"Yvonne, when''s your birthday?"


    "October second," Yvonne replied, giving the birthdate of her current body.


    "So you''ll be twenty in about half a year," Monica said with a smile. "Once you''re of legal age, you and Bet can get your marriage license. I think that boy is getting impatient."


    "We haven''t really thought about marriage yet,” Yvonne said, her cheeks turning slightly red.


    "You''re still young, so of course you''re not in a hurry. But Bet is about to turn thirty. By the time Bruce was his age, my Vonnie could already walk and talk."


    "Oh." Yvonne wasn''t sure how to respond to that, so she just gave a vague murmur. Seeing her blush, Monica couldn''t help but smile again. "I can tell Bet is serious about you. I''m just waiting to be invited to your wedding."


    Monica had seen enough of life to know that you could tell if a man loved a woman just by looking at his eyes.


    When Bet was with Ynda, he had seemed gentle and attentive, always amodating, especially when it came to money; he never let her want for anything.


    But with Ynda, Bet had always been too calm. There was never a ripple of emotion.


    When he looked at Yvonne, however, his eyes were fiery and tender, as if he couldn''t bear to look away from her for a second.


    In the past, Bet had only ever looked at Vonnie that way.


    If Bet loved Yvonne the same way he had loved Vonnie, then Monica could rest easy.


    At least they could both find happiness.


    Monica thought that Vonnie was such a kind soul; if her spirit was watching over them, she would want the people she had loved to be happy.


    After washing the dishes and tidying the kitchen, Monica and Yvonne sat in the living room chatting. A little whileter, Bruce and Bet came downstairs.


    "Finished?" Monica asked them.


    "Yeah," Bruce replied, then turned to


    et''s gettingte. You and


    and


    Yvonne should head back before


    too dark."


    Bet nodded and smiled at Yvonne. "Yvonne, let''s go home."


    Yvonne stood up from the sofa, took Bet''s hand, and after saying goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, they left.


    Bet''s car was parked in the Jones'' yard.


    Yvonne got into the passenger seat, and Bet leaned in close to help her with her seatbelt.


    "You were smoking?" Yvonne smelled the faint scent of tobo on him.


    It hadn''t been there when he arrived; it was clearly recent.


    "Yeah," Bet nodded. "I had one while talking about the case with Mr. Jones. Does it smell bad?"


    "It''s alright," Yvonne said with a slight curl of her lips, though her tone was a little forced.


    "Then how about a kiss?” Bet said, leaning down to press his lips against hers. His lips also had a faint taste of tobo, mixed with the crisp scent of mint water. "Don''t do that out here," Yvonne instinctively pushed him away.


    Bruce and Monica were still standing at the door. Fortunately, the yard was dimly lit, and Bet had used the pretext of fastening. her seatbelt to kiss her. Hisrge frame had shielded herpletely so Bruce and Monica probably hadn''t seen anything.


    But even if they couldn''t see, Yvonne couldn''t help but feel flustered.


    "Alright," Bet said with a faint smile. He returned to the driver''s seat and started the engine.


    As the car moved smoothly onto the


    main road, Bet, with his hands on the wheel, began telling Yvonne about the case of ra and her grandmother.