The Old Man and the Mermaid

The mermaid bypassed the reef area and landed again to the rear of the lighthouse.The window he usually used to go in and out was not locked as expected, which is probably a kind of tacit understanding between him and Aigle, and it can also be regarded as the mutual trust shared by Dusk Island.For Aigre, there is nothing shady in the lighthouse, and he has no property worth stealing by thieves, so he is very happy to open the door for Mr. Mermaid at any time.

What's more, the most valuable things he owns now are the few pearls and corals that Mr. Mermaid gave him.

When the mermaid entered the lighthouse, he didn't touch any of Aigre's personal belongings as before. Instead, he sat directly in front of the table that he always used, and picked up the pen and paper that was always on the table.

He is not sure how long it will take for Eigre to fully learn the language of the mermaids, but he does hope that one day in the future he can talk directly with Eigre through dialogue instead of writing.So if this document that records the basic information of the mermaid language can help Eigre, he doesn't mind spending some time on this translation.

After he finishes translating, this will probably be the only copy in the world that records the structure and uniqueness of the mermaid characters in detail.

Aigre might be able to use it as a material to complete a creation.The mermaid recalled the interests and hobbies that Aigre mentioned when he chatted with him last time, and thought so.

The cargo ship docked quietly on the shore, and the staff on board were standing on the wooden steps on the shore and talking to the person in charge of the dock.After a while, these delivered goods will be delivered to the Twilight Town and the market by transport vehicles, and then handed over to the shopkeepers and buyers who ordered them one by one.

Aigre stepped onto the boat with Professor Ness, and saw an unexpected person after entering the cabin.

That was his roommate, Royce.

When they entered the cabin, Royce was bending over and sorting out his luggage. When he saw Aigre, he raised his eyebrows at him, deliberately put on a slightly weird expression, and said, "I didn't expect that I would follow Come on? I have a surprise for you."

Aigre came back to his senses, stepped forward and patted each other's shoulders with Royce, "Your tone doesn't sound like you want to surprise me at all. How did you come here with Professor Nice?" of?"

"Royce has stayed in the school since the end of the semester, and occasionally meets me." Professor Nice explained as he walked around them and walked in the door, "When we met in the laboratory a few days ago, I happened to mention He will come to this island this week, so he applied to come with me. It seems that I have something to give you, right?"

"It's in my luggage bag, I'll bring it to you later." Royce said, squatting down, lifting his bag and throwing it on his back, and then followed Professor Nice, "Help the professor get his equipment first, Let's talk in the car."

Aigre nodded in agreement, followed them to find those not too big equipment behind the door and moved them off the boat.

This pier is still some distance away from the residence arranged by Twilight Island for Professor Nice and those students, so the person in charge specially called a bus to take them to their destination.

While Professor Nice was talking with the person in charge, Aigle and Royce moved all the equipment and luggage to the car, and then sat in the back seat.

Royce let out a breath, rubbed his forehead and told Eigre: "This journey is enough for me. I really didn't think I would get seasick."

"Seasickness? How pitiful." Aigre teased him in a calm tone, and then took out a bottle of water from his backpack, "Drink some water, it was originally prepared for Professor Nice, but I see him I brought my own water glass, so it's yours."

"Thank you." Royce unscrewed the bottle cap, took a big gulp down his throat, and said with a sigh, "To be honest, I really didn't come here just because of your notebook. Can't help much at school, so why not travel around—you'll be feeding and lodging me anyway, huh?"

"You are so direct." Aigre chuckled lightly and nodded, "You helped me through the most difficult time at that time, and now I have the ability to repay you, of course I will not turn away this rare opportunity outside."

"Come on, from what I know about your character as a good old man, even if I have never helped you, you will never learn to refuse other people's requests." Royce sneered, and threw the water bottle in the air for fun , "I'm still thinking about where it would be more suitable to work after graduation next year. You're fine, just come home. How about it, is it the most comfortable place to live in your hometown?"

"of course."

Royce watched Professor Ness get into the car, and finally said with a sigh, "You are an excellent student that all the professors who have taught you are quite optimistic about you. They will be disappointed if you leave like this."

"My major is not suitable for working outside." Aigre shook his head, "If I stay on Twilight Island, I will have more opportunities and time to use my expertise."

As they were talking, Professor Nice closed the door of the bus, walked back and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

"I'm discussing Aigre's willful behavior of abandoning the whole world." Royce joked, "But living on the island is really in line with his personality. His expression looks comparable to when he was in the academy. Much easier."

"Young people, just do what you want, just be happy." Professor Nice smiled indifferently, and sat down in the row in front of them. High-quality and beautiful material experience-Of course, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this idea, but if you really want to become rich, you need to pay a lot of things. This approach will make most people choose this path People become exhausted. Since they feel comfortable and happy, other problems become secondary."

"And Aigre is mainly to inherit the will of his grandfather, right?" Royce asked with raised eyebrows.

"Almost." Aigre replied, "At least I personally don't think I will regret it."

Royce stopped talking and turned to search in his luggage.Professor Ness carefully looked at Eigre for a few times, then smiled again and said: "Your mental state is much better than when I saw you last time. I think that although the life of keeping the lighthouse is occasionally very busy, at least You're having a great time."

Egrele smiled along with Professor Ness, nodded and said, "My life is very ordinary, but I am doing well."

"Come on, you two—your conversation sounds like seventy-eighty-year-old gentlemen are lamenting life, let's not talk about Egret, even Professor Nice, you are only in your fifties today, there is no need Isn’t it so heavy?” Royce complained a little, and took out the notebook that 80 years had promised Aigre from his luggage, “Hold your little notebook, since it’s very important, then go Don’t forget to bring it next time.”

"I was in a hurry when I left, and I really didn't realize that I dropped something." Aigre took the notebook and solemnly thanked him at the same time, "It is indeed very important to me, thank you for making a special trip here .”

"You're welcome. I don't really believe that the express delivery can ensure the safety of the goods, not to mention that this time is also for my own purpose of traveling, so there is nothing to thank." Royce said and raised his hands, "Let me declare first, I've only opened the first page of this notebook to make sure it's really yours, and I haven't read the rest of it at all."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, it's not something that can't be shown to others." Aigre laughed, and opened the notebook and explained, "Most of it is the paragraphs of information I recorded and some reports that I am interested in. The first part It was some stories my grandfather told me when he was alive. I have all these in my notebook when I have some free time in college."

"This approach is correct. After all, no one can guarantee whether they can really remember something in their hearts forever." Royce touched his chin and asked a little puzzled, "But why don't you use the electronic version of the recording method? ? Paper will rot in the end too, won't it?"

"I didn't have time." Aigre said, "After I get the notebook back this time, I will enter them into the computer."

Professor Nice had been listening quietly all the time, and only then did he speak again, "I thought that young people nowadays might not have the habit of keeping diaries or taking notes, but Egre is quite special in this respect."

"Pfft." Hearing what the professor said, Royce couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Professor, you may not have heard of it, but Aigle was really quite eye-catching in every class at that time—I I mean, something different. You'll find it interesting to say it..."

Agremo listened silently to them talking about the only time he had a fight with an alumnus in school at that time, feeling a little helpless.Most of the time he is willing to treat everyone peacefully, but unfortunately the facts always don't give him a chance to be peaceful forever.

But telling these stories would not be more embarrassing than the last time he fell at the market and everyone knew he was wearing red underwear.

...and now add every meeting with Mr. Mermaid.

Aigre leaned back in his chair, and while listening to the conversation between the professor and Royce, he guessed in his heart what Mr. Mermaid, who hadn't shown up for a whole week, would be doing now.

"... But speaking of which, Eigre." After chatting for a few words with Royce, Professor Ness looked at Eigre again, his expression becoming serious again, "Those students seem to be giving you some advice from the students on the island. The townspeople have caused a lot of trouble, right? Please tell me the location of the shop of the lady who was disturbed by those guys, and I will take them to apologize to the lady when I arrive at the destination in a while."

"Ms. Irene really doesn't mind about this." Egreel had already guessed Professor Nice's attitude, so he didn't persuade him too much, and could only tell him helplessly, "Her stall is at the northernmost point of the market. The entrance on the side, if you don't mind, I'll take you there after you settle down."

"I'm sorry to trouble you." The professor nodded earnestly, "Although they are not my students in general, since they were entrusted to me by a friend, I have the responsibility to supervise them temporarily. This time let them take It is my negligence to land on the island ahead of time, and I will deal with it properly.”

"It sounds like I missed a lot of stories?" Royce looked back and forth between Professor Ness and Egret with great interest, "Would you mind telling me?"

"It's too embarrassing to say, if you want to hear it, let Egre tell it to you." Professor Nice said, pointing to the front row, "I'll go and have a few words with that gentleman, you guys Let's talk first."

Aigre closed the notebook in his hand, met Royce's curious eyes, and sighed: "This is also the first troublesome thing I encountered after returning home. Let me tell you simply, don't treat that person because of it." A few alumni have any prejudices. After all, I haven’t talked to them much, but judging from their observation plan, it’s not necessarily people who only know how to do nothing.”

"A guy who studies hard doesn't necessarily have a good character." Royce chuckled, "Tell me, I'm listening."

While they were talking, the bus drove slowly and steadily along the road to the east of the island.Their destination was not the residence originally arranged for them by the person in charge of the island, but because of the incident caused by those restless young people in the market, they just changed their residence temporarily.After Professor Nice arrives on the island, they will probably be taken to their original residence again.

At the same time, Mr. Mermaid, who didn't need to use any means of transportation and didn't need to deal with any other human beings, was holding a pen in his hand and quickly writing the information originally recorded by the mermaid tribe on the paper.

He hasn't seen these words for a while, and what he's translating for Aigre now can be regarded as a review for himself.Although these materials seem boring, they are quite interesting to him, not to mention that he also believes that his aesthetics is not far from that of Eigre, and Eigre is not like a young man interested in lively and trendy things People should love these literatures even more.

While writing human characters, Mr. Mermaid also remembered some cold jokes that he was very interested in.

Such as those puns that annoy countless people, but never disappear with the progress of the times.

It's just a pity that the mermaid's vocal system is destined to be unable to speak human language smoothly, otherwise he would probably be very happy to share with Aigre those jokes that can only be expressed clearly through changes in tone.

Although Aigre's mood didn't change too much, the mermaid was quite aware that he actually liked cold humor.These humorous factors are always hidden in every sentence of his unexpectedly, and occasionally pop up to say hello to himself in accordance with the way they talk.

Although Aigre never mentioned his university major, the mermaid guessed that the young graduate should have studied humanities, culture and social communication when he was in the academy.

...God only knows why he doesn't talk much to strangers when he's clearly good at communicating.

Mr. Mermaid thought back to Aigre’s helplessness when he talked about his social circle, and felt that he could come up with 1 excuses for him in a minute—such as being a nerd.

For Eigre, house is definitely the most perfect explanation, bar none.

Mr. Mermaid continued to write on the paper while thinking this way, and didn't stop until a long time passed.

——He still hadn't finished the translation, but he heard footsteps approaching.

Besides Aigre, there seemed to be another guest.

Mr. Mermaid raised his eyebrows, put away the pen and paper, and entered the small room where he had previously hidden with the document belonging to the mermaid clan in his hand.

He didn't quite know who the guest was, but it should be a friend that Aigrei himself was willing to bring into the house, because he clearly heard Aigrei's low laughter.

This surprised him a little.

When Aigre pushed open the door of the lighthouse, he stopped keenly—there was a scent that could not be said to be a fragrance, but it was quite comfortable in the lighthouse.After getting along for this period of time, he has been able to ensure that he will never mistake this smell from the sea.

Mr. Mermaid is here.

He was not missing, was not taken away by strange humans and taken for experiments, was not stuck on a reef and could not move, was not swallowed by some ferocious sea beasts, was not sucked away by ocean currents, and did not encounter an eruption of a submarine volcano.

Aigre quickly filtered all the logical possibilities in his mind, he couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, and was sincerely happy that Mr. Mermaid was still safe and sound.

"What's the matter?" Royce couldn't help but asked in doubt when he saw that he had been standing at the door of the lighthouse and didn't go in.

"It's okay." Aigre shook his head, opened the door completely, and let his friend step in, "Are you living with me during this time?"

"It depends." Royce touched his chin and said, "After all, I came with Professor Ness. If he needs my help, I should go to the town for a few days. I will ask you first tonight." .”

"No problem, I'll go check out the guest room." Aigre put down his bag while talking, and glanced at the position of the few pieces of paper on the table as he passed by the table in the living room.

He hadn't used paper these days, and the handwriting on that piece of paper was indeed left by Mr. Mermaid.

While thinking about what Mr. Mermaid was thinking, Aigre opened the door of the temporarily useless small room, and after being stunned for two seconds, he quickly walked into the room and closed the door again from the inside.