Chapter 1820: Summer in Fools' Village (32)_1

Selina was standing inside a small cabin not far from Gotham Beach. Maggie was counting the earnings of the day, bent over. All the handmade accessories they had worked on the previous day had sold out. After deducting the costs, they had made a clear profit of over twenty US dollars.

As Selina gulped down a cold soda, Maggie stuffed a roll of dollars into Selina's hand. Selina was just about to say something when Maggie cut her off, "Don't say anything that will make me so jealous that I'll want to push you into the sea. I know this isn't much, but if you want to confidently reject all the stuff Bruce hangs on you, you need to have some guts."

Selina promptly nudged close to Maggie, gave her a peck, and said cheerfully, "Okay, I know you don't like me being a thief. I haven't done that in a long time. Earn money through work, right?"

Maggie pushed her away, looking slightly grossed out and said, "It's to prevent him, in case you guys have a fight, from telling you, 'Without me, you could only be a petty thief.'"

"Don't worry, if he dares to say that to me, I'll scratch up his face." Selina said this, but still, she sighed.

After parting with Maggie, Selina caught a ride with the cabin owner. But since Selina was headed to Wayne Manor, she didn't want to go out of his way. She asked the driver to stop at a crossroads at the intersection of the South District and East District, from where she would walk to Wayne Manor.

On the way to Wayne Manor, Selina suddenly discovered a big retail supermarket that had opened up next to a middle-class neighbourhood at the edge of the South District. It appeared to be part of a chain brand. Behind a large floor-to-ceiling window, all sorts of merchandise were displayed.

Selina wasn't particularly interested in shopping. Two big trees stood in front of the supermarket. Their shadows provided excellent cover from the sun's rays, so without a second thought, she made her way towards them.

Right next to the tree shade, there was a display window. With nothing better to do, Selina was looking inside when she suddenly stopped. Because, on the retail shelf nearest to the window in the supermarket, she had spotted a familiar item.

"Oh my God, are those Poor Ghost Cookies?" Selina exclaimed, leaning towards the display window. "They're still selling these? The price has gone up to 39 cents?! I remember back when I was a kid, they used to sell for 5 cents a pack."

Selina licked her lips nostalgically, seemingly remembering the taste from her memories. She hesitated for a moment and glanced at the money Maggie had given her, which luckily included a few loose dollars. Eventually, she went into the supermarket.

Two minutes later, Selina came out, a satisfied look on her face as she held two bags of cookies. She walked over to the flower bed near the display window and sat down. Placing one bag of cookies on the side of her leg, she held up the other bag and examined it.

"So, it's five packs for the price of one now, but that's still quite a mark-up. My old buddy, no one would dare to call you Poor Ghost Cookies anymore. After all, a bag of Wayne's chocolate cookies is only one dollar."

While she mumbled to herself, Selina tried to tear open the packaging, but soon realized it was not user-friendly at all—it was almost impossible to open without a pair of scissors.

Selina did a quick search, realizing she was without weaponry. She didn't even have a slightly sharp key on her. She sighed, picked up the other bag of cookies, and stood up, thinking that she would have to deal with it back at Wayne Manor.

Soon, Alfred appeared, pushing open the manor's huge doors. Smiling at Selina who just walked in, he said, "Miss Elsa has gone to Rodrix Manor for a class. She won't be back for about half an hour. You might as well take some tea. I'll go prepare it now."

"No, that won't be necessary, Alfred," Selina called out to Alfred in time. Jiggling the cookies in her hand, she said, "I have these. Can I have a pair of scissors?"

In no time, Selina had taken a smaller pack out of the sturdy family-size packaging. There were two not-so-thick pieces of cookies inside, covered in butter and baked till golden brown in color.

As Selina put a piece of cookie in her mouth, it was as though she had thought of something. "By the way, Alfred, I want to go to Bruce's study. There isn't anything important in there, right?"

"No, you can use it as you wish. Do you need me to bring the tea tray over?"

"Thanks, but no. I'm not thirsty at the moment."

Having said that, Selina went to the second floor while keeping the piece of cookie in her lips. After opening the door to the study, she walked in. Alfred stood next to the tea table, scanning like a hawk at the detailed ingredient list on the cookie package that Selina had discarded on the table.

At dinner, both Selina and Bruce were informed that Miss Elsa would be staying the night at Rodrix Manor. And so, they didn't eat in the dining hall, instead sitting across each other on the kitchen island platform and savoring the casual meal Alfred had prepared.

The main course was sandwiches stuffed with cold Iberian pork ham slices and mashed peas, Belgian creamy mussels, and tuna tartare soaked in oil. As Selina munched on her sandwich, she noticed a peculiar hesitation in Bruce's eyes.

Selina gave Bruce a questioning look, but Bruce still hesitated until he had finished a tartare before asking, "Did you go to the study today?"