After leaving the space, Celine quickly washed up and changed clothes. She grabbed the canvas bag hanging on the wall.
"Eleanor, let's go! We need to get to the early market!"
Eleanor was sitting in the yard chopping firewood. She paused, put down the axe, and brushed the wood chips off her clothes. "It's so early. Why go now?"
"Red ordered a lot of things and needs them urgently. We have to deliver them today!" Celine said without explaining and pulled Eleanor outside.
Mother Zhou heard the noise and looked out from the kitchen. "Not eating breakfast before you go?"
Celine kept walking. "No time! We will eat after we come back!"
Mother Zhou sighed and caught up to the door. She put some food into Celine's hand.
"Take these. Some egg pancakes and a cup of thin porridge to fill your stomach."
"Buy some meat and fish on the way back. Your second brother and younger brother are coming home tonight. I heard they are bringing friends!"
"Really?" Celine's eyes lit up, and she stopped walking. Joy spread across her face like ripples.
Eleanor and Minoo are coming home!
That is great!
But the happiness lasted only a moment before deep sadness came.
She remembered the past life, that hot summer afternoon when Nimuel jumped from a tall building. Bright red blood stained the dark cement floor.
Her heart felt squeezed by an invisible hand. The pain spread like she could not breathe.
"What are you thinking about? Stop daydreaming," Eleanor patted Celine's shoulder and broke her thoughts.
Celine took a deep breath and pushed the sadness down. She smiled brightly.
"Nothing!"
In the car, Eleanor focused on driving and sometimes took an egg pancake from Celine.
Celine ate the pancake but felt no taste.
In her past life, her second brother Nimuel was accused of attacking a female student and then killed himself out of guilt.
His death was not honorable. He jumped from the fifth floor of the school.
That was what others thought. The truth was very different.
Because Nimuel was not that kind of person.
He had always been an excellent student and was accepted into a top university with better choices of majors.
But to lighten the burden on his family, Nimuel chose to apply for a free teacher training program and returned to the county to teach after graduation.
He had taught two graduating classes, and each year more than ten students were admitted to top universities. Almost every student passed the university entrance line.
Many parents tried to give him gifts, but he never accepted any. He also had a steady girlfriend and had never been rumored to have any inappropriate relationship with his female students.
So when the news came, Celine and the rest of the family didn't believe it at all.
They found Nimuel's girlfriend, Vanissa, and only then did they learn the truth.
It turned out that a wealthy businessman in the county wanted his daughter to be placed in Nimuel's class.
But the girl's grades were extremely poor—she didn't meet the standard to join the elite class at the county's top high school.
Nimuel refused the request and returned the money they tried to give him right on the spot.
The rich family held a grudge. Later, pretending to apologize, they invited Nimuel to a restaurant.
There, they drugged his drink with sleeping pills and took photos of him lying under a blanket with the girl in a way that looked suggestive and unclear.
The photos were first sent to the principal, who naturally believed Nimuel.
But to avoid a bigger scandal, the school asked Nimuel to temporarily step down and reflect.
However, he was teaching a graduating class. How could the students and parents accept his suspension?
They all demanded that he return to teaching.
On his first day back, the girl's father took the photo to the Education Bureau and filed a report against Nimuel and the school.
At the same time, the photo was uploaded online.
What followed was a flood of online marketing accounts spreading the story without knowing the truth, accusing Nimuel of assaulting a female student.
The internet exploded. People were furious.
No matter how Nimuel explained, no one would listen.
Because of this, not just Nimuel, but even his girlfriend Vanissa and her family were doxxed.
Vanissa and her parents' jobs and lives were deeply affected.
Vanissa almost lost her government job, and even on her way to and from work, she was constantly harassed.
One time, she was even stripped by a group of thugs who took indecent photos of her.
To protect his girlfriend, and to find peaceNimuel chose to end his life.