It was late at night, the sea was calm, and the cruise ship set sail.
The passing of master Chris was just a sad thing in everyone’s hearts for this big event on an isolated island. After feeling sad, everyone immersed themselves in the luxurious and high-tech facilities of the cruise ship.
A sense of excitement welled up little by little.
Everyone was assigned a nice room. Knowing that Paige was sad, everyone tried to suppress their emotions, but they were still amazed by all the things they had never seen before.
Someone accidentally turned the TV volume up really loud;
someone stuffed their face with delicious food;
someone started dancing;
someone hugged and laughed and cried.
For a while, the entire cruise ship was especially lively, and the noise could be heard from afar. Putting aside the hatred in their hearts for the time being, everyone was so excited that it was like New Year’s Eve.
Paige sat holding master Chris’s urn on one side of the cruise ship, the sea breeze making her face ache a little.
The cruise ship sailed past one section after another.
The sound of the sea could not drown out everyone’s excited laughter.
“Teacher, we are already on our way and will soon be back in The Capital,” Paige whispered, stroking the urn in her arms.
The door behind her opened.
Enrico opened the door and walked out, glanced at her, then stood in front of the railing and casually put his hands on it.
He had changed into a pair of trousers, and his white shirt was floating in the wind.
Paige sat quietly, when suddenly, a candy was handed to her.
The wrapper was torn open.
Inside were her favorite peppermints.
Paige looked up, and Enrico had already leaned over, his deep eyes staring at her, “Eat.”
Paige hugged the urn close, lowered her head, and took the candy in her mouth. The heavy minty flavor spread across her tongue, cool and spicy, cool and bitter…
She pursed her lips, taking a long time to get used to the coolness. “What did your teacher say to you before she died?”
Enrico leaned against the railing and said in a low voice, “Her? She told me to treat you well, or she’ll crawl out of this urn and bite me to death.”
Upon hearing this, Paige tugged the corners of her mouth up in a smile, her eyes red.
“Actually, I don’t know what it’s like to have real family, but I think it’s like this teacher of yours. She scolded you more harshly than anyone else, but she was also the one who couldn’t let go the most,” she said, blinking her sore eyes.
Enrico lifted his hand and gave her head a rub, “Don’t think about it, go back to sleep.”
Paige nodded, stood up from the chair with the urn in her arms, and walked back with Enrico’s arm around her.
As the two were about to enter the door, there was a loud crash from upstairs, accompanied by the excited laughter of the children.
Paige hugged the urn in her arms tightly, and Enrico frowned, “I’ll send someone to warn them.”
“Forget it,” Paige shook her head, “They’ve been suppressed for too long, they need to let off steam and adapt. Let them be.”
For all the people in the slums, this was a life-changing event for the entire family.
She couldn’t possibly ask everyone to mourn their teacher with sadness.
…
That night, Paige didn’t sleep.
She sat in front of the easel in her bedroom and painted two portraits, one large and one small, both of Master Chris. The small one was to be attached to the urn, while the large one would be placed on the grave in the future.
She painted until dawn.
Paige added the final touch of color to the portrait, and master Chris’s appearance leapt off the page. Kind and gentle, he was a master of oil painting.
She put down her brush and paused, only to realize that her shoulders were very sore.
Paige raised her arms to move her joints, and when she looked over, she saw Enrico leaning against the chaise longue next to her, already asleep.
The bedroom light fell on him.
He was leaning on a propped-up pillow, still maintaining the half-sitting, half-lying position he had adopted while watching her paint. His short hair was a little messy, his eyes half-closed, the long lashes casting a faint shadow. His nose was handsome, his lips pursed casually, and his face was so mesmerizing that it was more beautiful than a painting.
His long, slender hands were resting in front of him, and his long legs, having nowhere else to go, rested on the couch, one leg already sliding to the side.
Last night’s Enrico was quiet, didn’t force her to sleep, didn’t forcefully make her forget anything, just stayed with her.
Idiot.
She let him sleep first.
Paige looked at the un-dried painting in front of her, slowly got up, not even daring to touch the chair for fear of making a sound.
She walked over to the bed, took a blanket, and walked lightly to the chaise longue, carefully covering the man with the thin blanket.
Enrico’s closed eyes twitched, but he didn’t wake up.
Paige slowed her breathing, gently pulled up the blanket to cover his legs, and then slowly backed away.
Back at the door, Paige still closed it very lightly, and then walked down the corridor.
At this time, the noise had subsided.
Probably everyone was tired and catching up on sleep.
Paige walked into the resplendent cruise ship lobby. It was extremely quiet, and the only person in the lobby was Alfredo, sitting alone in a barstool, looking at the row of wine glasses in front of him.
The glasses were all different, but they were all translucent like glass, with breathtakingly beautiful colors.
There was wine in each glass, but he hadn’t touched any of them, just kept looking at them.
He heard footsteps, and when he turned his head to see her, a smile appeared on his handsome face. “Good morning,”
“Good morning.” Paige gave a faint smile and walked over to him. Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, she said, ‘Didn’t sleep last night?’
“No,” said Alfredo, shaking his head. His pale hands were holding a cold glass of wine. He said in a low, hoarse voice, ‘It’s as if I’ve entered another world.’
The TV that played portraits, the beautiful glasses, the crystal lamp that didn’t go dark overnight, the soft chairs…
He had never seen any of this before.
Paige knew that he had never left Wind Island before, and the outside world was a shock to him that he had never experienced before.
She leaned against the bar, picked up a glass of wine and lightly touched it with his, saying, “Alfredo, you will find your place in this world. Your life is just beginning, so come on.”
Upon hearing this, Alfredo’s gaze trembled.
Paige looked down, took a sip of wine, and set the glass back on the bar, saying, “Get some rest, the future is waiting for you.”
After saying this, Paige turned and left.
Alfredo called out to her, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to find Dr. Clinton.” Paige left without looking back.
…
To buy some time, Paige had set up a laboratory on the cruise ship.
Pushing open the first door, Paige went to the sink, washed her hands and disinfected them, then took out a sterile protective suit.
Fully armed, she pushed open the second glass door and continued further in.
This was a large suite converted into a laboratory, with all kinds of instruments inside, and the machines making some low sounds.
In the center is a large white cylindrical instrument. Through the transparent glass, you can see a flattened flower inside, with pink petals and a white core.
Beams of light of different colors are threaded through the inside of the glass column, performing some kind of test.
On the side, on a chair, a man in protective clothing is sitting in an unkempt manner, legs spread, pen and documents in his hands, head tilted back, asleep.
Paige carefully recognized him as Dr. Clinton.