"Mom..." Eleven stopped her half-eaten dinner. After a moment of daze, her eyes rippled, and she cried tears of joy.
Eleven had already grasped the meaning of a mother through her supersensory perception, observing the family lives of Mike and Will.
There is a kind of person in this world who will love you selflessly, raise you without expecting anything in return, and although she may argue with you occasionally, she will always provide you with the most cherished harbor. Compared to a father, a mother gives you more direct and inclusive love. While a father's expressions of love are often awkward, a mother's love is, most of the time, expressed directly and without pretense.
Eleven liked this kind of maternal love. Even if she didn't fully understand it, she had imagined and empathized with children who had mothers. She thought to herself that she would probably never want to leave such a warm embrace her entire life.
Therefore, when she learned from Hopper that her birth mother was still alive and had even openly challenged The Lab, which had immense power, her heart felt enveloped by warm sunshine, as if she was experiencing an embrace she had never received. She was touched and excited, completely unconcerned about the fact that her birth mother had become mentally incapacitated. For her, being alive offered more hope than anything else.
"I'm sorry..." Hopper said sincerely.
"No." Eleven held Hopper's rough, large hand and chuckled, "I'm very happy. You are the best father to me."
Hopper's face flushed upon hearing this, and his nostrils twitched slightly... "Awesome!" Perfectly articulated Chinese rang out in Hawkins Town's busiest arcade. Four teenagers surrounded a red-haired girl, watching her break another arcade game record, incredibly excited. The girl looked a little proud, but coolly extended both hands to high-five her friends in celebration.
It was getting late, so the five decided to head home.
"What does 'Awesome' mean?" Maxine rotated her tired arms, walking out of the arcade with her friends, asking curiously.
"It's Chade's dialect. It's roughly similar to 'Awesome,' 'Amazing,' 'Brilliant,'" Lucas explained.
Dustin quickly added, "It's just that this word is more colloquial and common, generally not used in formal settings."
At this point, Dustin remembered looking up the literal meaning of "Awesome" in a Chinese dictionary, and his expression suddenly became a bit strange and he wanted to laugh.
Maxine nodded, also happily joining her friends' trend, shouting "Awesome" repeatedly, which made Dustin feel even more like he couldn't hold back his laughter.
"It's very late. Let's hurry home," Mike said, turning back to everyone after getting on his bike.
The other kids nodded, but Lucas and Dustin simultaneously looked at the girl they admired. Remembering Maxine had said her home was a distance from the town center, they both asked Maxine in unison, "Max, how are you planning to get back?"
Lucas and Dustin exchanged glances, looking at each other strangely.
"Uh." Maxine was startled by the two enthusiastic boys, but still smiled, put down the skateboard on her back, and replied, "I'll probably skate back."
"I'll give you a ride back," Lucas and Dustin said in unison again. This time, their gazes towards each other were filled with competitive hostility.
Maxine bit her lip lightly. Even if she was dense, she now had some inkling of the two boys' intentions. With her hands behind her back, she uncharacteristically showed a touch of girlish coyness, "How about you two together..."
Before she could finish speaking, a speeding sports car kicked up a large cloud of dust and screeched to a halt in front of everyone. Soon after, the car window rolled down, revealing a stern face to the coughing crowd.
"Where have you been so late? Didn't I tell you to wait for me at the school gate after school?" Billy accused Maxine with a hint of anger, then honked the car horn and said coldly, "Get in the car quickly."
Seeing this person, the smile on Maxine's face disappeared. She didn't even dare to say another word to her friends, only gave everyone an apologetic look, especially Lucas and Dustin, then lowered her head and got into the car.
"Max!" Lucas and Dustin couldn't help but call out to Maxine when they saw this.
However, after Maxine got in the car, before she could even look back at them, Billy hit the gas and sped away.
"What the heck!" The four teenagers were sprayed with sand, and Mike was a bit annoyed.
Will, however, wondered, "That person seems to be the annoying transfer student Jonathan mentioned."
"What's their relationship?" Lucas patted the dust from his hair.
Dustin sighed, "Probably siblings. It looks like Max is also very angry and wronged by her brother."
"Forget it, let's go. It's really too late today." Mike suppressed his anger, waved his hand, and urged everyone to go home quickly. Coming home late and dirty like this, he would definitely get a scolding.
The four friends also didn't want to be lectured by their families, so they quickly got on their bicycles, pedaled hard, and hurried home.
Riding at full speed, Will, whose home was furthest from the arcade among the four, also successfully returned home. In the bright kitchen, Joyce and Bob had just finished cooking and were placing the dishes on the dining table.
"Will, you're back?" Joyce, hearing the sound of the door opening and closing, looked towards the entrance. Bob noticed the dust on Will's head and was a bit surprised, but he didn't point it out directly in front of Joyce. Instead, while Joyce turned to get dishes, he silently gestured to Will to clean his hair.
Will felt a bit guilty, afraid that Joyce would worry, thinking he was bullied or got into a fight. He gave Bob a grateful look, then quickly patted the dust from his hair. While Bob covered for him, he quickly slipped back into his room, saying, "Mom, I just rode my bike home and I'm all sweaty. Can I take a shower before dinner?"
"Alright." Joyce, who didn't understand the unspoken understanding between men, just found Will a little strange but didn't think much of it, as Bob's sweet talk quickly diverted her attention.
After dinner that night, Bob found an opportunity to enter Will's room. He first chatted with him in a friendly and relaxed manner, and then began to ask him why he was covered in dust when he returned.
Will obediently explained what happened on his way home. Bob understood and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Will hadn't been bullied at school, but that high schooler named Billy... his behavior was indeed improper and a bit excessive.
"Will, I know that as a boy, sometimes you want to preserve your masculinity and don't want your mother to worry about you. You know Joyce loves you very much and will do her best to understand and help you, but in fact, as a woman, it's sometimes difficult for her to understand our feelings as men... Jonathan has also been quite busy lately, so you might not be able to ask him for help. If you trust me, I'd be happy to listen to anything you want to tell me, and I'm very willing to help you, no matter what form, as long as you tell me," Bob said gently, his eyes full of determination.
"Okay." Will smiled slightly and nodded. He felt the long-lost warmth of paternal love from Bob's hand stroking his head, and said, "I think you'd be a great father."
"I hope I can do better." Bob's face lit up with joy. He extended his hand and high-fived Will in a pledge.
Will gently touched his hand with the other's, and they exchanged smiles.
At 8:30 PM, Bob drove back to his apartment, humming a tune along the way. He felt a significant emotional improvement with Will and had received his approval, naturally feeling joyful and excited. Even the darkest night road didn't scare him.
Bang!
Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared before him. Bob didn't even have a chance to react before he felt the car hit something and send it flying.
The car shook, and Bob's heart trembled with it. It took him a while to muster the courage to look up at the scene of the accident he had caused.
He saw a strange black liquid covering the windshield. The low beams illuminated a near-human body, scantily clad, lying on the ground. Looking closely, he could even see that the thing was still moving.
Bob's heart turned cold, convinced he had killed someone. He shakily got out of the car and called out to the fallen "accident victim," "Sir!? Madam!? Are... are you alright?"
Gurgle... He had just taken a few steps forward when the twisted humanoid figure suddenly lifted its head, opened its petal-like maw, and roared at him.
Whoosh!
Just as Bob was startled into jumping back, almost getting attacked by the monster, a gleaming silver machete, its blade reflecting the car's headlights, appeared and instantly chopped off the monster's head.
"Bob?"
Bob sat down on the ground. Hearing a familiar voice call him, he looked up and saw Richard looking at him with a surprised expression.
"Chade!?"
..."So that's what it was. You scared me to death. I thought I was going to jail and would have to stay away from Joyce's life because of it." After dealing with the Demogorgon's corpse, Bob and Richard sat down to chat and rest at Bennys Burgers. After hearing Richard's account of his monster-hunting experience today, Bob ate several bites of his burger and fries and said with lingering fear.
Richard didn't want Bob to be too nervous, so he changed the subject and smiled, "I haven't had a chance to congratulate you and Joyce on your engagement yet."
Hearing this, Bob scratched his head a bit sheepishly, "Not that fast yet. I'm still discussing it with Joyce."
Engagement and marriage were big deals. Bob cherished Joyce, and thus he also had to consider the issue of Joyce's two children. These two children had their own schooling in Hawkins, and friends they couldn't leave behind. He couldn't just consider his life with Joyce after marriage.
"That... Chade, has that world returned?" Bob asked with some concern.
Richard shook his head, "No, it's that the previous incident hasn't been completely resolved. Some things still remain. Luckily, we discovered it in time. I'll notify Hopper as soon as possible and deal with it together."
After hearing this, Bob let out a deep breath and said, "If there's anything I can help with, please call on me. I'm... a man, after all, and I'm in the know."
"Hehe, there actually is something I need your help with." Richard smiled, then pulled out a few floppy disks from his backpack and pushed them towards Bob. "Inside is a proposal I wrote for a computer operating system development. Take a look and see if you're interested in partnering with me on it?"