Before the last ray of light in the sky disappeared, Duncan saw the familiar facade of the antique shop.
The gas street lamps on both sides of the road had already been lit. The slightly yellow light illuminated the sign in front of the door and the gray wall. The lights were on in the windows on both sides of the door. Obviously, Nina had already returned home - she turned on the lights on the first floor and was waiting for Duncan to come back.
Strictly speaking, from Duncan's perspective, he and Nina had only just met, but for some reason, when he saw the lights on the first floor, he felt an inexplicable... sense of regret.
Is this apology because I have been out and not back for a long time
Duncan stepped forward and pushed open the door of the antique shop. The bell hanging at the door rang crisply. The next second, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the direction of the stairs.
The girl in a plain long dress ran down from upstairs like a gust of wind.
"Uncle Duncan!" Nina stopped on the stairs, looking at Duncan who appeared at the door with surprise and joy, with a look of surprise in her eyes, "I thought you were..."
"I went for a walk in the city and didn't notice it was getting dark," Duncan shook his head. "Sorry, I was actually planning to pick you up from school at the Cross Street District, but then something unexpected happened."
"You went to the Cross Street District?" Nina looked at Duncan in surprise and confusion. She looked him up and down, as if to confirm whether her uncle had been drinking outside again or was in low spirits due to the effects of drugs. "Pick me up... from school?"
Uncle Duncan showed a strange yet familiar side of himself, which made Nina unsure of how to react.
"I'm just a little curious about your current situation at school," Duncan said casually, "Let's not talk about this anymore. You don't have to worry about me going out to drink or hang out with 'friends'. If I come back late, it's because I'm doing something important. Got it?"
Nina stared in amazement as she watched Uncle Duncan enter the room and close the door. She nodded subconsciously as she saw his steady steps and energetic demeanor.
"It's getting late," Duncan said to Nina who was standing at the top of the stairs as he walked towards the second floor, "Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet." Perhaps because she was still not used to her uncle's current changes, Nina seemed a little hesitant when answering. "When I came back, I saw that you were not at home. I didn't know if you would come back tonight, so I... I haven't cooked yet. But I bought some bread, originally planning to..."
"Bread alone is not nutritious enough. Let's go. There are some good things in the kitchen." Duncan was about to step onto the stairs. He turned back and smiled at Nina. "I'll cook today."
Uncle wants to cook?!
Nina seemed to have heard something out of the ordinary, but before she could ask, she saw Uncle Duncan striding upwards, so she had to hurry up to catch up. At the same time, her eyes also noticed Ai Yin who was resting steadily on Duncan's shoulder. She was a little surprised: "Uncle, has this pigeon been with you all this time?"
"Yeah, it's pretty clingy," Duncan said casually, "Oh, by the way, I named it Ai Yin."
"Ai Yin? For a pigeon... what a strange name..." Nina scratched her hair. She had already followed Uncle Duncan upstairs. Seeing that Uncle Duncan really walked towards the kitchen, she finally couldn't help asking, "Did you buy anything?"
"It's just a dried salted fish," Duncan found the salted fish he had put away in the kitchen cabinet, and shook the hard ingredient at Nina with a proud expression, "Don't be fooled by its appearance, it tastes pretty good when used to make soup."
"Fish?!" Nina opened her eyes wide in surprise. "What day is today? Fish is so expensive, isn't it usually... huh?"
She finally saw the dried fish in Duncan's hand. This ugly thing made the girl very confused. She blinked and looked at it for a long time: "What kind of fish is this? Why haven't I seen it before?"
Duncan knew Nina would react like this.
The residents of the city-state had certainly seen fish - although the vast ocean was dangerous and there were dangerous creatures called "offspring" in the deep sea that threatened human safety, not all sea areas were as strange and extreme as the deep sea areas. Due to the protection of the gods and the city-state's own defense system, the ocean was relatively safe in the shallow seas close to the city-state and on a few routes that were blessed by the gods, and these areas often provided valuable resources for the city-state civilization.
People collected seafood and minerals from offshore areas and hunted whales and other fish with great industrial value on routes protected by the gods. They used these things to maintain the survival of the city-state and support industrial development.
Under this premise, the profession of "fisherman" will of course exist.
However, the oceans in this world are not like the Earth after all. Even the safe waters are only "safe" compared to the deep sea areas. Therefore, even near-shore fishing in this world is an extremely professional, thrilling and even requires the test of extraordinary knowledge and combat skills.
Fish is a known but expensive food for people living in city-states.
Even though there is the sea around them, even though there are countless fish in the sea.
Nina hadn't eaten fish in many years - even before her uncle fell ill, a commoner like her didn't have many opportunities to see fish served on the table.
Ordinary fish are so rare, let alone the gifts from the deep sea.
Duncan even suspected that the deep-sea fish he caught on the Lost Homeland was the first to appear in the city-state of Plande - let alone Nina, a commoner girl, even the city-state's archons and high-ranking priests of the church might not have the opportunity to taste this delicacy.
Nina is in for a treat today.
"Don't worry about what kind it is. Just wait and eat it." Duncan knew that some things could not be explained, so he simply did not explain them. He turned back to the kitchen and began to prepare today's dinner.
This strange fish is quite large, and even after being air-dried, its size is still considerable. It cannot be eaten all at once if used to make soup, so he divided the salted fish into two parts, preparing to use the fish head part first - the rest can be strung with a rope and hung in the cupboard. After further drying, it may become more flavorful.
Uncle really started cooking.
Watching the familiar figure busying around in the kitchen, Nina felt like she was dreaming.
In fact, she didn't care at all about the strange fish her uncle took out, and she didn't even care about dinner today.
Compared with these trivial things, the changes that happened to her uncle were the strangest and most worthy of her attention.
The sound of knife hitting chopping board could be heard, the gas stove was hissing, and the soup in the pot was bubbling.
Nina was a little dazed. She hadn't seen such a scene in several years.
She showed a hint of hesitation on her face, and after a moment, she seemed to have suddenly made up her mind, and said to the busy figure inside the kitchen door: "Uncle, tomorrow... Mr. Morris will come to visit."
"Home visit?" Duncan, who was busy cooking, was stunned when he heard this. "Mr. Morris...your history teacher?"
Nina nodded: "Yes."
"The teachers at that school actually make home visits?" Duncan put the processed fish into the pot, put the knife into the sink and looked back at Nina in surprise. "I thought this was a 'feature' only available in schools in the upper city."
"The school... doesn't really have such a rule," Nina said carefully while paying attention to Duncan's attitude, "but Mr. Morris is special. He... pays special attention to students."
Duncan was silent for a moment.
Things went slightly beyond his expectations.
He never expected that he, "Captain Duncan", would suddenly encounter such a situation and have to deal with it while carrying out activities in the city-state!
He considered dealing with the church, the sheriff, and even the city-state navy and military police forces - whether he wanted to or not, his plans were filled with spiritual fire, swords, and the more than one hundred broadside guns of the Lost Homeland.
But he had never considered in his plans the possibility of an old man teaching history in the public schools.
Why is reality always so unexpected
"Uncle?" Nina saw that Duncan didn't respond for a long time, and she couldn't help but feel a little worried. "Are you unwilling? Then I can tell Mr. Morris... Actually, I told him today that your health is not good, so you can't accept the home visit this time. He didn't say anything at the time..."
Duncan looked at Nina's somewhat nervous reaction, thoughts welling up in his mind.
It seems that this is not the first time that old Mr. Morris has requested a home visit.
So how many times did Nina refuse with the same reason
"… He teaches history, right?" Duncan suddenly asked again.
Although she didn't know why her uncle asked this question again, Nina nodded: "Yes."
"That's great. I just want to meet someone who's a professional in the field of history," Duncan laughed. "When will he come tomorrow?"