fait accompli, she swallowed them back.

“Why are you making that face?” Stella glanced at Lai Lin and couldn’t help but laugh. “The knife didn’t cut your stomach.”

"Sigh..." Lai Lin felt a tightness in her chest, but couldn't explain her reaction, so she could only sigh repeatedly.

She copied the names for a while, then suddenly stopped writing: "What I was trying to say was, how can you predict the future? People change their minds—and do you really not like children? What about Kiki? You don't like Kiki either?"

Stella chuckled and placed another stack of cardstock on the table, patting and tidying it up.

"Why aren't you answering me?" Lai Lin pressed. "You definitely like Qi Qi, right? You're always so attentive, always preparing gifts—"

“Yes, I really like Kiki,” Stella replied. “I like people like Kiki, whether they’re children or old people, and I like them even more if they’re my age. It has nothing to do with whether she’s a child or not—I like her as a person, you understand?”

Lai Lin was taken aback.

“I can see you’re really interested in this surgery,” Stella said, looking at her with a teasing smile. “This isn’t the first time you’ve brought up these issues with me indirectly… Want me to tell you the details? I’ve written several experience posts online; I’ll forward them to you in a bit.”

Lailin looked at Stella and felt a sense of absurdity. Although she knew perfectly well that she would never have such an operation, she did not refuse Stella's suggestion. It seemed that... a strong curiosity temporarily overwhelmed the desire to judge.

The two continued their casual conversation, while behind them, the clock on the wall slowly turned.

……

At 7:35, five minutes had passed since the agreed-upon start time for the event, but the small auditorium of the heart-to-heart talk salon was still bustling with noise.

When Hester and his two companions arrived, the teachers had just lit the candles and turned off the lights. Moonlight streamed through the hexagonal skylight in the middle of the small auditorium, casting a silvery glow on the very center of the room—where a small round tea table sat with water and tissues on it.

The children sat on the ground, huddled together with their friends.

Shiyi looked around anxiously—she didn't know why, but Qiqi hadn't come.