Brand Master [Comprehensive Yingmei]

Time flies, Vera has just come out of the medical repair room, and it will be Christmas at the end of December.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Washington, which was snowing heavily, was extremely quiet. The cold wind and heavy snow covered most of the traffic. People walking on the street could only hear the faint Christmas carols in the wind.

In the pale and cold morning light, the whole city seemed to be covered with a layer of icing sugar. During the short time when the heavy snow had not yet melted, it unexpectedly revealed a clean and refreshing feeling.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Jason woke up early, brushed his teeth and rinsed his mouth, and put on his winter clothes.

Going around from the bedroom on the third floor to Vera's office, as expected, I saw a woman who didn't know how to take care of herself, sleeping on the desk with her arms pillowed on her head, the notebook in front of her was still open, and she was still holding a book in her hand. only a pencil.

Jason suppressed his anger, stretched out his limp little arms and tried to lift Vera up and throw him on the bed, but to no avail.

So he went downstairs with a cold face, moved a small stool to stand on the stove, toasted bread, boiled milk, fried eggs, cut ham sandwiches, and finished the work. Ten minutes later, he walked up to the third floor calmly with a tray of food.

After waking Vera, the nearly seven-year-old boy tiptoed impatiently, patted the warm towel on Vera's face, and complained while being angry:

"You should be glad to find out that it was me and not Mrs. Wigner and Mary that you were up all night with last night."

"When did I stay up all night?"

Vera took the sandwich with sleepy eyes, still plausible, "The so-called all night is a night without sleep. I slept for two hours, so it's not an overnight."

Jason: "..."

You are the most shameless liar in the whole world, you know that? !

A wind came in through the cracks of the windows that hadn't been closed, and being blown by the cold wind, Vera, who was still squinting, couldn't help but sniffled and sneezed slightly with her head tilted.

Seeing this, Jason's eyes almost rolled out of the sky, but he still subconsciously unfolded the thick blanket on one side, wrapped Vera tightly, and cursed angrily:

"After drinking the milk, you roll me to bed!"

Vera pretended not to hear, she didn't look at the milk glass, she threw herself on the bed wrapped in a blanket, and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

Jason: "..."

If he had the strength to open the mouth of this bastard woman...

he thought through gritted teeth.

Angry and angry, Jason still muttered and helped Vera cover the thick quilt, gently closed the door and window, and went downstairs quietly.

Now it was the Christmas holiday, and in the bustling house in the past, only Jason and Vera were left.

Mrs. Wigner happened to be going back to Kansas to visit relatives during the Christmas period. It was her nephew Clark Kent who drove her back. It happened to be Christmas, and Clark had to go home to spend the holidays with his mother.

It is conceivable that as soon as the grumbling but soft-spoken old lady left, the whole house immediately became deserted—it was precisely because Mrs. Wigner was away that Vera dared to stay up all night, Jason That's why I got up so early and took the initiative to go to the kitchen to make breakfast.

In fact, Jason didn't hate such a deserted and quiet place.

He has lived in this house for nearly a year, and has always maintained a state of respect and love for Mrs. Wigner, but he does not rely on it. To be honest, the only person he cares about in the whole house is Vera.

The little wolf cub who was as "alone" as Vera in his bones didn't think it was a bad thing to be alone with Vera and him in the house, and was even a little satisfied with this kind of solitude.

After eating the breakfast he made himself, Jason still remembered to wash all the plates and dishes. He tidied up the house, sat by the fireplace and read a book all morning, and did not go upstairs until lunch time. Pull the sleepy Vera out of the quilt.

"Get up! Hey! Don't sleep with you!"

Jason took off his shoes and crawled onto Vera's bed, lifted a corner of the thick quilt and made noise desperately, "Vanessa you—wow!"

In the middle of speaking, a white arm stretched out from under the quilt, grabbed Jason, and pulled the child into the quilt without much effort.

"I woke up..."

Vera rolled over lazily, wrapped Jason in her arms, closed her eyes and muttered something, then fell asleep again.

"The only thing you wake up to do is wrap the only cook in the house under the covers? — let it go!"

Jason was tightly held in Vera's arms, his head resting on Vera's chest, and he was so angry that he almost couldn't laugh out loud.

It took a lot of effort to struggle out of the chest. The child poked his head out of the bed with a flushed face, took a few deep breaths in pain, and the hand used to hold Vera was just right. Pressed on Vera's chest.

Just as Jason was about to withdraw his hand, he suddenly touched something small and hard, which seemed to be made of metal, and his hand was squeezed, making a faint red mark.

"???"

He withdrew his hand decisively as if he had been scalded: "Why don't you take off the necklace when you sleep!"

"……Well?"

Vera finally opened her eyes, her misty green eyes blinked at Jason in a dazed and ignorant way, as if she was a little delirious and said:

"Not a necklace."

Before Jason could continue to struggle, she let go of Jason, unbuttoned his chest with one hand, rummaged through the clothes, and then spread her palm towards Jason.

Jason lowered his head and saw an old, small ring in her white palm.

I don't know what kind of material this ring is made of. Its appearance shows an old bronze color with mottled cutting marks, as if it has been in history for many years.

Its ring is connected by some kind of special buckle, and there is a circle of movable hinges on the edge of the metal base, and a strange circular pattern is firmly engraved on the place where jewelry diamonds should be inlaid on the metal base.

Jason stared at the ring, feeling indescribably repulsive and weird:

"what is this?"

"It's a ring."

Vera blinked her eyes, her eyes gradually cleared up, she glanced at Jason, grabbed Jason's hand as if nothing had happened, and put the ring that still had her body temperature on Jason's right thumb with her backhand , and then said with a smile:

"Merry Christmas."

"--Hey!"

Jason was really annoyed. He wanted to pull out the ring with his backhand, but found that the damn ring seemed to be stuck on his thumb, and there was no way to remove it.

"I don't want this ring!"

He growled angrily, "Don't try to send me away with this—"

"Wait until I wake up, ah, I'm so sleepy..."

Vera yawned again. She didn't seem to notice the child's resistance at all. She rolled over and buried her head in the pillow, pretending to be asleep.

Jason: "..."

Jason pushed her unbearably: "Wake up! It's time to eat!"

"Don't think I can't do anything about you without Mrs. Wigner!"

"Damn it, you're just pretending to be asleep, aren't you?"

"I'm telling you, you're going to starve to death like this, you know! Damn it, if I could beat you—"

Cursing and cursing, looking at Vera, whose cheeks were flushed while sleeping, Jason felt sleepy for no reason.

……never mind.

Jason thought in a daze.

It was hard to see this woman lying on the bed, for the sake of the ring...

Yes, for the sake of the ring.

He squinted his eyes and unconsciously lay in Vera's arms and fell asleep.

Outside the window is the snowy winter, and the cold wind whistles against the glass windows.

In the warm room, one big and one small cuddled up to each other, wrapped in a thick quilt, and slept soundly.

After coming to the United States for so many years, this is the first time Vera spends a normal Christmas holiday.

In previous years, she worked overtime every Christmas.

But this year, for the sake of her little wolf cubs, she turned down all her work and concentrated on preparing for Christmas.

The child psychology instruction manual says that children should be given a sense of ritual in life as much as possible, and pay attention to various traditional festivals, but Jason just lacks experience and awareness in this regard. Mori presents a perfect and normal Christmas. (Bruce thinks after hearing this)

The bad thing is that Vera herself didn't spend Christmas at all before. She has been in the United States for so many years, and she has worked overtime from the beginning to the end of the Christmas holiday, and she knows nothing about how to manage a perfect Christmas.

Besides, Mrs. Wigner always thinks that poor kid Jason is going to be starved to death by his bumbling mother (Vera) ==

Before leaving Washington, the worried and broken-mouthed old lady prepared the Christmas dinner for the worried mother and child in advance, while muttering about Vera's dark history:

"I have lived for so many years, and I have never seen a kitchen killer like Vera. Don't think that she is the only one in the family who can not come to work in the kitchen because I feel sorry for her-I am really afraid that the girl will take my kitchen. It exploded!"

Mrs. Wigner said this with a rage:

"She did this two years ago! When cooking milk porridge, she can just throw the oatmeal into the pot and dry it, because she hates milk... Well done, this just ruined a new enamel for me pot."

"Once, I went out because of a temporary errand, so I told her to watch the stewed beef at home—the damned beef has already been simmered in the pot, just wait for two hours to see if the pot does not overflow!

The results of it?When I went home that night, I had a pot of beef that was completely cold and not stewed at all!

That damn girl Vera actually said that she thought the beef soup was ready when she saw the beef soup boiling, so she turned off the fire! ! "

"Another time, when I was not at home, this bastard girl ate snacks and desserts for two consecutive days. She finally boiled an egg, and she could directly throw the raw egg in the refrigerator into the boiling water, and then my whole kitchen was covered with eggs. It exploded!"

Standing on the sidelines helping Mrs. Wigner and listening to her complain, Clark bowed his head and trembled, almost dying of laughter.

Although Mary and Mrs. Wigner often complained that Vera would not be able to survive without them, Clark always felt that it was because of Vera's irregular diet. Know:

Vera really couldn't live without Mrs. Wigner and Marie.

Just imagining Vera Senna's bewildered and helpless face standing in front of the kitchen two or three years ago, watching the eggs explode and splash everywhere, Clark was about to burst into tears.

But after thinking about it, considering Vera's mysterious family background... Before coming to the United States, she might have always been a precious and proud young lady, let alone the kitchen, I guess she didn't even know what the oven and microwave looked like. I don't know, Clark couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

Fearing that the two of them would starve to death, Mrs. Wigner only prepared a large portion of baked ham, coconut smoked chicken, and Christmas pudding for Willa and Jason, which was almost enough for seven or eight people. Clark still felt that it was not rich enough, so he whispered to Vera:

"You don't have to do it on Christmas Eve, I'll do it."

It only takes a while for him to go back and forth between Kansas and Washington, and it's the same when he helps his mother prepare a big meal and then comes to make dinner for Vera.

Vera: "..."

Imagine that on Christmas Eve, Superman rushed back to the east from the central part with potatoes, corn and tomatoes in his arms, just to cook, but she refused with a straight face.

"I have Mary and canned food."

She moved out the final two big killers.

The dinner is only one, and the canned goods come together.

Unable to cook, Mary took over.

Clark: "...qwq"

The day before Christmas Eve, Vera went to buy a lot of cans, ranging from canned soybeans for breakfast to all kinds of baked and boiled cans, and even bought several canned fruits for dessert .

In the afternoon, Mary drove over and saw the boxes of cans stacked in the kitchen.

Mary: "..."

Vera Senna, you're really fucking good

"I said Vera was unreliable!"

Jason, who was decorating the Christmas tree with Vera, also sighed. He was obviously less than seven years old, but he still looked old-fashioned:

"She looks like this... what can I do in the future?"

What Jason didn't notice was that when he spoke and raised his hand to grab the decorations, Mary stared at the ring on his right thumb suddenly, and her originally calm expression was momentarily stunned.

When the boy turned around, Mary's expression returned to normal, and she joined the army of decorating the room, bickering and chatting with Vera Jason while eating and drinking.

The living room is too big, but Vera insisted on arranging the Christmas tree according to the traditional holiday process, and insisted on letting Jason write a wish note in the stocking by the bedside, so that this decoration work, which was not so smooth, was delayed. It was eight o'clock in the evening.

Fortunately, all afternoon, Jason's mouth was eating except for talking, his stomach was always in a state of fullness, and he didn't look forward to the Christmas dinner so much.

At Vera's insistence, the child angrily wrote down his wish, and stuffed it into the red Christmas stocking that Vera bought specially, almost speechless.

"Do you have to say that Santa Claus gave me presents?"

He stared at the Christmas stocking with disgust, obviously sneered at the legendary Santa Claus, and shook his palm at Vera, "Or is Santa's gift already stuck on my finger?"

Obviously, the overly precocious Jason was different from other ordinary children, and it was useless to use the traditional methods in children's education books to deal with this child.

Vera was not surprised, she asked calmly:

"You don't believe in Santa Claus?"

"I'm not a kid, and I don't need any Christmas presents."

Jason answered.

As soon as the words fell, Vera immediately showed a distressed expression.

"what should we do?"

In front of Jason, she pretended to be worried, stroked her chin with one hand, and said hesitantly:

"Since you don't believe it, you don't need a gift... Otherwise, I will let Santa Claus go home?"

"...!"

What kind of temporary workers did you really hire to pack Santa's presents?

Jason's head was covered with black lines all of a sudden, he covered his forehead speechlessly, and said in a heartbroken voice:

"Tell that guy to go back where he came from! Also, did you tell that guy that there are only two women in this house now?"

Vera Senna, are you a fool?

When Christmas is so dangerous, you still dare to hire a stranger to act as some kind of ghost Santa Claus to run into this house. Are you really not afraid that the other party will have malicious intentions? ?

Vera took a deep look at the child in front of her, but said nothing.

... As expected.

she thought to herself.

After wandering in Gotham for so long, when it comes to Christmas, Jason's first reaction is not a warm and lively festival that brings family together, but danger.

For him, Christmas is not a wonderful holiday at all, but the danger of being frozen to death, starved to death, and killed.

——Even if she worked hard for a whole year, she couldn't melt away the vigilance and xenophobia in the little wolf cub's bones.

Thinking of this, Vera closed her eyes, suppressed her slightly complicated emotions, knocked on the window on the right in front of Jason, and said to the people outside the window seriously:

"Did you hear that? Santa Claus? My children don't trust you very much. Please go home."

Jason: "——!!"

As if he only noticed someone outside the window now, Jason raised his eyebrows, and jumped in front of Vera like a cat with blown fur. His hair stood on end, his eyes were sharp, and he was staring at the window with all his attention.

Accompanied by the creaking sound, a faint green light gradually penetrated through the gap in the window.

In this extremely familiar and intense light to Jason, a man in a green uniform with a ring symbol on his chest slowly appeared. He stood lightly by the window edge, wearing a ridiculous hat on his head. Santa red hat.

"...Really? You don't think about it anymore?"

The man—that is, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, asked with a smile.

"..."

Jason opened his mouth wide, and his blue-green round pupils widened like a frightened kitten.

"Green, green, green light—"

"No, child."

Hal straightened the hat on his head seriously, winking at Jason,

"Please respect my part-time job, please call me Santa Claus now."

The child's face suddenly became colorful, as if living in a dream.

He was both shocked and regretful, flustered and happy at the same time, he stumbled for a long time, and finally, he came out stupidly:

"So, it's Old Man Green Lantern...?"

Hal laughed.

Under Vera's smiling gaze, the newly appointed "Green Lantern Old Man" picked up Jason, let the child sit on his shoulders, nodded to Vera, and the whole person rushed towards the dark place like a shooting star. skyrim.

In the cold wind, Vera could only hear Jason screaming (screaming) all the way and being taken by Hal to the night sky. The figures of one big and one small became smaller and smaller, and finally rushed out of the atmosphere. It turned into a green star and disappeared.

The corner of her mouth curled up, and she took the Christmas stocking containing the child's wish, and walked back from the bedroom on the third floor.

Christmas carols were being played loudly in the living room, and there were many people around the warm fire, making it extremely lively.

Aside from Mary who was busy in the kitchen, in the newly decorated living room, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Colonel Trevor arrived quietly at some unknown time.

At this moment, the two superheroes that Jason admired were sitting on the sofa, smiling and listening to the movement of the sky above them.

In the entire Justice League, except for Shazam and Cyborg who had a family reunion, almost everyone agreed to Vera's Christmas party invitation.

——Jason probably never imagined in his dreams that what he originally thought was a cold Christmas, a Christmas that only he and Vera were satisfied with, turned into a Christmas surprise party under Vera's insistence and secret planning.

What's more, this surprise is not just Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Flash.

"Batman said he'd have Robin over in half an hour." By the way, he'd come by himself.

"Superman said he would come around late at night." He would first spend Christmas Eve with his family.

After speaking in unison, Diana and Trevor looked at each other, smiled sweetly, looked at Vera again, and urged in unison:

"At this time, prepare the child's wish first."

——Hal will dress up as Santa Claus and take Jason out of the earth to play in advance. In addition to giving him the first surprise, the more important thing is to make time for Vera so that they can prepare to deal with the children together Christmas wishes.

Diana vowed: "Don't worry! Even if Little Jason wants a palace, I can find it for him!"

Barry, patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry! No matter what gift he wants, I can buy it as quickly as possible!"

Really can't, there are Hal and Trevor!

They don't believe it anymore. With the abilities of superheroes, is it still difficult to realize children's Christmas wishes?

Under the curious eyes of the three people, Vera opened the three notes that Jason stuffed in the Christmas stocking one by one——

Jason's first wish:

"Santa Claus, please keep Bruce Wayne away from Vera."

Jason's second wish:

"Santa Claus, please keep Clark Kent away from Vera."

Vera: "..."

Diana & Barry: "..."