“Really?”

“If you’re lucky, you can pick up some, but not much. If you want to make a shell, you have to make it look good and have a beautiful color. You have to choose carefully. It’s probably a little difficult to find.”

“I see…” Xiao Li pouted, as if she did not dare.

Herbert glanced at her but said nothing.

In the end, the three of them returned empty-handed. After parting ways with the sisters, Herbert stood on the spot for a moment and shook off the fine sand on his body before returning home. After Xiao Meng was imprisoned, no one made dinner anymore. Robert was still working, and Herbert had to cook himself.

Herbert’s cooking was terrible. The first time he ate his own cooking, he woke up with a stomachache in the middle of the night.

Gradually, the food he made did not taste so bad.

Herbert cooked two bowls of noodles and placed a few prawns. He finished them in a few bites and carried the other bowl upstairs. He used the key to open the door to Xiao Meng’s room. Xiao Meng suddenly looked up and saw that it was Herbert. She lowered her head again.

Herbert saw her reaction and said expressionlessly, “If you had listened to me earlier, it wouldn’t have been like this after the divorce.”

Xiao Meng’s lips quivered, but she did not defend herself.

“Sure.”

Herbert placed the noodles in front of Xiao Meng.

Xiao Meng picked up the bowl of noodles and swallowed it. When she was done, Herbert cleaned up the dishes and was about to leave the room with them. Xiao Meng stared at her son’s figure and suddenly said, “I want to leave.”

Herbert stopped.

He tilted his head slightly and looked at Xiao Meng. He said, “But I no longer have the courage to let you go.” If he let Xiao Meng go, that person would kill him. It would not be the kind of death where he would stab him to death, but the kind of cruel death where he would scrape off the flesh on his body bit by bit and let him be tortured to death.

Xiao Meng was stunned.

She fell onto the bed, dejected like a doll.

Herbert carried the bowl downstairs and saw Robert coming home from work. “Daddy,” he greeted Robert coldly and respectfully.

Robert nodded.

When he came in, his son became more and more courageous. He was no longer as noisy as before. Robert was relieved.

He witnessed his son go to the kitchen and saw that he had quietly washed the dishes. Then, he walked out of the kitchen and came to his side. He said, “I’ve finished my homework and washed the dishes. Daddy, is there anything you need me to do?”

“If not, then I want to watch television for a while.”

Robert patted his shoulder especially gently and said, “Go see.”

So Herbert went to turn on the television. When he walked, his posture was as straight as a pine tree. He had finally lived the life Robert expected to see.

Robert stared at his figure for a moment before entering the study.

The next morning, Clarice arrived at the beach accompanied by her bodyguards, only to see a familiar figure at the beach. It was Herbert. He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and three-quarter shorts. He was holding a small basket and choosing from the shore.

Clarice was stunned.

Clarice was especially happy to guess what Herbert was doing.

She ran towards Herbert as if she was flying.

Herbert heard footsteps. He had just turned around when a white shadow rushed into her arms. Herbert was almost thrown to the ground by the person. He took a few steps back and stabilized himself before pulling the girl in the white dress out of his arms.

Clarice looked up and smiled sweetly at Herbert.

Laughing, she said, “Herbert, you’re the best boy I’ve ever met.”

Herbert raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

No one had ever taken a casual sentence from her heart and put it into practice. The six-year-old Clarice was about the same height as the seven-year-old Herbert. Clarice patted Herbert’s shoulder especially solemnly like a caring sister and said, “I’ve decided on you as a friend.”

Herbert felt uncomfortable. He said in a muffled voice, “Can you stop hugging me and holding my hand…” He felt quite awkward and embarrassed.

Upon hearing this, Clarice did not hesitate and said, “Sure.”

Herbert was about to relax when he felt a kiss on his cheek.

Herbert blushed suddenly.

He instantly tilted his head and glared at Clarice.

The little girl smiled strangely and looked extremely cute. She tilted her head and stepped on the sea water. She said with a smile, “You don’t allow me to hug you or hold your hand. Then I can only kiss you.”

“You’re… twisting words!” Herbert was almost shocked by this girl’s shamelessness.

Clarice giggled. She stared at the two red blobs on Herbert’s cheeks and sighed. “Herbert, you’re really the purest boy I’ve ever seen.”

Herbert’s eyes darkened.

Pure and kind…

No, he was the worst child.

His hands had touched other people’s corpses.

Looking down at the shell in his hand, Herbert felt that he did not deserve to touch these beautiful things. He was not qualified.

Seeing the smile on Herbert’s face suddenly dim, Clarice was stunned for a moment and could not help but ask him what was wrong. Herbert shook his head gently and said that he was fine.

There were some things he wanted to say, but he did not dare to.

They picked most of the seashells off the coast before they went back. It was still dark when they got back. Herbert walked in front with Clarice. As they climbed the hill, Herbert asked Clarice, “Why do you have bodyguards everywhere you go?”

“These are my bodyguards. I hired money to protect my safety. Naturally, they follow me wherever I go.”

“Our town is very safe…” Halfway through, Herbert thought of what had happened recently and suddenly fell silent.

He heard Clarice reply sternly, “This area hasn’t been too peaceful recently. Several people have gone missing. It’s better to be careful when you travel.” With that, she blinked at Herbert and said jokingly, “After all, I’m one of the most precious children of the Lawson family. If I disappear, my family will be heartbroken.”

Clarice’s smile was self-deprecating when she said the most precious child.

Of course she was precious. She was one of the only two healthy and smart children among the dozen or so children.

If anything happened to her, the consequences would be serious.

“Nothing will happen to you,” Herbert promised.

Clarice rolled her eyes at him and said jokingly, “How do you know? Are you the murderer?” She was purely joking, but she saw Zhuang Long turn pale. Clarice narrowed her eyes and asked him, “You look terrible. What’s wrong?”

Herbert said, “I should go to school.” Then, before Clarice could say anything, he left in a hurry.

Clarice stared at Herbert’s back and narrowed her beautiful blue eyes.

This reaction…