8. Smallville: Mutual Appreciation
15.
Clark could ride a horse—but the story begins in an ignominious way.
The playground for Kansas-born children after school was all nature, and they ran wildly in the streets under the scorching sun, screaming and playing "Marco Polo." He was clearing the bowls and cutlery with his mother when Martha noticed he was staring out the window at the noisy children. She took little Clark's bowl and motioned for him to go out and run around too.
——Mom didn’t know that “The Weird Kid from the Kent Family” had replaced Clark Kent as his new name, because he couldn’t help hearing some strange noises. Even Ms. Swann, the kindest teacher in the class, had to remind him more than once to concentrate on listening, otherwise she would have to ask Mom and Dad to come to school next time.
He had been trying hard to hide his differences from other children, and he couldn't imagine what his mom and dad would say if they knew he was a freak. So even though he wanted to play with his peers, he took a long time to go out.
Marco Polo's game came to an abrupt end, and the leading child removed his blindfold. It was Roger. Clark knew him. He seemed to be a nice guy; he had seen Roger helping the teacher move things before.
"Hey, freak." Roger jumped a little further away and called out to him, his eyebrows raised high in the middle, as if he had suddenly seen a stone that could walk on its own. "How dare you come here?"
They were far enough away that Clark was thankful that Martha couldn't hear what they were saying. It wasn't difficult to muster up the courage, at least it was worth a try: "...Can you take me one?"
The children stood alert, like meerkats, and several pairs of eyes turned to Roger, who had already jumped away, seeking help. The blond boy suddenly felt like he was shouldering the weight of the entire group. He puffed out his chest and said, "Of course not."
"I still remember you hurt Susie." "Yes, she's still bandaged." "You're going to hurt us too."
"I didn't mean to do that. I apologized!" Clark Kent held out his palms, trying to prove that his hands were no different from theirs… just a little stronger. "And Susie forgave me." Although she always avoided him after that, Susie did accept Clark Kent's apology.
"I can control myself now, really."
Roger stroked his hair vigorously, thinking he looked very cool. He didn't want to sound like an unreasonable captain, so he proposed a task that he thought was difficult to complete as a test to join the "trial".
—If Clark could steal a ride around the field on Aunt Mary's roan, they would play with him.
...Later he learned two lessons from this incident. One was that a frightened horse can run really fast, and the other was that sometimes promises between children should not be taken seriously, especially verbal promises.
But Aunt Mary was a very good person, and she didn't blame Clark for riding her horse. After subduing the frightened horse and saving little Clark, she patiently and carefully taught him how to get on and off the horse, and how to stabilize his center of gravity during the horse's bumps, so that the little boy would not fall off when riding in the future.
…
But even a frightened horse would probably not be able to match the speed of this one.
A precision machine, having stopped just now to refuel, now unleashed its four hooves and eight cylinders into action. If one were to look down from above at the galloping black horse, it would look more like an undisguised scar on the earth—could any horse really run so fast?
If Aria had heard his question, she would have confidently answered that it was because of the horse speed-increasing mod, but Clark didn't even know her name right now, so he had to keep his question to himself for the time being - any normal person would be filled with wind if they opened their mouths now, so it was too strange for him to speak normally.
The journey of more than ten minutes was condensed into single digits, but Aria felt refreshed when she got off the horse: she knew that Libao could run very fast, but she had never tested its limits. Now it seems that she really found a treasure.
Aria thought Clark Kent would not get off the horse, so she stretched out her hands to him first: "Just hold me down." She was wearing very standard overalls today, and she almost had the words "I have a farm and I'm very reliable" pasted on her face.
"Don't be afraid, Libao is very gentle and won't hurt you."
Clark was particularly skeptical about the black horse's docile temperament. After all, most horses that can run at such an astonishing speed are hot-blooded horses... and hot-blooded horses are known to have somewhat unpredictable temperaments.
It probably only behaves docilely in front of its owner.
Sure enough, the black agate called Libao stamped his feet and exhaled several times through his nostrils like sighing. It was obvious that he was impatient with him staying on his back.
In this situation, if he moved on his own, he would be at risk of being kicked. Clark Kent didn't want to break any bones, so he used her hand to turn over and get off the horse.
She looked every bit like a Kansas native, but Clark couldn't help but scrutinize her—after all, he hadn't felt any calluses on her face when they'd just shaken hands.
For years, the government has never ceased its quest to uncover Superman's true identity. Who is he? Does he have another identity? Is he a two-faced hero, hidden among the people, or a true god, towering over humanity? Superman has asked himself the question, and he's already provided the answer, but it hasn't satisfied those who are skeptical.
They kept setting up various devices to try to measure him and lure the God of the World into traps, although Clark almost always saw through the conspiracy and used thermal vision to destroy the eavesdropping devices that thought they were hidden.
But he would also worry about the possibility of an exception.
Superman had imagined more than once how he would protect his family, how he would protect Martha, if the enemy ever found Kansas, or Smallville. But he had never come up with a perfect solution. He could have protected all the important people like the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic. But Clark Kent also knew that people are the sum of all social relationships. His mother couldn't live without Smallville, without everything she knew—this place held too many beautiful memories.
He can only try his best to divert the government's attention and let them focus on the issues they should be focusing on.
Smallville was still the same person he had been before, just more cautious. Mom had teased him about this attitude, saying it was bad to be so tense all the time, and he should just relax and she would take care of herself.
That's the truth, but when Clark saw Smallville's unfamiliar face, he subconsciously paid attention.
Clark said his name in order to exchange the other person's name. He politely wanted to shake her hand: "Hello, I'm Clark Kent..."
"Aria, the new farmer." She hadn't noticed until she saw his plaid shirt. According to the setting, she should have felt a sense of sympathy, like a company slave against another, so Aria reached out and bumped fists with him. "I came to Smallville because I couldn't stand the company's exploitation."
"You can't be as good at finding Easter eggs as Abigail, right?"
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