The guitar sounded, Owen was singing gently, with the soft voice coming out from his mouth.
“That year I first met you in the alley
The darkness of night cannot hide your eyes
The wind whistled past
Help me to lose the amazing
The sea!
Take away my lonely, restless thoughts
I wish I were a whale
Build you a city to stay in
didididididididada
Dididididididdidada…”
Ashton froze, staring fixedly at the person in the screen singing soulful love songs, as if trying to confirm something.
In recent years, in addition to the speed of light to climb the popularity, the most amazing for Owen was that he had never gossip with any actresses, and as early as two years ago he said in the interview, “Someone is already in my heart.”
Other might not know who this man was, but Ashton did know.
Because he knew well, he dared not to force him too much, afraid that he would accidentally change a place for Vivian.
But this song he just heard…
In his mind, he kept playing back the two lyrics Owen had sung, “I wish I were a whale, build you a city to stay in…”
Whale city!
A light flashed through Ashton’s mind: Whale City was a small coastal city, which was less than two hours’ flight away from A City. Was it possible that Owen express his love to Vivian in this way?
Damn it!
He grinded his teeth hard because the guy’s cheeky face was filled with resentment. But the emotion lasted only three seconds, and three seconds later he called Adam.
“Check the Whale City carefully, and don’t let go of every inch of it. Vivian is probably hiding there.”
Three days later, Adam sent him a blurry photo, apparently taken in a hurry with a cellphone.
In a crowded market in Whale City, wearing a simple short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, Vivian was stooping to pick up a pile of oysters in front of her. In her other hand she was carrying a little girl of two or three years old, who was tied up in two buns in hairs.
Ashton circled the little girl and sent it, asking, “Who is this child?”
Adam replied, “Of course it’s her child.”
Ashton’s body was shaken and it took him more than a minute to send a message, “Has she already had a child?”
Adam did not reply.
Ashton closed his eyes. Did she get married and have children?
It was too late after all.
After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, staring at a point in the void ahead of him.
Vivian, I still owe you an apology. No matter what, we must meet again.
Adam put away the mobile phone, leaving this “surprise” to be found out by Ashton.
On the same day, Ashton bought a plane ticket to Whale City.
Whale City was a tourist coastal city, which was small that you can drive countless times a day around the city. The residents here usually went fishing for seafood and sold it on the street at will. It was not crowded, noisy and flashy, and this city had its unique quietness.
It was late afternoon when Ashton arrived in the city. Following the address given by Adam, he walked along the street through the idle stallholders, past the wet shore and into a forest.
“Whoa!” The cry of a child caught Yan’s attention. He looked around and found a little girl sitting on a stone bench beside a tree, wailing, trying to reach for her back as she cried.
The former Ashton would have gone away with indifference, but now he just frowned, carefully put away the map, and marched his long legs up to the little girl.
“What’s the matter?” Asked Ashton, bending down in front of the little girl.
The little girl began to cry and gasp, her little hands scratching on her back. “It hurts, it hurts, uncle.”
Ashton looked up at the little girl’s back, stretched out his hand, pulled out her short sleeve. His eyes changed, and he quickly took out an orange mollusk from the inside and threw it where the little girl could not see.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. Does it still hurt?” Ashton threw the insect and lowered his head to ask the little girl. He wondered whose family this girl was from. They did not take care of her but let her go to the forest.
“Oooooo…” Wiping her eyes, the little girl cried and belched, “Thank you… Uncle, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Ashton nodded slightly in acceptance, and regardless of whether the little boy could understand his expression, he asked, “Do you live near here? Do you know the way to come back home?”
At the end of the sentence, Ashton saw the little girl stretching out her hand and grabbing at her back. With quick eyes and hands, Ashton grasped the little girl’s fingers and said, “Don’t grab, Let me check for you.”
This startled him. The little girl’s back was swollen and red, and a string of blisters appeared quickly from her shoulders to her back. It was obvious that the bug was poisonous!
Ashton’s eyes were darkened, he reached out to embrace the little girl, “I will take you to the hospital.”
After saying this, he strode off. Behind him, a familiar and anxious female voice rang out, “Stop! Where are you going with my daughter?”
Ashton did not dare to turn back.