Chapter 796: Chapter 796 Retirees Meeting_1
Purple Summers helped Atra Blanc pack up, little by little each day, like ants moving house, until finally, all the things that needed to be packed were done.
Thus, they only waited for Dylan Summers’s 49-day mourning period to end.
—The 49 days, or forty-nine days, is almost a month and a half. According to Clearwater tradition, after a relative passes away, incense is burned and paper offerings are made every seven days until the 49th day.
Purple Summers counted the days, sighing to herself, “I can finally leave this place of strife, The Summers Family.”
In late February, Jane McCain had a small gathering at home and invited Purple Summers and Zara Jameson to play.
Jane’s mother had already arranged for her to go to a design school abroad, and Jane would not return for at least three or four years. From then on, meeting up would become much harder as they would be worlds apart.
Zara felt both happy for her friend and somewhat sad; Purple, too, was facing a transfer, leaving her alone, which gave her the impression of being abandoned.
As the party drew to a close, they were enveloped by the melancholy of farewell, and everyone agreed on a time to go to the airport to see Jane off.
Purple was affected by the mood of parting. On her way home, her spirit was dampened, and the sight of dusk, which easily invites contemplation, left her sighing in the car.
The driver chuckled from the front seat, kindly saying, “Youth knows not the taste of sorrow, Miss. Why sigh at such a young age? Your days ahead will surely get better.”
It had just been the New Year, and everyone loved to speak auspicious words.
Purple responded with a smile, “I’ll take your auspicious words.”
When the driver stopped the car outside the Summers Residence’s main gate, Purple saw Zack Wallace and Alexander Summers talking at the doorstep and immediately told the driver to stop.
This was a rare sight. Zack had only come to the Summers Residence a few times, always under the cover of night. This was the first time Purple saw him approach the Summers Residence so openly.
Purple got out of the car and walked over, noticing a piece of clothing in Zack’s hands. Before she could see it clearly, Zack, as if trying to hide something, shifted the clothing behind him.
The action was a bit too obvious; Zack must have realized it himself, as his smile stiffened.
“Ms. Summers,” Zack greeted Purple cheerfully.
Purple approached them, curiously looking at the clothing in his hands and asked, “What are you talking about? Whose clothing is this?”
Alexander took the clothing from Zack and said, “It’s mine, for the retirees meeting.”
Purple uttered an “Oh,” eyeing Zack skeptically.
It wasn’t anything that serious, so why all the secrecy?
Alexander put his arm around Purple’s shoulders and walked inside, waving Zack off, “Get ready, don’t screw up when the time comes.”
Zack hurriedly got into his car and drove away quickly.
Purple became even more puzzled; she looked up at Alexander and asked, “Does the retirees meeting have a dress code too?”
“There’s no specific requirement, but all the previous family heads have worn it, so I prepared one as well to appear dignified,” Alexander replied.
Purple examined him carefully but could not find anything amiss.
However, as a family head like Alexander, he was deeply calculative. If he intended to conceal something, it would be nearly impossible for others to detect anything amiss from his expression.
Purple’s attention shifted back to the clothing in his hands; she suggested, “Let me see you in it later, will you?”
Alexander smiled and ruffled her hair, “Sure.”
The clothing was a set, an old-fashioned indigo mandarin jacket with meticulous tailoring, exquisite, symmetrical floral patterns embroidered around the turned-out cuffs, turquoise buttons, and subtle embroidered patterns around the collar and hem.
Elders wearing this attire looked both dignified and refined, and since the clothing was loose, it was much more comfortable than Western-style suits.
Alexander, being young, looked different once he put on the clothing: like an indulged young master, exceptionally handsome and charming.
Purple stared at him, unwittingly mesmerized.
She thought to herself, if only things could be this way—no childhood bullying, no need to wander in her youth, a life smooth and peaceful without knowing hardship.