“After I go back, I won’t find you a house either, you’ll just live with me,” Paige added, putting her hand on her leg, the kind that you can feel the bones through her pants.
The old lady was so skinny.
“Good, you are my apprentice, of course I have to let you serve me, from morning till night, I will torment you.”
Master Chris tilted his head and looked at her, smiling, tears welling up in his wrinkled eyes, but he was oblivious to them.
“You said you would torment me, so don’t go back on your word,” said Paige, squatting beside her, fighting back tears as her eyes welled up with unshed tears.
The old woman looked at her intently, studying her features as if to engrave them in her memory. After a long while, she said slowly, ‘Paige.’
“Yes.”
A breeze blew by.
The old woman’s empty sleeves were blown up, floating softly and resting on Paige’s hands as if to hold them.
“Listen, seven or eight-tenths of everything in the world is regrettable. Take your return to the island this time, for example. Some people couldn’t bear it and ended it all by jumping into the sea, not waiting for you; some people couldn’t muster the strength to do evil, but never imagined that you would return to judge them; some people walked out of this island but couldn’t let go of their hatred; some people wanted to leave with you, but couldn’t walk out of this island…”
Upon hearing this, Paige could no longer hold back, and a single tear slipped down her eye, but she dared not let out a sound.
“Paige, you must let go, forgive yourself, and follow your heart, without worrying about the outcome,” the old woman said to her, looking at her slowly, a hint of blood seeping from her lips.
She had already done very well.
Very, very well.
“Teacher, I can’t let go. I just want you to live well,”
Paige shook her head, shaking it over and over again, like an unruly child.
Bastion was being held by Uncle Artie, while Alfredo and Kevin slowly walked up behind them, their faces solemn as they watched the scene. They all knew that the old lady was about to die.
In the setting sun, the old lady watched as her sleeve fluttered in the wind, brushing past Paige’s face as if to wipe away her tears.
“You’re going to cry, which is good,”
the old lady said once again with emotion.
Only those who can cry are considered flesh and blood.
“Teacher…”
“You said you were going to give me some candy. What kind of candy was it?” the old woman interrupted, ‘It’s a bit bland.’
“The candy… is on the boat,” Paige said, not taking it down.
“Go get it,” the old woman commanded, her tone as usual, domineering.
Paige understood what she meant, shaking her head, tears falling non-stop. The old woman glared at her with wet eyes, ‘What, don’t even want to let me eat a piece of candy?’
“I…” Paige looked up, pleadingly at Enrico.
Enrico lifted his foot to leave, but the old lady huffed, “I want you to go.”
“…”
“Go quickly, don’t worry, I’ll wait for you, I won’t die just yet,” the old lady scolded with a smile, but tears fell again.
Paige looked at the old lady in the sunset, clenched her empty sleeve with her fingers, gritted her teeth, and stood up, “You wait for me.”
After saying that, Paige turned around and ran, rushing forward recklessly, and soon disappeared at the beach.
Seeing this, Bastion stood behind her, crying uncontrollably and wiping his tears away with his hands.
Alfredo and Uncle Artie looked at them sadly and lifted their feet to walk forward.
Master Chris was lying in a rocking chair. As if he had sensed something, he spoke, “Don’t come over here. Leave here, follow Paige and live a good life together, starting over.”
“…”
Everyone stopped in their tracks and could only stand in the same place, gazing at the rocking chair on the white sand, which was bathed in a dusky yellow light from the setting sun.
“Kid, come here,” master Chris suddenly said.
Enrico was standing by the shore, looking in the direction Paige had left, and it took him two seconds to realize the old woman was calling him.
He turned around and looked down at the old woman with her wrinkled face and prominent cheekbones. After a moment of silence, he lifted up his trousers and crouched down next to her.
Alfredo and Artie looked at each other, neither of them expecting that the old lady, having arrived at this point, would not say goodbye to those who had been with her every day, but would choose Enrico instead.
Seeing Enrico crouching down, master Chris forced himself to sit up in the rocking chair, his thin body swaying back and forth.
Enrico couldn’t bear to see it, and reached out to help her up.
As soon as she sat up, master Chris thrust his face in front of her, his old and ugly face a little hideous and fierce. “Paige said you were good to her. How good were you to her?”
“…” Enrico looked at her with no expression.
If someone else had asked this question, he would have kicked them into the sea a long time ago, but the person in front of him obviously wasn’t just anyone.
“Say it!” master Chris asked anxiously, blood spilling from his mouth.
The afterglow fell on Enrico’s angular face. His long eyelashes were half-raised, his thin lips parted slightly, and his voice was low, “It’s not very good, but as long as I’m alive, I can keep her happy forever.”
“…”
Master Chris looked at him intently, trying to determine if he was telling the truth.
“If I die before her, I will also make arrangements so that she will have both wealth and power, and never lack for anything,” Enrico said, looking at her word by word.
“…”
Alfredo and Kevin stood behind them, listening quietly, while Bastion was still wiping away his tears.
master Chris gazed at the overly handsome face of the young man in front of him, and after a long while, he said, “Okay, okay.”
“…”
“Remember what you said today. If you can’t do it, I’ll come back as a vengeful ghost to haunt you!” master Chris threatened.
Enrico snorted as he listened, “Old lady, if you die here, your soul will only remain here. How can you haunt me from so far away?”
master Chris grinned hideously, “Don’t worry, after I die, you can take my ashes back with you.”
“Old lady, you really don’t like me, you want to take my ashes back with you,” Enrico laughed lightly at her.
“What do you know? Paige has no relatives, so I need to build a tomb for this urn of ashes, so that she can have a place to worship during the New Year and other holidays,”
master Chris said slowly, and after she finished, she leaned back heavily in her rocking chair, looked at the sunset that was gradually sinking into the sea in the distance and closed her eyes. Her breathing grew weaker and weaker, and the undulations in front of her became flatter and flatter.
Seeing this, Enrico suppressed his smile and stared at her, “She’ll be back in a while.”
The old lady had said so much, but it all meant the same thing: she still couldn’t let go of Paige.
But she happened to drive Paige away at the last minute.
Upon hearing this, master Chris propped himself up and opened his eyes a little wider, looking into the distance, “No more waiting.”
Her Paige has suffered so much.
There is no need to watch her close her eyes again. It will only make her think of the pain in the future.
“…” Enrico looked at her in silence.
“Enrico,” master Chris called out his name without any mistakes, “did you teach her to cry?”
The wind suddenly grew stronger.
The old woman’s two empty sleeves began to flap around again, passing in front of Enrico’s eyes.
“Thank you,” said master Chris hoarsely, his watery eyes staring into the distance.
Finally, her eyes closed, and there was no longer a ripple in front of her.