The Old Man and the Mermaid

Aigre finally fell asleep when dawn came.Surrounded by the sun during the day, he did not need the guardianship of the lighthouse. After checking all the equipment, he lay down on the bed, closed his somewhat dry eyes, and put his thoughts into dreams.

When he woke up again, it was already the afternoon when the sun was starting to set.This is probably the quietest period of time in the entire Twilight Island except for the night. The merchants take care of their stores, but since there are not many customers, many honest men will choose to take a nap.

Most of the girls are not willing to waste such a beautiful afternoon.They will go together in twos and threes, and go to the commercial street in the town to see if their favorite clothes are on the shelves.Not to mention children, they grew up on this small island since they were young, and they are even more familiar with the terrain of Twilight Island than some adults who have been away from home for many years and have just returned to their hometown.

There have been many changes on the island in the past few years, at least Egreel can't guarantee that he can go anywhere without getting lost.

He washed his face, tidied himself up, put on his sun hat and walked out of the lighthouse.

The sun in the area where Dusk Island is located is too strong, and most of the residents on the island will choose to wear hats or coats for sunshade when they go out in the afternoon.It's not because I'm afraid of such a little sunshine, but I have to try my best to protect my skin from sunburn when I don't have much work.

Aigre remembers playing bare-armed on the beach as a child, and his grandfather would force him back to the lighthouse every time, put thin muslin sleeves on his arms, and give him He puts on a hat.

He wasn't too happy at first, thinking that his grandfather was unnecessary—until he saw a child his age crying at the town infirmary because he needed medicine for a sunburn.

Aigre still doesn't know why the sun on this small island is so sinister, but this doesn't affect his love for Dusk Island and everything on the island.

After the old man passed away, he would occasionally think of his parents, who seemed to exist only in photos and portraits forever.When they left, Eigre was still too young. Since he was a child, he was only accompanied by his grandfather, and now the kind old man has left. No matter how independent and mature he is, sometimes he still feels a little lonely .

During the short time of walking to the market, Aigre always likes to let his thoughts wander around, thinking about happy or unhappy things, and experiencing all kinds of warmth and emotions that his grandfather once described.He is still young and doesn't have much experience in all aspects. It is not easy to win the position of lamp bearer, let alone effectively and smoothly control his emotions.

However, he personally thinks that emotions are inherently unpredictable. Since they have emerged and emerged, he can accept them calmly, whether it is joy or sadness, and believes that he can bear them.

His optimism and indifference made him survive his childhood without parents and the death of his grandfather, and it will continue to support him to live alone in the lighthouse.

Although he had not been back for a long time, he himself felt as if several years had passed.

Time was amazingly slow on this small island, so slow that he was used to drinking tea alone in the afternoon.Few people in the lighthouse would talk with him, only a few little girls on the street who had a crush on him would occasionally come and sit by his side, pretending to read the thick and profound books left by his grandfather.

In fact, he had already planned all this when he was in the academy. He didn't feel uncomfortable, and even thought that such a life was very peaceful and happy.

The alumni of his college had originally agreed that they would come to travel during the holidays and visit him by the way.But this group of guys met with friends after graduation. At that time, the passion to ask him why he gave up his studies had long since dissipated, and he fell into the gentle trap of the girls foolishly.

Aigre was amused.Since he was a child, he has only received selfless feelings and great love from his grandfather, and he has also felt the charm of friendship from these friends, but he really doesn't know much about love stories.He guessed that his parents must have been very loving when they were still alive, but he was unlucky and had no chance to meet them.

The rainy season on Dusk Island is not too long. The dark clouds that filled the sky before have dissipated a little today, and the storm has completely passed.The sunlight penetrated the light water vapor floating above the tall trees, and gently swayed on the ground.

Such a rare weather is very suitable for wandering in the market.

Speaking of the bazaar, Aigre actually has some not-so-respectable memories.For example, when he got off the merchant ship with a bag on his back and walked into the market, just as he was about to savor the atmosphere of his childhood hometown, he was hit on the stomach by a lively and restless child.

He was carrying a lot of luggage, and he didn't take too much precautions around him, so he was hit and fell straight backwards - behind him were several large boxes of tomatoes that hadn't been put on the shelves.

He couldn't remember his feelings clearly, but he remembered that the scene was very embarrassing at one time.

"My God! Aigre!"

After falling down, Aigre heard a shrill female voice behind him yelling in horror.

"My little Aigle, are you okay?" The woman continued to ask in surprise, but she joked with him inexplicably, and at the same time stepped forward to help him up, "Could it be that there is something new about whitening in the mainland?" The solution to the skin? Is it related to tomatoes? Although tomatoes are quite expensive, it’s a pity that you are wearing white clothes... Fortunately, the underwear you are wearing today is red. Color remains."

Aigre: "..."

He looked down at his jacket, which had been rubbed above his waist because he was being supported by a woman, and the corner of the red underwear exposed from the inside of the looser jeans for comfort—by the way, this pair of underwear was also It's from a very well-known and affordable brand.

Then on that peaceful afternoon, half the town knew that their Aigre Payer was wearing a pair of red underwear on the first day after returning home from school.

Who the hell knows why everyone pays so much attention to the color of his underwear.

And that lady, that is, the young woman who asked her to repair the wooden box yesterday, Aige regarded her as his kind and lovely sister since she was a child—although she is still kind and lovely now, but when Aigre saw her, she always I can't help but think of the scene on the first day back home.And the red panties and the strewn tomatoes.

He has had these two fantastic and somewhat embarrassing experiences since he was a child, and the focus of the two stories is about underwear.

...but what can he do?Can not wear underwear.

Thinking of this, Aigre felt his facial muscles twitch.He raised his hand to wipe his face, and walked into the market gradually, keeping a steady pace.

At this time, Mr. Mermaid was slowly swimming in the shallow sea area near the island - he had no idea that the meeting between himself and Mr. Aigre was not even as shocking as a pair of underwear.

Even if he knew, he probably wouldn't be able to understand it.

Mermaids don't wear underwear.

His mood rarely changed, but today he rarely felt happy.Although he didn't see Aigre appear on the coast in front of the lighthouse anymore, he could feel that those pearl oysters were still alive, and they hadn't been directly opened to take the rare items inside.

Although he still doesn't know Aigre's attitude, this behavior can at least show that this young human being has accepted his thanks.

He had already made a decision last night to stay in this sea area for a while longer.

The mermaid has always been a loner, he has no ethnic group, let alone a family, so no matter which sea area in the world he lives in, it is quite indifferent to him.

He was very interested in that young man.Instead of wasting time in the cold and dark depths of the sea, it would be better to risk dealing with this young man.He has seen Aigre's courage to directly contact him and the kindness that saved him. Although this is not such a rare character among human beings, few people are really willing to put compassion into action .

After so many years passed by, the mermaid had the idea of ​​approaching a certain human for the first time.

In the previous fights, although he felt the strength and calmness of Aigre, but at the same time, he was quite sure that Aigre was as fragile as any other human being.

It's a pity that his strength is only limited to exerting himself in the sea, and he may even be inferior to a salted fish on land-this seems to be a popular joke in human society recently, and the mermaid thinks that this statement is in a sense Still pretty accurate.

Those poor fish that lack intelligence and strategy are easily caught by humans in various ways.Humans will throw them into salt water to soak until they feel that there is no love in this world at all, and then take them out and throw them on a white cloth to dry, and they will become delicious small dried fish in minutes.

The mermaid also thinks this kind of dried fish is very delicious, but the process of making dried fish makes him often doubt life for those little fish.

Thinking about it this way, he must be much better than Xianyu.

The passage of time appears to be rather slow here, but that doesn't mean it's standing still.The mermaid hadn't surfaced for about three days, and he thought he should let Aigle digest it for a while longer.

Occasionally he saw Aigre appear behind the glass window of the lighthouse and on the coast closest to him, but he never chose to show up.

It wasn't until the early morning of the fourth day, when Aigre stood on the coast again and started to look at the sea, that the mermaid suddenly rushed out of the sea, and after a few overturns, he managed to touch the hot ground with his hands.