Karen was still a little uneasy. "Then... what if someone comes knocking? Like the police, or Eddie?"
Shane answered her directly.
"No one will come knocking, don't worry. And I guess even if Eddie comes back, he'll only ask if you washed your hands, if the door is locked, and if the end of the world has come."
Sheila heard keywords in the kitchen and immediately chimed in.
"Right, right, right, must wash hands often, otherwise hands will be very dirty."
Hearing Sheila's irrelevant remark, Karen could only roll her eyes helplessly.
Then, she opened the box directly, threw away the manual, and turned it on.
The second the Apple logo lit up, her eyes lit up too, but she was still a bit stubborn.
"Well, then I'll reluctantly accept it. You really know how to give me a hard time."
"Thanks for the compliment, I accept it."
Karen operated for a while and entered the desktop.
She swiped the phone. The smoothness of the screen sliding was simply outrageously smooth for people of this era.
Karen played with the phone for a while unknowingly. At this time, she realized Shane was looking straight at her, making her click her tongue involuntarily, then immediately started to make up for it.
"If one day a rich person from the West Loop suddenly comes to my door and asks me to return the phone to her, I'll send you to see God."
"Like Eddie's kind of God? Then I think he'll read me a scripture first, then lock me in the basement."
Karen glared at Shane directly. "Don't mention Eddie now. Mentioning him a second time makes me nauseous."
At this time, Shane said to Karen again:
"This phone has many functions, but I think you should get a card yourself. Don't use the SIM card your dad got for you. Otherwise, one day he checks your call records, wanting to see who you call in the middle of the night, and gives you a set of 'purity education', and incidentally comes to hunt me down."
Karen's hand holding the phone tightened. "If my dad dares to go through my call records, I'll shoot him without hesitation in the middle of the night!"
She tried the camera function again, took a snap of Shane, and then showed the screen to Shane.
"Look at your face, really asking for a beating in the photo."
"Thanks, sometimes asking for a beating is also a talent."
Karen suddenly thought of something. She looked up at Shane, her voice lowered, and asked: "You... why did you give this to me? So expensive?"
Shane answered straightforwardly, "I don't want you to be unable to find me when something happens to you outside, simple as that."
Karen was a bit stubborn. "Hey, I'm not a child anymore."
Shane put on an expression of "I see through you."
"Okay, actually the real reason is I hope those selfies you send can highlight the 'key points' and not always be too blurry."
"Fck off!" Karen turned angry from embarrassment and slapped Shane lightly.
Then, she put the phone aside and stared at Shane's bag again. Obviously, the bag was bulging, and there were things inside.
"So besides the phone, is there nothing else? You wouldn't be hiding other things to give me, right?"
Shane didn't speak, reaching directly into the bag.
This time he pulled out a small velvet box.
Opening the box, inside was a necklace, but this time hanging on the necklace wasn't a star, but a ring. Inside the ring was engraved with a capital S and K.
Karen looked at this necklace, her expression somewhat stunned.
She took the necklace and stared at the ring repeatedly.
When Karen saw the letters S and K engraved on the inner ring, her eyes began to redden for some reason.
"You... are you sick?"
"You guessed right, terminal stage."
Karen bit her lip, forcing down the nasal tone. "You look a bit stupid like this, acting like some innocent little virgin."
Shane pretended to take the necklace back. "If you don't want to wear it, I can take it back and return it."
Karen immediately glared at him, her tone fierce. "Who said I won't wear it?" Then she brushed her hair to one side, revealing the back of her neck, commanding.
"Put it on for me."
Shane took the necklace, went behind her, and fastened it with a click. The ring pendant fell between her collarbones and swayed a bit.
Karen raised her hand to touch the ring, then took a breath and said to Shane: "Don't think I'm very moved."
"Then why are your eyes red?"
"The disinfectant fumes! I was helping my mom clean up just now. Say it again and I'll throw your phone in the sink!"
The word "sink" triggered Sheila's keyword again. Sheila turned back in the kitchen again and said:
"Sweetie, don't throw inappropriate things into the sink, because bacteria will..."
"Mom..." Karen dragged her voice weakly, blocking what Sheila wanted to say back into her mouth.
Then Karen stood up suddenly and turned to walk upstairs.
"You're not going to get a knife, are you?" Shane blurted out subconsciously for some reason.
"Shut up, I have a gift for you too." After speaking, she ran upstairs thumping.
Before long, the stairs thumped again.
Karen came over holding a hat and a scarf.
She stuffed these things directly into Shane's arms. "These are for you."
"Did you knit all these?"
"Didn't you mention it to me before? You said you were going to set up a breakfast stall. Chicago at four or five in the morning is colder than the South Pole. If you freeze to death, where can I find another person who can 'satisfy' me."
Shane picked up the scarf and looked at it. "Why does this sound like a confession?"
Karen snatched the scarf back and started winding it around his neck, but with a bit too much force.
"Shut up, just wear it."
Shane coughed a bit from being strangled. "Are you sending warmth or executing me?"
Karen put the hat on his head again. "I just don't want you to freeze, understand? If you freeze to death, no one in the South Side will erect a monument for you; at most, they'll label you as deserved to die."
Sheila watched the interaction between the two, standing at the kitchen door with an auntie smile, as if watching a soap opera worth rewatching.
Shane smoothed the scarf, then turned to Sheila and waved. "Aunt Sheila, I have a gift for you too."
Aunt Sheila was stunned, but reacted immediately: "Is there one for me too?"
"Of course."
Shane took out a pair of simple VR glasses from the bag. Looking at the casing, it wasn't high-tech.
Indeed, it wasn't high-tech, just a screen plus some concave and convex lenses forming a crude VR headset.
For Shane, the video effect of these glasses was simply fake as hell, but probably for people of this era, it was still a bit realistic.
"Put this on, and you can wear the world on your face."
Sheila's eyes widened, her focus elsewhere. "Oh, you mean it will stick to my face? Then those..."
Shane had expected this. He directly fished out a pack of alcohol wipes and put them on her table.
"Here, Aunt Sheila, these are alcohol wipes. You can wipe it first."
"Oh, you are so thoughtful." Sheila felt instantly relieved.
Karen was a bit sarcastic on the side. "Well, well, looks like Shane is more thoughtful to you."
Shane turned and kissed Karen. "I'm thoughtful to you in another way, for example, I'm willing to be strangled to death by you."
Karen: "Hmph!"
Sheila had already pulled a chair and sat down. After carefully wiping the VR glasses, she put them on.