After the song ended, Valda was the first to applaud. âThat was very beautiful!â she said.
Lawrence blushed shyly.
âIt was very beautiful,â Brian also spoke up. âPlaying the piano requires skill, but it also requires talent, and you have talent.â
Lawrenceâs little face turned even redder.
And Jasper proudly lifted her little chin, as if she was the one being praised.
After Valda and Brian left the Reed House, Jasper took Lawrence to her room.
âYou see, this is my room. I want to show you the painting that Auntie Valda made for me,â said Jasper as he searched for the painting. Lawrence widened his eyes and looked around the room in amazement.
Today he came with his mom and dad to the Reed family, and he was surprised. He knew that the Reed family was wealthy and that Jasper was like a little princess, but he never imagined that the Reed family would be so big.
And now, just her room alone is bigger than the small suite his family is renting.
He lightly bit his lower lip, as if once again realizing the vast difference between them.
âFound it!â Jasper whispered and then came over holding a booklet. Inside the booklet were all the comics that Valda had drawn for Jasper over the years.
âIs Auntie Valda really amazing?â Jasper asked.
âMhmm,â Lawrence said, but his mind was not at all on those paintings.
âBy the way, you havenât seen my game room yet. Let me take you there. You can take any toy you like, Iâll give it to you!â Jasper said, taking Lawrenceâs hand and leading her towards her game room.
At that moment, she simply wanted to be kind to her friend and share something good with them, without noticing the sadness in Lawrenceâs eyes.
When the two children arrived at the game room, Lawrence stared in amazement at the huge room, which was like a small indoor playground.
A slide, a ball pit, a spinning wooden horse, various Lego blocks, tents, and a row of fancy dolls on the wall⦠All of these made him dazzled.
These are all things she possesses, but they are things he had never imagined before.
âDo you have any toys that you like?â Jasper asked eagerly.
Lawrence was at a loss and didnât know how to respond.
âYouâre a boy, so you probably donât like dolls, right? What about toy cars? I see a lot of boys in our class who like toy cars,â Jasper asked.
Lawrence nodded hesitantly and said in a small voice, âUm⦠I like it.â
âSo, which car do you like? You can take whichever one you want here!â Jasper said generously.
Lawrence looked at the various toy cars here, and among them was one that he had seen at a classmateâs before. At that time, the classmate had brought it to school to show off, saying that it was a very expensive car that he had begged his father for a long time before his father finally agreed to buy it.
But now, this toy car that was considered âexpensiveâ by the student, appears so inconspicuous among a pile of toy cars.
Is this what my parents mean by âwealthy familyâ? Lawrence finally got a real sense of it for the first time.
These days, heâs been hearing his parents talk about wealthy families and how if he were to marry into a family like the Reed family, he wouldnât have to worry about his future.