Why it never ends

Chapter 29
As soon as the two sat down, the mother took out her handkerchief and wiped the girl's face—the girl's bangs were all wet and stuck to her forehead.The girl also ordered a fruit tart, but it was blueberry flavored.

The two have been chatting since they entered the door, but most of the time it is the daughter who is talking.The little girl looked very unhappy, and kept complaining that her violin teacher was too strict, old and pedantic.She mentioned the names of several friends in a row, saying that they have recently invited another musician to teach, who is handsome and humorous, and she also wants to join them.

The mother was noncommittal, just smiled and listened to her daughter's speech. Then she listed a series of awards and asked her daughter's friends whether the musician tutor had the same achievement. The daughter stared at her mother resentfully, but did not answer.

Just then, the waiter came over with another cup and a small saucer.

"Hello, Kanale, and a cup of hot cocoa as a gift."

Because there was already coffee in Chiba, the waiter put the hot cocoa on Hesta's hand.She was just about to say that she didn't need it, but Chiba next to her had already replied "thank you".

Chiba pushed the small plate containing two Canale to Hesta, then squeezed one whole with her bare hands and threw it into her mouth: "The Canale in this restaurant does not allow delivery, only dine-in, try it. "

Hesta didn't refuse, and cut the little Canale in half as before, and then ate with a fork.

Most of her attention is still on the mother-daughter conversation on the side. She heard that the little girl has started bargaining with her mother, saying that she hopes to go to the theater with her father to watch a musical at the end of this year. Last year, her father clearly agreed to her, but in the end She also said that she didn't win a spot, and she has been regretting it until now.

So the mother made a promise.

Suddenly, the burnt aroma of Kanale diffused in her mouth, and Hesta briefly woke up from other people's conversation. She raised her head, "...this taste is so special."

Qianye smiled and said, "Is it delicious? Every time I go to the old city, I will come here specially."

Hesta nodded, and she took a sip from the nearby cup containing hot cocoa, but suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" Chiba saw that Hesta's expression was not right, "Is it too sweet?"

Hesta shook his head, "The taste is not the same as the one in the base...it is not bitter."

Chiba laughed, "The hot cocoa outside is made with cheap cocoa butter substitute and sugar, unlike the real dark chocolate and cocoa powder in the base, of course it's not bitter."

Hesta put Kanale aside and concentrated on holding the cup of hot cocoa. The intense sweetness lingered in her mouth, making her forget everything for a while.

Looking at Hesta who has been completely captured by the sugar industry, Chiba suddenly smiled and looked out the window again.

After a while, they got up and left at the same time as the mother and daughter next to them. After stepping out of the door of the bakery, the mother opened an umbrella and took her daughter into the hazy rain.

"Go this way." Chiba raised her finger and pointed in the opposite direction.

"Aren't we going back to the car?"

"No, our destination is near here. It takes only 5 minutes to walk there, and we don't even need an umbrella."

Along the protruding eaves of the road, Hesta followed Chiba silently. When turning to the underground passage, Hesta suddenly asked, "Mercury Needle...is it possible to live an ordinary life?"

Qianye didn't look back: "How ordinary is it?"

"Just like the people who live here." Hesta replied.

"Theoretically, you can retire."

"Actually?"

"Of course, each has its own difficulties," Qianye replied, "If you really decide to leave AHgAs, mercury needles will generally choose to be rehired by the coalition government—it is still inevitable to deal with chelates."

"How long will it take to re-employ to retire?"

"Of course they have reversed their employment, they will not retire, and they will work until they die."

"Can you not accept re-employment?"

Qianye finally noticed something unusual, she turned her head and looked at Hesta whose hair was slightly wet by the rain: "That's unlikely."

"I don't know……"

"In this world, some people who need mercury needles will chase you to the ends of the earth, no matter you are in a habitable place or a wasteland, they will not give you other options." Qianye said softly, "When you really reach that situation, It would be better not to leave AHgAs in the first place, or to go to coalition government, but those things are too far away from you."

"...no other options?"

Chiba smiled.

"We are like the few sharp knives in this world, Jane." She said softly, "The fate of the sharp knives is to be tempered, polished, and put into battle...and so on, until they break."

……

Chiba took Hesta to an empty warehouse. After entering the door, there was a long staircase with a gentle slope. The staircase was made of metal and painted with dark red paint, but many places had fallen off and looked very mottled. .

After passing a few thick doors wrapped in perforated leather, Hesta heard the faint sound of gunfire.

Walking through the last door, she saw a dim neon sign hanging on the entrance wall, with a little dust on the curved white tube, which zigzagged and spelled out the words "Bang Bang Club".

This is an underground shooting range.

After putting on the goggles and earmuffs, she followed Chiba to an empty sub-area. Chiba randomly picked a gun lane and looked back at Hesta, "Have you ever used a gun?"

"Yeah." Hesta nodded.

Chiba handed the gun to Hesta, "Let me see how many rounds I fire."

Hesta started shooting from the three-meter target, and all five bullets fell within the ninth ring, and then five meters, seven meters, 12 meters, 15 meters, 17 meters... 25 meters, except for a few slight deviations, she almost No hits beyond the nine rings.

This is not Hesta's first time holding a gun. She had experience using firearms when she was in Duanming Lane. Chiba seemed to understand this from the beginning, and was not particularly surprised by Hesta's quick use , but the surprise in her eyes was still palpable.

"Who taught you this? You teach so well."

"……a friend."

"In Duanming Alley?"

"Ah."

"You are so young, they dare to let you join the fire?"

"...not Huobin."

Chiba didn't ask too much, she stepped forward and demonstrated 25 rounds at a distance of 15 meters, and the results were all between 10.3 and 10.9, Hesta was also taken aback.

Afterwards, Chiba strictly corrected some of Hesta's incorrect habits, from breathing, posture, aiming field of view to pulling the trigger... Deviations in these details will seriously reduce shooting accuracy and gun holding time.

During the interval between practice, the two of them sat on the side chairs to rest. Chiba and Hesta talked about the origin of this underground shooting range, and mentioned that she would try to come back every week during the recent period. Tan Yi brought Hesta over to practice, but in addition to physical training, Hesta can also practice aiming and shooting movements in the base.

"You've always wondered whether you can compete with mercury needles with a pistol," Qianye put down the gun, "My answer is that it depends on the person, if your opponent is Liz Fletcher, you are unlikely to succeed with a pistol; But if it was Sean, it would be different."

"why?"

Chiba raised three fingers: "To answer this question, you must first understand three concepts: bullet time, restricted time, and Acheron time."

(End of this chapter)