Chapter 62 A Perfect Place with Abundant Fruit, the Most…
"I'm preparing gifts for Jay and Stella!"
Enid led Barbara to sit in front of the candy-scented lake. Barbara gazed at the lake water, which now shimmered with a pale orange sunlight, and couldn't help but mistake it for the colorful clouds embraced by the sunset.
Have you decided what to give?
“Yes! We’re already preparing it.” Enid’s eyes shone brightly, like lake water. She smiled and admitted it, then looked at Barbara, “Want to try it? You can guess what it tastes like.”
Is it orange flavored?
"wrong!"
The lake, its surface a color very similar to the sun, emitted a faint, sweet aroma. Enid had already guessed this outcome; such a deceptively bright color could give one an answer in an instant. She winked mischievously and poured Barbara a glass. Only after Barbara picked it up did she notice the slight movement in the lake's color.
Sunlight shone through the colored glass, turning it a warm color, but Barbara noticed that the color inside was rather thick and actually leaned more towards yellow.
"It's a mango, right?"
"Okay...you guessed it!"
The sweet aroma of mangoes, which had been suppressed, burst forth instantly. I thought I would see Barbara deep in thought, but the frustration of guessing her intentions in the next second still hit me a little hard. However, I quickly recovered and stared at Barbara with my beautiful eyes.
Seeing through her thoughts, Barbara lowered her head and took a sip. The mango flavor was overly strong, a rich and sweet taste, even somewhat surprising.
"It's delicious, but it's a pity there are no real mangoes."
"Yes!" Enid clapped her hands happily upon hearing Barbara's approval, and the colorful little clouds dropped a bunch of fresh mangoes in front of Barbara. "Ah... well, that's how they are, but these look pretty good, right?"
Running very fast, Barbara's dodging was incredibly precise. The mangoes landed perfectly on the soft grass, avoiding being knocked over, and the cups weren't attacked by the mangoes either. They wouldn't break on the grass, a testament to her accurate judgment. Picking up a mango from the ground, this one was almost larger than her palm, round and plump.
"These mangoes are really good. It looks like we'll be eating them at home soon. Should I help you let everyone come and pick some?"
"Hmm..." She paused, thought for a moment, "I've been busy all night and have gotten a lot done. Magic can also help. It's almost done now. It's quite convenient here. They all come down with just a thought. If you can eat more, that would be the biggest help."
As she spoke, Barbara noticed the mangoes scattered on the ground. Her slightly torn outer garment calmed her down, and after a moment of silence, she chuckled softly.
"It seems like this is all I can do, but maybe Bruce can take it to his friends... well, maybe his colleagues. He'd probably be happy to."
After thinking about the Justice League members and the Titans Young Justice League, there were plenty of good people, enough to keep things going. No need to worry about the house being overflowing with mangoes lately. Hearing Barbara's words, Enid's eyes lit up, and she stuck out her tongue shyly.
“That’s great. Actually, you know, the Sacred Forest is very big, so there’s a lot of fruit, but I couldn’t finish eating it all before, so I kept planting more… so, you know.”
She wasn't a very organized person, so she planted a lot of fruit that she couldn't eat all by herself. She couldn't possibly share it with the people at the school. Even if the fruit in the sacred forest was surplus, it wasn't something that should be given away to ordinary people. Giving it away to others wouldn't be appropriate either, since the fruit in the sacred forest was a gift from the Mother Goddess.
"We already have some guesses, so what other types are there here?"
There weren't any specific fruits among the plants that Enid had Bruce prepare initially; it seems these were added later. But that's not important. Barbara watched Enid pause for a long time, then silently projected a list of fruits using magic. She was slightly surprised when the list of fruits appeared.
“78 kinds of fruit, and none of them are the same type. The flavors of the fruits from another world account for 48 of them.” After quickly analyzing the varieties, Barbara found it somewhat amusing. “27 kinds have recently ripened, and there are probably several tons of them in total.”
"I didn't mean to...does it seem like I've caused trouble?"
Some plants are different, so the total amount of fruit remaining is rather alarming. Seeing Enid's somewhat remorseful expression, Barbara reached out and patted her head. "It's okay, but can ordinary people eat these?"
“No!” Enid shook her head. “Because of the power of the Mother Goddess, ordinary people probably couldn’t withstand it, but you are different.”
She wasn't quite sure how to explain the rule, but Barbara nodded. She roughly understood why. It wasn't just about power; the fruit contained trace amounts of natural power, which was also present in the oranges before. Eating it would naturally make their bodies feel more comfortable.
This isn't actually a reason why ordinary people can't eat it; more importantly, it's based on their relationship. They are Enid's family, and giving it to the Justice League is an acceptable act, based on their contributions to all things and Enid's own approval. After understanding the principle, Barbara didn't try to persuade Enid but instead planned to share the information with Bruce.
After all, he should be happy to solve this tiny, fuzzy problem for his daughter.
“I promise that I will plan ahead before I plant fruit next time, or if that doesn’t work, I can do it the same way as before,” she paused. “Because I haven’t been to many places before, I’ve only seen most of what I’ve learned in books. These 78 kinds of fruit are the ones I most want to eat after seeing them, so Shenglin came into being. In the past, most of my fruit has returned to Shenglin’s embrace, but this time I want to share it with you.”
Fruit rots and becomes nutrients for plants, and while it's still fresh, it becomes food for animals. None of this will stop the overflowing fruit from eventually disappearing. Enid just wants to share the foods she's seen, wanted to taste, and liked with all her family members.
"Although some of them are quite ordinary." She became a little embarrassed.
“I’d really like to know what the difference is between mangoes from Saint Lin and those from other countries and regions,” Barbara said, understanding Enid’s good intentions. “I guess it’s the same for them.”
It had nothing to do with the taste of the fruit; Barbara understood it was simply a family member's desire to share, a very cute behavior.
“Great! We’ll take some back with us when we go back. But should we bring some of this? We also have orange juice, lemon juice, and pineapple juice as options.”
Actually, the flavors in the lake are only limited to a specific color; those with the same color can be changed, so Barbara was right at first. Barbara also thought of this, pretending to ponder for a long time before a slight smile appeared on her lips.
“Well—how about some orange juice? Or maybe something else? I can pack some of everything to take home, so you won’t nag me about drinking too much coffee.” Barbara often received hand-drawn emojis from Enid on her phone, reminding her not to drink too much coffee and to stay up late, even though Enid’s symptoms of staying up late were actually quite severe.
“That’s great,” Enid said, filling Barbara’s bag with juice. “I guarantee it’s all real juice.”
"Looks like I know what's going on with all that fruit you have that you can't use up. Let me think, combined with the stillness and space inside the makeup box, right?"
The makeup box Enid gave her could store a lot of cosmetics and ensure they were always at their best. Combined with the seemingly endless supply of fruit Enid mentioned, perhaps that was the real reason this lake was formed. Well, forgive her for trying to analyze the principles as soon as she arrived.
“I don’t know,” Enid shook her head. “I haven’t thought about the reason, but I know it came about because I read about the candy house in fairy tales, so it came about. This is actually another fairy tale world, and they come from all the homelands that don’t need fairy tales.”
A hint of sadness appeared on Enid's face, just as Barbara had guessed. However, the difference was that they appeared here in their natural state, simply because she also happened to like fairy tales, and they just happened to look like that.
"But isn't it good now? Fairy tales have gained real meaning."
Barbara didn't think it was entirely a bad thing, at least not for the little creatures in the sacred forest. Forcing things where they weren't needed might be better for them here. Barbara could see that neither the colorful little clouds nor the little creatures she occasionally encountered peeking at her from the corners were afraid, only curious. There was even a fawn that was eager to run towards her, but it darted away as soon as it saw she had spotted it.
"Indeed, you are right."
At first, Enid was a little sad, but Barbara's words made her realize that nothing was better than Saint Lin. Enid couldn't deny one thing: Saint Lin was perfect.
“Sacred Grove is the most perfect place in the world!” Enid declared confidently.
Barbara became slightly curious and deliberately asked, "What's the second one?" Enid blushed slightly when she met Barbara's intrigued gaze. She looked at the colorful little clouds watching the show in the distance, gave them a quick glare, watched them drift away, and then glanced at her shadow at her feet.
Naya remained silent. Seeing that Naya didn't leave, Enid prepared to speak, saying somewhat shyly.
"It's Wayne Manor, the second best place in the world."
Of course, these words were not finished; there was still a long second half, but Enid was too embarrassed to say it aloud and could only silently complete it in her heart. But even this one sentence was enough to bring a gentle smile to Barbara's eyes.
The thought in her heart was—because there she had the best father and the best housekeeper in the world.
And of course, there's my best sister and my best brother, and my best Dick.
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Author's Note: [Facepalm peeking][Facepalm peeking][Facepalm peeking][Facepalm peeking]
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