The lady looked at Sophia and said, "Yes, I heard it. I heard from a friend at your workplace that you were fired. You cannot deny that. And I heard you couldn't even afford to eat at some grand places. How can you be buying clothes at this place?"
Sophia's eyes narrowed slightly, but she remained calm.
Kai's mom wasn't always prominent or rich, but she was now. When Sophia worked at the grocery store, her colleagues looked down on her. However, when they saw her son driving a grand car and picking her up, they were all jealous.
Now, Magda, standing before them, was someone who frequently visited the shop, trying to ruin things for Sophia. Magda was envious because she had attended school with Sophia and now saw that Sophia's status had surpassed hers.
Kai looked at the lady with disdain, wondering, "Who is this woman disrespecting my mom?" He thought to himself, "I'm going to give her a piece of my mind. What should I do? Pull her into an illusionary state? No. Read her mind? Yes. I will read her mind."
As Kai peered into her mind, he could hear the words that she was thinking. The vulgar language that she was using. He heard one sentence and thought, "Sophia, how can you be so rich? How can you be richer than I am? What happened to all those years that you were poor? I cannot stand to see you being richer than I am."
Kai looked at her, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Huh, listen to this lady. If she could only know what I was doing right now, she would be scared of me."
Kai looked at his mom and whispered in her ear, "Mom, I can see that you're uncomfortable with this. Let me take care of it."
His mom looked at him and said, "Okay, my child. You know I don't like to fight. Don't take it too far."
He replied, "Yes, Mom."
Kai turned to the lady and said, "If I may speak first, please don't discuss things you don't know about."
The lady looked at Kai as he spoke to her. "You child, why are you talking to me like that? That's disrespect. You must respect your elders."
Kai said, "Yes, I will respect my elders. But if they don't respect others, they can't expect to receive respect in return."
She retorted, "Oh, you think you're so smart? What do you know about respect?"
Kai replied, "I know that respect is a two-way street. You're accusing my mother of things you don't even know about. Let me tell you, ma'am, she came into the shop to buy things, and it's none of your business to ask her where she got the money or how she got it. Does anyone ask you where you're coming from or what you're doing?"
She wanted to respond, but Kai cut her off. Kai took the next step, doing something they didn't expect.
Kai said to her, "And by the way, you're deeply in debt. You have loans and creditors chasing you. The house you're living in isn't even yours; it belongs to your sister. How can you lecture us about money?"
She was shocked and afraid. "But how...how did you know?"
Kai smiled. "I told you, you must give respect to receive respect."
Kai's mom stood there, looking at Kai, thinking, "How did Kai know all these things? He's responding to Magda's accusations so effortlessly. This boy has grown up so much."
Magda thought to herself, "This boy is not normal. He's speaking like an adult, like someone who's lived for forty years. But he's only twenty. How does he know all these things?" She was stunned.
Kai knew all the things he was talking about. He was confident in his abilities and knew he could take on the lady. With his powers, he could go far, manipulating people's minds and pulling them into visionary states. He could read minds, hear thoughts, and even influence actions. It was all about mind manipulation to him.
Kai looked at the lady and said, "See, ma'am, you don't come and disrespect others. Otherwise, your secrets will come out." The lady was taken aback, asking, "Young man, I didn't know you were so great. Are you a fortune teller or a prophet?"
Kai smiled. "No, I'm just Kai. And this lady here is my mom. I'll protect her through the ends of the earth."
A man standing next to the lady spoke up. "Darling, are you letting him talk to you like that? He's just a young boy. Don't be fooled by him."
The lady looked at her husband, then back at Kai, and said, "Honey, can't you see? He told me things that only we know. Don't disrespect this boy. He knows things."
The man scoffed. "Huh, little boy, you might have fooled her, but you can't fool me."
Kai looked at him calmly and said, "I don't need to fool anyone. But since you say I'm fooling her, why do you have headaches in the afternoon? Why can't you sleep at night?"
The man was shocked. "Huh? Boy! Who told you? Who told you these things?"
Kai smiled. "No one told me. I'm just Kai."
The man thought to himself, "This little boy knows all our secrets. I'll deny everything he says, and later, I'll take care of him."
Kai listened to the man's thoughts and responded, "You can't take care of me."
The man was stunned, thinking, "What? How did he know what I was thinking?"
Kai said, "Yes how as if to answer to the question in the man's mind
The man, still fearful, stuttered, "Aye, aye, aye... You're really a great boy. I couldn't believe it. But you're a truly remarkable boy." He turned to his wife and continued, "We're deeply sorry for disrespecting your mom and my wife here. Please, can you forgive us?"
Kai looked at them, saw the sincerity in their faces, and said, "Okay, we shall forgive you. But please, don't ever disrespect anyone again." They nodded in unison, stuttering, "Yes, yes."
Kai turned to his mom and said, "Mom, I think we're done here. Let's proceed to the cashier." While they were talking, the cashier was busy counting their purchases. She announced, "Ma'am, the total comes out to be eighty thousand five hundred rand."
Magda thought to herself, "What's going on? Do they have an unlimited budget? Our spending limit is only fifteen thousand rand. And they're buying clothes worth eighty-five thousand rand? What's their secret? Did Sophia win the lottery or inherit some money?"
Kai and Sophia took out a card from their purse and handed it to the cashier, saying, "You can swipe this." After the transaction went through, the shop manager approached them, apologizing, "Sorry, miss, I saw that you made a significant purchase. Next time you visit us, you can use this gold card." He handed them a gold membership discount card.
Sophia thanked him, and they asked if little Kate could change into some of the new clothes they had purchased. The manager smiled and said, "She's welcome to change into the new clothes."
"Little Kate, can you go in and change into that beautiful new dress, the white one with flowers, and those lovely shoes we bought?" Sophia asked.
Kate nodded excitedly and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later, she emerged, transformed.
She looked like a completely different child, no longer the same girl who had been walking the streets earlier. The new dress fit her perfectly, and the shoes sparkled on her feet. Her hair was neatly combed, and her face glowed with happiness.
Sophia and Kai exchanged a warm smile, thrilled to see Kate looking so radiant and confident.
While they were admiring Kate's new look, they all agreed that she looked beautiful. Kai exclaimed, "Oh, little Kate, you look like a princess!" Kate's eyes widened with excitement, and she asked, "Really, brother Kai? Do I?" Kai nodded, "Yes, look at you!" Kate beamed with pride, saying, "Thank you, brother Kai. Are these clothes all mine? Will you take them back?" Kai reassured her, "No, little Kate, these clothes belong to you; they're yours to keep." Kate's face lit up with gratitude, "Thanks! I've never had clothes like this before."
As they stood there, passersby in the shop couldn't help but stare at Kate's transformation. Some people whispered to each other, envying Kate's new look. Others thought to themselves, "They're spoiling that girl too much." Kai heard their thoughts and smiled to himself, thinking, "What are they thinking? This is the first time she's worn such nice clothes!" Kate, once a street girl, now stood tall, her confidence boosted.
As they finished up, Kate sat down on the floor and began to cry. Kai knelt beside her, concerned, "Little Kate, why are you crying?" Kate sniffled, "It hurts..." Kai asked gently, "What hurts, Kate?"