Why it never ends

Chapter 1236 Cooperation
Before Kiki could accept or refuse, Nadi had already slipped back to her bed, leaving the note on Kiki's pillow.

Kiki's face flushed instantly, and she even held her breath. In the darkness, she stared at the folded note, her mind blank.

She sat up in bed, and this slight movement drew the attention of the other children around her.

"I'm going to the restroom," Qiqi explained softly to the air.

She jogged into the bathroom, closed the door, and eagerly pressed the switch for the ceiling light. Only after opening the note did she realize she had it upside down, so she quickly turned it over.

The note contained a message written in the Third District language by Eleven, the handwriting crooked and messy.

"May I give you a gift?"

There are two options under this sentence: "Yes" and "No". Each option is marked with a checkmark, waiting for her to select one.

Under the "Yes" option, there is a line of smaller text enclosed in parentheses, followed by a crying face.

—(I hope you choose this)
Qiqi suddenly burst into tears again. She put the note in her pocket, sat quietly on the toilet for a while, and didn't cry for long. Before leaving the bathroom, she flushed the toilet and washed her hands under the tap.

When she returned to her bed and closed her eyes, Kiki wished for tomorrow to come quickly.

……

“I really didn’t expect you to come to District 12 to start a new party,” Boheng glanced at Hesta. “Was this planned in advance, or was it a spur-of-the-moment idea?”

“I guess so,” Hersta said. “Anyway, it’s not too difficult, so let’s give it a try.”

“…You have really changed a lot,” Boheng said with deep emotion.

The streetlights rushed past, the car sped along the highway, Hesta had one hand on the window and the other on the steering wheel, the night wind blowing into the car and constantly ruffling her hair.

“These past few days on your farm, there have been moments when I felt like I was back at St. Anne’s Abbey,” Boheng said. “Children, big children, children everywhere.”

Hershta glanced at the rearview mirror inside the car, and Boheng keenly caught her gaze.

"What's wrong?" Boheng asked.

"Most of these children were sent here by you."

Boheng laughed, then shook his head: "When I'm in the mountains, I don't have time to spend all day with the children like this... But I do like this kind of life, it's very relaxing."

"When are you coming next?" Hershta asked. "Or do you want me to confirm the specific time for moving to the reserve base first?"

“It’s hard to say,” Boheng replied, “but even if I don’t come in person next time, the Jiayes will still deliver on time. Speaking of which…”

Boheng looked at Hersta again.

"Do you know why I was able to send over seventy people this time?"

“…That’s exactly what I was going to ask,” Hester said. “Last time I asked you for people, you were so reluctant and wouldn’t agree. Why are you being so generous this time?”

“Consider this my thank-you gift,” Boheng said with a smile. “Aji has basically retired now, and I was in charge of his previous work—sometimes I think about these things and wonder why I didn’t think of doing this before.”

"Oh, congratulations."

“You also deserve credit,” Boheng said.

The carriage was silent. Boheng frowned slightly—he had waited for a while, but Hesta hadn't agreed or praised him.

Boheng coughed a few times. "I was wrong to misunderstand your cooperation with the Bruma Army before. I was too hasty and didn't check first."

“Don’t take it to heart,” Hesta said. “I’m also glad you came directly to question me, otherwise this misunderstanding would have gone on for who knows how long.”

"Yes, sometimes once people become suspicious of each other, it's hard for them to trust each other anymore."

"Did you hear from that person again?" Hesta asked casually. "This minor leader you mentioned who controlled the army, what was his name again?"

“Vera,” Boheng replied.

“Yes, I checked today, and both the Big and Little Brumama are quite far from here. She wouldn’t have appeared in Emmental for no reason,” Hester said. “Have you had any contact with her in the past?”

“There were some unpleasant incidents, but they were just minor skirmishes,” Boheng said. “Their real enemy is still the Liberal Party of District Twelve… the one that your Mercury Needle team punished before.”

Hershtar raised an eyebrow slightly. At that moment, she suddenly understood why Boheng was so sure that she had abandoned the devout young man and instead cooperated with the Bruma Control Army, where Vera was located—it was because of this.

"What's your next plan?" Boheng gazed ahead. "Once Jiaye arrives, you'll have about ninety people with you—what are you going to do with them?"

Hester chuckled softly: "The way you put it... makes it sound like I'm some kind of terrifying Frankenstein monster."

“I’m not worried about that,” Boheng said.

After a moment, seemingly realizing the ambiguity in his words, he added, "What I mean is, even if you are, it won't shake the foundation of our cooperation."

“…Oh?” This time it was Hesta’s turn to be surprised. “Is this what I meant?”

“No matter what you’ve done, I have only one request,” Boheng said, “data sharing.”

He looked at Hershta: "Can you do it?"

Hesta made a soft "tsk" sound, then switched hands to grip the steering wheel.

"Pleasant to work with."

Boheng looked at the hand that was being extended towards him and grasped it firmly: "It's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

……

The next morning, when Eleven rushed to their reading space, Qiqi was already there.

Eleven coughed loudly and moved her arms and legs around as if she wanted to wear a thousand bells. However, from the moment she stepped into the corridor, Qiqi remained focused on copying a book, never once looking up.

Eleven sat at the back of the reading space, her gaze almost fixed on Qiqi—but Qiqi didn't turn around or respond to her gaze even once.

I felt a sense of loss on November 11th.

She took a deep breath, quickly composed herself, and, still with the same overly lively demeanor, skipped and hopped to her cabinet to get her notebook and pen. But the moment she opened the door, she immediately quieted down.

The note was placed under her pencil case, folded four times just like when she gave it to Nadi yesterday.

Eleven stared at it without moving, her breathing becoming very light and her movements slowing down. After a period of silent contemplation, Eleven pulled out the slip of paper and unfolded it—

The note was still the same note, with no further comments, alterations, or emojis.

But just as she expected, a black checkmark appeared in the box before "yes".