At the end of the road was a solid fence, and on the other side of the fence was the city area of the Seventh Plate.
In fact, only the area above the plate could be considered the true Midgar city. The buildings here were neatly planned, the streets were clean, completely different from the slums, not even in the same league. Every time Aiden came to the plate, he deeply sighed at the enormous gap in wealth and status within the city.
What Aiden found a bit strange was that there were actually no Shinra soldiers guarding or patrolling here, and the whole area seemed unusually quiet.
"At this late hour, there's actually no one guarding here, how strange." Aiden parked the car by the roadside, looked at the silent surroundings, and voiced his confusion. After all, just yesterday, the incident of Mako Reactor No. 1 collapsing had occurred.
"How could there be no one guarding it..." Jessie got out of the car, looked at him with admiration and said, "Didn't you just defeat the guards here?"
"You mean them?" Aiden suddenly realized, "Those Shinra soldiers on motorcycles?"
"Yes." Jessie nodded, then hugged Aiden's arm and led him up the stairs beside them. As they walked, she said, "From here, we have to walk. Once we pass through the district ahead, we'll reach my first destination tonight, the employee residential area on the Seventh Plate."
"Did you use to live here?" Aiden recalled the plot and asked.
"Mm-hmm. My parents are both employees of Shinra." Jessie nodded, raised her eyes to look at the massive Mako reactor in the distance, and said in a low voice, "I grew up relying on the Mako reactor, but now, I..."
She fell silent at that point, then simply pulled Aiden along silently.
Seeing Jessie in low spirits, Aiden reached out with his other hand and rubbed her head.
"I'm fine." Noticing Aiden's concern, Jessie looked up and smiled at him, then quickened her pace.
"Hurry, I'll take you to my house first."
Soon, the two passed through the district and arrived at the Shinra employee residential area.
After walking through half of the residential zone, Jessie stopped, pointed to a detached house ahead, and said to Aiden, "That's my home. Look, the lights are still on."
"Still on at this time? Must be waiting for someone to come home, right?" Aiden asked, pretending not to know.
"Yeah. Just to wait for their daughter who occasionally returns home, they always keep the lights on, as if I don't know the way home or something. Geez, I'm not a kid anymore." Although Jessie was complaining, her face was full of a happy smile. But Aiden could clearly see the deep guilt in her eyes.
"I'm not a good daughter." After a while, Jessie added, "Even though I know my parents are waiting for me, I still rarely come home because of my so-called ideals, and I always make them sad and worried."
"Children grow up and must leave their parents' shelter. You being able to go out on your own, they're actually proud of you." Aiden comforted her.
"I know that too… Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go home first." Jessie always liked Aiden's comforting words.
After sweeping away the gloom in her heart, she held Aiden's hand and continued walking home. "My mom is a typical Midgar resident, she makes pizzas with a strong Midgar flavor. Biggs and Wedge used to love visiting my house, and no matter when, my mom always prepared delicious food for us, oh right, Aiden, my mom especially likes people with a big appetite, so don't disappoint her."
"Don't worry about that. I've always had a good appetite. No matter how much, I can eat it all." Aiden gave Jessie a reassuring look.
"Then... I'll ring the bell." Jessie said, placing her hand on the doorbell.
But then she suddenly remembered something, turned and spoke seriously to Aiden, "My mom doesn't know I work with Avalanche. She still thinks I'm an actress, so don't spill the beans later."
"I understand." Aiden nodded. Of course, he knew Jessie's dream was to become an actress, and her biggest dream was to perform at the Gold Saucer. But for now, until Shinra was overthrown, those were just dreams.
Seeing Aiden nod, Jessie was relieved and rang the doorbell.
Ding dong!
Soon, footsteps came from inside the house, followed by the gentle, kind voice of a middle-aged woman, "Jessie, is that you?"
"It's me, Mom." Jessie replied loudly.
Creak~
As the door opened, a middle-aged woman who resembled Jessie by about 60–70% rushed out and hugged her, mumbling, "I'm so happy you came to see us tonight. It's been so long since you last came home."
"Don't be like that, Mom, someone's watching." Jessie struggled hard, but couldn't break free, so she mumbled inside her mom's arms.
"Let me see, is it Biggs and Wedge again? You all know each other so well, what are you shy about?" Jessie's mom laughed and lifted her head, then froze when she saw a handsome young man she had never seen before.
"He is?" Jessie's mom quickly let go of her daughter and asked in a low voice.
"A friend of mine, named Aiden." Jessie let out a long breath and began introducing him. After thinking for a moment, she emphasized, "He's a very good friend of mine."
"Hello, Auntie." Aiden greeted politely.
"Oh, hello." Jessie's tone made her mother thoughtful, but soon she patted her forehead, "Goodness, I actually left you two standing outside. Come in quickly! I've already made delicious food, just waiting for you to enjoy it."
"We're already starving." Jessie immediately held Aiden's hand and walked into the house.
Watching the two walk by hand in hand, Jessie's mom smiled meaningfully, thinking to herself, 'Avery good… friend, huh? Looks like Jessie really has grown up. She's even started dating.'
As a mother, how could she not understand the meaning in her daughter's words? For a moment, she felt joy, relief, and a hint of melancholy.
"Once she has her own family, she'll probably come home even less," she thought.
But then another image popped into her mind, Jessie bringing a child home to visit her and her husband, and a smile appeared on her face again.
However, that lovely fantasy didn't last even thirty seconds before Jessie's voice interrupted her, "Mom, we're hungry!"
"Coming!" Jessie's mom responded, then regretfully shook her head, "Geez, can't you just let me be happy for a little longer?"
Although her fantasy was interrupted, Jessie's mom still wore a smile as she walked into the living room.
"Don't rush, Jessie, it'll be ready soon," she said.
The kitchen was right next to the living room, an open-style kitchen. While baking and preparing food, she looked at Aiden and asked things like how many people were in his family and what his parents did.
Aiden was a bit awkward and felt a strange sense of disconnect. Since they weren't from the same world, he didn't really know how to answer. But seeing Jessie's curious eyes, he had no choice but to answer them one by one… mostly half-truths and half-lies.
Still, while answering Jessie's mom's questions, Aiden was also observing the house's interior.
He had to admit, Jessie's home environment was far better than 99.9% of people living in the slums, and not just a little better. It was practically a leap in class, a whole different level. And that was even though Jessie's parents were only the lowest-level Shinra employees.
Of course, due to certain reasons, Jessie had become a member of the resistance group Avalanche. Otherwise, as a beneficiary of the system, even at the lowest level, she wouldn't have needed to do this at all.
"You seem very curious about our living conditions," older people are often particularly sensitive, and Jessie's mom was no exception. Seeing Aiden glancing around while answering, she guessed what he was thinking.
"Yeah, I usually live in the slums, so I rarely see a place this nice," Aiden nodded. His actions had been obvious, so being caught wasn't surprising.
"You live in the slums? I thought you were an actor like Jessie." Jessie's mom put the finished pizza onto a plate and placed it in front of Aiden. She continued, "I forgot to ask what you do. Can you tell me? And also how you met Jessie."
Aiden gave a wry smile. This scene felt so familiar… like when he went on blind dates before? After thinking for a moment, he said, "Right now, I'm a mercenary. The kind who does jobs for money. As for how I met Jessie, let me think… I think I helped her during a mission once."
What Aiden said was half true and half false, but it had indeed happened, so Jessie secretly gave him a thumbs-up.
"Helped? You probably mean protected, right?" Jessie's mom assumed. Then she nodded, "A mercenary, huh? That's good. At least you have the ability to protect Jessie. Midgar isn't very peaceful lately. There have been a lot of incidents, and there's even a so-called terrorist group called Avalanche that tried to assassinate the President and destroyed a Mako reactor. Geez, can't people just live peacefully?"
Jessie's mom's words made both of them a bit embarrassed, after all, they were the ones who blew up the Mako reactor. They were the "terrorists" in her eyes.
To cover their awkwardness, Aiden and Jessie simultaneously picked up a slice of pizza and put it in their mouths.
Jessie was used to her mom's cooking. But for Aiden, it was the first time. He thought it might taste like a certain chain from the real world and planned to eat a lot just out of politeness, but after one bite, he was genuinely amazed.
"Pretty good, huh?" Seeing Aiden's surprised expression, Jessie asked with a smile.
"Mm!" Aiden didn't say anything, his mouth was full of food.
"Eat it all up. If it's not enough, I can make more." Jessie's mom was very satisfied with Aiden's reaction. And when she saw Jessie sweetly wiping crumbs from his mouth, her smile bloomed like a flower. This scene, was what she had been hoping to see most.
Aiden almost ate the whole pizza by himself. Jessie only had a small piece. When Aiden put the last slice in his mouth, Jessie's mom brought him a cup of tea.
"Thank you." Aiden stood up politely.
"You're welcome." Jessie's mom smiled. Her gaze toward Aiden grew even more approving.
Then she looked at Jessie and said, "Jessie, don't go back tonight. You and Aiden stay here and rest at home."
"But…" Jessie hesitated, "I don't think we have an extra bed, right?"
"Couples sharing a bed isn't a bad thing, right?" Jessie's mom said openly.
"We're just ordinary friends, Mom." That's what she said, but Jessie still nodded.
Seeing that, Jessie's mom turned to Aiden and asked, "You don't mind squeezing in with Jessie, do you?"
Aiden was much more relaxed. He nodded directly, "Of course not."
"Alright, I'll go make the bed for you." Jessie's mom smiled with squinting eyes.
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