Her Celestial Farm on the Scrapyard Planet (by Kay Lucas) novel Chapter 468

Chapter 468 A Family’s First Strawberry

“Mom…”

“If you can’t return them, then you two just eat them. I won’t, and that’s final.”

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Enola drew in a deep breath, pushed down the lump in her throat, and crouched down by the bed, taking her mother’s bony hand in hers.

“Mom, just hear me out.” She looked her mother in the eye. “I really did find a good job today. This stuff right here, I bought it at my new workplace. Internal employees only pay half price. It’s really cheap.”

The woman froze.

“Internal employees? Half price?”

Enola smiled, her eyes growing red around the edges again.

“Yes! The place I work has a benefit where employees can buy internal products at half off,” she said. “All of this is half of what it costs on the outside.”

She paused, her voice growing soft.

“Mom, from now on, our family can afford strawberries.”

The woman froze again.

“Really? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?”

“Really.” Enola nodded and pulled the grapes and apples out of the bag too. “These too. All of this. Mom, I really did find a good job today. Things are going to start getting better for us.”

As she spoke, she lifted a strawberry to her mother’s lips.

“Mom, just try it. Everyone says they’re delicious.”

The woman looked down at the bright red berry in front of her, unable to find words for a moment.

She had lived more than half her life, gone through every kind of hardship, suffered every kind of pain, but she had never once tasted anything like this.

She had seen them in commercials hundreds of times, knew they were a luxury only the wealthy could afford, and never imagined one would actually end up in her hands.

“Mom, come on, try it,” Eileen urged from beside the bed, her eyes still glued to the strawberries, but doing her best not to reach out and grab one.

The woman glanced at her younger daughter, then at her older one, her eyes welling up.

She opened her mouth and took a small bite of the strawberry at her lips.

In that instant, her eyes went wide.

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10:41 am Pppe

Chapter 468 A Family’s First Strawberry

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Sweet juice burst across her tongue, carrying a faint rose–like fragrance, and the tender flesh practically melted before she had a chance to chew.

It wasn’t the sharp sweetness of artificial sugar. It was something natural, something that tasted like sunshine.

The woman froze.

She had lived for decades and had no idea something this delicious even existed in the world.

“Mom, is it good?” Eileen asked, her eyes wide with anticipation.

The woman nodded, her voice catching. “It’s good… so, so good…”

Eileen swallowed and looked over at Enola.

Enola smiled and picked up a strawberry, pressing it into her sister’s hand.

“You eat one too.”

Eileen cupped the strawberry as if it were some kind of priceless treasure.

She took a tiny, careful bite, and then she froze in place, like someone had pressed pause on her.

“Enola…” Her voice trembled. “This… this…”

“What is it?”

Eileen took another bite, then looked up, her eyes brimming.

“Enola, this tastes way better than strawberry–flavored liquid supplements!” she said, her voice carrying the shock of someone who had just stumbled onto a world–shaking secret. “The strawberry–flavored liquid supplements are fake! They don’t taste anything like real strawberries!”

Enola froze for a beat, then a laugh escaped her.

She laughed until her eyes welled up again.

It was true. The strawberry–flavored liquid supplements were fake.

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All those synthetic liquids labeled “strawberry,” flavored with chemical additives. How could they possibly compare to the real thing?

But she and her sister had been drinking strawberry–flavored liquid supplements for years and years, never once knowing what a real strawberry tasted like.

The woman ate that one strawberry and refused to eat any more.

She wanted her two daughters to have the rest of the strawberries.

“Mom’s had enough. You girls eat.”

Enola shook her head. “Mom, have a few more. There’s plenty.”

“No, no, save them for you two,” the woman insisted. “One’s enough for me.”

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10:41 am P P PO

Chapter 468 A Family’s First Strawberry

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Eileen held out the half–eaten strawberry still in her hand. “Mom, have mine. I just wanted to taste it. I don’t need to have a lot.”

Watching her younger daughter act so grown up, the woman finally lost her battle with the tears.

Her voice broke. “I don’t want any. You eat it. You’re still growing.”

Enola took in the scene, drew in a deep breath, and pushed down the ache in her chest.

She picked up another strawberry and pressed it to her mother’s lips, putting on a stern voice. “Mom, you have to eat. Everyone is saying that the fruits and vegetables from the farm I just joined have real mental healing power. Eat one and see if you feel any better.”

The woman paused.

“Mental healing power?” She shook her head. “Silly girl, there’s no such thing in this world. That’s just an advertising tricking people. You definitely got conned…”

She started to speak, but then suddenly trailed off.

Because she was tuning in to her own body.

That constant, dull ache came from somewhere deep inside her head.

It was the kind of feeling anyone whose mental power was on the brink of collapse knew well, like someone was slowly cutting through your brain with a dull knife. And right now, it felt like… like maybe it had eased up just a tiny bit?

Very slight. So subtle she could barely tell.

But it was there.

The woman froze.

She looked down at the strawberry in her hand, the one she still hadn’t finished, and then looked up at Enola’s hopeful eyes.

“It does seem…” she said slowly. “It does seem like the pain’s a little better?”

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