When the three arrived, there were still not many people by the lake.
Mr. Sergio sat down in the shade, fanning himself with a fan and said quietly:
-We are early, Mr. Seco is too lazy and not active to play chess.
Umberto and Albina stood together, rubbing their noses.
They had also been fooled by how confident the old man had just been, wanting to see how the old man treated Senor Seco, but they had not expected to be so early, there were only a few people by the lake, and Senor Seco had not yet arrived.
The old man and Umberto were playing chess by the lake to pass the time. Albina was watching them. Although she couldn’t understand it, it was quite interesting to see how the old man’s expression was getting more and more complicated.
When they reached the fifth game, Albina stretched and glanced around, and noticed that Mister Dry was coming.
She hastily tugged Umberto’s sleeve and whispered:
-He’s coming, he’s coming.
Mr. Sergio also heard the sound, pretended to be bored playing chess, and said to Umberto:
-Playing chess with you is not interesting at all, I am not going to play anymore.
After saying this, he got up and left the stone bench. Umberto and Albina also got up, pretending to look at their grandfather helplessly.
Mr. Seco did not have a good face when he saw these people there, and he was thinking whether he should leave or not.
Mr. Sergio made a sign to him.
-Seco, come here and play with my grandson.
Mr. Seco could not stand to be treated in such a carefree manner and snorted coldly.
-I’ll play chess when you ask me to. Who are you to give me orders, I’m not going to play.
Lord Sergius calmly fanned himself and said to Albina, who was standing:
-Albina, for sure she is not confident and is afraid of losing to you.
The volume of his voice did not diminish and those next to him burst out laughing.
Hearing this, Mr. Seco became annoyed and although he knew it was a provocation, he approached angrily.
-I would like to see how a child plays.
With that, he sat down in front of Umberto, placed the chess pieces and looked at him.
-Let’s play! Let’s see if you can beat me today.
Umberto looked at Mr. Seco with a slight smile.
-It is said that you are good at chess, I wouldn’t dare compete with you.
His words were very modest, but his moves were not careless.
At first, Mr. Seco was calm, but by the end of the game, his frown was getting more and more furrowed, and he was taking longer and longer to think.
Albina leaned over to Mr. Sergio and whispered:
-Grandfather, when are you going to do it?
The old man winked at him.
-Watch carefully.
After saying that, he strolled quietly behind Mr. Seco and directly pulled out his hair.
This grand gesture made Albina and Umberto startle for a moment.
“Just like that, pulling out his hair just like that? This was too simple.”
Mr. Seco felt pain for a moment, turned his head to see Mr. Sergio standing behind him and said angrily:
-Mr. Santangel, what are you doing!
Mr. Sergio frowned and held the plucked hair in his hands, looked at Mr. Seco and sighed.
-Why has your hair turned so white lately? Is something bothering you?
Mr. Seco touched his hair at her words and her anger.
-It’s none of your business! You don’t even look at yourself, you’re full of white hair too!
Mr. Sergio shook his head.
-It’s different, I haven’t dyed my hair black before, I’m naturally beautiful. On the other hand, you still have white hair even though you dye it black. You are not paying attention to your appearance, you have to go and dye it again.
-It’s none of your business whether I dye or not, can’t you let me finish a good game of chess? Or are you worried that your grandson will lose and come to bother me on purpose?
At the end of the sentence, Mr. Seco was convinced that with Sergio’s shameless character, he might actually be able to do such a thing.
Mr. Santangel snorted coldly at his words.
-My grandson doesn’t need me to intervene to win against you, so lower your gaze.
Unsure, Mr. Seco looked down and saw a beautiful, slender finger holding a chess piece.
-Checkmate,” Umberto finished and smiled at him. Excuse me, Mr. Seco.
Mr. Seco looked at the chessboard with a frown.
He had used all his strength, but still Umberto had won so easily.
Chess can reveal a person’s mind.
Umberto’s rumors were true, he was very skilled and not to be messed with.
Umberto and Mr. Sergio cooperated very well, they made Mr. Seco completely forget about the hair, and after two more chess games, he was still losing.
When Umberto noticed that he could no longer bear to see Mr. Seco’s face and that his goal had been achieved, he immediately got up and gave up his place to the spectators.
He and Albina returned home with Mr. Sergio.
As they left the lake, Mr. Sergio handed the hair to Umberto.
-I have chosen a few very sturdy hairs to facilitate the tests.
Umberto and Albina looked at a handful of the hair that the old man held in his hand, and looked at each other, and then simultaneously raised their thumbs in admiration.
Sergio Santangel really lived up to his name. This operation was truly impressive.
After getting the hair, Umberto and Albina had lunch with the Santangel family and left.
Before leaving, Umberto’s mother had packed a lot of things for the two of them, and almost all of them were stuffed in the trunk of her car.
Pointing to the leather case, she said to Albina:
-In this box there are clothes, it’s my whole collection. Albina, don’t be reluctant to wear it, take it out when there is a formal occasion, with your looks, you will surely look beautiful in it, and honor our family.
Umberto’s grandfather and father asked the servants to put the fresh fruit and various seafood in the carriage.
-These things are perishable, so you have to eat them today. From now on, I will ask Alonso directly to deliver the ingredients to you every day. Since you are busy with work, doing this will save you the time of buying food.
The old man was very worried as he heard that Albina almost had acid thrown on her and Umberto injured his arm when they both went to buy vegetables at the supermarket.
Albina and Umberto watched in bewilderment as they put things in the car. If they didn’t know better, they would have thought they lived a hundred thousand miles away and only came back once every 800 years.
Seeing that the father was about to send someone to the cellar to bring them some wine, Umberto quickly stopped him.
-There’s really no need, there’s enough, we can’t take any more, the tires will be flattened.
Only then did the father stop.
As Umberto drove away, Albina leaned out of the window to say goodbye to the three of them, and seeing the parents holding the old man and greeting them with a smile, a sour feeling spread in her heart.
It was not until the car drove away and the figures of the three disappeared, that Albina sat down dejectedly.
-Can’t you bear to leave them?
Umberto drove with one hand and held her with the other.
Albina played with her fingers and nodded sullenly.
-No, and I miss my parents too.
Umberto’s fingers tightened.
-I will accompany you to the cemetery to see them later.
Albina shook her head.
-Let’s go next week. You still have work to do, so let’s go home this afternoon, it’ll be almost dark.
Umberto squeezed her fingers and, seeing her daze, changed the subject.
-Let’s prepare the ingredients in the trunk tonight and have seafood for dinner.
Easily influenced by him, Albina said:
-Luckily we still have Macos and Ariana at home, otherwise the two of us wouldn’t be able to eat it all.
Her excitement returned and she put her fingers together to talk about how they should cook everything and how she wanted to eat them.
Umberto saw that she had regained her spirits, and with a smile on her lips, she drove back to her little house.
It was more than half an hour’s drive and they soon arrived home, and expected Macos and Ariana to be waiting for them at home. However, when the two returned, they were frozen.